Blow to live music scene, as city venues fall silent
A pair of established music venues in Hull have been forced to shut down, after four months of virus lockdown closure.
The companies behind the Welly and the Polar Bear have gone into administration, the latest blow to the live entertainment industry which has been ravaged by the impact of Coronavirus restrictions first imposed in March. Alongside both venues Hull Box Office has also been closed.
The Welly has previously hosted bands such as U2, Pulp and The Housemartins. Both the Welly and the Polar Bear have now shut down after two of the six companies under the VMS Live umbrella fell into administration.
CEO Bert Van Horck confirmed: “I am deeply saddened that we had to make this decision, following the completion of the yearly accounts, the announcements of the government and the bank reconciliation, which led us to be at immediate risk of trading whilst insolvent.
“I would like to thank all of our staff for the magnificent efforts made to try and save these two companies, both between September and March during normal trading and beyond into the Covid-19 enforced closure.”
The Music Venues Trust, responding to the closures, said it had been warning for months that the situation faced by grassroots music venues was unsustainable without concerted, strategic action.
The trust said last month that an immediate cash injection of £50m would be needed to prevent mass closures of venues in July, August and September.
Mark Davyd, CEO, Music Venue Trust, said: “When we eventually emerge from lockdown, Grassroots Music Venues, the absolute bedrock, the foundations, the cornerstone on which our world beating £5.2bn per year industry has been built, are going to be essential to live music bouncing back.
“It is therefore economically short sighted and frankly ridiculous to put a £5bn a year industry at long term risk for lack of a short term £50m investment.”
