When I see a thread of "Will we return in 2022?" pop up, then I know it's not been a good year!Originally Posted by Vectis
When I see a thread of "Will we return in 2022?" pop up, then I know it's not been a good year!
Don't even go there!
I couldn't face another year of delivering avocados and Prosecco around
Exactly this - we have no confirmed date for restrictions to be lifted and it can get tricky if anyone went down the legal route - to be fair I doubt many would. It is false information that after 21st June we can expect, and advise, that things will go ahead unrestricted. Until March 2022 we can only act on information that current date, so a cancellation in October for instance, is not through choice, it can be blamed on coronavirus due to the current restrictions and guidance.The current restrictions MIGHT be lifted on 21st June subject to the 4 tests being met. Presently there is no date in law(*) for the removal or further easing of restrictions, and so anyone calling up today to cancel/postpone any future date is entitled to blame it on the restrictions and then it's down to your Ts and Cs how this is dealt with.
EXCEPT if it's a wedding taking place in a covid-secure venue with 30 or fewer guests or is a funeral wake, because these are currently allowed (England) in which case they can't blame the cancel/postpone on covid.
* UNTIL 25th March 2022 when the Coronavirus Act 2020 expires taking with it the legal powers to implement restrictions (unless rescinded or extended before then).
Well that's my take on things anyway
So if it were me I wouldn't be contacting clients booked beyond 21st June off my own back - I'd be waiting to see what happened with the restrictions first, in the hope that they are lifted and the gig can go ahead OR the customer, if wishing to postpone/cancel, would have to do so under normal Ts and Cs.
It is only when it is confirmed that restrictions will be eased, it then becomes choice and normal T&C can be followed. This is a legal view, not personal.
I have actually done the opposite and contacted all bookings I have, to make them aware once restrictions are lifted my normal T&C will apply. Any changes to take advantage of my current flexibility needs to be done before this.
My website appears to be a barometer on customer confidence at the moment....I kid you not! You can actually SEE the customer confidence wake and wane based on what's in the news on the day!
Until last weekend, it was absolutely manic....traffic like I could only dream of (and a couple of bookings to boot!)
From last weekend when the worries about the Indian variant were first published in the news...dead as a doornail
Last night when there was a Downing St press conference about things "not being too bad" - traffic went mad again (and another couple of bookings secured)
Sky news have recently published an article saying that nightclubs are no more risky than visiting the local supermarket (OK...ventilation needs to be taken into consideration but a drafty marquee or barn surely count...don't they?)
Am I clutching at straws now?
I actually feel confident that I might be filling dance floors in 2021 very soon rather than driving a carrot logo'd Sprinter around delivering bog rolls and wine. From Boris's own mouth earlier, they're leaning more to personal responsibility rather than legislation...that's got to be good hasn't it?
It may involve guests doing tests before and after the event (I'll be fully vaccinated by the time I get to my first booking). It may even involve the wearing of masks (oh Gawd I hate those things no matter how pretty some of them look!)
Looking at the wider picture though with the Indian variant being less transmittable than they first thought....I think July rather than June might mean we're back to some sort of what we remember from 15 months ago...
Another one optimistically booked for July 21 tonight. TWO all day weddings booked for Spring 22.
Come on people....I need to fill my diary for THIS year to save me from delivering turkeys in the snow again
At the moment, July 21 is now full (fingers crossed), as is September. The rest of the year leaves a LOT to be desired. ALL of the August ones have moved to 2022 and I'm not even getting new enquiries for August 21 for some reason. October is liveable, beyond that....nothing...no corporate Xmas enquiries...it's a wilderness!
Jan 2022 and beyond....whoopeee!!!
My dilemma is that at some point very soon, I need to go to the current people that put food on my table and reduce my hours to 2-3 days a week to allow me to go back to doing what I do (the agreement was always there from the very start and other's are already starting to gingerly step back into their pre-disease lives - plus the company are looking to cut hours because online shopping died literally OVERNIGHT at the last easing of restrictions!).
I honestly can't go back to full time DJ at the moment because, well...I'm scared to. And in all honestly I'll probably be delivering groceries for a couple of days a week just as a backup plan for a very long time to come! I sort of need the security blanket of some sort of job for the foreseeable just in case things blow up again, and in my mind they will because the Government and the overpowered scientists are too cautious of something that's less face it, is now less of a threat than the annual Flu!
With the A.R.G grant I received, plus what's on the books.....I can survive quite nicely this year if what's on the books is allowed to go ahead, especially if as predicted the flood gates open when/if restrictions are eventually lifted. The media seem to be reporting now that partying is no more dangerous than a trip to the supermarket after the test events.
The big problem is that we're not going to be told until a week before any further easing of restrictions, but I have to give 4 weeks notice of any change of contracted hours...what HAVE I signed up to?
Unfortunately this seems to have been forgotten about ??
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/politi...nson-may-june/
That's because Hancock changed it after that announcement : https://www.theguardian.com/politics...latest-updates
Julian
http://www.bristoldiscohire.co.uk - Quality Disco and Equipment hire for Bristol & Bath
Weddings, Birthday Parties, Kids Parties, School Disco's and more
https://julianburr.co.uk - Wedding, Family, Portrait and Product Photography
But Boris has been on the radio at work all night tonight saying that there's nothing in the data to say that 21st June can't go ahead (although there seems to be a possible caveat about face coverings).
I just wish they'd make their blimmin' minds up now (as do the band members and wedding 'tog I work with). They don't seem to understand that most couples (or indeed their suppliers) can't just make a wedding happen at the drop of a hat!
Just remember which one is the career politician (and who promised us hugs at Xmas, going against all evidence at the time).
The general consensus is that the restrictions will 'go'. The question seems to be if they will go completely. If weddings returned with 200 guests, but on the condition that dance floors remained closed, it'd be seen as 'no restrictions' to Joe public (and a political win) and they'd happily hang us out to dry because we're a small, disorganised sector that are mostly working in other jobs now anyway.
They might make the announcement on the 24th May that restrictions will be lifted in June but, unless they rescind the Covid bill on that date as well, there is nothing to stop them giving 'guidance' to recommend against certain activities or suggest some precautionary measures continue on the 14th of June, depending on the state of play at that time.
A bit like we only saw the guidance for the 17th May unlocking on the 12th of May...
Julian
http://www.bristoldiscohire.co.uk - Quality Disco and Equipment hire for Bristol & Bath
Weddings, Birthday Parties, Kids Parties, School Disco's and more
https://julianburr.co.uk - Wedding, Family, Portrait and Product Photography
Mine took three weeks, start to finish. Honeymoon was spent at work, in the tied cottage ( six bedroom farmhouse, actually ) which went with the new job. ( And don't get me started about cost of wedding. Catering for reception cost £50!)
Anyone who thinks that on the 2st June we will throw away our masks, hug complete strangers in the street, and play music to venues packed to the gunwales with punters is on another planet.
There will be restrictions of some kind for the foreseeable future, I'd say up to Christmas ( 2021, in case some prophet of doom asks). Boris can't afford another lockdown, that's the only thing you can count on. He'll do anything to avoid it, and if that means decimating the hospitality industry, well that's just collateral damage. ( As far as he's concerned).
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