Leisure and Youth Policy and Review Panel - Monday, 9th November, 2015 7.00 pm - Agenda and minutes

To confirm the Minutes of the Meeting held on 7th September, 2015 (copy attached)

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 7th September, 2015 were agreed as a correct record.

To receive a presentation from Mr. David Phillips, Town Centre and Cultural Manager which will provide an update on operations at the Princes Hall, Aldershot and refer to future opportunities and potential developments.

The Chairman welcomed Mr. David Phillips, Town Centre and Cultural Manager, who had been invited to the meeting to give a presentation on the Princes Hall Annual Report 2014/15 and an overview of the future opportunities and potential developments at the site.

Mr. Phillips reported on events held at the Princes Hall during 2014/15, and advised that, for the first time ever, over 1,000 events had been held at the theatre. This figure comprised 407 promotions, such as 56 professional shows, 39 performances of the Pantomime and 232 Youth Theatre sessions, and 639 hirings, including 85 concerts and shows, 318 business meetings and 90 dance classes. It was explained that whilst  “hirings” were risk free, a fixed fee was paid by the hirer for use of the room, profit on promoted events was dependent on ticket sales. It was noted that the Youth Theatre sessions had increased from four sessions a week in 2010/11 to seven per week in 2014/15, which were attended by over 100 young people.

It was advised that the number of professional shows and their attendance figures had remained consistent over the past few years; data showed there were 50-60 shows on average a year, attended by around 20,000 people. Increases to ticketing prices, in the past twelve months, had resulted in an increase in gross box office figures and profit on professional shows.  The Panel was informed of the ten most profitable professional shows, these included shows by comedians Lee Mack and Jason Manford, Sing A Long A Frozen, Psychic Sally, That’ll be the Day and Milkshake Live! It was noted that if a show ran for more than one night/performance profits increased, as set up costs were reduced.

Mr. Phillips reported on the data collected from performances of the Pantomime. It was noted that attendance figures had remained between 17,000 and 19,000 per year over the last six years, with Snow White and Peter Pan being two of the most popular Pantomimes. Gross box office figures had risen steadily over the years, with takings in excess of £250,000 in 2014/15, resulting in a profit of £123,000 (a £3,329 profit per show). When benchmarked with ten other venues in England, it was noted that the Princes Hall ranked fourth on profit per pantomime performance, beaten only by three venues with significantly larger seating capacities.

It was noted that, compared with thirteen other civic theatres in England, the Princes Hall ranked top on average percentage of tickets sold per professional show, (including the Pantomime). 39% of all Princes Hall’s tickets were now sold online, (fifth out of twelve venues), the installation of a new ticketing system, “Spektrix”, enabled a target figure to be set of 50% by 2017.

It was advised that income from the Tichbourne and Princes suites had reduced since 2006/07 but income from the main auditorium had almost tripled. It was a priority to address the fall in hiring income of the ground floor suites or find  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

To review the Panel’s current work programme (copy attached), and to agree priorities where necessary.

            The Panel NOTED the current work programme and were advised that a presentation on the Playground Review and an update on the Lido Review would be given at the next meeting