In response to Boris Johnson’s announcement today on making full vaccination mandatory to enter nightclubs from September, Peter Marks, CEO of Rekom UK (formerly Deltic Group), the UK’s largest nightclub operator, has responded.
Marks said, “To say we are disappointed by this Government’s U-turn is an understatement. Jonathan Van Tam’s talk of his party in his garden shed shows how little this government and their scientists understand the modern club.
'Nightclubs have the best air ventilation systems in hospitality, retail and most other settings - with air changes on average every five minutes. Who else does that? We can sanitise and clean just like any other venue and there is no difference between a club and most pubs at midnight.
'It should be down to individual risk assessments in line with the specialist scientific advice we have received.'
Marks concluded, 'We are no more than a political football. Mandatory Covid passports may make sense one day once the entire adult population has been offered vaccines, but does government really think this threat will entice the ‘vaccine wary’ to take the vaccine? They will just stay later in the pubs and hold their parties in their houses.”