G Live to remain part of Trafalgar family

In case you missed the news earlier this week, we’re delighted to announce that Trafalgar Theatres has successfully won the contract to operate G Live in Guildford following a competitive bidding process.

The company has run G Live since it opened in 2011 and will continue to invest in venue improvements as part of the new deal. The new management contract – which will run for a 25-year term – was awarded to Trafalgar by Guildford Borough Council (GBC). 

Trafalgar’s existing contract was initially extended by three years in 2021 and, at the conclusion of that contract, GBC were required to undertake a competitive tender process. Bids were sought from operators with the relevant skills, experience, and aptitude to operate a venue of the size, complexity and scale of G Live. Read the full lowdown here.

And congratulations to the G Live Team for winning Best Live Music Venue at the Surrey Rocks Award 2024 for the second year running!

Manchester Growth Summit

TE marketing and IT colleagues attended last week’s Growth Summit at Band on the Wall in Manchester. The conference was organised by Strategic GTM agency Six and Flow who have been working closely with TE, to facilitate our move over to customer platform HubSpot. Speakers included Six and Flow’s CEO Richard Wood, Joe Glover (Co-Founder of The Marketing Meet Up), HubSpot’s Mark Barry who delivered a compelling insight into the super speed arrival of AI, and our very own Jo Scalpello who was a guest panellist on a discussion about broadening the marketing impact in 2024.

Red carpet glitz for Southend Team

Southend-On-Sea launched their 2024 Film Festival on Thursday 6 June. Southend Theatres were invited along to the red carpet and were represented by, Nick Parr – Theatre Director, Emma Wagstaff – Creative Learning Manager and Sophie Holland – Venue Marketing Executive. And back in May, the Dixon Studio situated within the Palace Theatre, hosted a fringe event for the Festival.  

Celebrating National Volunteer Week at New Theatre Cardiff

New Theatre Cardiff marked National Volunteer Week by hosting an afternoon tea for their volunteers. Volunteers have been a key part of New Theatre Cardiff’s operations since 2013, and also becoming integral to the friendship and camaraderie felt by all there.

Following the event Theatre Director Stephan Stockton, said: “It’s important that we mark the vital role that volunteers provide to the theatre and the wider Cardiff community. A large number of our volunteers come to us because of a deep or long personal connection with the theatre itself. They are great ambassadors for the theatre out in the community, and also at the theatre, providing the best customer experience possible.”

The event allowed the volunteers and management to chat in a less formal setting, swapping stories and discussing the history of the theatre. Duty house manager Sam Geen, who oversees Cardiff New Theatre’s volunteer programme, said: “I’m glad so many volunteers and staff have taken to the time to come to this event. It has been lovely to be able to show our appreciation to our volunteers.”

Volunteers on average make up about one third of New Theatre’s front of house and hospitality team on any given show. Their duties are limited to Ushering, but this places them in a perfect position for perfect customer service and interaction.

Drama Kids Spring Seminar takes off at Heathrow!

The Drama Kids Spring Seminar, held at the Marriott in Heathrow recently, was a resounding success, bringing together Principals, Head Office staff, and the academy’s teachers for a creative event of workshopping the Summer plays. This annual event is essential to the drama curriculum as everyone gets a chance to practice what they will be teaching the students in the Summer Productions term.

Plays such as ‘Curse of the Pharaohs’, ‘Written in the Stars’, and ‘School for Superheroes’ were performed and recorded for use by teachers and Principals across the network, with Head Office staff getting stuck into the fun!

The Drama Kids community is now looking forward to a season of memorable performances that showcase the talent and hard work of students and teachers alike.