30/09/24: We have expressed our concerns to LBH Councillors in an email to them this morning:
Dear Councillors,
Trafalgar Theatres offered a deal to LBH to continue running the Beck Theatre into 2025 and beyond, for which any other Council would have been incredibly grateful for; offering a 3 year trial of a deal with zero subsidy from the Council, at no cost to the taxpayer. So if LBH are so keen to keep the theatre open, why did they then not accept a deal with Trafalgar who have been running this since 2007? Cllr Bianco today has gone on record to the BBC saying the LBH intention is to keep the Beck Theatre open. But if this is the case, then why are LBH not confirming how this will be achieved and answer our key questions:
We need urgent clarity on these key points:
• Who are LBH in talks with about a new operator lease for Jan 2025
• How are potential new operators being vetted? As leisure operators who run gyms and swimming pools lack the experience of running a theatre. How would they give assurance to you and us, the community, that they could manage bookings and have access to promoters in order to attract new shows?
• Why does you intention have no strategy or plan?
• What is the plan for staff that the Council have left in limbo?
• Are potential new operators (in whatever form they take) being offered the 9 month contract that Trafalgar were?
Over the weekend, the BackTheBeck campaign to save the Beck Theatre organised a Public Meeting at the Beck Theatre on Saturday, inviting all councillors and extending a personal invitation to Cllr Ian Edwards, Leader of the Council. I received no response to this invitation.
Consistently since this campaign was launched, we have continued to ask the key questions from LBH that we still have no firm answers to.
• What are Hillingdon Council’s plans for the venue from Jan 2025?
• What certainty can LBH assure us there is not a hidden agenda to drive the venue into the ground and make it deliberately fail to justify a permanent closure?
• What assurances can LBH give that the Creative Learning programme will continue, supporting our community as it has done for so many years?
• LBH are in the process of asset-stripping in order to meet a £75m target. Can they confirm that The Beck and the surrounding land will not be sold to developers?
We still believe that the current operators are in the best position to secure the Beck’s future for the next 3 years and more. It is bitterly disappointing that Trafalgar were forced to begin exit preparations because of no appetite from LBH to accept their trial.
This weekend’s events have shown that this venue means so much to the community! Our public demonstration outside Uxbridge Tube station has made regional television and radio news and more and more people are talking about this campaign to save our theatre. We need its future secured for the next 50 years - Hillingdon Council must re-open a dialogue with the current venue staff and Theatre Director Steve Sargeant to work out a plan from January 2025. We STILL don't know of LBH's intentions and demand answers. We won't let them run down the clock to force an inevitable closure!
We don’t seek to create a rift or risk getting into a slanging match with the Council. Our campaign has been positive, and all we seek is for LBH to be open and honest with their plans for the building, as so far we have had no response to our concerns I have just addressed.
A full recording of the Public Meeting on Saturday will be available in due course and will be shared on our website backthebeck.org.
29/09/24: Demonstration outside Uxbridge Tube station:
From BBC London (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_london)
Hundreds of people in west London have gathered to protest against the possible closure of a theatre.
Beck Theatre in Hayes is under threat as its owners, Trafalgar Theatres, has failed to reach an agreement with Hillingdon Borough Council over its funding.
Local people, who gathered outside Uxbridge Tube station to protest, said they were concerned that the council wanted to force the closure to make it look financially non-viable.
The council dispute this, saying it has no intention of closing the theatre and would find another provider if an agreement could not be reached with Trafalgar Theatres.
The dispute has been ongoing publicly for the last week, with the council saying it did not want to subsidise a "privately-operated commercial entity".
The current deal, which runs out in January, sees the theatre pay no rent on the use of the building.
Sunday's protest drew frustrated comments from one mother.
She told BBC London: “I have a child with autism who a journey to somewhere different, going far away in an unfamiliar environment, would be impossible for her to take part.
"Those children have been nurtured by the Beck team, they’ve been in a familiar place and they’ve been given an opportunity that they wouldn’t have had if that wasn’t there.”
Another protester added: “There are some people there that this is their only day out during the whole week.
