At the beginning of 2020, it seemed that the Southbank Centre had a promising year ahead. An estimated 3,500 events were planned, and the centre had hoped to build upon their already impressive yearly visitor numbers. As the impact of Covid-19 is increasingly clear, the centre is now attempting to plan for the future.
The body has forecast a conservative loss of £5 million by the end of this year and will have used up all their reserves by September. They have taken an estimated £4 million from the government furlough scheme and spent their Arts Council England grant of almost £20 million in order to “to effectively mothball the buildings”. Plans are currently in place to reopen in April of next year if government action is not taken.
In a statement, the centre said: “There will be hardly any artistic activity throughout 2020/21, as to present anything like a normal range of events would have seen the losses rise to around £11 million.”
Social distancing regulations have much depleted the number of guests who can attend events, and the centre is currently trying to establish how best to reopen both in terms of finances and visitor safety. In a more conventional year, the centre would receive just under 40 per cent of funding from subsidies, with the remainder coming from ticket sales and their café and bar.
Elaine Bedell, the chief executive, said that the centre is usually home to over 4.45 million visitors in a year. She noted: “The Southbank Centre’s own history is traced directly to the 1951 Festival of Britain. Here, the postwar government recognised how vital arts and culture were to the health and wellbeing of a traumatised nation.
“Just as the South Bank was a focal point of social and economic recovery then, we hope that we’ll emerge from this crisis to a brighter future, throwing our doors wide open once more.”
