Annual Review Book 2014-15

KEY STATS AND FACTS:
• The Guildhall contributes £16.8m per
annum in gross value added to the economy.
• 51% of concerts in the main hall are rock,
pop and comedy and 18% classical.
• 26% of performances are community,
education and for charity.
• The Guildhall put on or supported 772
events in 2014-15, an increase of 27%.
• 260,900 people visited the Guildhall, an
increase of 11%.
• Nearly 20,000 people visited our new
galleries.
Andy Grays, Chief Executive Officer
2014-15 was the fourth year the Portsmouth Cultural Trust has run the Guildhall. In many ways it was a year of achievement, innovation and establishment.
Around us the city was undergoing political change, continued economic development and the anticipation of Ben Ainslie and his team building a headquarters
for the Americas Cup World Series.
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We finished 2013-14 on a high with the London Symphony Orchestra visiting us for the first time in their rich history. In this year, the regions own orchestra, the
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra was voted the world’s favourite orchestra. The year saw further development with the launch of Music in the Round and the
establishment of the Portsmouth Chamber series at the Guildhall. We saw growth in visitor numbers to our cultural programmes including galleries and
workshops, and new learning and participation programmes were firmly embedded.
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The development of our commercial business is highly important to the long term sustainability of the Guildhall, and I was delighted with the 33% increase in
turnover of our conference and event business.
Looking to the future we are building a vision for the development of the Guildhall, one which will encourage increased engagement, new learning and participation opportunities and
high quality arts and heritage delivery. In 2014-15, 260,900 people visited us, an increase of 6% over the previous year. Our vision is to see a further 100,000 people added to this
number by 2023 through our ‘Guildhall Renaissance’ project.
Our partnership with the City Council is highly valued in tough economic times. We challenge ourselves to increase turnover and activity in order to accomodate reductions in our
grant, and to provide excellent value for money.