Over 400 people turned out on Wednesday night to the Winter Gardens in Ventnor to hear the reasons behind the planned closure of the iconic venue.
After the Mayor, Debby Robinson, introduced all councillors to the public, Town Clerk, David Bartlett kicked off the meeting with a half hour presentation, which was broken down into four parts: Finances, Management, Building and Operations.
Finances: £350k accumulated deficit
What was evident from the beginning of the presentation was that the Winter Gardens has been running at a deficit for the last 16 years.
David clearly presented figures for each year, showing the accumulating deficit had reached a staggering £350,000.
Only two years in the last 16 had turned a profit, £8,000 in 97/98 and £100 in 99/00.
[The news was contrary to claims made by residents and former councillors that the Winter Gardens (WG) had previously performed well financially]
£650k subsidy paid out by VTC and IWC
David went on to explain that the subsidy provided by the VTC (which is paid for by the Ventnor tax-payers) over 16 years amounted to £350,000 and with £300,000 coming from the Isle of Wight council (IWC).
Details of a loan to the WG by Molson Corrs showed that £278 a month was still being paid on a £26,000+ loan made in 2007 to the WG.
In addition, a whopping £51,000+ had been paid in compensation and legal costs, after a former concessionaire took legal action against the VTC, following the early termination of their catering contract.
Management of the venue
David talked through the management history of the venue, explaining that the first meeting of the Winter Gardens Committee was held way back in February 1994.
He explained that for the first eight years, just three town councillors chaired the committee, with the press and public excluded from all but nine of the 92 meetings.
During his search for background papers, David claimed he could find no paperwork showing either a Strategic or Business Plan for the venue, something any profession operation would be sure to have.
Warnings by District Auditor not acted upon
In 2002, the District Auditor insisted that membership of the Committee should comprise the entire town council, which is has been since. Unfortunately, it appears that the VTC ignored the DA’s warning that the VTC should address underlying problems of ongoing deficits.
David went on to remind us that the 2009 Audit Report of the Winter Gardens illustrated a “clear lack of management control” as well as £20k-£30k expenses not being budgeted for.
The state of the building
Next David moved onto the state of the building. It was reported that over the last 16 years, a total of £107,768 had been spent by the VTC on repairs and maintenance of the building. This sum didn’t include the £60,000 spent on modernisation of the premises.
A survey carried out by an independent surveyor (Pritchard Wilmott) in 2003 indicated serious concern and recommendations that ground, foundation and drainage investigations were carried out.
[As anyone who has visited the WG will know, you don’t have to look too far to see the signs of subsidence, with cracks in the walls, skewed window and door frames telling the tale of instability]
£600,000 required for repairs and maintenance
A building condition survey carried out by the IWC in 2009 estimated that necessary repairs and renovations would run to around £600,000.
[This was met with whispers of “rubbish” from some members of the audience]
The Health and Safety audit, also carried out in 2009 signaled many problems at the WG, suggesting neglect by those responsible for the safety of the venue.
Later in the meeting, David Bartlett explained that replacing the lighting rig in the main hall had recently cost the VTC the unbudgeted figure of £7,000, after it was discovered to have been at risk of falling from the ceiling at any moment.
An expensive building to run
The running costs for a building of this size, age and condition have run into the hundreds of thousands over the years.
Heating and lighting bills amount to £2,000 each month, whilst cleaning, waste disposal, rates and water incur a further £2,500pm cost to the VTC.
Operations
Next, David moved onto the operations aspect of the venue. He explained that eight people had held Catering Concessions at the WG between 1994 and 2009.
He talked briefly about the legal costs associated with a compensation claim made by one of the previous concessionaires, which totaled £51,339.
David also went into detail about the concession held by Graham Perks. As the undocumented awarding of the contract and the £31,000 of rent reductions have previously been covered on VB, we won’t go over those facts again now.
It was reported that a sum of £14,000 had also been paid to Mr Perks when he departed, in payment for stock, furniture and fittings left behind at the Winter Gardens.
David told the audience that Mr Perks had given just one month’s notice to terminate the contract, which by the time the VTC met to discuss the situation left them with nine days to find a replacement concessionaire, rather than the preferred 3-4 months.
An emergency meeting was held with IW Chief Executive, Steve Beynon (October 2009) and it was agreed that VTC would take over the concession to protect the jobs of the 15-20 members of staff.
Shows poorly attended
[It’s been argued by some that shows at the WG when under the former management were busy and thriving]
A dig back through the WG Committee meeting notes found that in July 2006, it was reported that the “WG need two well-attended shows a month to break-even, May had one and July and none”.
In July 2008, minutes recorded that “recent shows seem to have been less well attended with net deficits resulting”.
August 2009 told a similar story, with “several shows have been poorly attended with net deficits resulting”.
David explained that even with a full programme between March – November 2007 the average tickets sales was only 202.
It was later explained by Cllr George that a theatre production (Teechers) brought down from Cowes near the end of last year, attracted only 42 ticket sales over two nights.
[Every so often a sell out gig takes place, such as The Bees or Ash, but these are few are far between]
All options tested
As David reached the end of his presentation, he explained that the VTC had explored all possible options in order to make the WG work as a venue.
Increasing the theatre’s capacity was explored, as many promoters demanded at least 600-650 capacity and the WG is under 400. A new summer programme was trialled, exhibitions in parts of the building that weren’t normally used took place and commercial leasing was considered.
Unfortunately, David told us, due to the current climate, the changes to how people obtain their entertainment, the seasonal nature of the trading, the fact that the building is increasingly unfit for purpose and the £3-4,000 a week losses being incurred, the VTC had no option but to close the venue at the end of the month.
It was felt that a commercial operation would have far more chance of success, away from the bureaucracy of local government and with the prospect of investment to maintain the building.
Winter Gardens to remain an entertainment venue
It was made very clear that the VTC and IWC [from what was said] wish for the building to remain as a venue for continued community and entertainment activities. The closure at the end of the month was certainly being viewed as temporary.
The VTC advised that Expressions of Interest would be advertised locally and nationally by the end of the month, with a view to the venue reopening very soon. VTC and the IWC would share the responsibility of considering all bids with the winning bid not being based upon the highest offer, but the being the preferred bid for the best of the town.
Anyone wishing to take part in the bidding should contact Jason Doughty in Property Services ([email protected]) for an Expression of Interest form.
Public Q&A
An additional report on the Q&A session between the VTC and the members of the public will follow on VB soon.
You can view David Bartlett’s presentation below or download your own copy of the PDF.
Ventnor Town Council – Background to Ventnor Winter Gardens Closure
