Wedding Task force meet at Number 10 Downing Street
Number 10 today thanked the UK #WeddingsTaskforce for a “hugely helpful” meeting convened with both Number 10 and BEIS on Monday 8th February
Number 10 confirmed that the Taskforce’s solution for a safe reopening of weddings will be included in representations to the PM’s COVID Taskforce – which has been tasked with unlocking the economy. We are confident that weddings will be included in the Prime Minister’s roadmap due to be announced the week of 22nd February.
This follows from a letter that was delivered to Government with the backing of MP’s.
The Weddings Task force urge businesses who have not yet done so to sign up for their newsletter. more details can be found on #UKWeddings #Weddingstaskforce and https://ukweddings.org/
For the latest Newsletter from WTF CLICK HERE
To read the letter to Number 10 CLICK HERE
MPs RALLY BEHIND WEDDING BUSINESSES WITH LETTER OF SUPPORT
84 cross-party MPs sign letter in support of the Wedding Industry.
• Letter outlines pent-up demand in sector, worth £25bn to the British economy within first 12 months of a
resumption of trading, with £6.5bn of this due to HM Treasury.
• 824,000 UK weddings in the post-pandemic pipeline over next two years.
• Pressure applied to government to support the sector so it can realise this potential.
A cross-party group of MPs has written to Paul Scully MP, Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Labour Markets, stressing concern at the situation facing the Wedding Industry. The Minister, a strong supporter and advocate of the sector, has agreed to raise a set of asks with HM Treasury ahead of next month’s Budget.
With 60,000 businesses employing 400,000 workers, the MPs argue the sector – worth an average of £14.7 billion to the UK economy each year – requires urgent attention and bridging support to stay solvent, fulfil upcoming bookings, maintain jobs and boost the economy when restrictions are lifted.
Of the £14.7 billion revenue, taxes generated from weddings contributes an average of £3.8 billion to the public purse annually, with HM Treasury collecting £2.4 billion from on-the-day spend, £852 million from spend on retail and £546 million from travel, tourism and pre-wedding events. With the current backlog of weddings, this figure could rise to £6.5 billion in 2021 and £4.8 billion in 2022. Without support, it is feared these vast sums could be lost when the nation needs it most.
The action comes after the UK Weddings Taskforce [www.ukweddings.org] – the official body designated to negotiate with government – presented a detailed ask to Paul Scully MP. A full summary of what the UK Weddings Taskforce asked for can be seen on its official website, with the highlights being:
• A sector specific support grant of £680 million available to eligible wedding businesses.
• Access to support available to closely related sectors (such as hospitality) including the 5% VAT temporary
reduction and rates relief.
• Extension and adaptation of existing support programmes.
• Measures to protect deposits.
• A roadmap for the gradual, safe reopening of weddings in line with government plans to publish its exit strategy in late February.
The list of signatories, organised by Neil Parish MP, includes representation from all the major parties, in all devolved nations, across the UK.
Number of Weddings across the UK:
- 278,599 weddings occur every year in the UK (figures from the Offices of National Statistics for England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland)
- Over 260,000 weddings were postponed due to the pandemic in 2020 (based upon ONS average figures)
- Businesses responding in January to a survey by the UK Weddings Taskforce reported catastrophic losses, with over three quarters of businesses have reporting revenues down by over 75%*
- An estimated 278,000 recently engaged couples are also planning to marry from 2021 onwards: when added to the postponed weddings from 2020, circa 475,000 weddings are in the 2021 pipeline (25bn) and 349,000 are in the 2022 pipeline (circa £18.4bn)
Wedding Industry Worth:
- There is an estimated £14.7bn direct spend on weddings every year:
- £9.4bn spend on the day itself
- £3.2bn spend on retail
- £2.1bn travel, tourism and pre-wedding events
Wedding Industry Workers:
- Approximately 400,000 workers are involved in weddings:
- 250,000 people depend on work related to delivering a wedding day itself
- 150,000 more work in support functions
- For every couple who attends a wedding as a guest, depending upon the size of the wedding between 1and 4 people are involved in working to deliver the day itself, earning less than £25,000 per year on average.
- Majority female-driven, ethnically diverse and 50% small and micro businesses.
- *UK Weddings Taskforce Survey of over 3000 wedding businesses Dec 24th 2020 – 12th Jan 2021
