Worthing Theatres and Museum 'in serious danger of becoming insolvent' as job cuts planned

Worthing Theatres and Museum was formed in November 2019 to oversee the town's cultural offer, including the Connaught and Pavilion Theatres and Worthing Assembly Hall.

But the forced closure during lockdown has left the trust, like many other businesses, in grave financial difficulty.

In a document emailed to employees today (July 1), it warned that lockdown and no clear picture of when restrictions would be lifted meant the trust was 'in serious danger of becoming insolvent'.

A spokesman for the trust confirmed a consultation period has begun which will look at making 19 of its 150 members of staff redundant, and temporarily reducing the hours and pay of 29 more.

"Being ordered to close after only five months of operation is an incredibly challenging situation and we are doing everything we can to survive and to reopen our venues for the people of Worthing as soon as it is safe to do so," said the spokesman.

"We were incredibly proud of our debut season as a new company with strong sales and an air of excitement about the future. This process has been absolutely heartbreaking to all of us at WTM. If we do not take this action then we fear we may never be able to reopen."

The consultation period will last for 20 days, from today to July 20.

Staff have also been offered the chance to take voluntary redundancy during the consultation period. Those facing forced redundancy are predominantly from the public facing side of the business.

In documents seen by the Herald that were sent to affected staff today, the trust said the financial picture was 'very serious' and predicted it would lose £382,779 if it was unable to reopen without restrictions until December 2020.

Should restrictions stay in place until February 2021, the loss would be £893,904.

A total of 29 staff members will see their hours and pay cut by 20 per cent from November 1, to March 2021, initially.

During the lockdown, Worthing Theatres and Museum said it had received emergency funding from the Arts Council England and used the furlough scheme to retain staff.

Without additional Government support, a spokesman said, it was forced to make the 'difficult but necessary' decision to restructure.

Last week the Government announced hospitality businesses including theatres could reopen from July 4, with strict guidelines in place to ensure safety amid the pandemic.

Worthing Borough Council has been approached for comment.