More than 200 staff are to lose their jobs when Fairfield Halls shuts this summer, it has been confirmed – but Croydon’s cabinet member for culture claimed the closure was “hugely helping them”.
Seventy full-time employees are to be made redundant and a further 150 temporary and part-time staff will be out of work when the curtain falls on the venue on July 15.
Croydon Council confirmed last month the theatre complex would close for two years to allow for a £30m revamp despite strong opposition from staff, Fairfield’s management and Conservative opposition councillors, who wanted parts of the building to remain open during the work.
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A spokeswoman for Fairfield (Croydon) Ltd, the charity that runs the venue, said no recruitment plans had yet been drawn up to replace the 220 staff who will lose their jobs.
She added: “We believe there isn’t a plan in place for hiring staff when Fairfield reopens post-redevelopment.”
Fairfield’s chief executive Simon Thomsett last year warned the loss of staff would mean the venue “starting from scratch” in 2018.
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But Cllr Timothy Godfrey, cabinet member for culture, leisure and sport, said: “We don’t just employ people to not do anything. The council is making a lot of staff redundant right across the organisation. In difficult times you have to be quite tough and make difficult decisions.”
The council is to pay Fairfield (Croydon) Ltd £800,000 to fund redundancies, said Cllr Godfrey.
He added: “The council was fully aware that the Fairfield financial status was very difficult.
“If the Fairfield had fallen over without council support at any time in the past few years or in the future those staff would have lost their jobs and had to claim statutory redundancy pay from the government.
“This way ensures they are all treated fairly and properly.”
Asked if he believed the two-year closure was the best option for staff, Cllr Godfrey said: “It is hugely helping them, putting in money to clean up their balance sheet and enable the charity and the trustees to undertake their responsibilities.”
But Andy Hylton, a technician at the halls who has led the Save Our Fairfield campaign, said: “Redundancies are unnecessary because the work could be phased.
“To say they are going to reopen it in two years’ time is a blatant lie to the people of the town because you couldn’t reopen it without having that time ahead to book acts and you can’t book acts unless you have an operator to book them.
“It shows the naivety and inexperience of most of the people involved in this whole process.”
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