Bryony Bell (she/her), Head of Content, Spektrix Despite the challenges of recent years, audiences are still eager to attend the theatre, to support culture and community, and to make the most of a great night out with drinks packages, merchandise, and upgrades. So how do you tap into their enthusiasm and keep driving revenue across every sales channel? Explore ideas for identifying your priorities, using data effectively, and targeting offers to the right members of your audience, with our practical Revenue Maximisation Audit tool. Work through it independently or gather your team to consider ..read more

Theatre Tax Relief made permanent at 40% and 45%! Last week, the government responded to SOLT & UK Theatre’s call to maintain the higher rates of theatre tax relief (TTR) by introducing a new permanent rate of 40% and 45% for touring productions. This announcement comes after a longstanding campaign to demonstrate the pivotal role that the higher rates of TTR have played in enabling UK theatre to grow and thrive. This good news is thanks in no small part to the contribution of SOLT & UK Theatre members who helped us to make the case for these permanent rates. The introduction of a perm ..read more

The Financial Times has revealed that global live entertainment company, Trafalgar Entertainment (TE), is one of Europe’s Fastest Growing Companies in a new report published today (1 March). The 8th Edition of the FT1000 Europe’s Fastest Growing Companies Special Report is compiled by the Financial Times and Statista. Companies are selected based on their revenue growth rate over a three-year period. Founded by theatre leaders Sir Howard Panter and Dame Rosemary Squire in 2017, Trafalgar Entertainment specialises in new productions, venue ownership, Performing Arts education, theatre ticketin ..read more

The Society of London Theatre (SOLT) & UK Theatre today publish the results of a comprehensive survey demonstrating the extent of the success of the higher rate of Theatre Tax Relief (TTR).    The higher rate, introduced in 2021, turbo-charged the sectors bounce back from the pandemic. It is fundamental to enabling UK theatre to be world-leading, growing and innovative, at a time when costs are outstripping revenue growth.   The higher rate has resulted in the UK theatre sector delivering more and bigger productions, bolder programming, building more robust talent pipel ..read more

The Royal Opera House Schools’ Matinees programme has been welcoming schools to spectacular opera and ballet performances for nearly 50 years. With the aim of inspiring school pupils of all ages, our Schools’ Matinees encourage an understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of opera and ballet for young people. Each year, we host six dedicated performances – just for schools – for £7.50 a ticket. Last season, Schools’ Matinees gave 193 primary and secondary schools the opportunity to visit the Royal Opera House to experience opera and ballet for the first time – reaching over 10,000 students and ..read more

The Theatre Conference is the UK’s premier event created for the industry, by the industry, an opportunity for Society of London Theatre (SOLT) and UK Theatre members to come together face-to-face to shape the future of theatre on Monday 3 June at London’s iconic Southbank Centre. Get ready to connect, learn, and grow at the largest networking event in the UK theatre industry. Tickets are on sale now with a limited number of Earlybird and other discounted rates available. Earlybird tickets We’re offering 100 Earlybird tickets exclusively to SOLT &am ..read more

…experiencing the Hamilton Schools Performance in Manchester  Stacey Arnold from the Policy, Research and Advocacy team at the Society of London Theatre & UK Theatre joined a schools’ performance of Hamilton to experience, first-hand, what these performances do to engage schools and pupils alike…  On Tuesday 6February, the Cameron Mackintosh Foundation threw open the doors of Palace Theatre Manchester (an Ambassador Theatre Group venue) to nearly 1,400 school pupils from across Greater Manchester. The city is the first stop on Hamilton’s UK and Ireland tour, and there is no bette ..read more

Theatre Tax Relief – New rules for claimants will come into force on 1st April. From 1st April new rules will apply for those claiming theatre tax relief. New Regulations: Overview Additional Information Form From 1 April 2024, all claims must be accompanied by an additional information form to provide evidence to support your claim. For each production you must provide: the title of the production start date/expected start date of the production statements of the amount of core expenditure, split by: UK or EEA non-UK or non-EEA a breakdown of expenditure by category If you’re cl ..read more

Save the date! Join us at the Southbank Centre on 3 June for the Theatre Conference 2024. The Theatre Conference is the UK’s premier event created for the industry, by the industry, an opportunity for Society of London Theatre (SOLT) and UK Theatre members to come together face-to-face to shape the future of theatre at London’s iconic Southbank Centre.    If you run a venue or produce theatre, you need to be there to network, do business and collaborate, exploring solutions to the issues facing the sector today and beyond. The program ..read more

Highlights from last week’s House of Lords Debate Last week Melvyn Bragg led an impassioned debate in the House of Lords highlighting the contribution of the arts to the economy and society. In his opening remarks, Lord Bragg highlighted the power of the arts to “reinvent and magnetise” towns and cities but said that the UK government should do more to recognise and support the arts. On employment he said “Last year, there were over 3 million job roles in the creative and cultural industries—and there could be more, if we recognised and reached the full potential of what is still considered to ..read more