Do you remember the days, when we could book tickets for the theatre, a sporting event, a concert or a gallery – and look forward to it, with maybe a drink before and a meal after?
As we lament the past pleasures of sport and culture, spare a thought however for the industries which entertain us? Most are struggling to survive, which is why the Government announced on 12th October to benefit more than 1,300 arts and cultural organisations with £257 million as part of a vital boost from the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund – but is throwing money at the problem enough – or should the government do more to stimulate demand and restore confidence?
If money alone were the solution, then why has the Royal Opera House announced the sale of a David Hockney in a ‘desperate bid to replace lost revenue due to the pandemic?’
In a recent Economist article, it said that economists have not been too bothered by the high levels of Government borrowing – because interest rates are so low – but it goes on to say ‘governments ideally ought to make sure that new borrowing is doing things that will provide a lasting good, greater than the final cost of the borrowing’
The Government has been at pains to show, in lending support for the arts and culture that it is providing a lasting good.
It commissioned research from the Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR) that has indicated that the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund will ‘help the cultural sector return to pre-Covid levels of growth earlier than expected’.
The report predicts that the sector will return to its pre-lockdown level of £13.5 billion by 2022, a full year earlier than was anticipated without government intervention. The report also shows the sector is set to be worth £15.2 billion to the economy by 2015
This report was published at the same time as research by Metro Dynamics on the links between culture and the wider creative industries that found culture ‘acts as an R&D lab for the creative industries, encouraging experimentation and in turn driving innovation and commercial activity’
The creative industries brought over £100 billion to the economy before lockdown.
Of itself the arts and culture sectors were worth £13.5 billion to the economy in 2018 and employed 233,000 people. It also contributed to the Government’s ‘levelling up’ agenda by supporting the economy in the North and Midlands.
But who is to say that the culture and arts sector will ever return to pre-Covid levels of growth given that there is talk of theatres reopening with only one seat in three being occupied?
The Economist article goes on ‘In the long run, the way to avoid having to borrow to the hilt is to implement structural changes which will revive what does seem to be chronically weak demand’
It goes on … ‘stronger underlying growth would subsequently reduce the need for further government borrowing, raise GDP and boost tax revenues. In principle that would make it easier for governments in such situations to pay down their increased debt’
In my opinion – as a Fellow of the Institute of Taxation and Private Client Lawyer – government can throw money at an emergency – but ultimately it will be our clients – the world’s wealth creators – to whom we will need to turn to will find creative ways to boost confidence in the market place and attract people back into our theatres, concert halls, galleries and sporting arenas.
The government has bought time for the culture and arts sectors– but it is our clients– the world’s wealth creators to whom we look to use that time to find new innovative ways to build confidence with their customers to make them feel safe to come to the UK for an arts and culture experience, and for us to want to return to places of entertainment and enjoyment and to live with the new norm – post pandemic– regardless of vaccines, track and trace and any other statistics and procedures. The government through tax benefits and exemptions must support them in doing so.
The Private Client Industry is uniquely placed to help the recovery by clubbing together, to share Client Stories and Podcasts so we can discover collectively what we can do for our clients – the world’s wealth creators to build trust and do our bit to help restore some normality into the world in which we live. This is the ethos behind Caroline’s Club.
Maybe we need to form a Private Client Professional Association which lobbies the government to introduce tax breaks and reliefs for our clients; to encourage investors to buy the David Hockney from the Royal Opera House to help its liquidity, and invest into businesses of the future to stimulate growth. Maybe this is a question we need to put to Martin Territt of Territt Consultants a professional lobbyist at this week’s Client Stories Zoom meeting and our Podcast Professional of the week.
If you would like to join our group, simply register and sign up to Caroline’s Club by clicking here.