g live annual report 2017/2018 - borough of …...g live annual report 2017/2018 contract year seven...

G Live Annual Report 2017/2018

Contract Year Seven

Van ‘the man’ Morrison: G Live 8 Jan 2018

Alvin Hargreaves: G Live Interim Director November 2018

G Live Annual Report 2017/2018 Contract Year Seven

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Contents

1. Purpose of report 3

2. Introduction & Executive Summary 4

3. Programme Balance and Range 7

Main Hall Activity 7

Bellerby Studio and Reception Room (Glass Room) Activity 10

4. G Live Hospitality 11

5. Creative Learning 14

6. The Operator Agreement and Key Performance Indicators 16

7. Financial Performance 19

8. Customer Satisfaction Information 20

9. Buildings and Health & Safety 22

Appendices Annexe 1 - Marketing Annual Report Annexe 2 - Creative Learning Annual Report Annexe 3 - Buildings & Health & Safety Annual Report Annexe 4 – Annual Financial Summary


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1. Purpose of report This report is a summary of G Live’s seventh full year of activity and sets out the venue’s performance against the specific performance indicators in the Operator Agreement between HQ Theatres & Hospitality (HQT&H) and Guildford Borough Council (GBC). The reporting period is 1st October 2017 to 30th September 2018, inclusive. The basis of the report is the performance, community and corporate events activity as reported to GBC at the Monthly Service Review Meetings (MSRM) held since the commencement of the contract. G Live’s Director has presented monthly summary reports as follows;

The live programme, including final ticket sales

Financial summary for the wider business

Creative learning / community activity

Marketing activity

A summary of hospitality activities

Building related issues and health & safety In addition, further detail of the venue operation and matters of mutual interest have been reported at the quarterly review meetings between HQT&H and GBC. This process is concluded each year with the Annual Review Meeting and the presentation of this Annual Report to GBC’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee.


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2. Introduction & Executive Summary

The audience for Paul Jones and Friends

G Live’s seventh year has seen growth that continues its increasing impact. In the town centre venue’s different spaces, Guildford boasts one of the most dynamic, busy and broad programmes of light entertainment, music of all kinds, dance, opera, musicals, comedy, community and corporate events.

G Live hosted more events in 2017/18 than in any previous year. This year on year growth in activity is remarkable testament to the venue’s tireless and consistent efforts to look for new programming opportunities and to find new ways of working in partnership with local communities.

Attendance at events in G Live’s primary space, the main hall, was over 15,000 greater than last year thus attracting nearly a quarter of a million visitors in the 12 month period.

This continues the remarkable track record of growth in every year since opening in 2011. Nationally the venue punches above its weight; regularly featuring alongside major concert halls and arenas in tour advertising in the Sunday newspapers; boosting Guildford’s profile as a cultural centre. Events of this type continue to demonstrate G Live’s standing within the music and entertainment industry. GBC and HQT&H have regularly discussed the relative progress against the Operator Agreement’s indicative KPI’s through the Monthly Service Review Meetings (MSRM). A breakdown of programme activity follows in the next section. G Live has proved to be a remarkably flexible contemporary venue that is capable of accommodating the varied needs of professional touring shows and local community organisations, as well as being a vital linchpin within Guildford’s business and leisure tourism offer. The value to local community users is proven through a very high level of demand. In year seven we’ve seen demand continue to increase from local organisations keen to utilise the venue.

There were 60 Community Main Hall events in year one. Including the regular Sunday Hillsong bookings community events totalled a record high of 184 in year seven.


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The venue’s management are once more delighted to announce a very strong financial result for the seventh year of the contract.

The post-subsidy operating profit is c. £315,440 for 2017/18. This will, for the sixth year running, invoke a profit share arrangement between HQT&H and GBC

amounting to a rebate to GBC of c. £63,088. The Finance section later in this report sets out the profit share and the record low subsidy per attendee/population figures. The venue’s headline strategic marketing activity has been reported to the MSRMs with GBC. The Marketing Annual Report is attached to this report at Annexe 1. The following marketing statistics illustrate the growing popularity of G Live;

G Live’s total active database is 148,270, up 14,420 (+11%) against this time last year

We have 12,995 Twitter followers; 10,200 Facebook followers and 1,700 Instagram

followers, all up on last year

Our online sales continue to exceed target at 75.5%

G Live has maintained a consistent and healthy level of 680 Friends memberships

Through G Live’s wider community partnerships the venue continued to work with local charity, Street Angels and our national charity, Great Ormond Street Hospital. In 2018 HQT&H, with the help of G Live, was recognised by Great Ormond Street for having raised over £1,200,000 for the charity over the last 6 years. G Live continued its successful School Partnership Scheme and the wider community and creative learning engagement programme has again been a significant success with a full calendar of activities across all of the venue's spaces. Details of this work are included in the Creative Learning Section of this report and at Annexe 2. G Live’s conference and events activity continues to attract a wide variety of local businesses. The in-house team worked hard to create a calendar of themed G Live events that are open to the general public. These include an 80’s extravaganza party called Tropicana Nights, regular Comedy Curry nights, lavish Christmas parties, a New Year’s Eve event, Only Fools and Three Courses nights, the Beer Festival and G Live’s Food & Drink festival.


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The Celebration of Excellence Sept 2018

Excellence in customer service is an on-going focus for the team at G Live and is embedded in the staff training and day-to-day operation of the Venue. The picture opposite is from the G Live hosted annual Celebration of Excellence for all HQT&H venues in September. The G Live annual customer satisfaction surveys support this with 95% of respondents rating relevant service areas as good, or very good.

G Live continues to support the Town Centre Business Improvement District and is critical to Guildford’s overall ‘complete destination’ approach to the leisure and business tourism offer. The venue’s Director was on the board of Experience Guildford prior to leaving the venue in July. The management team at G Live are very much aware of the venue’s fit within the cultural landscape of Guildford. G Live’s diverse and predominantly one-nighter commercial programme is almost entirely complementary to the programmes of the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre and the Electric Theatre. The combined critical mass of cultural activity provided by Guildford’s principal venues is remarkable given the population of the borough. G Live, under HQT&H’s management, looks forward to collaborating and cooperating with the town’s other venues to continue this richness of cultural provision. The G Live Facilities and Buildings Manager has been working closely with GBC’s contract monitoring team on all matters concerning legislative compliance, maintenance and the continued efforts to resolve any longstanding building faults. Further details are included in the Buildings & Health & Safety Annual Report at Annexe 3.

G Live continues to provide a range of employment opportunities including theatre management, theatre technical and hospitality roles. The organisation’s annual expenditure on wages exceeds £1,000,000 directly into the local economy. Each year G Live also collaborates with Surrey University on a successful internship programme. The venue is supported by a team of 120 local volunteers who provide front of house and back of house support, two of whom are pictured, opposite.