"If you took that away from them then they would be lost, they would just be sitting in the house.”
Jonathan Haynes, who has been involved with the theatre for 30 years and is coordinating the Back the Beck campaign, said: “We’re concerned that they’re going to take on another lease with another provider, another operator, that may not be a theatre operator.
"We’re concerned that actually what the council are trying to do is to force the closure and make it look financially non viable.”
But Jonathan Bianco, deputy leader for the council, said that was not its plan.
“We have no intention of closing the theatre," he said, adding: "Our intention is to keep this theatre open."
Trafalgar Entertainment said given the removal of financial support and issues around building repair liabilities, it could not continue to run the building.
28/09/24: Statement from Theatre Director Steve Sargeant, read at the Public Meeting at the Beck Theatre on 28/09:
Good afternoon.
When I was initially approached by the campaign to host a public meeting at The Beck, I refused. I didn’t want this building to become a political battlefield. But, we are here today because, quite frankly, there is no other venue.
There are few things that it’s important for me to say today, and I say them as someone who has lead this extraordinary organisation for nearly 7 years, someone whose only loyalty is to this Theatre and someone who has seen first hand the crucial value of Arts and Culture in this area. My only agenda is to protect this Theatre for you.
Firstly, I want to speak on why we are here today and why this fight, the fight to save The Beck is so important. I also want to share with you some facts, devoid of spin, devoid of any political point-scoring because I believe in transparency. So that’s what you will get from me today.
Many people think that Arts and Culture is a ‘nice to have’ and at a time when so much across our society is broken and ordinary people are facing so many challenges, that our focus should be elsewhere, but I disagree.
The arts are essential to any complete national life.
Those aren’t my words, those are the words of Winston Churchill. Who also- it is reported- refused to cut funding for the Arts during the War effort, responding ‘Then what would we be fighting for’. During times of strife, the Arts become even more important, providing sanctuary and relief from challenges that surround us. Put simply, in Theatres like this one, we’re not selling tickets, we’re selling quality of life.
Our Theatres also bring people together, in a way that we must protect. Just a few weeks ago, the deep divisions in our society were exposed, leading to terrifying scenes across the country as riots took hold in our communities. There are lots of things that contributed to those horrifying scenes, but I can’t help but observe that the deepening of these divisions in recent years coincides with the removal of cultural and community spaces. Every time we lose an Arts centre, a community hub, a youth club, library or other civic space, we lose the opportunity to learn about each other. We lose the opportunity to make meaningful connections to the world around us and we lose a little bit of what it means to be a part of a community. We now have so few spaces designed to bring people together and that must change if we are going to repair our society and move forward.
There are other benefits, too. Leading Evidence from academia and the Ministry of Justice indicates that the arts support the process of desistance from crime by fostering empathy, building family connections and playing a role in restorative justice. Put simply, Arts and Culture provision reduces crime.
It also makes us healthier. The world health organisation says this:
Artistic expression grew in lockstep with human cultural development and has long played an integral part in how we teach, learn, communicate and heal. Since our earliest ancestors began telling stories to make sense of the world, we have evolved to learn from narrative. In recent decades, we have come to understand the intrinsic health benefits to artistic and leisure activities. Art can help us to emotionally navigate the journey of battling an illness or injury, to process difficult emotions in times of emergency and challenging events. The creation and enjoyment of the arts helps promote holistic wellness and can be a motivating factor in recovery.
Arts and Culture also puts money in our bank accounts. As it currently stands, the Creative Industries contribute £126bn to the UK economy. Here in Hayes, The Beck has a local economic impact of £3m per year. That’s not money spent here, that’s money spent in the local area by our visitors and employees. That’s money straight into the pockets of local residents.
So the argument is clear. Arts and Culture improves our lives, it makes us healthier, safer, richer. Much has been made of the subsidy that this Theatre has historically received and I’ve been told multiple times recently that ‘we just can’t afford to’. What that means is we can’t afford for our communities to be safer. We can’t afford for our residents to be healthier and we can’t afford to support local business and local employees. You know what I say- we can’t afford not to.
