Popular bar live music venue Trinity Bar in Harrow faces closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Harrow Online spoke with owner of Trinity, Chris Perdue who said: “Most independent bars/venues operate weekly in terms of cashflow. The staff get paid but after outgoings we kinda break even most weeks. No one goes into our industry independently with ideas on being millionaires for sure!
”With the current Covid outbreak our cashflow has been stopped dead. As with many venues this puts us at great risk.
“Yes, the government have offered some assistance but being of a high rateable value we don’t qualify for the immediate cash grants of £25,000. There are loans available but they want our houses as collateral.
“Clearly we are reticent about this given the uncertainty about future business. We have been given a business rates holiday of a year but that’s only helpful if we are still here!
“The staff wages furlough fund has yet to be set up so no money is flowing there. There’s talk of applications opening at the end of April but that means no many until May at the earliest. We are trying to look after the staff who can’t rely on mum and dad but unfortunately, unlike Wetherspoons, we don’t have vast quantities of cash in the bank. And those funds that are there are having to go to keeping the business afloat until this is all over.
Over the years Trinity has seen a variety of top music stars play at the venue such as Scouting for Girls who played an intimate gig back in September last year.
To assist with costs during this challenging time, Trinity have set up a Go Fund Me Page. The page notes say that in nearly 28 years, Trinity has never faced a fight to stay in business quite like this.
“Like so many other small, independently run businesses, they now face an unpredictable and potentially grave future and we really need help to survive.
Chris continued: “We have been utterly overwhelmed by the support we’ve received from this. Not just the donations but the messages of goodwill. It’s not until you do something like this that you realise you do mean an awful lot to many people.”
“We are getting messages saying if it wasn’t for Trinity I wouldn’t have met my wife/husband or had my kids. Its amazing.”
“You forget that really we are Harrow’s only live music venue and bar that is not a chain. And we’ve been doing this for nigh on 30 years now.
“The donations have been vital in meeting some of the bills that are still coming our way. Some debtors have been amazing but most have not and are still demanding money despite the situation the country finds itself in.
“One that particularly made me laugh was our trade refuse supplier, Biffa. They said to us that they understand our difficult situation and as a gesture of goodwill were willing to halve the bill but would not come to collect anything for three months! Thanks a bloody lot!”
The Go Fund Me Page states that Trinity owners “don’t want to wake up in a world, two or three months from now, in a cultural wasteland where all that is left are Wetherspoons & McDonalds. We need independent grassroots music venues to survive.” We agree! Please support this fantastic staple in Harrow’s history and help Trinity stay in business after the pandemic eases.
