It has been reported that The Royal Albert Hall has avoided making mass redundancies from its 515 members of staff.

It comes as some good news to the arts sector which is still reeling from the inference from Chancellor of Exchequer Rishi Sunak that many jobs in the industry are not 'viable' — from performers to front and backstage workers.

55% of normal pay

Under the scheme, the bulk of the iconic London venue's workforce will be laid off on 55% of their normal pay and then can be called upon if the venue is able to reopen and stage shows.

It comes after the current wage support furlough scheme comes to end in October, and after critics of the scheme pointed out that the creative industries brought £110 billion in revenue to the Exchequer in 2018.

However it is thought that the sector could still lose tens of thousands of jobs if targeted employment support help is not given.

Flexible

The Albert Hall, which has not opened to the public since March, has instigated a 'flexible lay-off scheme' designed to avoid making cuts.

he report in the Evening Standard newspaper quoted a spokesperson saying: "Given our financial situation, this is a solution that looks after our staff and avoids losing our important workforce."

However, it was also reported that the venue had furloughed staff under the Job Retention Scheme which will end in October and that there was still the danger of a number of roles still being at risk of redundancy."