VenuesNow (09/20/21) Gottfried, Gideon
Lucy Noble, who chairs the venues subcommittee for the U.K.'s LIVE (Live music Industry Venues & Entertainment) industry body, is highly optimistic about a return to normal following a busy summer at her venue and the lifting of all capacity restrictions on July 19. As artistic and commercial director of the Royal Albert Hall, Noble says the past 18 months have galvanized her venue to enhance its live brand digitally and host alternative events, although live performance and audience experience will remain paramount. "I have felt throughout this pandemic that government don't really understand our industry and the value of it and that has been a real problem," she notes. Looking to the year ahead, Noble predicts that "[v]enues will be busier than ever — we've all rescheduled 18 months of events so there are lots of shows ready to go out there. For those who made redundancies, there is the concern of finding those who are skilled to work in our business. Many have changed careers during this period. Retraining will be required in many cases, and the loss of those skilled workers is a real shame."
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