UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said that his Government will do “everything it can” to combat ticketing touting, after MP Kevin Brennan highlighted Eurovision tickets being listed on Viagogo for thousands of pounds. During Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday (Wednesday) Brennan highlighted a BBC Radio 4 show, ‘You and Yours’, which discussed the issue of …
UK Government allocates 3,000 Eurovision tickets to displaced Ukrainians
The UK Government has announced that around 3,000 tickets will be made available for displaced Ukrainians living in the UK to attend the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest. Liverpool is set to hold the competition in May, as 2022 winners Ukraine are not able to host after Russia invaded the country just over a year ago. …
Night time businesses lose out during festive period
The Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) has said that businesses in the sector lost a fifth of their trade over the festive period. While New Year’s Eve performed better than expected with trading down by only 16% compared to 2019, the month of December was underwhelming for trade due to consumers having less disposable income, …
UK Government’s Unboxed festival to be examined by National Audit Office
The UK Government’s Unboxed festival, an arts festival with free events taking place across the UK, is to be examined by the nation’s independent public spending watchdog. The review has been requested by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee. In a letter published today (Tuesday) the Comptroller and Auditor General, Gareth …
MPs call on UK Government to remove EU touring barriers
A cross-party group of MPs and Peers have released a report calling on the UK Government to remove barriers faced by UK musicians when touring the European Union (EU). The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Music (APPG on Music), which incorporates more than 100 MPs and Peers, published the ‘Let Music Move – A New Deal …
UK Government faces fresh calls to reduce VAT
There have been fresh calls for UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak to reduce VAT to 12.5% to help businesses in the live entertainment and night time sectors. Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA), has said that time is running out for the UK Government and the Chancellor to help with inflation …
New UK CMA powers to further protect consumers
The UK Government has announced reforms that will aim to protect consumers from being ripped off, as well as boosting competition. Plans are set to include making it illegal to pay someone to write or host a fake review to mislead consumers. The Government is also giving the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) more …
Calls grow to ditch impending VAT hike on concert tickets
UK Music chief executive Jamie Njoku-Goodwin has written to UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak to reconsider an impending VAT hike on concert tickets. The Chancellor is set to outline a mini-Budget for the country on March 23 in his Spring Statement. The VAT rise is set to come into force from April 1. Currently, the VAT …
Chelsea unable to sell tickets after Abramovich sanctioned by UK Government
English Premier League football club Chelsea will not be able to sell new tickets to matches following the sanctioning of Russian owner Roman Abramovich. Abramovich has been sanctioned by the UK Government due to his close ties with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Putin ordered the invasion of neighbouring country Ukraine on February 24 and a …
Businesses urged to apply for leftover Government COVID support grants
English businesses are being urged to keep applying for £840m ($1.3bn/€1bn) worth of COVID-19 support grants, which are still available. Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy), Paul Scully, has urged businesses to apply for the grants, which were made available by the Government to councils across the country. Funding is made up …