Coronavirus: Jobs could go at Birmingham Hippodrome

About 60 members of staff at a theatre could be made redundant in an attempt to save the venue.

Birmingham Hippodrome said it had to scale back areas of the business as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The theatre, which currently employs about 130 members of staff, said it had entered a period of redundancy consultations.

Chief executive Fiona Allan said the "heartbreaking decision" was a "direct result of prolonged business closure".

She said the impact of the coronavirus crisis had been devastating.

"Almost all our income is received from ticket sales, and without that revenue stream the future of the theatre is in jeopardy," she said.

"This has led to the very difficult and heartbreaking conclusion that we need to scale back areas of the business and significantly reduce our team size."

The company recently announced that the theatre would remain closed until 2 November.

A spokeswoman for the organisation said the exact number of redundancies being considered was not yet clear as the consultation is in its early stages.

But it is thought about 60 positions could be axed.

Last month, UK theatre bosses warned of dire consequences if income and funding sources dried up as a result of the pandemic.

Previously, playwright James Graham said an "aggressive government bailout" was needed to save theatres from the impact of the virus.

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