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3. Programme Balance and Range

Main Hall Activity The activity in G Live’s Main Hall is illustrated in detail in the table below. The Operator Agreement’s indicative number of performances in each category represents a benchmark against which to measure the weight of G Live’s programme. It should be noted that many aspects of the venue’s programme are subject to the availability of product of a suitable scale and the alignment of the venue’s diary (date availability) with the routing of national tours to peer venues. Whilst G Live can influence product selection and position itself within the industry to programme the full range of genres and shows included in the agreement, it is generally unable to create new product from scratch and is, therefore, subject to the outside forces of touring and industry fluctuations of artists/product availability. The issue isn’t unique to G Live.

Taken alongside the Bellerby Studio and Reception Room activities (see page 10), with the exception of Christmas day, there is hardly a day in the year when there isn’t something happening at G Live.

Main Hall Combined

October 2017 - September 2018

Categories Code

GBC

Target

Perfs /yr

Actual

Perfs Attend

% of GBC

target

Children's / Family Ents FAM 31 32 15,248 103

Classical (Orch/Opera/Big Bands) CLAS 18 20 11,000 111

Comedy / Spoken Word COM 45 34 25,944 76

Dance / Stage Musicals MUS 42 22 12,557 52

GPO GPO 4 - - -

Others OTH 6 16 8,679 267

Rock & Pop standing RPS 14 13 15,991 93

Rock, Pop, Folk, Jazz & World POP 84 64 41,052 76

Sport SPO 6 2 391 33

Community Events COMM 15 173 106,828 1,153

GBC KPI sub total 265 376 237,690 142

Get in / Get out / Production GET - 14 20

Internal Events INT - 3 512

Rehearsal REH - 7 100

Sub total - 24 632

Conference CON - 2 1,400

Dining / Banquet DIN - 9 2,443

Exhibition EXH - - -

Hospitality Other HOSP - 12 4,327

Sub total - 23 8,170

Total 265 423 246,492 160

Figure 1. Main Hall Programme

Dark Days 67


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Programming Highlights

Children's and Family Entertainment

G Live has a thorough programme of high quality events provided for children and their families. The aims are broadly educational covering a variety of topics. The programme is augmented by year round creative learning activities. Family show highlights included: Peppa Pig, Cirque Enchantment, Champions of Magic, Teletubbies Live, Dinosaur World and Bing Live!

The Teletubbies Peppa Pig's Adventures

Classical

G Live has established a strong reputation in the classical music scene for co-producing the Guildford International Concert Series. The concerts now often sell out and year seven featured the Royal Philhamonic Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, St Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, Russian State Philharmonic Orchestra, European Chamber Orchestra, Czech National Orchestra and the Wurth Philharmonic Orchestra. G Live’s ‘classical’ programme also includes ballet and opera. Highlights were The Nutcracker from the Saint Petersburg Classic Ballet company and Magic Flute with the Opera Up Close company. Comedy

The comedy category includes spoken word, 'Audience With' events as well as stand-up comedy. G Live’s established position on the UK comedy touring circuit continues to stand the venue in good stead when it comes to presenting a heavy and varied comedy programme. This in turn has benefited the Guildford Fringe events who continue to work in partnership with G Live to further grow the appeal and scope of the festival. Contract year 7 saw an increase of 5 events in this category (+17%) on the prior year. Highlights included: Nina Conti, Sarah Millican, Milton Jones, Ed Byrne, Jimmy Carr, Katherine Ryan, Tim Vine, Paul Chowdhry, Bill Bailey, Daliso Chaponda and Jason Manford. Notable spoken word events included: Ray Mears, Griff Rhys Jones, Brian Blessed, Ant Middleton, Jonathan Pie and the Arsenal Legends. Dance and Staged Musicals Year 7 saw a slight drop in the number of major musicals being presented at G Live due to less available product aligning with G Live’s availability when compared to the bumper year 6 (Joseph, Footloose and Blood Brothers). However, G Live was delighted to host the smash hit musical Hairspray which sold over 6,000 tickets across the run.


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Dance highlights included visits to Guildford by BalletBoyz, Richard Alston, Anton & Erin and a number of equally successful Strictly Come Dancing derived shows.

Music

Music remains the mainstay of G Live’s live programme and its presence on the music circuit is well established with regular offers from the country’s biggest promoters. The huge diversity of music on offer spans a great range of audiences and musical styles / genres as demonstrated by the following ‘small’ selection of the highlights: Marc Almond, Jools Holland, Squeeze, Natalie Imbruglia, Ward Thomas, Erasure, The Stranglers, The Darkness, Scouting for Girls, Collabro, The Selecter, Any McDonald, Newton Faulkner, Guildford Jazz Festival, Eric Clapton/Van Morrison/Tom Jones, Claire Bowan, The Shires, Nils Lofgren, Suzanne Vega and Lisa Stansfield.

Tom Jones

Community Events

The Main Hall community events are a cornerstone of the venue's programme and last year saw further increases in the use of the venue from a broad cross-section of the local community groups. Community users included: Police Dog Training, Innovate Guildford, Boogie Pumps, Creative Company, Rock Choir, Focus Schools Event, Southern Pro Musica Family Concert, Guildford College, Guildford County School, ACM Graduations, Primary Schools Concerts, Rotary Schools Concert, Surrey Arts, Guildford High School Prize Giving, Tormead School Prize Giving, Guildford Theatre School, Creative Arts Week, University of Surrey, The Children’s Concert, Hillsong Church and Eagle Radio's Local Community Heroes. Every week young people participate in a variety of offerings including Busy Lizzy sessions, Guildford Theatre School and Creative Company. The festival theme continued with contributions to Guildford Book Festival, Guildford Fringe and the Schools Shakespeare Festival.


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Bellerby Studio and Reception Room (Glass Room) Activity The Bellerby Studio and Reception Room continue to host a huge number of events (more so than in any prior year) including accessible family theatre shows, comedy, G Live’s Creative Company, community events, schools’ events, parties and workshops.

The spaces are increasingly in demand from local business for a range of activities.

The flexibility of these spaces also facilitates VIP receptions, conferences, exhibitions, dining, beer festivals, artist catering and awards ceremonies.

