Venue Cymru Arena

[born2run]

The frequency and quality of acts in the theatre since the arena has been built has declined not improved!

Van Morrison
Status Quo
Willie Nelson
Don Mclean

countless others - all played the theatre before that white elephant was built. Quo played every year.

Wrexham with a tiny arena and Buckley with a nightclub manage to get acts week in week out.
Nothing to do with promoters owning venues - what a load of 
To do with this theatre management clearly not having the right contacts.

One example  - Levellers Greatest hits tour this year - they are playing in Wrexham - why not the arena?

[SDQ]

The frequency and quality of acts in the theatre since the arena has been built has declined not improved!

Van Morrison
Status Quo
Willie Nelson
Don Mclean

countless others - all played the theatre before that white elephant was built. Quo played every year.

Wrexham with a tiny arena and Buckley with a nightclub manage to get acts week in week out.
Nothing to do with promoters owning venues - what a load of 
To do with this theatre management clearly not having the right contacts.

One example  - Levellers Greatest hits tour this year - they are playing in Wrexham - why not the arena?

I think the geographical location plays a part too. I think it's just too out of the way for most bands to play, unless they use it as a stop off on the way to the Irish ferry.

[C_jones]

C jones believe me walk past their and you will see ,they are 10/20 people in the rooms small company seminars , oh we had dickinsons real deal last week ,as fester says the place is running at a loss, you say you worked in Manchester bit different from here wouldn't,t you agree.

So you can see in the arena can you now? Missed that bit? I The events I'm talking about are in the arena, as this topic states, not meeting rooms. I've attended two conference now in the arena both had almost 1000 people in the arena, most of which stop in hotels. And the rota i saw had many events like this, it's just not our business to know. Before you say the arena doesn't get used, can we not ask for a full list of what actually has happened in there this year? I think it would shut a few people up who are just on an anti VC mission.

[born2run]

The frequency and quality of acts in the theatre since the arena has been built has declined not improved!

Van Morrison
Status Quo
Willie Nelson
Don Mclean

countless others - all played the theatre before that white elephant was built. Quo played every year.

Wrexham with a tiny arena and Buckley with a nightclub manage to get acts week in week out.
Nothing to do with promoters owning venues - what a load of 
To do with this theatre management clearly not having the right contacts.

One example  - Levellers Greatest hits tour this year - they are playing in Wrexham - why not the arena?

I think the geographical location plays a part too. I think it's just too out of the way for most bands to play, unless they use it as a stop off on the way to the Irish ferry.

Similar sized venues in Cornwall and the Isle of Wight do a lot better than VC

[born2run]

C jones believe me walk past their and you will see ,they are 10/20 people in the rooms small company seminars , oh we had dickinsons real deal last week ,as fester says the place is running at a loss, you say you worked in Manchester bit different from here wouldn't,t you agree.

So you can see in the arena can you now? Missed that bit? I The events I'm talking about are in the arena, as this topic states, not meeting rooms. I've attended two conference now in the arena both had almost 1000 people in the arena, most of which stop in hotels. And the rota i saw had many events like this, it's just not our business to know. Before you say the arena doesn't get used, can we not ask for a full list of what actually has happened in there this year? I think it would shut a few people up who are just on an anti VC mission.

So the place is doing well as a conference centre but crap as a theatre/arena. 

[SteveH]

ARE THESE VENUES PRIVATE OR COUNCIL,   ITS DOWN TO MOTIVATION AND JUST REWARDS, IF A MANAGERS PAY AND OR JOB, DEPENDS ON RESULTS, WATCH THE DIFFERENCE..... THIS APPLIES NOT JUST TO V.C. BUT ALL PROJECTS NEW OR OLD.

[DaveR]

ARE THESE VENUES PRIVATE OR COUNCIL,   ITS DOWN TO MOTIVATION AND JUST REWARDS, IF A MANAGERS PAY AND OR JOB, DEPENDS ON RESULTS, WATCH THE DIFFERENCE..... THIS APPLIES NOT JUST TO V.C. BUT ALL PROJECTS NEW OR OLD.

I agree. In Council run projects or businesses, there is never what I call the 'necessity to succeed' that all private businesses have. Porth Eirias is a prime example of this, a compete mishmash of nonsense that would never have been approved in the private sector in a million years.

