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The Grand Theatre Blackpool

You are in Annual Report

ANNUAL REPORTS

Blackpool Grand Theatre (Arts and Entertainments) Limited Blackpool Grand Theatre Trust Limited

The Grand Theatre held its annual general meeting on Wednesday 20th June 2007. Members considered and approved the Directors’ reports and annual accounts for the two main companies, namely the theatre proprietors:
 
Blackpool Grand Theatre Trust Limited
               
Report of Directors        Report of Auditors         Annual Accounts 2006
(1.5MB)                          (623KB)                          (2.6MB)
 
and the theatre operators:
Blackpool Grand Theatre (Arts & Entertainments) Limited
            
Report of Directors        Report of Auditors          Annual Accounts 2006
(2.2MB)                          (635KB)                           (2.9MB)

REPORT OF THE DIRECTORS

The Directors presented their annual reports for the year ended 28th October 2006. A copy of the full report and accounts is available as PDF files on the right of this page or by clicking the thumbnails below.

 
Blackpool Grand Theatre Trust Limited (5.48MB)

Blackpool Grand Theatre (Arts & Entertainments) Limited (6.33MB)

The following is an extract of the key features of the Directors’ reports:

INCOME GENERATION 

The company received rental income of £79576 from the letting of the theatre to Blackpool Grand Theatre Theatre (Arts& Entertainments) Limited, a shop and kiosks.
Donations and legacies to unrestricted funds amounted to £1132.
Donations and legacies to The Sam Lee Appeal, a restricted fund, amounted to £87725 including £45000 from the Friends of the Grand.

PHASE TWO OF THE GLORIOUS GRAND RESTORATION & THE SAM LEE APPEAL 

During the year, Phase Two of the Glorious Grand-Restoration continued, funded through the Sam Lee Appeal. This seeks to raise £500,000 for new seating, carpeting and improved disabled access. We completed a new, accessible suite of lavatories in the stalls. The new seating and carpets have been ordered and will be installed ill the theatre in June and July 2007. 

During the year, the Sam Lee Appeal raised a total of £90899 from donations, gift aid and bank interest. The Friends of the Grand were the largest contributor at £45000. The longest-standing supporter of the Grand Theatre capital appeals, the John Slater Foundation, made a generous contribution of £8000. We launched a new seat endowment scheme, whereby new seats can be named for £1100 each. The donation to date amount to £23100.

BUILDING REPAIRS 

Work was completed in the year on a substantial repair of the west and southern elevations. This has been a periodical repair for many decades, going back to the 1950's and last undertaken in 1996. The exposed elevations had suffered water ingress and damage throughout the wall. Initial inspections from street level could not ascertain the extent of the erosion. The whole repair project is expected to last longer than hitherto, because of utilisation of modem building techniques.

DEVELOPMENTS, ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS 

During the year the company presented performances to a paid attendance of 152226 (2005: 192833) theatre goers. The decrease of 21 per cent was largely due to an unsuccessful summer season. The overall decrease in incoming resources was £720843. Charitable expenditure was contained within budget but outgoing resources exceeded incoming resources by £60135.

These performances comprised an art form mix as follows:
Ballet and Dance 6
Children's theatre 46
Drama 73
Musicals 56
Opera and Classical Music 5
Pantomime 43
Studio Theatre 28
Variety 134
Summer Season 32
Total Performances 423

Ballet and dance companies and presenters visiting the Grand Theatre were Stomp, The Russian State Ballet of Siberia with Romeo & Juliet and Nutcracker, Jaleo Flamenco and Coppelia. 

Drama productions consisted of The Play What I Wrote, Northern Broadside Theatre Company's The School for Scandal and War of the Roses trilogy, Grimaldi, Dirty Dusting, Bell Shakespeare Company, Australia's The Comedy of Errors, Kind Hearts and Coronets, The Shell Seekers, Tartuffe, Little Women, Beyond Reasonable Doubt and The Safari Party. 