Studio and Reception Room Activity

October 2017 - September 2018

Categories Code Studio Reception Combined

Children's / Family Ents FAM 286 93 379

Classical CLAS 4 - 4

Comedy / Spoken Word COM 10 - 10

Community COMM 129 177 306

Dance DAN - - -

Education EDUC 39 108 147

Get in / Get out / Prod / Reh GET 13 11 24

Internal Events INT 3 48 51

Music other MUSO 10 - 10

Others OTH 28 32 60

Sport SPO - - -

Studio Theatre THE 7 - 7

Teen Show TEEN - - -

sub total 529 469 998

Conference CON 5 134 139

Dining / Banquet DIN 4 16 20

Exhibition EXH - 8 8

Hospitality Other HOSP 16 13 29

sub total 25 171 196

Total 554 640 1,194

Figure 2. Studio and Reception Room Activity


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4. G Live Hospitality A visit to the theatre is always enhanced by enjoying something to eat and drink. At G Live the team put great care, time and attention to these crucial elements; from the quality of drink on offer to the detail and thought in the specially prepared food. 2017 & 2018 have seen significant investment & development of the customer experience and food offer. HQT&H have developed new menus and food offerings centred on seasonal ingredients, freshly prepared and responsibly sourced. Martin Pearce, as head chef of G Live, has played a key role in this strategy. In response to feedback from G Live customers, the Autumn Menu for the Mezzanine Restaurant now contains a wider range of dishes than ever before. It now offers a greater selection of gluten free, and vegan dishes in addition to seasonal favourites and the ever-popular best seller, fish & chips! The hospitality team have also started the implementation of the bespoke ‘Showstopping Food & Drink’ styling. By highlighting what makes G Live hospitality a unique experience within Guildford the venue is able to better align the live entertainment experience with the highly complementary food & drink offer.

Our new Food & Drink styling

This new style will shortly be rolled out across the website and all other forms of communication to give a clear and cohesive message to visitors to G Live. The G Live Food and Drink App has continued to prove successful with over 500 customers taking advantage of the service last year with increasing numbers reusing the service. For 2019 G Live will be enhancing the service by delivering to seats in the auditorium, as well as offering a quick collection service in the foyers.

The Main Foyer Bar is always a key destination for many visitors and the past year has seen significant growth in our range and quality of products available. In line with the implementation of the Sugar Tax in April, we have increased the range of low and no sugar soft drinks whilst still keeping a full range available. The relationship with Heineken has been expanded for mainline and recognisable brands, and with Surrey’s award winning Hogs Back Brewery for quality, local beers & ciders.


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2017 & 18 has also seen growth and development of events at G Live. Cirque de Lumiere for New Year’s Eve 2017 sold out in record time to rave reviews. Hellfire Comedy Club has proved popular month on month and April saw G Live playing host to Ministry of Sound’s flagship series ‘The Annual’. Feedback was very positive and leading to a return visit in November 2018. Using expertise within the HQT&H Group the events’ team are also planning on enhancing the current range of events to include Fawlty Towers comedy dining endorsed by John Cleese, dinner dances and family friendly events.

G Live also played host to two new corporate events in Summer 2018. In July, Swiss multinational Novartis choose Guildford to host a conference for 700 people to introduce their new CEO to the business. In September G Live was also chosen by Surrey Life to host the 2018 Food & Drink Awards. Over 350 guests enjoyed a fine dining menu created by head chef, Martin Pearce. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive and plans are already underway for 2019.

Looking forward to the next year, plans are already underway to develop the Café area with a better

range of products for the daytime offer and draught beer & cider to ease congestion on the main bar

for auditorium events. Heineken are also in discussion to enhance services on the main bar with

improved facilities to improve our product range and speed up service.

G Live has renewed its membership with the Sustainable Restaurant Association and colleagues are working towards a two star rating in 2019 for social good and responsible sourcing work. Specific separation and collection of food waste collection was started in May 2017. This has not only helped to focus the culinary team on reducing food waste, but it has also significantly decreased waste to landfill and is now turned in to compost. 2017-18 also saw a significant focus on reducing use of plastic including the cessation of the use of plastic straws and the implementation a closed loop recycling system for disposable plastic glasses and coffee cups. The café also offers reusable coffee cups for purchase and customers receive a discount on their hot drinks when returning with a reusable cup.

During Spring 2018, Martin Pearce met with the other senior chefs in the group for a development day hosted by the Sustainable Restaurant Association. With a clear focus on plant-based dishes and sustainable ingredients, the team developed several new dishes that are now available on the Autumn Mezzanine Restaurant menu.


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Working with guidance from the SRA, the Marine Stewardship Council, the Marine Conservation Society and Red Tractor assured food standards, the kitchen team have now developed new dishes that cater not only to changing food trends in the market but also have a minimal impact on the environment.

2017 also saw the start of G Live working with Life Water and the continued growth of the

partnership with Guildford based Caffe Praego for the supply of a complete range of tea and coffee.

Every Life Water drink funds clean water projects across the globe and through sales at G Live and the HQ Group we will have funded a project by early 2019. Together with our coffee partner, Caffe Praego, HQT&H colleagues are supporting the education of ten disabled children to go to school in Northern Rwanda. They are collected daily from outlying villages to attend the House of Children School. Funding includes transport, school fees, daily lunch, morning milk, uniforms, shoes & school books. Without this support, the children would remain at home with their parents unable to work, caring for them.


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5. Creative Learning The Creative Learning team brought a new focus to working with children and young people in 2017/18. A valuable partnership was established with Gosden House School, Bramley, which saw Jo Wright create several engaging projects throughout the year. G Live was able to support the establishment of Project GeeYouOne, a new theatre group for young adults with additional needs, and to present our first production, Little Meerkat’s Big Panic, which was produced specifically for this audience group. Gosden House and King’s college, Guildford will be our partnership schools for 2018/19. Highlights

• Guildford Arts Society attended an afternoon rehearsal of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to sketch musicians.

• Our schools partnerships continued with Gosden House and Sandfield Primary school. • A piece of installation audio theatre by Tim Crouch was premiered in our Café • Project GeeYouOne new theatre group for young adults with additional needs, based at

G Live, was established. • Students from schools across Surrey took part in Applied Industry Week. • Surrey Drama Teachers Network now holds its meetings at G Live • Jo Wright was a guest judge at the Guildford County School annual House Drama

Competition • G Live hosted English Touring Opera’s Shackleton’s Cat, our first opera production for

children • Little Meerkat’s Big Panic was our first children’s show for young people with additional

needs • Creative Company performed at Innovate Guildford 2018 • Our classical season concert pre-show talks continued to be popular • Creative Arts Week became Circus Week, with 16 participants

English Touring Opera 'Shackleton's Cat'


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G Live’s long-term Creative Learning Manager, Jo Wright, left G Live in the summer. Fiona Moon has now taken over the role and it is anticipated that she will bring a different focus and objectivity to the work. Fiona has a background in youth and participation work, and has spent the last 3 years working as a Creative Producer for a national touring theatre company who produce work for young people. She has a particular interest in access surrounding mental health, new writing, and theatre for teenagers. She plans to assess the venue’s opportunities and compile a manifesto for Creative Learning at G Live, outlining the team’s beliefs, values and areas of focus to strengthen and concentrate the offer going forward. For full details of the Creative Learning programme for the year, please refer to Annexe 2. Year Seven of G Live’s Creative Learning activity has seen legacy work with previous partnership schools, the continued refinement of the participatory and family offer, (reflecting our main house programme) and the extension of the chance to experience different art forms and learn new skills. G Live’s profile is raised locally and nationally through engagement with touring consortiums and festival programming. This is beginning to cultivate a strand of work for Early Years, responding to the building’s popularity with parents of young children. Working more deeply with local schools and with families and cultivating a programme of events designed to engage and entertain a variety of audiences continue to be central tenets of the department’s work.


