Royal Albert Hall will go bust in less than a year without urgent funding from government, CEO warns

The Royal Albert Hall is “perilously” close to shutting its doors for good, its chief executive has warned.

With the long-standing London venue having been forced to close its doors during the coronavirus pandemic, CEO Craig Hassall said that the Hall would go bust before its 150th anniversary in March 2021 without urgent financial support from the government.

“The government support has been very oblique and vague. We have lobbied hard and consistently across the sector,” Hassal told The i. “But [Culture Secretary] Oliver Dowden’s roadmap for recovery has no dates and nothing firm.

“There is no guidance from the government on when we can open or how we can open. Without that it’s impossible for us to trade – and that means the whole sector.”

He continued: “I had one meeting with the department where we were all told to follow the guidelines. This was about a month ago. And we all said – the theatre industry, outdoor music, film, cinema – we can’t open with these guidelines.

“It’s not difficult. It’s not as though we’re not trying hard enough. It’s not possible. It’s operationally, financially and artistically not possible to operate within these guidelines.”

Despite having already borrowed £5m to keep the Royal Albert Hall going, Hassall explained that the venue would need another £5m to £10m to stop it from going under early next year, as well as being forced to lay off hundreds of staff without the furlough scheme.

The venue is traditionally home to the BBC Proms, which this year will mostly consist of highlights from the BBC’s archive.

However, organisers hope that they may be able to stage two weeks of live performances at the Royal Albert Hall from 28 August.