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16 events businesses in Jersey have banded together to express their “disappointment, frustration and anger” at the recent support package offered by the Government.
In an open letter to the Council of Ministers, the recently launched Visitors Attractions and Event Support Scheme was slammed as “a futile attempt to show that the Government have offered some support”, which “simply veneers over the agony that the industry is suffering from.”
The scheme was launched on 5 January, and saw businesses offered 80% of their designated fixed costs incurred over the winter period, providing they met a set criteria.
However, the letter has criticised this “inhibitive qualifying criteria", stating that “the majority of businesses will not be able to apply for this over delayed support scheme.”
Pictured: In a separate statement, the businesses said - "If the event, entertainment and nightclub industry in Jersey is allowed to collapse and disappear, it will have a negative effect on every person, business sector and every part of our Island Life."
The two elements in particular that they stated they wanted removed were the requirement to apply for a loan prior to application, and “the requirement to be GST registered, or any minimum turnover threshold.”
Speaking in the letter, the businesses requested the scheme be revised to include the following provisions.
Additionally, the letter points out that some events businesses have little or no fixed costs "but contribute hugely to the island's economy", asking the Government to consider a grant scheme for those businesses similar to the UK.
Slamming the the “unacceptable” length of time it took from initial conversations in July to the eventual launch of the package in January, the letter said the pace of response “has left all business owners worrying unnecessarily about their business and their staff.”
To further assuage this worry, they are requesting clear communication on the timeframe for small, medium and large gatherings returning, asking for a similar timetable guideline to the hospitality industry.
Dear Sirs,
We, the undersigned local businesses, who all create our livelihoods exclusively from Jersey’s Events and Nightclub Industry, write collectively to express our disappointment, frustration and anger at the recent financial support package and the qualifying criteria for application offered by the Government of Jersey
Whilst we are appreciative of the time and effort that has gone on behind the scenes with the planning of this support scheme, the time it has taken from initial conversations in July to public roll out in January is in our view unacceptable and has left all business owners worrying unnecessarily about their business and their staff.
It is the industry’s view that the proposed support scheme is a futile attempt to show that the Government have offered some support to help the events industry. However, it is nothing short of a punitive scheme, due to the unrealistic criteria of applying to it, that simply veneers over the agony that the industry is suffering from.
We respectfully request an explanation as to why this scheme has taken so long and the reluctance to support these business’s which contribute hugely to the island’s economy and supports every other industry within the island and every Government department.
It was suggested to us, through earlier discussions via Jersey Business, that any government support scheme for our industry was likely to be backdated to start from Sept 2020 onwards, which disappointingly, appears to not be the case. Whilst we fully understand the need to follow medical advice, our industry has been hugely impacted and detrimented without any recovery since March.
This has been directly caused by Governments restrictions and we cannot return to business in any meaningful way (and will not be able to for many more months to come).We have no choice but to accept this, but in return it should be Governments responsibility to support our industry.
At present, due to some elements of the inhibitive qualifying criteria the majority of businesses will not be able to apply for this over delayed support scheme. We respectfully request that the following elements be removed with immediate effect so that businesses that desperately require support can actually apply for it.
We fully understand that any financial support comes from the Tax Payers purse, but with all Events and Nightclubs being forced to close, or operate in a massively reduced way for the past nine months, the majority of business simply cannot take on such debt
We are aware that GST registration and minimum turnover is not a requirement of the Accommodation Sector application scheme and we simply ask for a level playing field. We also respectfully request that the following areas are included in the scheme.
All fixed costs are covered in the scheme, including depreciation, which we note has been removed from previous versions of the scheme.
That any fixed costs incurred on an annual basis ( not between Oct and Apr ) can be applied for e.g. an annual insurance premium can be claimed for to the tune of 1 1/12th each month.
That the same qualifying criteria for the co-funding is applied to this scheme, ie a sliding scale of detriment to include those businesses that have suffered less than 50% detriment in a particular month.
That fixed costs are claimable for those businesses who have premises & offices, but also to those who work from their homes.
There also needs to be realistic consideration offered to those Events business that have little or no fixed costs but contribute hugely to the island’s economy.
The UK has supplied grants schemes for similar business to allow them to continue throughout enforced lockdown. This would help a little towards the catastrophic losses of trading profits and cash flow of all severely affected businesses.
Our fear is that the island will lose some of its flagships events if this isn’t offered or implemented. This would have a serious knock-on effect on a large number of suppliers as well seeing a detrimental impact on the islands overall community.
Under normal trading conditions, at this time, we would all be re-investing in our business but are unable to do so with no discernible income let alone any profit. If unable to re-invest and unable to claim depreciation then this will begin a downward spiral which will ultimately lead to “Zombie Businesses” which is not good for anyone.
We are also asking for clear communication on the timeframe for small, medium and large gatherings to return. The hospitality industry has been offered a timetable guideline to work to and we request the same. This season is already hanging by a thread with many cancellations and deferments already received. With the following reasons given by clients:
It is vitally important that those businesses that have suffered the most detriment be prioritised with available funding.
We would respectfully request a response to this letter by close of business Friday 15th January.
As an industry group we have a meeting with several media outlets next week and we would hope for some positive news to deliver once receiving governments response.
Thank you for taking the time to read our letter, we trust the Jersey events industry will be listened to, with the points above taken on board, and be granted much needed Government support in the coming weeks.
Yours Faithfully,
Simon Gasston – Delta Events
Rob Ritchie – Stage 2 Productions
Warren Plant and John Neal – Marquee Solutions
Warren Le Sueur and Tim Bartlett – Weekender Festival
Simon Harper – Harpers Catering
Tony Sergeant – Jersey Kitchen
James Godfrey – Royal Jersey Showground Events
James Robertson – The Event Shop
Andrew Thomas – 3D Events
Nigel Vautier – Vibert Marquees
Martin Sayers – Vittoria Nightclub
JP – Anquetil – Rojos Nightclub
Lyle de la Cloche – Blkout Events
Warren le Sueur, Lyle De La Cloche and Simon Gasston – Out There Festival Warren le Sueur, Simon Gasston and Tim Bartlett - TogetherParties
Barry McKenna – Havana Nightclub
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