Going online - and why it's a vital move for us...
Dated: Friday 26th June 2020
As with so many enterprises these past three months, we have been hard hit by what has been the total loss of income from matchday sales and regular subscription renewals.
The suspension of football meant us pulling the plug on Issue 360, which was primed and prepared for the Barnsley home game in March, the first fixture to fall victim to the lockdown. Although the printing has now been put on hold, we still have substantial payments outstanding to our printers; while other regular bills relating to the production of AKUTR's still need to be met, all without any matchday income now. Modest though that might be, it is still a huge worry to drop to nothing.
Compounding this is the fact that we have also lost our entire income from our day job, in entertainment. We have had no income at all since February and, much to our dismay, especially given how hard we work and the miles we put in, don't qualify for any government assistance. With a full diary of summer events and festivals now completely lost due to the pandemic, we have no prospect of any income for the foreseeable future either. It is a very bleak outlook, one that is not only affecting us personally in terms of our mental health and well-being - it also severely threatens our ability to continue publishing AKUTR's as and when things ever return to normal.
Rather than hold out the begging bowl, we have decided therefore to do what we always do - roll up our sleeves and work even harder! While football continues behind closed doors, we have taken AKUTR's exclusively online. When that changes and printing can also resume, we will be available both in hard copy on matchdays and by subscription as usual, and also permanently now online.
We have always relied on the support of QPR fans. We'd never have made it to 33 years of continuous publishing without that support. We are not going to allow even a global pandemic to stop us making it many more years to come. We hope you will support us in this venture - and keep yourself entertained at the same time!
Stay well, stay safe - and we will see you all at a QPR somewhere, some time, in the near future!
Best wishes
The AKUTR's Team
A Statement