Disappointment as extended Covid-19 restrictions hit events and office return

Members of the trade say they are disappointed and will have to adapt their live events and office return plans after Prime Minister Boris Johnson delayed the easing of England's final lockdown restrictions to 19th July.

Next month's Women's Prize ceremony has been postponed until September while Hachette UK has announced modified plans for office working following this week's announcement.

The government had planned to lift all restrictions on the 21st June, but will now enforce them until 19th July, allowing for a two-week review. Indie booksellers are now having to rethink events they had tentatively planned. Although a limited number of events are able to proceed, following social distancing, the entertainment sector is set to suffer, with events organisers Fane calling on the government to underwrite the insurance for events as compensation.

The restriction extension has also led Hachette UK to modify its plans for office working. In April the publisher announced a new three-day office working policy to be phased in from June, coming fully into effect from September, but this will now be delayed.

In a statement, the publisher said: “Our new agile way of working will still start on 1st September, but the transition period will be four weeks shorter and start on 19th July. In the meantime, Carmelite House and our other offices will remain available to staff who are finding constant home working challenging due to their home environment or the impact on their mental health. This ongoing and ever-changing situation continues to have a significant impact on our mental health and wellbeing, and the quality of our professional interactions and relationships, and our priority is to support our people through this period.”

Penguin Random House said it is continuing to follow the government guidance suggesting that those who can work from home should until the revised date of 19th July.

Alex Fane, founder of Fane Productions, plans to forge ahead with his July events, which includes appearances from the “Keep The Receipts” podcast presenters, Dolly Alderton and “Fortunately... with Fi and Jane”, among others. They will run at reduced capacity with social distancing measures in place.

Speaking to The Bookseller, Fane said: "The safety of audiences is our priority, but — along with the rest of the entertainment sector — we are devastated that the government has again, at incredibly short notice, curtailed plans for live events to take place at full or even 75% capacity. The government's own event pilots as well as UCL’s study into the safety of events proved that mask-wearing audiences at full capacity were safe.

“At present, to plan a live event means considering taking a huge amount of risk, with costs paid out upfront, staff hired, no coronavirus insurance and the possibility that the government will change its mind at a week’s notice. It’s an impossible situation that cannot continue. We call on the government to underwrite the insurance for events, as put forward in the Financial Times, to allow for some risk mitigation."

He said: "Audiences will be contacted in the coming days with further details. We have already sold over 120,000 tickets for the autumn season, and will continue to announce and work on shows at full capacity from September onwards."

His colleague, Fane producer Serena Brett, told The Bookseller's Marketing & Publicity Conference this week how "bruising" the constant shifting of restrictions had been for event planners through lockdown.

Nikki Mander, head of publicity for the adult division at Bonnier Books UK, agreed the news was expected and so the team had planned flexibly. "We have found that largely event organisers have been treading carefully with this in the back of minds, and planning according to the guidance from 17th May," she said. "The word 'hybrid' has been in full play, with small in-person audiences running alongside live digital streams, and therefore there is an in-built ability to modify accordingly. A handful of events in late June and early July may be affected, but whether they will be rescheduled or switch to online is yet to be determined."

The team behind the Daily Mail Chalke Valley History Festival confirmed it is still able to go ahead as planned, with restrictions in place, on 23rd June.

Jane Pleydell-Bouverie, the festival's director, said everything had been planned under current regulations “including limiting capacity in the tents to 50%, a cap on the overall number of spectators allowed on site, the wearing of masks indoors, socially distanced queuing, and daily testing of all staff, volunteers, contractors, press and speakers”. She said: “Saturday is now sold out but there is still availability for a fantastic array of events, mostly outdoors, on all other days."

Though most people The Bookseller spoke to were expecting the delay, the news is still a blow to indies, some of which were planning physical launches and author events.

Burley Fisher Books was due to have a physical launch in July, but chose to plan tentatively. “I felt fairly certain that the lifting of restrictions would be pushed back, so we don't have any substantial planning until September,” said Sam Fisher, owner and bookseller at the Hackney-based indie. “Our big concern would be the festival we are throwing in October, but that's still looking like it will probably be able to go ahead."

Others said they would rather weather the delay on total freedom than experience another lockdown. Patrick Neale, of Chipping Norton's Jaffe & Neale, said: “We have some outdoor events planned, so are trying to figure out how they can go ahead. I really don’t want an autumn or winter lockdown, so would prefer to knock this on the head now. I am more concerned that the rest of the town is suffering so that a visit to Chipping Norton is less appealing. Otherwise book sales remain strong."

Sanchita Basu de Sarkar, owner of The Children's Bookshop in Muswell Hill, is keen to host events but said the extension was the right move. She commented: "It's very disappointing that we can't hold our in-store events yet — but I'm not surprised, and have been prepared for this for a few weeks now. And it's for the best — what we really can't afford is another wave or localised restrictions coming six weeks later."