Venue Cymru Arena

[Ian]

And they incurred some pretty heavy expenditure when they had to relay almost the entire lower track.

[norman08]

I notice c jones has gone quite ,you can always fiddle about with a rota ,the figures don,t lie .its about time the welsh assembley done something about ccbc.

[C_jones]

i'm here. I just have other things to do with my time. Do these figures show any wage re-chargers to the shows? Also one interesting fact that i don't know how it would be worked out is the amount that VC makes for the area? Hotel nights etc?

[Ian]

Could you explain what 'wage re-chargers' are?

[norman08]

If you stand at the links roundabout and watch the cars going out not many stay the night ,when the alarm play friends of mine in the hotel business say they do quite well .

[nwpo]

To be fair the tram, was the only one who made a profit 5years out of the 10, and I do not think they should be lumped in with the others.

To be fair, I wouldn't personally lump it in, however, Conwy CBC do.

I do however agree that there is no reason why it couldn't be run on a longer season and late into the evening in the summer holidays. Why not do some Santa runs during December for the kids?

However, saying that, it would involve running the tramway as a commercial operation - something Conwy CBC have no idea about!

[SteveH]

I am not disputing the benefit to local businesses etc. that the VC generates, or that conferences make more than shows or concerts, and I am not on an anti VC mission.
I am trying to understand, the financial figures, mentioned before, if I was manager of a business, and the owner asked why I was running at a loss, and my excuse, was, not to worry, the local hotels etc were doing well from us!!
I have spent my entire working life, running businesses, as a manager and an owner, so when I see losses over a ten year period of £20.000.000 I really am at a loss to accept this situation.
there is not one private owner who would accept this, they would have questioned and tried to resolve the problem, if unable to do so, they would have gone bankrupt, they would not have access to the bottomless reserves available to council operations.

 

[Yorkie]

The problem is simply that the County is being run as a Business by people who have no experience of business.

They have no idea about Profit and Loss, they know nothing about efficiency at work, manpower requirements, expenditure and overheads and the thousand and one other disciplines necessary to run a successful enterprise.  Result chaos!

I was employed by CCBC after many years in Industry and was appalled at some of the work ethics I saw.  Every day had to start with a tea or coffee and a natter about the exploits of the previous evening or the week end football.   Every advantage was taken of cigarette breaks and some people's day was spent as a five minute work break between every half hour cigarette!   Many vehicles could be found, with the occupants, hiding in secluded places in various parts of the County.   There never appeared to be any urgency about their work or duties, in fact it was akin to watching a movie in slow motion.  The attitude was spread across the whole work force from white to blue collar.

Fortunately there were also many who enjoyed their work, accepted their responsibilities, and gave a fair day's work.   Without them everything would have quickly ground to a stop.  It was just a crying shame that the rest were riding on the backs of their efforts.
 WWW  WWW  WWW

[Fester]

Yorkie,  Steve H.   
I too spent my entire career, in management (some would say mis-management) of private companies.

You have summed up the problem in a nutshell.   
Where weak management at Senior and Middle levels exists, there are no consequences for turning in a poor performance, and a loss-making result.   

Someone needs to grasp those responsible by the scruff of their necks and EXPLAIN what will happen if certain criteria are not met.   But sadly, these days, that person is likely to be 'done' for harassment in the workplace,  or the staff members will just go off sick with 'stress and anxiety'   

So the world has gone soft, what is to be done?

[Ian]

But sadly, these days, that person is likely to be 'done' for harassment in the workplace,  or the staff members will just go off sick with 'stress and anxiety'

I think a lot lies in how the capability, discipline and competency policies are drafted. It's a myth that under-performing employees in council-run occupations can't be managed effectively, but it does - as F says - depend on a management willing to grasp the nettle and institute adequate monitoring programmes of the type that exist within well run private companies.  Y paints a slightly worrying picture of the possible management culture in CCBC which, if accurate, may be one reason why things go pear-shaped as often as they seem to.

[Ian]

i'm here. I just have other things to do with my time. Do these figures show any wage re-chargers to the shows? Also one interesting fact that i don't know how it would be worked out is the amount that VC makes for the area? Hotel nights etc?

Could you explain what "wage re-chargers" are, please?

[SteveH]

I am not interested in the detail of any bids or tenders,  what I am more interested in is,

1, What are the management's targets and objectives for performance improvement at VC
2, What strategy have the management devised to meet these objectives.
3, What consequences will be faced if the management fail to achieve their objectives.

I am sorry to say, that in the heat of this recent debate,I boobed, it was pointed out to me, by mrs S. asking, if I had read page one, I said of course I had........WRONG    again. So my apoligies to all who have gone before me, I shall now sit down and do my homework.   
However, bearing in mind the above quote, ( from 2010) I would urge new and old readers to return to the beginning of this thread, and I hope we are not still discussing this in another 5 years.

[SteveH]

Venue Cymru could make money, but won't make money whilst it is run as a council operation rather than as a commercial business.  The management of VC do not have to worry about making a profit to get there ever increasing salary cheques.  If the theatre was let to a commercial operation (such as the one which runs Access All Eirias), it would have to make money or the management would find themselves booted out.

I have read all of the thread now, and realise I have said nothing new,....but, going over the figures again, the main thing that stands out, is the salary costs £1.700.000 million which is very close to VC's. yearly loss.
I'm, maybe out of touch with current salaries, but this amount seems extreme, bearing in mind there is a further£350.000 wage bill added to this amount.
So, I am still gobsmacked by the situation, and can only agree with Festers comments of 2010(above) and NWPO more recent quote.

[wrex]

After a hetic July with Robert Page and UB40 being announced we have slipped back into the same oldways,please keep the bookings coming

[Bri Roberts]

How about Example on the 17 October?

Tickets go on sale next Friday.