Broker News: Sports & Leisure Market Post Lockdown

The government has recently released its plans to ease lockdown and lift us back into some sort of normality. This will include a gradual increase back into some sort of normality for the sports and leisure industry and will hopefully mean more enquiries for those seeking insurance with specialists like yourselves. This will happen over 4 main steps;

Step 1
On and after 8th March, all schools will reopen, which will mean that school sports and activities will become available as part of the UK’s education provision, albeit under the same restrictions prior to the latest lockdown.

On and after 29th March, outdoor sporting and activity facilities will become available for all ages, things such as tennis and basketball courts, golf courses and open-air swimming pools, will also be allowed to reopen. There will still be restrictions however, including the rule of six, which we are familiar with by now.

Step 2
On or after 12th April, indoor facilities should start to reopen, subject to a suitable and expected COVID rate. This will mean facilities such as gyms, indoor club facilities, leisure and community centres and indoor swimming pools will start to open. This will still only apply to individuals and household groups, meaning indoor club facilities can only look to partially open to allow suitable restrictions. Outdoor hospitality should also be able to operate, meaning events will be a consideration, subject to suitable authority licencing and similar.

Step 3
If all has gone well up to this stage, starting no earlier than 17th May, organised indoor group sports for adults (as children can do this if part of an education provision, as per step 1) will be permitted. This will include group activities, like exercise classes provided by freelancers. We will also see a re-introduction of spectators at events.

Public events will be permitted subject to government guidance and local restrictions, the majority will follow the following rule of thumb. Indoor events will be able to have 1,000 people or 50% of a venue’s capacity, whichever is lower. Outdoor events will be able to take place at a capacity of 50% or 4,000 people, whichever is lower. For large, outdoor venues, crowds will be permitted up to 10,000 people or 25% of capacity, whichever is lower.

Step 4
No earlier than 21st June, government restrictions on social contact will be lifted, including those laid out above on event capacities. If all goes well, we should be able to move on to the new normal by this date with the majority of our vulnerable community vaccinated. Until such a time we get to this stage, it is still encouraged to exercise no more than once a day, outdoors and only with your own household and/or support bubble or if no one available then one other person from another bubble is fine subject to suitable distancing.

If you want to keep an eye on how these events unfold and see what the latest is with regards to restrictions you can visit the government website.

If you have any feedback or any information you wish to share, please contact your account manager, whose contact details can be found within the broker platform, on the homepage, top right.