The Lowry to support all contracted staff until it can re-open
© Arran Bee from Nottingham, UK / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)
The Lowry in Salford has committed to paying its contracted staff until it can reopen.
Creating its own equivalent to the job retention scheme from 1 November (when the Government's Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme closes on 31 October), the venue has revealed it will help support its 222 full-time equivalent contracted staff.
Chief executive Julia Fawcett said: "Government needs to act, as it stands today there is no plan for the arts sector following the end of the JRS. We will do what we can to support our staff through the introduction of a Lowry Retention scheme – but this will in no way match the scale of the Chancellor's scheme."
The theatre is consulting its full-time staff at the moment to work out the logistics of the new scheme.
Casual staff working in the venue's catering, box office and front of house departments will remain on furlough until 31 October, with The Lowry introducing top-up payments in August as the Government contribution tapers to maintain casual staff on 80% of their average annual weekly wage.
The Lowry has been one of the few organisations that has maintained full salary payments for contracted staff since March – voluntarily topping up the Government contributions.
