Coronavirus: Nuffield Southampton Theatres in administration

A theatre operator has gone into administration after shutting its venues amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Nuffield Southampton Theatres, which employs 80 staff, was formed in 1964 and has run venues in the city centre and Highfield area.

The theatres closed to comply with social distancing rules in March and had already cancelled all future performances.

Administrators said they would be seeking a buyer for the company.

Greg Palfrey, one of the joint administrators from insolvency firm Smith & Williamson, said the theatre company "found itself with unprecedented pressure on cash flow in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak".

He said the lockdown resulted in "a flood of refund requests and little in the way of advanced bookings".

"This is a sad day not only for Southampton, of which NST has been a venerable part of the city's cultural fabric for more than half a century, but for the country's theatreland in general," he added.

"Our thoughts are with NST's 80 staff, the vast majority of whom are furloughed and are understandably anxious about their jobs and NST's future.

"We will do our best to sell the business and its assets, albeit in testing commercial conditions which have no parallel in modern British history."