Yahoo Finance Bookings surge signals ‘end of Covid’ boom for UK events sector
The UK is in store for an unprecedented boom in events as the industry prepares to stage hundreds of thousands of weddings and “end of Covid” celebrations when restrictions on gatherings are lifted this summer – just expect to pay 25% more than before the pandemic.
Booking for events have risen 250% compared with pre-Covid levels, after Boris Johnson announced a “cautious but irreversible” roadmap out of lockdown. The plans include a removal of all legal limits on mixing from 21 June, with large events permitted.
(March 8, 2021) Step 1, part 1
All pupils and college students return fully. People can meet one other person outside, not just for exercise. Care home residents can receive one regular, named visitor. The “stay at home” order will otherwise stay in place.
(March 29, 2021) Step 1, part 2
Outdoor gatherings allowed of up to six people, or two households if this is larger, not just in parks but also gardens. Outdoor sport for children and adults will be allowed. The official stay at home order will end, but people will be encouraged to stay local. People will still be asked to work from home where possible, with no overseas travel allowed beyond the current small number of exceptions.
(April 12, 2021) Step 2
The official outline plan states that the next steps will rely on data, and the dates given mean "no earlier than". In step two, there will be a reopening of non-essential retail, hair and nail salons, and public buildings such as libraries and museums. Most outdoor venues can open, including pubs and restaurants but only for outdoor tables and beer gardens. Customers will have to be seated but there will be no need to have a meal with alcohol.
Also reopening will be settings such as zoos and theme parks. However, social contact rules will apply here, so no indoor mixing between households and limits on outdoor mixing. Indoor leisure facilities such as gyms and pools can also open but again people can only go alone or with their own household. Reopening of holiday lets with no shared facilities, but only for one household. Funerals can have up to 30 attendees, while weddings, receptions and wakes can have 15.
(May 17, 2021) Step 3
Again with the caveat "no earlier than 17 May", depending on data, vaccination levels and current transmission rates.
Step 3 entails that most mixing rules are lifted outdoors, with a limit of 30 people meeting in parks or gardens. Indoor mixing will be allowed, up to six people or, if it is more people, two households. Indoor venues such as the inside of pubs and restaurants, hotels and B&Bs, play centres, cinemas and group exercise classes will reopen. The new indoor and outdoor mixing limits will remain for pubs and other hospitality venues.
For sport, indoor venues can have up to 1,000 spectators or half capacity, whichever is lower; outdoors the limit will be 4,000 people or half capacity, whichever is lower. Very large outdoor seated venues, such as big football stadiums, where crowds can be spread out, will have a limit of 10,000 people, or a quarter full, whichever is fewer. Weddings will be allowed a limit of 30 people, with other events such as christenings and barmitzvahs also permitted.
This will be the earliest date at which international holidays could resume, subject to a separate review.
(June 21, 2021) Step 4
No earlier than 21 June, all legal limits will be removed on mixing, and the last sectors to remain closed, such as nightclubs, will reopen. Large events can take place.
Peter Walker Political correspondent
Enquiries about private parties, including a glut of “end of Covid” celebrations, are up 630% and there are estimated to be more than 600,000 couples jockeying to fit in their weddings by the end of next year. The rush has seen planning times shrink from the usual average of 500 days to about 140 days as the public seek to squeeze in their chosen event as soon as the restrictions are lifted.
“It feels like the start of the ‘roaring 20s’ all over again,” says Hugo Campbell, the founder of event booking site Feast It. “If the roadmap works out it is the start of what is going to be a number of boom years for events, people are going for it, they want to get out and make up for lost time.”
The logjam is being caused by a combination of bookings for events that were delayed last year, second events to make up for those that were held but under strict attendance restrictions, on top of the number expected in a normal year.
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For example, there are about 250,000 weddings in the UK each year. In 2020, it is estimated that about 70% were postponed, which means there is a queue of nearly 700,000 new weddings expected from this summer until the end of next year.
Campbell says there have been inquiries for new categories such as a funeral event at a house or a venue to celebrate someone’s life, after strict limits on funeral attendee numbers during the pandemic.
The knock-on effect of the bookings surge and closure of a significant number of suppliers unable to ride out the event drought means that prices of the highest demand events such as weddings are likely to fuel up to a 25% price hike.
“It’s a supply and demand issue,” says Campbell. “There is a huge push on suppliers but lots have gone out of business in this time.”
The events industry has been hit harder than most sectors. While the film and TV industry has rapidly got back on its feet in large part due to the government’s £500m Covid shutdown insurance fund, the chancellor has failed to extend this to the events sector.
Following the publication of the budget last week, Julian Knight, the chair of the culture select committee of MPs, said it was “disappointing” that Rishi Sunak had again failed to extend the scheme to “provide a safety net should organisers need to cancel plans and enable more to go ahead with confidence this summer”.
The lack of insurance means that while a surge in bookings is one thing, whether they will actually be able to be staged is another.
“As it stands at the moment it is unlikely to be possible for many events to run without a government-backed Covid cancellation insurance scheme,” says Tim Thornhill, director of the entertainment division at Tysers Insurance Brokers.
“A scheme is needed to give the backing to the industry to unlock the money that flows through the supply chain.”
