“Please don’t let the industry I love to go to ruin” – Yorkshire nightclub owner calls on government for urgent support

Paul Kinsey owns the Viper Rooms and Kings Club in Harrogate, Viper Rooms and Original Bierkeller in Sheffield and Hemingway’s in Horsforth.

While Chancellor Rishi Sunak's announcement of support for the hospitality industry had helped pubs, hotels and restaurants, the nightclub industry had been left to "wither on the vine".

He said: “We have been closed since March 23 by law and have no indication of when we may reopen.

"We support the Government in putting health first but forcing my company and our industry to wither on the vine because we are not deemed essential is a scandal.”

Mr Kinsey said they had run down cash reserves to pay overheads, adding: "The Government is effectively declaring us a zombie sector."

He has been in business for 30 years and said the last few months had been "torturous".

They had already lost over 100 staff, and now people who had been working for them for as long as 10 and 15 years, may lose their jobs within weeks.

Some 40 staff could be made redundant and another 35 to 40 could see their contracts terminated. There were also DJs and entertainers who had not worked since March.

He added: "All we asked for was a survival package not loss of profit, just rent, fixed finance costs and critical management salaries.

"A number of the people have been with me for 15 years - getting good people in this industry is very difficult.

"Please don’t let the industry I love to go to ruin, it deserves much more.”

The Treasury said the Government's job support scheme "prioritises supporting viable businesses facing lower demand due to Covid-19".

Some businesses might not be eligible for the grant. But the Government was extending four of its temporary loan schemes and providing great flexibility to repay loans and deferred VAT.

Businesses required to close will receive grant payments of up to £1,500 for each three weeks they are closed.