Leaders in the creative industries have warned of a “cultural catastrophe” following Covid-19.
According to Oxford Economics, the sector will be hit twice as hard as the wider economy. The creative industries employ around two million people in the UK, contributing some £112 billion to the annual economy.
It is believed that among the worst hit will be music and the performing arts. Theatres, concert venues and recording studios are, according to the report, will lose half of their revenue, and 60 per cent of their employees.
Head of Creative Industries Federation, Caroline Norbury, has said that the insufficient support for the creative industries could be “devastating and irreversible”.
Those outside of London would be the hardest hit, and would take considerably longer to bounce back, according to the report. The government has received pleas from the sector to be flexible in the job retention scheme.
Even those who are state-subsidised are concerned for their future. Both the Royal Opera House and the National Theatre have noted considerable economic challenges in the future. Taxpayer subsidies for museums and art organisations have declined in the past decade, with the government requesting they provide the bulk of their income from ticket sales and philanthropy.
According to The Times: “box office income has disappeared, and the pandemic and Brexit have scared corporate sponsors away.”
Prior to the pandemic, the creative sector was something of a success story for the country, having grown at five times that of the wider economy.
Norbury concludes: “If nothing is done, thousands of world-leading creative businesses are set to close their doors, hundreds of thousands of jobs will be lost and billions will be lost to our economy.”
