The Piece Hall Trust confirms staff redundancies

The Piece Hall Trust has entered into consultation with its staff over redundancies.
The Piece Hall was closed for several months during lockdownThe Piece Hall was closed for several months during lockdown
The Piece Hall was closed for several months during lockdown

Chief executive Nicky Chance-Thompson confirmed today that jobs would be lost at the Trust after the site suffered an 80 per cent loss in income during the lockdown period.

The consultation affects Trust employees, not staff at independent businesses which lease units within the complex in Halifax town centre.

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The Piece Hall only re-opened in 2017 after a major restoration of the 18th-century listed cloth hall, one of the last surviving structures of its kind in Europe.

Its individual units are let to shops, restaurants and bars. However, four of the food and drink outlets - a bakery, a deli, Trading Rooms restaurant and ice cream parlour Blondin's - are run by the Trust as direct income generators.

The Trust was also forced to cancel several events planned for this summer. The Piece Hall's plaza hosts concerts and food festivals.

In a statement, the Trust, which has charitable status, said:

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"Whilst we have successfully and safely re-opened and are seeing more visitors returning each week, we are faced with making difficult short-term decisions to ensure a successful long-term future for The Piece Hall. It is with huge sadness that we have begun a redundancy consultation with staff, who we will support closely throughout this process.

"We remain fully confident that we will continue to play a leading role in the local and regional recovery from Covid-19 and look forward to operating a full programme of events and attractions once again in the near future.

"It is only through resilience that the industry will keep itself going, and we hope to be able to count on your support in the future. Our doors are very much still open."

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