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6. The Operator Agreement and Key Performance Indicators The following table summarises G Live activity against the indicative targets set in the Operator Agreement. The Main Hall Live Programme (1) activity exceeds 200 shows in the year (at 203) and is again at the high levels that are very similar to the record breaking year 6. This level of activity, whilst very healthy, is lower than the 250 shows target per year by 47, but should taken in the context of the overall very heavy programming levels at G Live including community use. Total Main Hall Event Activity (4) exceeds the target of 265 events for the year by a very significant 158 events with a total of 423 including Main Hall Community Events (2) and Main Hall Non-Performance Events (3).

Figure 3. Operator Agreement KPI’s The KPI’s are a good ‘indicative’ measure of the G Live programme weight and balance but should be considered in the wider programming context of the venue and the fluctuations in industry-driven product supply. Inevitably, there will be variances between the KPI’s and the actual number of

Key Performance Indicators

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 KPI Variance Notes

1

Main Hall Live

Programme. No. of

Shows. 180 188 193 164 169 205 203 250 47-

Excludes get ins, rehearsals and non -

performance events such as the

beer festival, conferences.

2

Main Hall

Community Events 60 41 40 92 136 166 173 15 158 Includes Hillsong services.

3

Main Hall Non-

Performance

Events 48 47 47 63 51 49 47 - 47

Get ins, rehearsals & Hospitality

events in the main hall

4

Total Main Hall

Event Activity 288 276 280 319 356 420 423 265 158

Includes Main Hall shows, events,

rehearsals, get-ins and non-

performance events.

5

Main Hall

Attendance 130,574 136,021 139,199 177,079 198,900 230,527 246,492 161,257 85,235

Compared to maximum KPI 161,257

(y1 -20%, y2 -10%, y3 - 5%, y4 +10%,

y5 +23%, y6 +42%, y7 %).

6

Non-Main Hall

Hospitality Events

STUDIO 50 35 30 27 40 49 25

Studio & Reception only. Excludes

Sem Rooms & Foyer events. KPI

includes both lines 6 & 7.

7

Non-Main Hall

Hospitality Events

ALL OTHER SPACES 97 66 105 59 128 167 171

Ancillary spaces excluding Studio

and Reception Rooms. Numbers

count to KPI on line 6 also.

8 Education Projects 218 85 215 193 230 212 275 100 175

Creative Arts Wk, Applied Arts

Industry Wk, Holiday skills wks,

Writers Grp, Innovate G'ford,

Partner schools

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Main Hall Dark

Days 114 115 116 91 85 64 67 80 13-

Quality over quantity as reported

via the MSRM.

10 Customer Service KPI is rated 90% good / very good

10.1 Show / Event 92% 97% 98% 98% 99% 98% 90% 8%

10.2 Service / Staff 92% 92% 93% 95% 93% 93% 90% 3%

10.3 Facilities 95% 94% 94% 94% 97% 95% 90% 5%

10.4 Booking / Info 89% 90% 89% 92% 91% 93% 90% 3%

10.5 Catering / Hosp 72% 75% 64% 66% 65% 66% 90% -24%

Reflects bar scores & pre-show food

offer.

10.6

All above

combined 88% 90% 88% 89% 89% 89% 90% -1% Average across KPI’s

125 71

Contract Year


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events in any given year and for any given event type. These KPI's were set before the venue opened when the programme could only be estimated. Now that seven years’ of KPI data is available the G Live management team and the Council's contract monitoring team view the KPI's against the actual results to date. At year five the Main Hall Attendance (5) target increased to 161,257 per year. This KPI remains at that level for the rest of the current contract with HQT&H. Attendance in the seventh year (at 246,492) exceeds the new KPI by over 85,000. Attendance levels, as with the number of events in the year, are directly linked to relevant product availability as described earlier in this report. The target of 125 events for Non-Main Hall Hospitality Events (6+7 combined) was exceeded by 71 events at 196. Participation in the Education Projects (8) increased significantly at 275 versus the target of 100. The approach to the G Live School Partnership Programme was again very busy. The summer project together with Innovate Guildford, the Applied Arts Industry Week and holiday skills/activities weeks formed a bespoke and relevant community engagement programme. G Live now has a new Creative Learning Manager (Fiona Moon) who is bringing a raft of new ideas and ways of working that will enable G Live to refresh its wider Creative Learning offer. This will include a thorough review of the Creative Arts Week and summer activities to ensure that they remain relevant and forward looking.

G Live Circus Week 2018

The number of Main Hall Dark Days (9) at a mere 67 is better than the KPI target of a maximum of 80 days in any one given year. This is the second consecutive year in which this KPI has been achieved. This is testament to the programming effort and high levels of venue use across all different types of uses for the Main Hall. In line with similar peer group venues with heavy ‘one-nighter’ led programmes – many of which actually go completely dark throughout August – it is expected that there will be a certain number of dark days during the year. Venues with strong summer product tend to be either theatres with long


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running theatrical/musical productions, or seaside town/tourist destination venues with ‘summer seasons’. Customer Service KPI’s (10). Once again four of the five KPI’s have been exceeded with an overall score of 89% rating the services as ‘Very Good’ / ‘Good’. The score for ‘Hospitality/Catering’ remains lower than the KPI at a slightly improved 66% rated good or very good this year. Inevitably, as with all similar venues, this area will always present the most challenging survey results given the pressures on services during very short pre-show and interval periods when a significant proportion of the audiences access the bars and restaurants at the same time. That said, there is always more that can be done and this remains an area of focus where the management team have taken significant action and are continuously exploring ways to enhance menus, improve speed of service and enhance the overall customer experience. Strong scores in Service/Staff areas continue to exceed the KPI. Facilities based survey scores are also still very good at 95% (very good and good), but this category did include a slight 2% drop on last year. A reinvigorated decorative maintenance programme is expected to address this going forward. Booking/info improved by 2% and Show/Event scores were excellent at 98%. These strong results point to the underlying strength of the venue’s performance. Further comment is contained in the Customer Satisfaction Information later in this report.


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7. Financial Performance Please refer to the Annual Financial Summary at Annexe 4 for the details of the monthly and total annual financial performance at G Live. It should be noted that HQT&H’s statutory accounts are produced for the financial year period of April-March each year. The summary produced for this report is not audited and is therefore subject to change. G Live is delighted to announce a strong draft financial result for the seventh year of the contract. It produces a post-subsidy profit which has once again increased on last year and on all prior years. The profit is c.£315,440. This will therefore invoke a profit share arrangement and the council will

receive a rebate of c.£63,088.

The table above sets out the profit share and the subsidy per attendee/population figures. Year Seven has seen

G Live’s subsidy per attendee and subsidy per population reduce to their lowest levels at £1.08 and £1.94 respectively representing terrific value achieved through the GBC subsidy.

