The Royal Albert Hall will go bust by March 2021 if it fails to secure millions in loans and donations, the chief executive has warned.
The theatre has burned through £12million since it was closed and has relied on a £5million rescue package to weather the economic hits of the virus.
Chief executive Craig Hassall says the situation is “the most perilous the Hall has ever faced and could see it forced to lay off hundreds of staff. The Government support has been very oblique and vague. We have lobbied hard and consistently across the sector. But the Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden’s roadmap for recovery has no dates and nothing firm. There is no guidance from Government on when we can open or how we can open. Without that, it’s impossible for us to trade – and that means the whole sector.”