Coronavirus: Third of staff at Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre facing redundancy

Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre has become the latest organisation to announce it is entering redundancy negotiations, in a move that will affect a third of its permanent staff.

The theatre has also revealed it will remain closed until 2021.

A joint statement from chair of the board John Elvidge and chief executive Linda Crooks said it was not financially viable to open its performance spaces to audiences while social distancing continues.

The Traverse is currently applying for the Scottish government’s Performing Arts Venues Relief Fund, but it will still have to restructure its organisation, remodel its work and reduce costs to ensure its survival.

Elvidge and Crooks said that they have had to take the "painfully difficult decision" to start redundancy negotiations with staff in customer-facing and technical roles, "with the likelihood that almost a third of our staff will be made redundant". The Traverse Theatre has 28 permanent roles, with 11 of these roles at risk of redundancy.

They added: "We have worked tirelessly to explore all possible avenues and prevent this awful situation, but we currently have no other choice in order to protect the future of the Traverse and the vibrant organisation on which our community relies."

The theatre closed on March 21 due to Covid-19 restrictions, losing at least two-thirds of its earned income. The cancellation of its key Edinburgh Festival Fringe programme was announced on April 1.