HQT&H have continued to invest in capital projects that will further refine the venue’s future operation, service, safety and revenue generating opportunities for coming years.

Financial Results for Each Contract Year

Subsidy per attendee and per Guildford population

Fixed GBC Subsidy £328,596

Guildford Population 137,200

Attendance

Overall

Profit

GBC

Profit

Share

Net

Subsidy

Subsidy /

Attend

Subsidy /

Population

Year 1 130,574 0 0 £328,596 £2.52 £2.40

Year 2 136,021 34,235 6,847 £321,749 £2.37 £2.35

Year 3 139,199 138,906 27,781 £300,815 £2.16 £2.19

Year 4 177,079 173,021 34,604 £293,992 £1.66 £2.14

Year 5 198,900 177,121 35,424 £293,172 £1.47 £2.14

Year 6 230,527 228,999 45,800 £282,796 £1.23 £2.06

Year 7 246,492 315,440 63,088 £265,508 £1.08 £1.94


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8. Customer Satisfaction Information For more information please refer to the Marketing Annual Report at Annexe 1. The annual customer satisfaction survey questionnaire was sent to all Guildford-based bookers who attended a show within the last two years (28,162). There were 1,007 responses, which represents a very respectable 3.75% response rate. The survey asked responders to rate each of the criteria as poor, fair, good or very good. The KPI target is set for more than 90% of all responses to be good or very good across the areas in the table below. The headline results in relation to the Operator Agreement KPIs are:

KPI – target 90%: Good or Very Good 2017/18 Result

2016/17 Result

2015/16 Result

2014/15 Result

1 The enjoyment / quality of the event/performance 98% 99% 98% 98%

2 Staff service 93% 93% 95% 93%

3 Facilities at the venue 95% 97% 95% 94%

4 Ease of booking/ access to information 93% 91% 92% 89%

5 Quality of catering and hospitality 66% 65% 66% 64%

Average Total 89% 89% 89% 88%

These scores show remarkable consistency across all areas, exceeding KPI in all but Quality of Hospitality and Catering as discussed above. Customer Service G Live was shortlisted for an award at the Experience Guildford Customer Service Awards 2018, in the Leisure and Lifestyle category, alongside the Yvonne Arnaud and Thomas Cook. Both venues were disappointed to miss out to the High Street holiday retailer but will be back to claim the honours again next year. The G Live team have received many positive comments on the standards of customer service provided, including the one below, from a regular booker who brings a party of 20+ from the Croydon area to almost every concert in the classical season.

Email from group booker following the Russian State Symphony Orchestra Concert

Hospitality Although the quality of catering & hospitality is a consistent score year on year there is a clear gap between this KPI and the others. In order to address this, within the challenging context of this area of service as described above) and improve the quality and consistency of G Live’s guests’ experience the management team have implemented a new training programme called ‘The Four Pillars’.


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This programme was piloted at four of the venues in the HQT&H group and was launched at G Live in July 2018. The programme focuses on improving core skills around the initial interaction with guests, recognising customers’ characteristics and adapting the service style to best suit their needs. The team are also driving initiatives to improve staff knowledge of products and how services can be personalised, as well as, the development of skills for dealing with pressurised and challenging situations. The programme is being led and delivered by four G Live ‘champions’ from the full time team who have received significant investment in their personal training and development. The principles of the programme are being embedded into the overall culture at the venue and included within all recruitment, training and service delivery areas. There are also a number of recognition schemes and incentives to reward the team when aspects of the training are demonstrated in their daily work. Although the effects of this training will not be reflected in the scores above, we are confident that its roll out will be of great benefit to G Live in 2019. Customer feedback G Live is currently rated 4* and 12 out of 49 things to do in Guildford on trip Advisor, and is top out of 8 for concerts and shows. The restaurant is also rated 4* and is currently 91/218 restaurants in Guildford.

Trip Advisor review September 2018

Ease of booking Online booking continues to be the most significant route to booking tickets, with on average 75.5% of attenders booking this way, which means we are exceeding our target for the year by 3%. 92% of respondents (who had booked online) rated the facility as Good or Very Good, a 2% drop on last year. A pleasing 94% of responders rated access to information about shows and facilities as Good or Very Good, which is 2% up on 2017/18.


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9. Buildings and Health & Safety G Live’s Director has tabled monthly Buildings and H&S Reports to the Monthly Service Review Meetings (MSRM). The Buildings and Health & Safety Annual Report is attached at Annexe 3. Facilities Summary The Facilities and Buildings Manager has been working closely and effectively with the Council’s contract monitoring team. G Live is a complex venue with many bespoke systems that require specialist support and maintenance. HQT&H and GBC continue to work closely to resolve issues as they arise. The venue’s management team are sometimes dependent on GBC’s leadership on these matters due to the Council’s contractual leverage with the original contractors, suppliers and consultants. The Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) schedule continues to maintain the venue plant in good condition. The G Live management team continue to ensure maximum efficiency of use from the plant, for both environmental and efficiency based reasons. Inevitably as the building gets older HQT&H and GBC need to continue to plan for more significant plant and equipment replacement as some kit nears the end of its reasonable life. Health & Safety Summary G Live and HQT&H continue to retain consultants RB Health & Safety Ltd who have undertaken a comprehensive review of the Group’s H&S systems and structures. An annual audit, reinforced with quarterly audits, is undertaken at each of the HQT&H venues, alongside an annual Fire Risk Assessment, as set out in Annex 3 Buildings and Health & Safety Report. G Live continues to set the benchmark for good practice, achieving a score of 83% in the 2018 audit, consistent with the highest scores within the HQT&H Group. G Live remains committed to promoting a safety focused culture in the venue. The Health & Safety responsibilities are clearly defined with open and accessible communication channels. All policies, procedures and risk assessments are readily available to staff via an intranet based register of files and documents. The implementation of a safety culture is supported by a comprehensive programme of inductions, training, briefings, meetings, appraisal and review. RB Health & Safety Ltd have also been contracted to provide much of the H&S training across all HQT&H venues – this feeds into G Live’s full training plan and training needs assessment. Security remains a high priority for G Live, and is discussed regularly at senior team meetings. A standard response procedure has been provided by the HQT&H head office, allowing the venue management team to react very quickly if the UK terrorism threat levels change. Regular training and practice drills maintain focus within the duty management team, with reporting of suspicious activity being encouraged amongst all staff. There are specific monthly Health and Safety meetings with departmental representatives from Technical, Administration, Front of House, Creative Learning, Marketing, Ticketing, Hospitality and Catering. These monthly meetings are then discussed at Senior Management level, where the minutes of the working group are looked at to ensure compliance with the G Live Health and Safety Policy, as well as raising any significant or strategic Health and Safety matters. The monthly Health and Safety meeting also feeds into a quarterly Health and Safety report to HQT&H Head Office.


