Exeter Northcott goes into administration
26th February 2010
Exeter Northcott, one of the few remaining producing theatres in the south-west of England, has gone into administration, it was revealed today, 26 Feb. The trustees of the theatre took the decision at an emergency board meeting late yesterday evening. They claim that they were given financial information that showed the venue to be insolvent.
Following this, the board appointed Ian Walker of Begbies Traynor in Exeter as joint administrator earlier today.
Chairman of the board of trustees Geoff Myers said: “We took this decision with a heavy heart, but when presented with the latest financial information we had no choice but to place the theatre into administration. It is to be hoped that a way can be found to effect a rescue of the theatre. In the meantime, I would encourage theatregoers to continue to support the Exeter Northcott in the knowledge that those who book their tickets while the company is in administration will, in the event of any performances being cancelled, be issued with a full refund. I have been greatly encouraged by the response of stakeholders, who have agreed to do all they can to ensure the theatre continues in some way as a performance venue.”
However, despite the board’s claim that it had “no choice” but to place the venue into administration, it is understood that this view was not shared by Arts Council England, which had attempted – unsuccessfully – to persuade the organisation to continue to trade as usual for the time being.
Today, a spokesperson for the arts council said it was “disappointed” that the Northcott’s board had taken this decision.
The spokesperson added: “We are disappointed that the decision has been taken to place the Northcott Theatre into administration at this point. We have been working with the new management over the last two years to broaden the theatre’s programming and increase its audiences.
“Despite this hard work, a legacy of financial problems has recently come to light. The arts council has been working with the Northcott’s new management to understand the extent of these problems but this work is not yet complete. We will now work with the administrators to see what assistance we might be able to offer to the organisation going forward.”
It is understood that after the most recent financial problems had come to light, the arts council had appointed a forensic accountant to investigate the state of the theatre’s finances. That accountant had not had a chance to finish the investigation before the Northcott board applied to go into administration.
Administrator Ian Walker said: “In the short term it is our intention to try and ensure that all performances in the spring programme can continue and announcements will be made in the press and on the Exeter Northcott website as soon as possible. In the longer term I believe it is important to ensure a theatre can be maintained in Exeter and I intend to hold discussions with all existing and possibly new stakeholders at the earliest opportunity.
“As regards ticket sales, anyone that has purchased tickets prior to today is unfortunately an unsecured creditor of the company. However, if we are able to ensure that productions do take place as planned, it is hoped that all existing obligations to ticket holders will be honoured. If it is not possible for any productions to take place, details will be posted on the theatre’s website and existing ticket holders will be unsecured creditors of the company. In practice, it is likely that most people will be covered by credit card guarantees in any event.”
Officials at the Northcott confirmed that the venue’s next show – a visiting production of The Ministry of Fear, which is due to open tomorrow – will go ahead as planned with its run at the Northcott until March 6. Beyond that, it is unclear what will happen. However, any tickets purchased after the venue has gone into administration will be protected and customers would receive a full refund if the performance were to be cancelled.
A spokesperson for Equity said: “This is a very alarming development and calls into question what appears to be the generally-accepted view that regional theatre is healthy and should be celebrated.”
The development also marks the latest twist in an ongoing saga for the Nortchott.
In 2007 – shortly after reopening following a £2.1 million redevelopment – the venue was hit with the news that it was to lose its annual £547,000 grant from ACE as part of the controversial 2007 spending round decisions. At the time, the theatre said it would face the threat of closure if the grant was removed. In early 2008, ACE revised its decision and the grant was reinstated.
Later in 2008, long-serving artistic director Ben Crocker left the venue after ten years in charge and a new senior management team was appointed.
In October that year, the new chief executive Kate Tyrell announced a restructuring of the organisation in a bid to save money on running costs. The scheme saw several redundancies made at the venue, however it appears that it may not have been enough to right the company’s finances.
Source: The Stage 26 February The Stage 2 March”:http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/27400/exeter-northcott-placed-into-administration
