Birmingham Hippodrome announces plans to make almost half of its full-time employees redundant

Birmingham Hippodrome has warned that almost half of its full-time jobs are at risk in a new statement from artistic director and CEO Fiona Allan.

According to the venue, over 60 of its 130 full-time employees may face redundancy while the pandemic continues.

Earlier this summer Allen stated that the venue would remain closed until the end of October, with all performances until then cancelled. She now added: "We have had to accept that our immediate future has changed, and our financial situation will be in jeopardy for some time to come. When it comes time to reopen Birmingham Hippodrome, it will need to be a different organisation than when we closed. This has led to the very difficult and heart-breaking conclusion that we need to scale back areas of the business and significantly reduce our team size."

Discussing the job losses she said: "It is with great sadness to confirm that Birmingham Hippodrome has entered a period of redundancy consultations as a direct result of prolonged business closure due to the COVID-19 Global Crisis.

"The changes to the Furlough Scheme announced by the Chancellor last week, whilst fair for the broader economy, are not fit for purpose for the theatre industry. With the closure of the job retention scheme on October 31 and no current guidance of when we will we be able to reopen; we do not have the reserves to sustain prolonged closure.

"Our Birmingham Hippodrome team are loyal, talented and dedicated and I want to thank them for their support and resilience at this time of crisis. I have personally been overwhelmed by the graciousness and kindness they have shown each other and the Hippodrome."