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Annexe 1

Marketing Report 2017 - 2018

Overview

Now in year 7 G Live continues to cement its position in both the local community and the wider

regional arts landscape. In our annual customer survey 82% of respondents agreed that the venue

significantly improves the local cultural and entertainment scene. Alongside that, 62% agreed that G

Live plays a significant role in raising the profile of Guildford as a place to visit.

Audience numbers continue to grow steadily; at the time of writing, the venue has a total active

database of 148,270, up 14,420 (+11%) against this time last year demonstrating the ongoing

success of our outbound marketing campaigns as they continue to reach new attenders.

94% of survey respondents rated their access to information about shows and events at G Live as

Very Good or Good.


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Earlier this year G Live was chosen to host the HQ Theatres and Hospitality Celebration of Excellence

2018, the annual gathering of colleagues from all HQ venues, alongside associated businesses and

partner organisations. This event provided an engaging opportunity for the Marketing team to

develop a new brand and visual identity, and for the venue to do what it does best- to put on a great

show!

As part of the day we were joined by contacts at Great Ormond Street Hospital – our nominated

charity – and HQT&H was pleased to handover a cheque for more than £200,000 representing the

sum total of group wide fundraising for the hospital in this year.

Our staff, volunteers and the floor map of our venues

Headline marketing activity

The Marketing department has seen some personnel changes as a couple of longstanding staff

moved on to bigger and better things in their careers. However, the department has a full

complement of team members and now benefits from fresh eyes and new ideas. Given these

changes it has been pleasing to see such consistency and continued growth.

We planned and launched the 2018/19 Guildford International Concert Season campaign and

worked on the brochure and associated print, which went on sale in April. The season includes one

more orchestral concert than in 2016/17, plus guitarist Milos and clarinettist Emma Johnson, which

do not form part of the subscription season. Sales for the season are currently at 3,174, which is a

very healthy 58% of the full year season target, at the time of writing and with eight concerts still to

take place.


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Shows and attendance

The Rock, Pop, Jazz, Folk and World Music sectors continue to be the most popular segment of our

programme. 65.34% of those polled considered this strand of programming (described below as

‘Music’) be Very Good, a significant upswing from previous years.

46% of respondents say they have visited 1 -2 times in the year and 36% three or four times. We are

fortunate to have a loyal 16.5% of audiences who visited G Live 5+ times. These figures show solid

consistency year on year and an impressive contrast to the average 2.48 times most people attend

the theatre in the South East each year.

Digital Marketing

Online Sales

Our online sales averaged 75.5% of all bookings across the year. This figure is 1% higher than the prior

year, exceeding our target of 72.5% and placing G Live at the top of the HQT&H group of venues for

online sales.

89% of customers responding to the annual survey rated their online booking experiences Good or Very

Good.

Email Marketing

51% of customers responding to the survey said they find out about shows from our emails and 24% cite

our website as the primary way they find out what’s on. These figures are 6% down and 4% up against

prior year respectively, possibly indicating a potential shift away from email as the main communication

channel, towards a greater emphasis on search and social.

By way of comparison, 52% of respondents report that seeing a post on Facebook encouraged them to

buy a ticket for a show. Our social channels saw continued growth, peaking at more than 12,000 Twitter,

10,000 Facebook and 1,700 Instagram followers.

51.39 55.63

58.89

65.34

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

% Customers rating Music as Very Good

2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18


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Our social media impact and engagement figures

saw continued growth with campaigns such as the

short videos for each of the brewers exhibiting at

our Beer Festival working well and helping us to

engage more widely with potential audiences.

This video reached 8,219 people

12,995 followers - +599 10,200 followers - +1,253 1,700 followers - +356


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Friends of G Live

Membership of the G Live Friends programme remained stable through the year with 680 paid

members of the scheme, at the time of writing. We added some new benefits to the scheme

through partnership with two new Guildford restaurants (detailed in the Community Partnership

section below). Friends are also now able to use their 10% discount when making interval drink

bookings through our app. 46% of respondents to the annual survey cited exclusive ticket offers for

the big name shows as the primary reason for joining the scheme and we continue to explore

additional benefits to add to the package to encourage increased retention and acquisition of new

members.

Corporate Development

In 2017/18 we were delighted to work with several new corporate partners, helping us to grow

income from our Corporate Membership programme.

Knight Frank advertisement

The most notable new partnership was with

Knight Frank Lettings who became the headline

sponsor of the Guildford International Concert

Season in Spring 2018.

A number of new Guildford businesses have

reached out to us to help them find customers

and to extend their reach over the past 12

months, benefitting from our customer base

and position within the town.

During the year, we collaborated with The Ivy,

Chilli Pickle, Hummingbird Bakery, Pho and the

Tunsgate Quarter. The Ivy and Chilli Pickle

helped us to add value to our Friends scheme

by offering members the opportunity to

attend their opening launch events. The

Hummingbird Bakery ran a competition on

social media and email in return for us

promoting their celebration cakes to our

hirers.


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Hummingbird Bakery competition

Cover of Guide to magazine

Press relations

Significant changes at the Surrey Advertiser

during this year, and the demise of The

Guide2Surrey had the potential to impact on

our traditionally strong media profile. However,

thanks to the strength and reach of our

programme and the focus that the Marketing

team put on media relations, we have

continued to be well represented both in print

and online.

Community Partnerships

Our local charity for 2017/18 was Street Angels, whose volunteers look after anyone who might be

in trouble on the streets of Guildford at night. We helped to promote the charity’s work in our

season brochures and in the venue.

The Marketing team delivered a bespoke social media workshop for committee members from the

Arts Society, Guildford, helping them to develop the ways in which they use Facebook in particular,

as well as Twitter and Instagram. In return, the Arts Society promoted, and continue to promote,

selected shows to their members.

Alongside our regular attendance at the Surrey County Show and participation in the Local

Attractions group and Town Centre Business Forum, we strengthened our collaboration with the

Weyfest festival to promote our Beer festival and Food & Drink Festival by offering mutual social and

leafletting opportunities.


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G Live also donated some prizes to Scrub Heroes, a staff development initiative at the Royal Surrey.

Customer Satisfaction

The annual survey asks respondents to rate each of the criteria as very good, good, fair, or poor.

The KPI target is for more than 90% of all responses to be good or very good across the areas in the

table below:

The headline results in relation to the Operator Agreement KPIs are:

KPI – target 90%: Good or Very Good 2017/18

Result

2016/17

Result

2015/16

Result

2014/15

Result

1 The enjoyment / quality of the event/performance 98% 99% 98% 98%

2 Staff service 93% 93% 95% 93%

3 Facilities at the venue 95% 97% 95% 94%

4 Ease of booking/ access to information 93% 91% 92% 89%

5 Quality of catering and hospitality 66% 65% 66% 64%

Average Total 89% 89% 89% 88%

The following points are not KPIs, but give an additional perspective on customer experience

2017/18 Very Good/Good

2016/17

Very Good/Good

2015/16

Very Good/Good

Friendliness of Staff 96% 95% 95%

Cleanliness of

facilities

97% 97% 96%


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Ticket value for

money

80% 79% 84%


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Annexe 2 Creative Learning Report 2017-2018

Overview

New creative learning projects for 2017/18 included an opportunity for members of Guildford Arts

Society to attend an afternoon rehearsal of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and sketch musicians

as they played. We hosted G Live’s first opera production for children when English Touring Opera

presented Shackleton’s Cat. Little Meerkat’s Big Panic was our first children’s show geared

specifically towards young people with additional needs was very well received by audiences and

staff.