Ellen Kent and Opera International continued their association with the Grand presenting Carmen, Nabucco, La Boheme and Rigoletto.
Musical productions included Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, What a Feeling, The Rat Pack, Blackpool Operatic Players presented Titanic the Musical, Blackpool and Fylde Light Opera Company in Me and My Girl, Premier Theatre Company in Jane Eyre The Musical. Sadly the premiere of Personals the Musical starring Gary Wilmot was cancelled along with the complete tour. 

Summer at the Grand consisted of Duggie Chapman's Music Hall (two separate productions), HRH Entertainments' Variety at Night, Duggie Chapman's Two 0 'Clock Show along with the annual Illuminations visit by Ken Dodd's Happiness Show. Also in this period were The Legendary Max Bygraves, The Dolly Parton Story and Puppetry of the Penis. 

There were numerous one-night concerts and Variety nights such as Matt Sings Monro, An Evening with Derek Acorah, That'll Be The Day, Katzenjammer, Paris Can Can, Derren Brown and Clive Baldwin's Jolson Show. 

For children and families we presented The Gruffalo, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The World at your Feet, Stuart Little, Fireman Sam to the Rescue! and The Jungle Book. 

Concerts included Manchester Camerata with the Manchester Chamber Choir in A Christmas Celebration with Carols, and the British Philhamonic Concert Orchestra in A New Year's Eve Gala Spectacular. Aled Jones also hosted the gala fundraising night The Most Extraordinary Dinner on Earth in November 2005. 

Schools Alive returned with children from 30 Blackpool schools and the Grand Academy presented their adaptation of The Little Mermaid
We continued to present educational workshops in the Lawrence House Studio at The Grand. These included February Half Term, April Half Term and Summer, when we welcomed lecturers and instructors from companies such as the Royal Exchange Theatre Company, Opera North and Blackpool Circus Schools giving workshops on subjects such as puppet making, circus skills, make-up for theatre and film and directing Shakespeare. 

The Studio programme included Mem Shannon and the Membership, Sinnerboy, Jim Diamond and Snake Davis. Children's Studio performances continued with Sigurd the Dragon Slayer and The Wind in the Willows. Other Studio performances included Me and Mrs Beeton and Tolstoy's Wife. 

2005 saw the introduction of our lecture series.

The Grand Theatre has a reputation for delivering on its promises. It is trusted by our theatregoers to deliver performances which are entertaining, accomplished and good value for money. It is trusted by those who give financial support, to run the Grand on a sound, secure and sustainable basis. However, this year with the downturn in summer trade, the Grand Theatre regrets it has made a loss of £53938. Over the last 25 years the theatre has had an excellent relationship with Blackpool Council. The Council has provided support whenever needed in the confident knowledge that any funds it provided would be spent wisely and prudently for the benefit of the town and the community. Due to the forecasted downturn in "summer season" income, the theatre approached Blackpool Council for deficit funding. Following a meeting with Arts Council officers, a decision was made to reinstate the third year's core funding, which would be payable in four quarterly instalments within the next financial year. During the year the Company again received welcome sponsorships from the local business community including new commitments from Bluespot Knee Clinic, Chaseley Care Home and the return of Radio Wave 96.5. The board would like to thank all staff and volunteers and the Grand Theatre. The sense of spirit continues at the Theatre as we look forward to the challenge of the future.

FRIENDS OF THE GRAND

The Friends of the Grand was set up initially to raise funds to save the theatre and today provides support and funds for its upkeep and maintenance. Volunteers assist in many aspects of the running of the theatre; assisting in marketing and various areas of the theatre's Front of House. The directors gratefully acknowledge the support of the Friends of the Grand and their assistance in making the theatre the friendly and welcoming place it is. 


Previous Years' Reports and Accounts

Blackpool Grand Theatre Trust Limited

Annual Report & Accounts ending 29 October 2005 (4.76MB)


Blackpool Grand Theatre (Arts & Entertainments) Limited
 
Annual Report & Accounts ending 29 October 2005 (6.99MB)
 
 Annual Report & Accounts ending 30 October 2004 (4.36MB)