Shortly over 12 months since my first blog post I thought it a good time to give an update on how things are going at VillaGaiety and the wider Culture Division.
Most recently many of the community will have interacted with our buildings either online, in person or on social media through the excitement of the Paolo Nutini performance. On the day, our ticketing provider recorded 9,000 people entering the specially designed queuing system to try to purchase tickets. This exceptional, though not unexpected demand illustrates the enthusiasm of the Manx public to attend live performance – an exciting prospect for future events in our programme.
Looking back on year one, a highlight was the confirmation of funding for the technical upgrade of our sound, lights and rigging in the Royal Hall, Promenade Suite and Gaiety Theatre. This vital funding will support future proofing our venues and allow us to deliver a contemporary and high quality programme in coming years for the nation.
We’ll soon have the contractors confirmed and available equipment on order to install for phase one. More details on progress will be shared publicly once contractors are appointed, to help demystify the often unnoticed and yet vitally important technology which allows our buildings to operate successfully.
The finances of the buildings have been a huge focus since my arrival, and I’d like to share some financial information transparently on our current position:
For 2022/23 when taking into account the budget received from Treasury as agreed in the annual Government budget, VillaGaiety ended the financial year £817,008 in deficit. This was largely a result of increased utility costs and the entertainment sector still recovering from the pandemic. A direct result of the latter was the rescheduling of a number of a high profile acts who were eventually programmed 12 or even 24 months later. We know from others operating theatres and arts centres throughout England that they too have struggled with the same challenges including increased artist fees as we have.
Despite a challenging financial position, between April 2023 and March 2024, VillaGaiety and Kensington Arts welcomed 213,399 people as audiences, participants and visitors. And we continue to make good progress in addressing our deficit – which for 2023/24 had decreased by approximately 25%.
Looking ahead to 2024/25 we hope to sustainably decrease it again whilst delicately balancing commercial income and community benefit.
More widely, considering the arts sector VillaGaiety is part of - Government funding of the arts is common practice and seen as important around the world, and the way in which our buildings are run is not dissimilar from large regional towns where the local council funds and operates the community arts buildings. The National Theatre in London receives £16.7million a year from Arts Council England which is mixture of English taxpayer funds and lottery tax duty, and it continues to maintain huge global success. Taking a smaller comparison closer to home, Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse receives £1.68 million from Arts Council England along with £589,000 further annual funding from their City Council to support their operations.
Both of these buildings operate a diverse income stream model whereby they use their public funding to leverage other income from hospitality, hires, ticket sales and wider sponsorship. VillaGaiety operates in a similar way, and our plan is to become better at this in the coming years.
As well as improving our financial position, the wider Culture Division team have worked this year to better articulate our purpose and the difference we want to make in the community. Below you’ll find our Vision, Mission and Values which define what we want to achieve for our nation. These will be reviewed annually and are embedded in a service delivery plan our team work to.
Vision
Our vision is to create a thriving Island community through inspiring our nation to participate, engage and access a lifetime of arts, entertainment, and creativity.
Mission
Responsible for the national development of the arts and managing the Island’s flagship venues we facilitate and make culture accessible for all.
Values
Quality – we aim to give the best experience possible to our audiences, artists, and the public, and promote professionalism and workplace pride within our team.
Sustainable – we seek to operate sustainably with our resources and recognise our vital role in considering the impact of our work on the environment.
Enjoyment – we want to enrich the everyday lives of our community through animating our nation with memorable shared experiences. We offer a rewarding professional context for our team to work in.
Openness – we are collaborative in our approach and we communicate openly about how we work. We listen to our community, collaborators and team through a culture of feedback.
Representation – we deliver and facilitate activity which is relevant, reflective and inclusive for everyone in our Island community.
In the coming year you’ll see more change as we grow our income streams, upgrade our technical infrastructure, develop our live programme offering and importantly, work to deliver our values and vision. If you’re interested in learning more we invite you to read further blogs or get in touch with any feedback.