FEASIBILITY_STUDY , item 14. PDF 1 MB - Meetings, agendas and ...

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A feasibility study prepared for the Black Box TrustNovember 2011The venue‟s audience numbers have increased steadily between 2007 and 2010, rising from31,150 to 43,000. This 38 percent growth in audiences over this period was not only remarkablefor the Black Box as a new performance venue but also for the period of recession in which itoperated.There have been almost 1,800 events held in the Black Box between April 2006 and July 2011,55 percent of which fall within the music event category. The proportion of music events to totalevents has grown from 47% in 2006 to 63% in 2011.Growing demand to watch and listen to local artists in an intimate setting has defined smallmusic events as the Black Box‟s speciality. Approximately 59 percent of the Black Box‟s totalaudience over the last five years have attended the venue specifically for this type ofexperience.The mosaic analysis undertaken by Audiences NI provided a typology of the Black Boxaudience. They are a mix of young, affluent, mature and artistic type people, falling within the„Cultural Avant Garde‟, „Business Leadership‟, „Terraced Melting Pot‟ and „Local andCommercial‟ categories making up four of the top five types of household booker attending thevenue. Although it should be noted that the results are based on the names and addresses ofall the accounts within the Black Box‟s Worldpay booking system and did not include anymailing list data, door sales or through other ticket sellers.Evidence gathered during consultations with local businesses indicates that the Black Box hasplayed a key role as an arts and culture performance space and as a member of the localbusiness community in the Cathedral Quarter. It has attracted people to the area, creating aspillover effect in terms of increased trade for local proprietors, and the fact that its presencewould be missed if the venue was to close, suggests that there is a need for its future operationlocally, in complementing existing infrastructure and resources.All feedback gathered from the Festivals and Promoters, shows that the Black Box has provideda key performance space for arts and cultural events that is flexible, accessible, versatile,affordable and optimally sized, with the only downside not being fully licensed. Whilst themajority recognise the benefits of the MAC as a major addition to the arts and cultural offering inthe area when it opens next year, they see the need for the Black Box to continue to operate asit complements what the MAC will be offering.From evidence gathered from consultation, it is clear that the MAC will inevitably be incompetition with many providers, both arts venues and commercial venues, given the broadrange of programmes and activities that they will be offering. However, the Black Box tends tohost one-off music and other events that are less mainstream, supporting indigenous artists,whereas the MAC, aspiring to be a „world-class state-of-the-art venue‟ may showcase longerruns of artists that are better known to audiences. It is our view that the each will provide adifferent offer of performances and events in two very different venues, giving audiences agreater choice.Financial analysisThe Black Box has done well to grow its turnover and income over the four years of itsexistence, although the current economic recession has seen this growth stall. This has beenachieved with a reduced level of grant assistance from the public sector and the company hadachieved a position of over 80% self generated income by 2009/10. In that year, tradingii
A feasibility study prepared for the Black Box TrustNovember 2011activities contributed to £293,000 out of total turnover of £358,000 with the balance of £65,000coming from grant assistance from ACNI, Belfast City Council and DSD.However, the company has not made profits in the first four years of its existence and anexceptional loss in 2008/09 has left the company with a large bank overdraft but it continues tooperate as a going concern with the support of its major creditors. Whatever the way forward forthe organisation, the bank overdraft created by this loss needs to be addressed as it constrainsthe future development of the company.The company faces a number of financial challenges looking forward including the continuingeconomic recession which is impacting on the business. In these circumstances it will beimportant for the company to strengthen its financial management and reporting systems as itseeks to maximise revenues and control its costs.Options for the way forwardIn considering the way forward for the Black Box, we identified the opportunities and constraintsfacing the venue.The specific opportunities include:The continuing growth of Cathedral Quarter as a cultural quarter of the city and the potentialimplementation of the Cathedral Quarter 5 Year Vision & Development Plan provide animportant context for the Black Box;Having established itself over the last 5 years as a key element of the Cathedral Quarterscene with strong support and growing audiences, there is an opportunity to consider howto consolidate and enhance its position over the next 5 years;The events in Northern Ireland associated with 2012 and the associated projected growth intourism visitors to Belfast next year and beyond represent an important opportunity for theBlack Box;In our view, the opening of the MAC represents an opportunity rather than a threat, not justfor the Black Box but for the whole Cathedral Quarter with increased numbers of visitorsand footfall in the area; andThe growing reputation of Belfast as a music city suggests that there will be increaseddemand for music venues across the city.The constraints facing the Black Box‟s future operation include issues of public funding,temporary set-up, lease and usage of the building, venue and location.Public spending cuts have significantly curtailed organisational and departmental budgets.Therefore it is unlikely the building of the Black Box would be purchased by any publicsector organisation and the level of funds previously provided maintained;With the Black Box not making any profits during the first four years of its existence andcreating a substantial bank overdraft, it is unlikely that the Black Box would succeed insecuring private sector investment or any debt finance from the bank until its overdraft iscleared or seen to being reduced;iii
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Mosaic AnalysisBlack Box, August 20
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What sort of people booked at the B
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Characteristics of Four Prominent M
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Marital Status of all Mosaic NI Typ
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Employment Status of all Mosaic NI
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Household Income Levels of all Mosa
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OXFORDAbbey House, 121 St AldatesOx
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