Why Hereford is bucking the trend as theatres and music venues face closure
The Courtyard's chief has said ticket sales are excelling, but the popular city centre venue is still facing challenges
A quarter of music and theatre venues have said they are concerned about closure due to rising costs, a new survey has found.
Others have resorted to production cost cutting and raising ticket prices by up to 25 percent, the USwitch study found.
But the Courtyard, in Hereford’s Edgar Street, has said it is bucking the trend and is seeing excellent ticket sales.
But chief executive Ian Archer admitted trying to budget is becoming increasingly difficult – with the venue having no idea how the economy would be in 12 months’ time.
He said some customers were cutting back on spending at the café bar, which, like households, is seeing the cost of goods rise dramatically.
Mr Archer said: “During Covid, nobody knew whether we'd survive and come out the other end at all.
“Now it's very difficult to produce budgets because we have no idea what the economy is going to do in 12 months’ time. We're doing well, so don't get me wrong, we're doing quite well and bucking that trend.”
He said he felt the demographic of Hereford could be helping their success, with a higher percentage of older people than other areas of the country.
According to the Office for National Statistics, more than a quarter of people in Herefordshire are over-65, whereas the England and Wales average is 18.3 per cent.
“People here want to be entertained,” he said, adding the Courtyard offers a varied selections of shows, films and community events.
“They want a bit of light-heartedness. They want to go out.
“They might spend as much, so our bar take might not be where it used to be, but our ticket sales are just excelling.”
Uswitch said energy bills are taking the centre stage of concern for live performance venues, as energy bills make up more than a third of overall business costs.
Performance venues are widely recognised as energy-intensive spaces, and the new research of UK music venues, concert halls and theatres shows more than a quarter are concerned about potential closure due to rising costs.
Air conditioning, heating, as well as extensive sound and lighting systems required to create immersive experiences for audiences are all adding towards total energy expenditure costs, with venues needing between 6 -1,000 kw to power low level concerts to major artist events.
The government said the Energy Bills Discount Scheme is there for struggling businesses.