It’s with this determination that my team and I have approached running this Theatre and delivering life-changing projects for people right across West London, despite the acute challenges we have faced along the way. Here are some facts from across the Arts sector.
The UK has one of the lowest levels of Government spending on culture among European nations, and was one of a small minority of countries to reduce total culture spending per person between 2010 and 2022.
Between 2009/10 and 2022/23 Local government revenue funding of culture and related services decreased by 48% in England.
And between 2018 and 2023 there was a 23% fall in the number of music, theatre, dance and comedy events in the UK.
Despite these challenges, The Beck has gone from strength to strength, leaning in to it’s ‘community-first’ model and doubling down on providing a world-class programme that’s accessible to everyone and ensuring that every person in this area has the opportunity to experience the transformational potential of the Arts.
I think it’s fair to say that we have seen the ugly side of ego in the war of words that has played out over the last 10 days or so. So there’s something else that I want to share as we continue further into this meeting and it comes from down the road in Battersea, where in the mid 1800’s, their town motto was this: Not for me, not for you, but for us. This building and this meeting is about everybody, it’s about the things that bring us together, the things that raise us up in times of challenge and the things that we celebrate in times of triumph. It is not for me, not for you, but for us.
Thank you.
23/09/24: Latest statment from #BackTheBeck
There have been some statements made over the last 72 hours from London Borough of Hillingdon (LBH) that the Council do in fact want to save The Beck. However all of their actions thus far seem to say the opposite. We have tried to set the record straight and the statement provided by Trafalgar Entertainment (the venue’s current operators) supports this; you can read this here:
https://www.trafalgarentertainment.com/2024/09/20/statement-from-trafalgar-theatres/
Negotiations between Trafalgar Entertainment (the current operators) and Hillingdon Council broke down because LBH did not accept Trafalgar’s proposal: to operate a zero subsidy three year deal on peppercorn rent running to January 2028, saving the LBH £270K per annum. It should be noted that this subsidy has been offered by LBH in the past to help the Beck engage with the local community in Hillingdon – hosting events in partnership with Hillingdon Music Service and with local schools, dance schools and charities, as
explained by Trafalgar in their latest statement. Their Creative Learning work has touched the lives of thousands of local people and includes, amongst many other initiatives, Community Choirs, Workshops, Dementia Friendly Film screenings and Youth projects. With the current lease ceasing by the end of the year, LBH haven’t offered another one on acceptable terms and so Trafalgar has been forced to cease
operations - they did not take the decision to walk away lightly.
If LBH do not want Trafalgar to remain as the venue operator, then they must clarify how they intend to keep the venue open from 2025, because with no agreement in place no shows can happen and no tickets can be sold. Changing operators is not as straightforward as just handing over the keys. There are a number of operational considerations, including the fact a lot of the assets are owned by Trafalgar so these will go when they leave. These include critical equipment to run the shows, like lighting and sound desks, a lot of the lighting rig, foyer furniture, office equipment, software to sell tickets. There is also currently nothing scheduled from January despite a few odd bookings that had gone on sale prior to the breakdown in contract negotiations described above.
Without a proactive backer which can allow the venue to thrive, it simply won’t be able to sustain itself and this will give the Council the justification they need to close it for good. We cannot afford for these challenges to serve as justification for the closure of the theatre, or allow the theatre to be financially mismanaged so that there is the perfect excuse to close it 18 months down the line.
We have seen this happen before with several other public services: HACS tearoom and the three public nurseries (Uxbridge, South Ruislip and Nestle) which were due to close have also suffered haphazard decisions by the Council. The tearoom had its funding removed by LBH and the council blamed the charity that had been running it for not stumping up the money.
The nurseries had been running with very high outgoings and we were told they were not financially viable - but the Council could have foreseen this over the years, done its sums properly, and could have changed to a cost-effective provider. LBH made no effort to make the nurseries commercially viable, then said they had to close for this very reason. An example of how this was implementing below inflation rate increases and using agency staff throughout, which exacerbated their financial difficulties.
