Jane Longhurst, chief executive of the Meetings Industry Association, said:
“The mia welcomes today’s announcement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer that the Government’s furlough scheme will be extended until the end of October.
“Having highlighted the particular plight of our sector, we are grateful that the Government has listened, and from the start of August the scheme will have greater flexibility to allow employers to bring furloughed employees back part-time.
“Without the extension, our recent research was predicting 8,402 job losses of skilled and unskilled workers among our 800 mia members alone.
“We now await further clarity later this month on how employers will start sharing the cost of paying the salaries with the Government.”