North Wales MS Mark Isherwood has appealed to the Welsh Government to support wedding venues after being contacted by several in North Wales who fear they will not survive without it.
In this afternoon’s meeting of the Welsh Parliament, Mr Isherwood called for an urgent Welsh Government Statement on support for Wedding venues in Wales, quoting two venues in North Wales who have contacted him outlining their need for immediate help.
Speaking in the Chamber during the Business Statement, he said:
“When I questioned the First Minister about wedding receptions two weeks ago, contrasting UK Government provision in England with ongoing Welsh Government restrictions, the First Minister replied, “I have huge sympathy for those many families who have arranged and rearranged wedding receptions….but I make no apologies at all….”.
“However, the struggling owner of one Wedding Venue in Flintshire emailed:
‘The new grants are so low they are offering me approx £7k top line to cover the end of March to date. I understand the risks with covid but we either need realistic grant offer or to open up fully as at this rate it’s only a matter of time before we will have to close’.
“And as the General Manager of a wedding venue near Llangollen emailed yesterday:
‘Last week Mr Drakeford’s comments during the update have had a catastrophic result on weddings due to take place this summer. They, Welsh Government, have told us that we won’t receive any further news until the next review on June 21st.
‘Wedding venues, suppliers and couples just cannot wait that long’.
‘Welsh businesses will suffer, we’ve all experienced bookings cancelling and moving their bookings to England for weddings in late July and August, it’s just another devastating blow. Is there anything you could do, or anyone you can speak to, to help us?’
“I call for an urgent statement accordingly.”
In her response, the Trefnydd, who is also the Minister for North Wales, offered no hope of immediate support, but said wedding venues “is an area we can certainly look at” as more sectors and more parts of society are opened up.
She said:
“The First Minister has said that, as we obviously open up more sectors and more parts of society, we will need to look at what other parts of the sectors are closed and whether we need to do specific funding for them, because we still have some funding available, and obviously wedding venues is an area that we can certainly look at.”
Speaking afterwards, Mr Isherwood added:
“These businesses need this support now, they can’t afford to wait!”