There is a theme whereby this Council regularly financially mismanages public services. They are then deemed at risk of closure, and then the property is sold for yet more flats. Public buildings in prime locations should remain for the enjoyment of the public. Uxbridge Library is another example of this. So too on a central government level are police stations such as West Drayton. The government cut police funding
over 5 years (by 20%) - this police station and others closed and had to be sold.
So to bring it back to The Beck, we have a number of questions for LBH that so far we have failed to get any answers to:
We are concerned that Cllr Ian Edwards is claiming that LBH had discussed with Trafalgar the option of a ‘new, modern Beck Theatre on the site with Trafalgar continuing at the helm’ - this is simply not the case. And if it was - what are their plans? Because we have seen so often that buildings are closed with an intention they will be demolished and re-built, but once closed the appetite wanes and they sit derelict for
years before being sold to a private developer for flats. Or worse, the site gets demolished, gets turned into a housing estate or a new development, and a much smaller, studio theatre is built to “tick a box”, although anything smaller than the Beck would make it completely non-viable for the wide ranging community dance shows, youth theatre productions and professional tours.
We are organising a Public Meeting on Saturday 28th September at 1600 at The Beck Theatre as we need to address these concerns publicly with representatives from LBH in the room, and for the local community to have an opportunity to ask questions.
We will also be staging a demonstration outside Uxbridge tube station at 1100 on Sunday 29th September. The fight to preserve The Beck is far from over - but we hope that given the overwhelming public response, LBH will be able to address our concerns publicly and re-open a dialogue with the venue to plan for the next chapter in its future and preserve it in Hayes for the next 50 years.
20/09/24: Back the Beck’ campaign launched to keep West London theatre open - release from The Stage
Full story: https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/back-the-beck-campaign-launched-to-keep-west-london-theatre-open
Campaigners have called for local and national action to save West London’s Beck Theatre, which is facing imminent closure.
Trafalgar Theatres, the venue’s operator, has announced it is preparing to exit the venue following the withdrawal of financial support from Hillingdon Council.
The ‘Back the Beck’ campaign has raised the alarm online, calling on culture secretary Lisa Nandy as well as local residents to "mobilise" and salvage Trafalgar’s operation of the venue, without which it says the theatre will be lost "for good".
Trafalgar’s statement marks a breakdown in two years of negotiations with the council following the conclusion of Trafalgar’s 15-year contract operating the venue in July 2022.
Amid discussions about a new, revised contract, the council sought to withdraw its subsidy of the theatre, with Hillingdon Council’s leader Ian Edwards arguing that it “should not be subsidising a privately owned commercial entity with council taxpayers’ money”.
Despite labelling this lack of direct financial support "extremely challenging", Trafalgar Theatres accepted the withdrawal, requesting the council bear the cost of adequate repairs to the building.
According to Trafalgar Theatres, after further back and forth, Hillingdon Council said its "final position" was a trial period of nine months for the new arrangement with "little responsibility for the physical fabric of the venue", which Trafalgar deemed "untenable".
Trafalgar Theatres has now publicly confirmed its intention to begin exit preparations after its pantomime later this year, saying in a statement it had done "everything in its power" to secure its continued operation of the venue.
Citing a statement from Edwards and the breakdown in negotiations, Trafalgar said it had been left with the impression that the council did not want to see Trafalgar continue to operate the Beck.
Edwards’ statement referred to Trafalgar Theatre’s accounts, which showed retained earnings of £18.856 million and which he said amounted to "healthy opportunities for further income generation".
He added that although the council remained committed to continuing negotiations, it was "bitterly disappointed" by the publicising of Trafalgar’s ceasing of activity on social media.
However Trafalgar said it was not directly behind the online ‘Back the Beck’ campaign, although it "shared its feelings".
"While we understand that this campaign may have prompted councillor Edwards’ public statement, it does clearly demonstrate the strength of community feeling and concern in the borough regarding the future of the Beck.
"We share those feelings and, while it is not possible for Trafalgar to continue, we do not want to see the building close."
Trafalgar added that it was heartened by the council’s indication that it would seek alternative operating arrangements, including managing the venue itself, and called for the Beck’s team and audiences to get "the certainty they deserve regarding future cultural provision in Hillingdon".
