London clubs respond to exclusion from the Cultural Recovery Fund

The Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) has issued a statement in response to a number of key London clubs missing out on funding as part of the latest wave of money to be shared out from the government’s Culture Recovery Fund.

Printworks, Egg, Studio 338, Oval Space and The Pickle Factory were among the London clubs to share the news that they had been denied much-needed financial assistance from the recent sharing of £257million, part of the overall £1.57 billion that has so far been set aside by the UK government to support the culture industry through the COVID-19 pandemic.

NTIA CEO Michael Kill said in a statement that he was “shocked and dismayed that some of the key contemporary music venues, events and supply chains have been missed out of the Culture Recovery Fund”. 

He added: “We have been aware all along that the fund would not be able to support everyone, and will leave many businesses who have missed out on this opportunity awaiting on a perilous cliff edge. But given the significance of some of the businesses that have been left out, we are concerned with regard to eligibility and fair consideration around the types of businesses and the criteria they have been measured against.”

Simon Aldred of Printworks also questioned the government and Arts Council England’s selection process, asking: “Can someone please help me understand how a company that is privately owned and run by a small team that have built this from scratch with our own money and created as voted by DJs and the audiences some of the most important venues in the UK and possibly the world are not being given even one penny?”

Studio 338’s Dan Perrin said: “Whilst I was delighted to see the likes of the Ministry of Sound and Resident Advisor receive funding, it is clear from my research that the venues and organisations which received support used consultants to complete the paperwork and those which didn’t have this resource or experience of asking for public money were rejected. This is plainly wrong as it means large organisations receive funding whilst independents do not.”

Jo Splain from Oval Space and The Pickle Factory said: “The effect of losing venues such as these will damage the cultural landscape of our cities immeasurably and will be felt for generations to come.”

For more on this issue, read DJ Mag’s recent feature on how the government’s response to COVID-19 could kill live music as we know it.

1,385 venues and media organisations received £257 million worth of grants between them last Monday, with those who received final assistance asked to publicly thank the government for the money.