Shortage of security staff could put nightclub reopenings under threat
A shortage of security staff could put the re-opening of nightclubs under threat, a new report has revealed.
As stated in The Telegraph, the industry has seen an “exodus” of bouncers in recent months following work restrictions due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. There has also been a significant loss of non-UK staff due to the uncertainty to work permits caused by Brexit.
The Door Security Association has revealed that many nightclubs now risk being unable to open safely as one in six door supervisor positions are in danger of not being filled by June 21.
Last month, the government outlined plans for England to gradually exit lockdown by the end of June, with nightclubs provisionally permitted to reopen from June 21.
At the moment, only 40 per cent of door security positions are filled ahead of this planned re-opening.
The CEO of the Night Time Industries Association, Mike Mill, is now calling for a delay to rules which could see training for licensed door supervisors become more complex and time consuming to help ensure the positions are filled on time.
In a statement, Kill said: “we rely heavily on licensed door supervisors to keep staff and customers safe.
“With the additional responsibility of public health…it is even more important that we remove barriers to ensure that we are able to fulfil the resource requirement.”
Speaking about the road-map to reopening nightclubs to NME earlier this month, Kill said that the impact of the ongoing vaccination programme could also affect the roadmap to nightclubs re-opening by June 21.
“There are caveats around the opening and they’ve cleverly worded it so that June 21 is the earliest,” he said. “I think everyone is aware that could slip without a doubt and most people are planning for just past that date. Everyone is still tentative and pleased they’ve got that date, but aware it could change.
“There is a positivity in ticket sales, but there are challenges and concerns about whether that date is too ambitious. We are waiting to see how things go when schools, workplaces and non-essential retail opens – that will show the impact of vaccination in the real world.”
Kill added: “As we move forward, there will be an impact on transmission and how the rest of the road map could look. If vaccination gives us an environment where we’re ahead of the game, then hopefully we’ll have the same notion for those timelines.
“But people are quite happy with that, given that early estimations were suggested it could be August and September – it’s lifted people’s spirits.”
Nightclub bosses previously told NME that nightlife will be “decimated” if government support was not given to help the sector.
An All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) of 40 MPs also previously warned of “ghost towns” cropping up across the UK if the government failed to intervene and support the country’s struggling nightlife sector during the pandemic.