FESTIVAL CITY THEATRES TRUST BUSINESS PLAN 2012 TO 2017 INTRODUCTION The Trust s last business plan was written in 2009. Since then, the Trust has suffered significant financial losses (in 2010/2011) and has undergone a major restructuring of its business to enable the company to continue trading. Early in 2011, the Board made the difficult decision to implement a programme of redundancies and restructured the management team. CEO John Stalker left in June 2011 and was replaced by Interim CEO Pat Weller (July 2011 to January 2012). Duncan Hendry was appointed CEO in December 2011 and took up the post in April 2012. In the financial year 2010/2011, the company incurred a deficit of 765,551. In the financial year 2011/2012, the company made a surplus 250,195 which helped stabilise the organisation. As a consequence, the deficit on unrestricted reserves carried forward to the 2012/2013 financial year was reduced to 684,398. This new business plan has been developed by the Board and Senior Managers in consultation with staff and stakeholders. The plan sets out to eliminate the deficit by the end of the 2015/2016 financial year whilst maintaining the quality and ambition of the programme. Once clear of deficit, the company aims to establish unrestricted reserves of 350,000 by the end of the 2017/2018 financial year. This will allow the company to trade with confidence and to deliver an exciting and ambitious programme with sufficient reserves to deal with the ups and downs of programming these venues in what is a relatively high risk business. Artistically the identities of the two venues will be redefined the Festival Theatre will concentrate on its strengths programming ballet, opera and contemporary dance with a particular emphasis of establishing itself as a centre of excellence for the presentation of international dance. The King s Theatre will be programmed to reflect its popularity as a much loved theatre in Edinburgh and the Lothians with a programme of drama, children s theatre, amateur theatre and musicals. VISION For the King s and Festival Theatres to be recognised as centres of excellence in Scotland, be engaged with the local community and present work of the highest quality that stimulates, entertains, educates and inspires MISSION To enhance the reputation of our theatres by presenting a programme of quality work from Scottish, UK and international companies.
To give leadership, support and exemplary levels of care to visiting companies, stakeholders, customers and our own staff. PHILOSOPHY AND VALUES We will achieve our Mission by being a good employer through providing career development and training for employees, caring about our audiences and building long-term relationships with them, forging close and mutually beneficial relationships with stakeholders and business partners and by contributing to and being part of the community we serve. We will always try to exceed minimum standards and expectations. In doing this we will hold to the following values: Respect we will treat everyone that we encounter equally and with respect and courtesy at all times Integrity we will demonstrate high levels of honesty, reliability and openness Impartiality we will be fair and even handed in dealing with customers, performers and each other Professionalism we will seek to be professional at every level of our business Sustainability we will seek to be efficient in operating our business, ensure that we are a sustainable organisation and will minimize carbon emissions and environmental impact STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES Financial To operate in surplus and establish agreed unrestricted reserves by 2017. We will eliminate the deficit by the end of the 2015/16 financial year We will establish unrestricted reserves of 200k by March 2017 (and 350k by March 2018) We will raise 250,000 (of designated funds) each year through the Theatres Development Fund We will develop a fundraising strategy with a view to having a more diverse income stream Infrastructure To provide flexible facilities for our visiting companies, audiences and staff that meet or exceed their expectations. We will develop an asset management and improvement plan We will carry out access audits of both properties by March 2013 We will comply with zero waste initiative by December 2013 We will reduce Energy consumption by 5% each year We will review our environmental policy We will seek to complete the development of the Studio on Potterow on time and on budget
Audiences To develop and grow new audiences from a wide geographic area and a broad range of demographics, whilst retaining and deepening engagement with existing audiences. We will increase average tickets sold per performance by 5% annually (11/12 figures, Kings 912, Festival 764) We will return to 09/10 total annual attendance levels by 13/14, then increase by 5% annually (09/10 figures, Kings 169,500, Festival 169,000) We will increase Friends membership by 10% annually We will reduce number of customers going stale (i.e. not returning within 26 months) by 5% annually We will increase household distribution by 10% annually (by targeting specific postcode areas with a low penetration) We will select two Mosaic Groups from the least well represented demographics in our customer base and increase attendance from these groups by 20% over three years. Artistic Activity To present quality work best suited to our theatres from local, national and international companies. King s Theatre To present the best of Scottish, UK and international drama alongside family theatre, musicals, the International Festival, the work of the National Theatre of Scotland and Edinburgh s amateur theatre companies. Festival Theatre To be the City s premier festivals venue to include hosting The International Festival, The International Film Festival, The International Jazz and Blues Festival and Fringe events. To continue to be the Edinburgh home of Scottish Opera and Scottish Ballet and to be recognised as Scotland s leading theatre for dance and opera by presenting the world s finest companies. To deliver an ambitious programme of large scale event theatre that embraces the unique character of the Festival Theatre. We will continue our membership of current consortia (Dance Consortium, Touring Partnership and Scottish Theatres Consortium) and consider membership new consortia Retain at least 4 weeks of performances by amateur companies and work with them to improve the quality of their productions and the viability of their visits We will freeze venue hire costs for amateur companies
We will work with Scottish Ballet to bring their productions to the Festival Theatre over the Christmas season We will work with the National Theatre of Scotland to bring more productions to the King s We will investigate with the Scottish Theatre Consortium members and officers of Creative Scotland - the possibility of joint commissioning of new work We will develop a programme of live streaming and recordings of opera, ballet and theatre productions Learning and Participation To develop a learning and participation programme which engages, informs and enthuses a wide range of participants, develops new audiences, and helps deepen our relationship with existing audiences. We will expand Careers Day programme to include more S4, S5 and S6 students and develop a teachers careers day, working with the Lyceum and Traverse Theatres We will grow attendance at Big Night Out events amongst 14 to 16 year olds by 10% each year. Increase number of partner organisations for Big Night Out by two over three years We will maintain an active role in the TAB and City of Edinburgh Culture and Sport Learning and Participation Benchmarking project and use the information to develop our Learning and Participation Programme We will establish a programme of qualitative research, starting with the DanceQuest project and continuing with the Scottish Ballet Youth Collective and the 2014 Lord of the Flies project to establish the effectiveness and value of our Learning and Participation Programme, with specific reference to youth dance We will secure additional funding to allow the continuation of our Dance CPD for Teachers. Aim to increase from four sessions in 2012/2013 to meet demand We will secure additional funding to allow the expansion of our work with young people with additional learning needs, including programming more relaxed performances (aim for a minimum of one per year) We will develop a programme of events for the Festival Theatre foyer spaces, focusing on work for the pre-school age group and on developing new partnerships We will develop a plan for the programming of events and development of partnerships in the new Festival Theatre Studio We will expand the theatre talks and adult education programme People To involve, invest in and support our staff to develop skills, reward commitment and sustain a productive working environment. We will consult with staff representatives during the business planning process to ensure engagement across the organisation We will carry out an annual staff survey and determine the effectiveness of our people management strategy We will promote a number of initiatives that demonstrate our social responsibilities (Access, panto tickets for looked after children, relaxed performance etc) A training needs analysis will be developed using feedback from appraisals
We will develop a strategy to encourage a positive approach to work/life balance (new Flexible working arrangements) We will develop a reward and recognition strategy and involve employees in that process We will review and improve internal communications taking on board the views of staff (staff survey)