'We've got events on their sixth re-scheduling'
“We’re cautiously optimistic, but we’re not rushing to get everything booked in right now. We've been here before."
Rebecca Walker is assistant manager at The Leadmill, the iconic club and music venue in Sheffield that has played host to scores of famous acts over the years including the Arctic Monkeys, Coldplay and the Killers.
It is the city's longest-running live music and club venue, opening in 1980.
Fast-forward 40 years to March 2020 and nightclubs were and remain unable to operate, while many theatres and live entertainment venues have struggled to make social distancing work.
Apart from a brief, socially-distanced reopening when restrictions were eased in the latter half of 2020, The Leadmill's doors remain closed and more than 100 events have been re-scheduled or cancelled.
So when Prime Minister Boris Johnson unveiled the timeline for reopening sectors of the economy, how did Rebecca feel?
“We’re very happy that the government has set out targets, not dates that they need to meet to open up because that allows us to track the data properly and do some form of planning," she tells Radio 5 Live's Wake Up to Money.
“We’ve got live music events that are on their fifth, or sixth re-scheduling.
“A lot of those are still planning to move into 2022 because they’re not quite sure what’s going to be happening around the autumn-winter time and they don’t want to take any more risks of having to re-schedule and contact customers and let people down again.”
Entertainment venues have suffered real financial hardship during the pandemic. According to the Night Time Industry Association, 85% of businesses have been considering shutting up shop for good.
100 or so miles north-west and Miriam Randall, chief executive of the Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal, Cumbria, feels a similar, cautious optimism.
“It’s been a year of cancellations and postponements and we’re literally talking to the same bands and promoters about a bunch of dates that have been shifted further and further into the future, so it’s not as though we can suddenly have a live programme again by the end of June," she says.
The venue comprises a cinema, theatre, galleries and a live music venue.
“Every time we’ve been in the building we’ve been reconfiguring it, making it as safe as possible.”
But she says they have been able to “change their offer” while waiting to reopen.
“We’ve got lots of online activities happening now, a big education programme; our classes will probably be online for some time.
“When we get back open, we’ll do it in a phased way. The key date for us is the 17th of May.”
Mr Johnson has said steps taken to ease lockdown should be "cautious but irreversible".
"Until we can fill our venues to capacity," Miriam says, "we can't really make them work financially. There are still hurdles ahead."
They both feel the end to restrictions in England in June is by no means certain.
"It would be great if everything goes like clockwork with the vaccine rollout, but we just don't know. It's been a year of unpredictability and the one thing I'm expecting is the unexpected," Miriam says.
"We've not come out of a pandemic and into non-social-distancing before," says Rebecca.
"We did actually put some club nights on sale from June the 21st because club nights are easier to move than live music events.
"There has been some consumer confidence from the younger generations to get back out there and really go for it on June the 21st," she adds.
"We'll just have to see what happens."
Asked what their dream reopening nights would be, Miriam says: "We'll have lots going on... there'll be so many people smiling, it will be fantastic. Social contact, good times."
For Rebecca, an ideal first night at The Leadmill would be "absolute carnage".
"We'll have an un-social-distanced local gig going into the messiest pub night you'll ever see."
