The music charity that is responsible for the running of Symphony Hall, home to the British Open Championship has announced that it has entered a period of redundancy consultation, which could mean that half of the staff it employs could be made redundant.

Those affected have already been contacted, although no final decision has yet been made. The cuts in staff would also apply to the adjacent Town Hall venue in Birmingham.

Sad time for all

Despite the Government's recent announcement of a £1.57 billion package of financial help to the arts sector, Anita Bhalla, Chair of the Board for the music charity said that this was "a difficult and sad time for all", and that she demanded "…clearer guidance from the government on the detail of the grants and loans available and clearer guidelines for re-opening our cities cultural institutions."

Over the last few years the venues have substantially reduced their reliance on subsidies with over 90% of their turnover coming from its trading activities. As a result they state that their success has therefore meant that it has hit the venues harder as they have been "less reliant on public subsidy than most".

Huge losses

The venues had been awarded emergency relief funding by Arts Council England, but they report that the closure has meant "huge losses"and that they feel that it is "unclear"when it may be possible for them to re-open.

In a statement the charity said that in order to have any chance of survival they "desperately need a time-based reopening strategy from the government and the funding to reach that point."

Our thoughts are very much with the employees and their families that will be affected by this decision, as well as the numerous freelance musicians and artists who have been impacted by this global pandemicNick Reed

Heart breaking

Nick Reed, Chief Executive for Town Hall Symphony Hall said: "This is heart-breaking news to share. Music has the power to bring people together and it fills me with great sadness that we remain unable to bring people together in our halls.

Our thoughts are very much with the employees and their families that will be affected by this decision, as well as the numerous freelance musicians and artists who have been impacted by this global pandemic."

The British Open Championship has been held at Symphony Hall since 1997. The 2020 event due to be held on September 12th was cancelled earlier this year due to the Coronavirus pandemic.