However the ‘Back the Beck’ campaign, which is picking up traction on social media, is demanding an immediate three-year extension for Trafalgar’s proposed nine-month trial period, allowing it to stay at the venue and "play catch-up on the time it’s lost while in limbo".
Its online statement continued: "To keep the Beck running, [Hillingdon Council] need to guarantee the full three-year lease now, or confirm that it will operate the venue itself as this is the only way the Beck will remain open from January 2025."
"Let’s be honest," it continued "once it is all boarded up, and then becomes a victim of arson, or theft or other forms of vandalism, it won’t be in a fit state to reopen. We will have lost a vibrant ray of light from our community upon which we so depend."
"If the venue were to close, there would be no professional mid-scale theatre in West London between Hammersmith and High Wycombe, and no home to the countless dance schools, youth groups and choirs that use the same stage to perform and enrich their lives," the campaign group added.
20/09/24 11.30: Our response to the LBH statement
The response from the Council suggests the Council has no plans to close the Beck Theatre.
However, from January 2025 there is currently no one to operate the theatre, nor will there be any staff working inside the building. LBH have offered the current operators the shortest lease they can (just 9 months to September 2025). This is untenable for any operator, which is why it can’t be agreed. We understand that Trafalgar had already agreed to a trialling a zero-subsidy model, but it needs time to be implemented and developed if The Beck is going to be protected long-term. This has been communicated to LBH. A three year extension would allow Trafalgar to programme shows, launch a new events venture and recover the losses which will be made in the first few months of 2025, whilst they play catch-up on the time they’ve lost whilst in limbo. To keep the Beck running, LBH need to guarantee the full 3 year lease NOW, or confirm that it will operate the venue itself as this is the only way the Beck will remain open from January 2025.
The LBH are drawing attention to a Cabinet resolution on 28/06/24 (the notes from which can be found below). But if a three year extension isn’t offered now, there will be no other operator, no staff and no shows.
We need our representatives and Councillors from LBH to confirm the operational plan for The Beck from January onward now.
We ask all of you to send in Freedom of Information requests to foi@hillingdon.gov.uk with the above questions. Details of what must be included in your FOI can be found https://www.hillingdon.gov.uk/foi
As each day passes with no resolution, we get closer to a point where there won’t be time to schedule new shows for the New Year. No shows. No tickets sold. An empty theatre. This is what we are heading towards. Without these, no theatre will survive. If another operator were to accept the 9 month extension, which would be completely non-viable on their part this would not solve anything overnight.
Programming takes months of planning, and relies on intricate strategic planning from both the touring production, and also the venue. And most promoters have already booked their venues for early 2025.
Time and space must also be offered to local community productions, which also takes months of planning from their part to make stories and shows that they want to share. The people in our community deserve the opportunity to shine and grow, through projects such as the Beck Community Choir, Summer Youth Project, International Women’s Day, and the many dance and performing arts shows from schools and academies in the local area.
So if LBH do want the Beck Theatre to remain, their current actions aren’t allowing this to happen.
Save Our Theatre. #BackTheBeck
——
Cabinet Resolution Notes from 28/06/2024, where it was agreed that LBH:
1) Agrees the extension of the existing contract to ensure the continued delivery of high-quality theatre and cultural offer at the Beck Theatre, Hayes until December 2024 on a reduced subsidy level between July 2024-December 2024;
2) Agrees to delegate authority on a further extension (maximum of three years) based on a zero-subsidy model to the Corporate Director of Place, in consultation with Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services;
3) Agrees to peppercorn rent for this extension period on similar terms as the current arrangement.
The full decision details can be found here:
https://modgov.hillingdon.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?Id=3186
19/09/24: A message from Steve Sargeant, Theatre Director
Steve sent this message personally as a reply to an email he was sent from a supporter and member of the local community. This is not a public statement but we felt compelled to share it.
I just wanted to share a quick personal note in response to the whirlwind events of the last 24 hours.