Little Meerkat's Big Panic – Surrey Advertiser


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Schools Partnership

G Live has specifically partnered with two local schools for the academic year 2017/18, Sandfield

Primary and Gosden House, as well as supporting other educational projects in the borough.

Our Creative Learning input brought invaluable expertise to both partner schools. At Sandfield, the

senior management team from G Live took part in a ‘Readathon’, reading aloud to various class

groups. Reception class at Sandfield also studied The Little Red Hen and as part of their learning Jo

went in to tell the story and help them bake bread, to learn that making is as important as eating!

At Gosden House G Live’s Creative Learning Manager (Jo Wright) facilitated sessions across the

whole school to help pupils explore how and what they communicate using their bodies – from

animal walks with reception to confrontational body language with Year 11.

In May Jo also transformed a small room at Gosden into an office of ‘lost things’, decorating it with

maps and numerous objects tagged with information about their loss. Staff and students responded

by workshopping the idea of loss and the significance of objects (‘things’) throughout the week and

creating an installation of work for parents and friends to attend on the Friday afternoon. They

performed a flashmob dance based on Basment Jaxx’s Do your thing, as well as participating in music

workshops and numerous class based arts activities from dance to baking. In total 275 students

participated in this activity and an audience of 200 friends and family enjoyed their sharing. This

project was submitted as an example of best practice for an award at the HQ Theatres Celebration of

Excellence at our Summit event in September at G Live.

It is clear that our partnership with Gosden House is valuable for us both and we are pleased to be

able to continue working together in 2018/19.

At Guildford County School Jo was asked to be a guest judge at the Annual House Drama

Competiton, and watched six excellent shows; it was difficult to decide, but Tudor House were

overall winners.

Students from schools across Surrey took part in Applied Industry Week, G Live’s work experience

opportunity, working towards producing activities for the Pirate family rave on Saturday. They had a

fabulous time and produced some excellent activities for the families at the event.

Surrey Drama Teachers Network is now holding its meetings at G Live, creating the opportunity to

share best practice and resources, with the support of the Creative Learning Manager.


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Holiday Workshops

October saw us work with a new partner, ComputerXplorers, making animated short films and

learning how to code.

In February half term, five young people worked with composer and workshop leader Patrick Bailey

to create pieces of music responding to their local area and performed to 30 friends and family.

May Half term workshops almost completely sold out, including a day for sixty young people who

were all totally engaged by Kev F (of The Beano) and created fantastic comic strips during their

sessions.

In August sixteen young people enjoyed a week with practitioners from Silver Lining Circus, learning

a variety of skills. They were joined for a day by the GBC FISH holiday scheme participants.

Creative Company

Despite the snow, in the region of 4,500 people attended Innovate Guildford in March where six

Creative Company members, with the support of G Live colleagues, created and delivered an escape

room event.

In October, Creative Company members curated and delivered a live music gig of local bands raising

over £300.

Student Internship

The Creative Learning and Marketing Intern for 2017/18 was Elizaveta Smirnova, an under-graduate

Events and Hospitality student from the University of Surrey. During the period of her internship,

Elizaveta was called upon to plan and administer our workshops for young people as well as oversee

them when they took place. She attended Creative Company meetings and supported the creation

and delivery of their projects, especially OxJam. She also expanded her marketing skills, learning

about print project management and working with our CRM system.

Working with artists

A piece of installation audio theatre by Tim Crouch, designed for parents and children, premiered in

our Café space as part of half term activities. Free to do, fifty parents and children listened to a

response to the Brexit vote and played a game with chess figures.

Community events

A new theatre group for young adults with additional needs, based at G Live, was established in

2018. Championing inclusivity, Project Geeyouone aims to devise work that tells the stories

important to its members. Working collaboratively with our Creative Company and the local

community, the group will start producing work to be performed at G Live and around Guildford.

Our relationships with Busy Lizzy, Guildford Theatre School, Guildford Borough Council and the

University of Surrey, for example, continue on a positive footing. Additionally, in February 8 young


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people from the Halow Project came for a tour and to discuss job routes and opportunities with G

Live

Partnerships in 2017/18

Tim Crouch, Pebble Gorge theatre company, Guildford Borough Council, GeeYouOne, Comedy Club

4 Kids, Creative Company, Surrey Youth Focus, George Abbot School, Howard of Effingham School,

Guildford County School, Oxfam, ComputerXplorers West Surrey, Rose Perry, The Dance Movement,

Guildford Art Society, Gosden House School, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, St Peter’s School,

Guildford School of Acting, Shakespeare Schools Festival, Weydon School, Sandfield School,

University of Surrey, Castle Nursery, Jamie Wilson productions, Explore and Discover, Southern Pro

Musica, Richard Alston Dance company, Half Moon theatre company, Patrick Bailey, Hiccup Theatre,

Ketsy’s Young Magicians, Rachel Barnett, Halow Trust, European Union Chamber Orchestra, Czech

National Orchestra, English Touring Opera, House touring Network, Kev F, Surrey Drama Teachers

Network, Collar and Cuffs theatre, Kings College, St Peters School, Christs College.

Creative Learning Numbers

2016-17 2017- 18

Individuals (number of people who

have taken part a community based

event):

9,104 (Inclusive of Innovate

Guildford)

11,078 (inclusive of

Innovate Guildford)

Sessions (number of opportunities to

take part): 759

634

Participations (number of things

done): 16,931

12,818

Creative Learning Projects are run by G Live on behalf of the HQ Theatres Trust, Charity Registration

Number: 1145989 - HQ THEATRES TRUST


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Annexe 3 Buildings and Health & Safety Report 2017-2018

Overview The seventh year of operation provided G Live’s management and staff with the opportunity to develop on the sound foundations of past years and to further refine procedures. There continues to be a focus on maintaining the strong H&S culture with regular external and internal audits and communication with staff. The building has evolved from the snagging phase into ongoing and planned preventative maintenance. There are however a few ongoing areas where further work is needed or where there are still issues to be resolved. These matters are longstanding and relate back to the construction/commissioning phase of the building and HQT&H are working closely with the Council’s contract monitoring team to resolve these few issues. As the plant ages, we are beginning to see end of life failures in high duty areas. PPM continues to maintain plant to a high standard, but due to the high duty use of the equipment, some failure is inevitable. We continue to work with our maintenance contractors to prevent and predict any failures in order to minimise disruption to venue operations. The Building The building continued to grow its reputation as a multi-functional arts and entertainment venue with many different formats for shows, corporate hospitality and community events successfully presented in the main hall and the studio space, along with multiple meetings and conferences in the Glass Room and Seminar spaces.

