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You may have your temperature checked upon arrival when nightclubs reopen, and have to become accustomed to security staff enforcing social distancing.
That’s according to Peter Marks, chief executive of The Deltic Group, the UK’s largest club and bar operator, which runs 53 venues across the country.
On Wednesday, Marks renewed calls for nightclubs to reopen, detailing safety precautions the chain is planning to take.
“We will temperature check people, we can do track and trace 100% because we have security, we can have people walking around keeping people apart,” he said on BBC’s Today programme. “We think, with other protocols that we’re working with scientists on right now, we can come back as safely as any other part of hospitality.”
Marks claimed it’s “illogical to allow pubs to reopen when clubs can’t”, saying that both face “similar challenges”.
“We always accepted that we were going to be last back, but we do think that it’s driven by PR,” he said. “We shouldn’t be shutting a sector down, we should be keeping things local.”
Marks’ comments come after lockdown restrictions were eased further in England, with bowling alleys and soft play areas permitted to reopen.
Not everyone in the nightlife sector is confident clubs will reopen anytime soon. Bill Brewster, DJ and co-author of Last Night A DJ Saved My Life, previously told HuffPost UK: “I don’t expect clubs to be open properly until spring next year, perhaps longer.”
“The current regulations would not make it financially viable for many to open unless there’s a substantial open air space,” he added. “Yes it will return in some way, but almost certainly not the same as it did before the pandemic.”
Club promotor Tom Hoyle added that while the closures have “devastated ” his livelihood, he doesn’t want clubs to reopen until it’s absolutely deemed safe.
“If there is ever going to be a perfect model for creating a ‘super-spreader event’ then I imagine it would be what we do – inviting thousands of people from all over the country into a venue to queue and dance and mingle shoulder to shoulder all night in a hot sweaty environment where people are dancing and shouting,” he said. “It seems like it could be the perfect petri dish.”