When I wrote to our community groups yesterday, I did so because Hillingdon residents who rely on The Beck to present their events deserve the opportunity to make alternative arrangements. I didn’t expect that letter to be shared so widely and never in my wildest dreams did I expect the community to pull together in such an extraordinary display of support and solidarity.
I can’t speak on behalf of Trafalgar Theatres (who have not released any public statement about The Beck), but I can speak on behalf of myself and my team and I wanted to share just how moved we have been by the incredible response from the communities we are proud to serve. LBH has not yet offered any clarity, so it is not just the venue that is at risk, but also the employment of The Beck team. The outpouring of support has been a real comfort during this deeply uncertain time.
I’ve been asked countless times to respond to Cllr Lavery’s pretty shocking statement yesterday and I’ve thought long and hard about whether I should. In the end, I’m not sure what is to be gained. The strength of feeling in Cllr Lavery’s statement is palpable, but I don’t believe residents have an appetite for any kind of political mud-slinging.
Based on the conversations I have had with Cllr Lavery, he knows that his statement yesterday is factually inaccurate, but the priority has to be protecting The Beck for the future and I wouldn’t want to be distracted from this by the temptation to correct falsehoods.
I remain ever hopeful that meaningful dialogue can be sustained and the future of The Beck can be protected for generations to come.
But for me, this isn’t just about The Beck, and it’s not just about Theatre- it’s bigger than that. It’s about community, it’s about the value of spaces that bring people together and- fundamentally- it’s about quality of life. Because that’s what our cultural and community spaces provide.
The Ministry of Justice acknowledges that access to Arts & Culture lowers crime rates. The World Health Organisation acknowledges that access to Arts & Culture improves health outcomes. And the economic impact of our cultural spaces puts money back in the pockets of local residents.
Safer. Healthier. Richer.
That’s why The Beck is worth protecting and that’s why I’ve been so inspired by the community response.
Take care,
Steve
Steve Sargeant
Theatre Director
The Beck Theatre
18/09/24: Letter to Beck Theatre stakeholders from Steve Sargeant, Theatre Director
Dear friends,
It is with enormous disappointment that I’m writing to advise you that Trafalgar Theatres’ future at The Beck Theatre has been made untenable and we are now forced to make preparations to exit The Beck Theatre at the end of this calendar year. Whilst we do not know for sure, our concern is that the theatre may be at risk of permanent closure.
As you may know, The Beck Theatre is owned by London Borough of Hillingdon and operated by Trafalgar Theatres. Our agreement to operate The Beck is due to expire after our Pantomime later this year and we have been in constant dialogue with LBH since late 2023 to explore a new agreement that would give certainty and would protect The Beck for the future.
Trafalgar Theatres has been diligent in exploring all options that would allow us to continue operating The Beck and we have been steadfast in our solutions-oriented and collaborative approach to protecting this flagship cultural venue.
We have been clear with LBH that we urgently needed clarity from them on the future operation if we were to secure a high-quality programme from 2025 onwards - and provided them with a deadline for decisions - after which it would be impossible to do so.
We are deeply disappointed that this deadline has now passed without agreement. We must now start making exit plans to be activated once our agreement ends in January 2025 . LBH have so far been unable to provide us with any clarity around any proposed alternative operation of The Beck, and our concern, therefore, is that The Beck may close its doors.
For nearly 50 years The Beck has been the cornerstone of Arts and Culture for Hillingdon, West London and beyond. Not just a professional Theatre with a world-class programme, but also a hub of creativity, creative learning and community outreach. There is no other Theatre like The Beck in the UK and no other venue of a similar scale with a 10-mile radius. The closure of The Beck would therefore be a
devastating blow not just to audiences but also to the myriad local organisations, charities and communities that we support. I am deeply sorry that we find ourselves in this position.
Unfortunately, we are not able to advise on any future plans for The Beck. Should you have questions, however, you may wish to write to the Corporate Director of Place, Karrie Whelan on kwhelan@hillingdon.gov.uk who will be in a position to respond.
Thank you for your continued support of The Beck Theatre.
Yours,
Steve Sargeant
Theatre Director
© #BackTheBeck
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