G Live foyer

Security continues to remain a high priority across the industry, and G Live receives regular updates and advice via HQT&H’s association with SOLT (Society of London Theatres) and National CSSC (Cross-sector Safety and Security Communications). We also maintain local links with the Counter Terrorism Policing South East, and with the Guildford Townlink service. We are in the midst of a long term project to renew and upgrade the venue CCTV provision.


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Lower foyer lighting: We were beginning to see increasing numbers of failures in the fluorescent lighting in the lower foyer bar area. The units were time consuming to maintain, and offered minimal scope for changing the ambience of the space. We commenced research into alternative lighting solutions for the foyer space which would allow greater control over colour and brightness of the area. Having had approval to use the GBC / HQT&H Sinking Fund for the project, the works commenced late September, and were completed mid October. 53 colour changing LED tube fittings were installed, along with 19 white LED tubes for emergency lighting provision. The new installation allows the bar areas to be tailored to corporate colour schemes, party themes, and any other show requirement. It also represents a power saving over the previous fittings, helping with our aim to minimise our energy consumption wherever possible. LCD Screen Totems: G Live has a network of internal and external totem signs containing LCD screens to support the venue’s marketing and communications. There are complex and longstanding issues with the system but progress has been made. All but one of the units is now working, and good use is being made of the content management system installed last year. A specialist fibre networking company has been contracted to clear the remaining faults, and we expect the works to complete by the end of 2018. Natural Ventilation Roof Lights/Vents: This year has seen extensive use of the roof lights due to the extended period of high ambient temperatures over the spring, summer, and autumn season. Two of the actuators failed during the summer, and these are being replaced in due course. They have been confirmed as units from the original installation, and so the failure is likely to be normal end of life. We continue to monitor the system for premature actuator failure with regular servicing and inspection. Daily Cleaning: Over the past year, HQT&H have been reviewing the cleaning services provided by the incumbent contractors for the group. As a result HQT&H undertook a competitive procurement process for a new cleaning services contractor across the group. The aim was to allow each venue to review their current cleaning provision, and determine if their needs were being met. After reviewing the proposals, and comparing against the current offer, we decided to bring G Live into line with the rest of the HQT&H group and have transferred over to a new contractor (Exclusive Contract Services). This should bring a better standard of cleaning to the venue due to new products and equipment, and also provides better training opportunities for the cleaning staff. The F&B manager will continue to liaise closely with the cleaning contractor, and review standards to ensure a high standard of cleaning at G Live. Periodic Electrical Inspection: In partnership with Kevin Hopkins, we have systematically addressed the issues identified in the electrical inspection reports. We start the next periodic cycle of testing in Q1 of 2019, and so I am expecting minimal latent issues with the next report.


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Thames Water Regulations Inspection: Following the inspection from Thames Water in 17/18, all defects were remedied, and the venue was certified as compliant in Nov 17. Health & Safety G Live Management has continued to maintain the Health and Safety culture at the venue and broaden the communication of this culture to staff and visitors alike. This is to ensure the successful operation of G Live to the highest standards of service and safety. The Senior Management team ensure H&S is a business priority and embedded into daily routine. G Live’s managers are tasked with promoting a positive health and safety culture to all staff within their departments, as well as through the vetting of outside companies and contractors. H&S Structure: HQT&H have a group-level H&S meeting that takes place every quarter with the attendance of all venues and HQT&H’s consultants. G Live provides a quarterly report to the retained H&S consultants, RB H&S Ltd, to give an overview of H&S activity and to support the independent quarterly H&S audits which look at all aspects of G Live operations. G Live has a monthly internal H&S meeting, chaired by the Facilities and Buildings manager, to discuss and resolve any G Live H&S matters. Planning for specific upcoming events is discussed along with any departmental concerns. Minutes are circulated and matters are further discussed as required at the next weekly Senior Management Team meeting where higher level decisions, funding support, or management intervention may be necessary. This structure ensures that Health and Safety is discussed regularly at all levels. Training G Live continues to provide training opportunities for all staff, covering staff development and statutory training. Included in this are monthly induction sessions for all new staff to ensure there is a good understanding of the company structure and ethos, along with health and safety training including COSHH, Manual Handling, Noise at Work and Safeguarding. This is then followed up by further departmental training as relevant and required. G Live continues to provide training to staff members through outside companies in areas such as SIA Training, Food Safety, IOSH, Rigging and First Aid at Work. G Live completes unannounced Fire Evacuation drills as well as programmed evacuations with full audience participation in conjunction with the local branch of Rock Choir. This provides beneficial practical training for staff and volunteers. H&S Audits: G Live is audited annually with further follow-up quarterly inspections by external consultants RB H&S Ltd. The annual audit took place on 5th June 2018. Continuing with the more rigorous inspection regime, we were commended on our embedded safety culture, and the integration of CDM processes into our technical operations. Our comprehensive Noise Management processes were also noted.


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G Live scored 83% in the audit, which was consistent with the highest scoring venues in the group. The audit concentrated on the quality and application of risk assessments and safe systems of work, staff training provision, equipment inspection and certification, and security procedures, among other areas. G Live’s management and staff were shown to have a positive and practical attitude towards health & safety, providing a good environment for the successful implementation and review of the various policies and procedures in place. The quarterly audit took place on 5th September 2018 and involved a venue inspection and exploration into the following areas:

Policy and Procedures

Leadership and Administration

Planned Inspections and Maintenance

Review of staff understanding of evacuation procedures The subsequent report and feedback was very positive, with the executive summary stating: ‘There were no significant findings at this inspection, staff are to be commended for the excellent condition of the site.’ Throughout these processes, G Live’s management team continue to find the audits to be helpful. The use of an external specialist auditing consultant provides reassurance that G Live remains well managed from a safety, compliance and maintenance perspective. Fire Risk Assessment: This took place on the 27th June 2018. The assessment was very good due to the nature and age of the building and the housekeeping practices. No significant findings were noted. Maintenance: G Live takes a proactive approach to reactive and planned maintenance. In addition to the audits and H&S management, a Maintenance Planner is in place and regularly updated to ensure that all servicing and legislative requirements are fulfilled. An online portal system stores and tracks all service reports and statutory inspections, creating reminders for items which are near their renewal date, and allowing easy access to all relevant documentation. Monthly building checks are carried out by each department and maintenance issues logged. In addition, daily building checks are carried out by the Duty Manager to ensure that all areas are safe, clean and tidy for our acts, events and customers. Accidents (10/17-09/18) RIDDOR – 0 Accidents – 33


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Annexe 4 Annual Financial Summary 2017 -2018 Overleaf

Annual Financial Summary (DRAFT) Contract Year 7 (2017/18)

g live annual report 2017/2018 - borough of …...g live annual report 2017/2018 contract year seven...

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