After hearing about the new corona measures, owner Jeroen van Broekhoven of FOX disco in Stadskanaal no longer knows what to think up to keep his company running.
‘This just can’t be done’
‘We are only allowed to open from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Our average visitor does not normally arrive until midnight, ‘he says. ‘We were now allowed to open very small on Saturday evenings until 2 a.m., for a male or fifty / sixty. Now that may be thirty men and then until 10 pm. That just can’t be done. ‘
Will the last twelve employees also end up on the street?
Earlier this year, Van Broekhoven had already cut his staff enormously: he had reduced from 28 to twelve employees. ‘In recent months I have been able to earn that part of the personnel costs that I have to pay myself. But now it could be that in one or two weeks everyone has to get out. But how are you ever supposed to start up again? ‘
The disco owner does not know whether his company can survive this. ‘We have always been able to pay for everything from our own resources. We have always made good payments. Everything in the company has been paid. I only have a mortgage. By the way, I suddenly have to make repayments from 1 October. That is just too crazy for words. You can’t pay off where nothing comes in, can you? ‘
Public health comes first, I really think that, but where you have it well organized, you have to let people go
‘You keep getting the lid on your nose’
Van Broekhoven’s bucket is filling up. ‘This is blow after blow. Every time you come up with an idea to be able to earn a little bit and to keep your staff, but you keep getting the lid on your nose. ‘
Van Broekhoven has submitted a request to the municipality whether he can allow a little more people in, because he is adhering to the corona measures. ‘But even then it is only until 10 p.m.’, he says. ‘I thought closing twelve hours was already intense, but I can still do something with that. This is just entrepreneurial bullying. Public health comes first, I really think that, but where you have it well organized, you have to let people go. ‘
I never thought my relationship would be strained, but maybe now will come a time when I have to choose. Then this institute will be lost for Groningen
Will FOX be lost for Groningen?
Van Broekhoven also takes the measures in the private sphere. ‘I never thought that my relationship would be under pressure, because I have it super well at home. But maybe there will come a time when I have to choose and then I will choose home. Then this institute will be lost for Groningen. FOX is one of the top clubs and entertainment centers in the Netherlands and I am proud of what I have achieved. I have made this my life’s work. But home and my health come first. ‘
What Van Broekhoven mainly wants is a dot on the horizon. ‘But there is none. Every month you lose financially. Every month your bucket fills up a little further. Every time you think you have a chance and then they hoe it from under your feet. It’s really awful. ‘
Also read:
– Groningen safety region: ‘National measures logical, further elaboration on Tuesday’
– These corona measures will apply for the next three weeks
– Catering industry: understanding for measures, but a setback
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