Nightclubs 'must be backed' by government as venues look forward to June return
A nightclub owner is looking forward to a "vibrant" future come the end of June, but hopes venues are given robust support while they wait to return.
The date set out for nightclubs to be allowed to reopen in full is June 21 - the date when the vast majority of restrictions are due to be lifted.
Owner of Shrewsbury nightclub The Buttermarket, Martin Monahan, believes the road map offers "light at the end of the tunnel", but is keen to see venues backed by the government.
He said he would like to see landlords freeze rents until venues can trade properly again ahead of Chancellor Rishi Sunak's budget next week.
"I think we will have to see what the chancellor announces next Wednesday," he said. "There needs to be support in place because there are currently a lot of venues that won't make it until then (dates announced) without it. It really is a dire situation for some venues."
He added: "It's great to see a road map and a date to work towards. I very much hope it's going to be that date and we can get things back to normal. It's certainly a light at the end of the tunnel.
"We will probably operate The Buttermarket in pub mode from May 17, and go all guns blazing from June 21, assuming that's the date.
"I'm glad that there has been no mention of scotch eggs or curfews. It seems to be a sensible and pragmatic approach.
"We will only have one week before the dates are officially confirmed, but it gives us something to work towards so if we have to delay by a week or two it shouldn't be too much of a problem."
Martin's phone has been ringing already with people looking to plan events, so he's hopeful that Shropshire party goers will have plenty to look forward to.
"We've deferred a lot of events to the autumn and 2022. But I've already had about five calls from different people wanting to organise events. I expect that come June 21 we can look forward to The Buttermarket having a very vibrant future."
