Hope Mill Manchester moves to charity ownership

Don’t know if this is good news, I guess iHope Mill is moving to a charitable status because they couldn’t make it work as a private initiative, which is sad as Stuart and Joseph were both principled and insisted on paying their talent, something I admired.

I wonder now, if they can get Art Council funding?

Business rates.

They’ve been seen looking to crowdfund a number of their productions, Jerry Springer used unpaid volunteers for the chorus,and despite having a very nice bar the theatre is not in a part of town that would attract passing trade to generate revenue from that. I can’t say I’m surprised to hear that the financials haven’t worked out under private ownership, that place was a derelict mill when they bought it and everything in the place has had to be bought. It was a good while before they even had the capability to tier the seating properly. It must have cost an absolute fortune.

The financials are available for free on Companies House - the need to pay to see them quietly disappeared at some point in the last few years.

Now, with the caveat that accounts can be made to say anything you want - these seem to say that the theatre itself really hasn't made any money (a deeper rummage around suggests that the bar and pizza operation is a seperate company, and of course, the shows they make will be seperate limited companies as well). Indeed, if I've read the accounts correctly, Will and Joe have had to put money back into the theatre building company in the last year or so.

What I do think all of this says is that they can't make the venue work commercially - which is a genuine shame for the Manchester theatre ecology. Because if they could make it work, they wouldn't be converting to a charity (and in fact the quotes from them in The Stage say that they've not been able to make it work - they need funding to do so, presumably the Arts Council have said 'no', and as they've discovered, in the current climate, a lot of funding comes from charities, who won't give to "for profit" organisations.

2020 season announcement in two weeks apparently.

He’s had a longstanding relationship with Manchester with his writing though hasn’t he. The only thing Ive seen Densy Welch in was a production of Little Voice at the REX which must be a decade ago. 

ETA 2004! 

Hope Mill are aiming to replace their seating by means of a crowdfunder. 

www.crowdfunder.co.uk/your-bum-deserves-better

It will certainly be an improvement, the current chairs are those conference room jobbies. Hideously uncomfortable. 

Allocated seating for this year’s productions too. 

They’re keen to point out they’re not in danger of closing but they’re struggling in the current climate. It sounds like they’re in a catch-22 situation where they’ve outgrown the venue but don’t have the funding to move to a larger space, so will be looking to stage things in other venues as co-productions moving forward. In the long-term they’re also aiming to stage a tour every year.