[norman08]

So c jones how is the place running at a great loss then ,and it's my hard earned money that is getting used ,all well and good seeing rota,s they don,t tell the story when it's council owned as dave says if it was private the manager would have to justify his salary ,and I don,t walk around with my eyes closed , I can see and hear honest people speaking .

[wrex]

When all these conferences go on in the Arena is the Hall upstairs empty and is the theater empty,who has priiority the Arena or theater,meaning do they shove conferences in the Arena hoping they might get a comedian in the theater hence leaving the Arena unavailable for a band,there is a lot more to all this,some months the theater has nothing on,something not right here.The Hall holds 1,ooo people,the theater 1,500 and the Arena 2,500,which one would you try and fill with top bands and leave available,no wonder the losses are great.

[Fester]

C Jones,  I attended the Welsh Spring Fair at the VC in February.  (in the Arena)
It is a four-day event,  where Welsh and other businesses are able to showcase their wares and attract buyers.

I pop in every year, but it is a complete waste of time, and I cannot believe it is sustainable, unless it is funded from the public purse, (which I don't know)

There are about 50 businesses with stands, and a couple of girls on reception dealing with name bands.
But they look startled when anyone walks in, and the 'sales' people on the stands nearly trip over themselves to get your attention,  because is it so POORLY attended it's unbelievable.

[Ian]

In Council run projects or businesses, there is never what I call the 'necessity to succeed' that all private businesses have. Porth Eirias is a prime example of this, a compete mishmash of nonsense that would never have been approved in the private sector in a million years.

I wonder, however, if private industry would ever have built the facility in the first place? If we take the skip out of it for a moment, do we have any figures on the running cost of VC and usage stats over a two year period? I'm asking this because I personally know little about the place, other than the couple of events I've attended were packed out.

[Ian]

In Council run projects or businesses, there is never what I call the 'necessity to succeed' that all private businesses have.

I think we've got to be careful about allowing the discussion to expand beyond the parameters of VC's profitability and use, otherwise we'll lose focus, partly as there exist absolute mountains of data that prove private businesses are far from the paragons of efficiency some believe them to be and numerous examples of state-owned companies that perform in an exemplary fashion.

[DaveR]

In Council run projects or businesses, there is never what I call the 'necessity to succeed' that all private businesses have.

I think we've got to be careful about allowing the discussion to expand beyond the parameters of VC's profitability and use, otherwise we'll lose focus, partly as there exist absolute mountains of data that prove private businesses are far from the paragons of efficiency some believe them to be and numerous examples of state-owned companies that perform in an exemplary fashion.

The difference is that I'm not paying private businesses to be efficient or otherwise, but I do resent my taxes being wasted on projects like Porth Eirias when there is supposedly no money available for to even repair the pavements in Llandudno.

Venue Cymru is a very useful facility, but that's not to say it couldn't be run far more efficiently if management was outsourced. Private companies have shown interest in taking over the management of it, but CCBC couldn't even get the Tender process right (they only put the contract out to a 3 year period, instead of 10 years), so the incumbent management team very conveniently got the job.

[DaveR]

In Council run projects or businesses, there is never what I call the 'necessity to succeed' that all private businesses have. Porth Eirias is a prime example of this, a compete mishmash of nonsense that would never have been approved in the private sector in a million years.

I wonder, however, if private industry would ever have built the facility in the first place? If we take the skip out of it for a moment, do we have any figures on the running cost of VC and usage stats over a two year period? I'm asking this because I personally know little about the place, other than the couple of events I've attended were packed out.

Figures are here:

In the year to March 2012 the Venue Cymru incurred expenditure of
£6,672,000. As a Local Authority run venue it operates a balanced budget but
the local authority does hold reserves of £222,000 for repairs and renewals for
both of the council run theatres. The contribution by the Local Authority in the
year was £1,772,000 (27% of income) with revenue funding from the Arts
Council of £78,000 (1% of funding) with the remaining income being earned
income.

For the year to March 2013 the organisation incurred £5,673,121 of
expenditure. A lottery project grant of £45,000 was received in the year in
addition to the annual revenue funding. The local authority supplied funds
totalling £1,810,994, £609,131 of which were for capital costs and central
support charges which are outside the control of the theatre management. The
earned income in the year was £3,639,737 and to achieve a balanced budget
the reserves of £222,000 were used.

[Ian]

The difference is that I'm not paying private businesses to be efficient or otherwise, but I do resent my taxes being wasted on projects like Porth Eirias when there is supposedly no money available for to even repair the pavements in Llandudno.

You do have a point.