Sheffield Theatres place majority of employees on furlough to help 'safeguard' its future
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As members of the UK Theatres group, the three theatres run by Sheffield Theatres – The Lyceum, The Crucible and Crucible Studio – were forced to close their doors a week before the UK was placed in lockdown to minimise the spread of Covid-19.
Announcing the move, Sheffield Theatres said it will ‘temporarily’ run with a smaller team who are working remotely to refund customers for shows that have been cancelled as a result of the crisis.
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Hide AdAll programmed events are cancelled until May 23 but tickets for future shows remain on sale through the website.
Chief Executive Dan Bates said: “We’re all committed to doing everything we can to help fight Covid-19.
“Right now, that’s staying home to save lives and of course, that means we can’t continue to bring bold and brilliant theatre to our stages at this time. We’re using the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention scheme to help us retain our incredible team whilst we remain closed to the public.
“We want to make sure that when it’s safe for us to do so, our talented team can get working again and we can welcome audiences back to our theatres. In the meantime, we’re doing our best to look after our staff and the artists and companies that we work with and safeguard the future of Sheffield Theatres.
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Hide Ad“The remaining team will continue to look at ways that we can support artists and audiences throughout this time and plan for the day we reopen. We’ll also be working hard to refund customers for shows that have been cancelled as a result of the crisis and we ask for your patience as we do this with a much-reduced team.
“I want to thank the whole staff who have continued to show their passion and dedication to our company and our work throughout this incredibly challenging time.”
Mr Bates thanked Shefield Theatres ‘loyal audience’ for their generosity and support which “is making a vital difference to how we get through this challenge and plan for our return to full strength.”