Piece Hall Trust Chief Executive comments on redundancy consultation

As a result of the coronavirus crisis, the Piece Hall Trust has announced that it has entered a consultation period with its staff over redundancies.

The iconic landmark suffered an 80 per cent loss in income during the lockdown period.

The consultation affects Trust employees, not staff at independent businesses which lease units within the complex in Halifax town centre.

Chief Executive of the Piece Hall Trust, Nicky Chance-Thompson DL, said: “Whilst we have successfully and safely reopened and are seeing more visitors returning each week, we are faced with making difficult short-term decisions to ensure a successful long-term future for The Piece Hall.

“Unfortunately, this means we have had to begin a redundancy consultation with staff, who we will support closely through this process.We remain fully confident that we will continue to play a leading role in the local and regional recovery from Covid-19 and look forward to operating a full programme of events and attractions once again in the near future.”

Following a major restoration project, the Piece Hall reopened in 2017. The 18th century listed cloth hall is one of the last surviving structures of its kind in Europe.

Ms Chance-Thompson told the Halifax Courier: “We’ve received lots of really lovely, positive messages. Thank you to everyone that has shown their support.

“Like so many other culture and heritage sites, lockdown has been a really difficult time for us. We are doing our best to preserve as many jobs as possible and to continue to support the Calderdale community.”