Welcome to the March edition of Ensemble. I hope you’re all staying safe and keeping well.

Today is TE Staff Appreciation Day and we wanted to call out all our staff who have contributed to the success (and survival) of our business over the past tricky year. Of course, we appreciate our staff all the time but it’s great to have a reason to celebrate you all.   

The challenges of this year have proven just how resilient our teams are. The finance team, for instance, have been on a constant cycle of reforecasting and audits, collecting cash and managing suppliers which was tricky to balance whilst establishing a brand spanking new tech system too.  And likewise, HR have been manually paying us all during a fractious period of furlough/flexi-furlough whilst also implementing a new system and that’s on top of the day job!   

Our content teams, whether that be for shows which have opened and then shortly after closed, those negotiating fresh new content for streaming or generating resources for our educational divisions, all have been endlessly negotiating, creating and editing for the marketing teams to conjure up news and campaigns for social, press or selling purposes. 

The innovation that we have experienced from all our teams has been incredible this year which has allowed us to stay one step ahead of the competition.  From creating show-specific credit vouchers, streaming fresh new content direct to consumers to providing performing arts education for all.  We managed to conjure these great new products at a time when many were licking their wounds.   

We have witnessed many teams working collaboratively many times over the past year but specifically on the grant applications for Arts Council funding.  Whilst we sadly didn’t win our bids, the bigger win for us was in witnessing how we can all pull together when the going gets tough.  

Our operational, new project and exec teams have been working all hours, often encroaching their weekends, to help us build for the future. A huge amount of effort is also being ploughed into opening/reopening venues across the world which will serve us well when the time is right.  Of course, we couldn’t have kept our businesses running without our dedicated IT team who kept us all connected and communicating during a year of virtual meetings and endless Teams calls. 

And finally, we mustn’t forget all those who have been furloughed and made personal sacrifices to help keep the business afloat. Even now, there are a handful of staff who remain on full-time furlough and we thank them for their unwavering loyalty and support.  

We originally asked you to nominate colleagues who you thought deserved to receive recognition and appreciation today. However, due to a high level of responses we felt we couldn’t fully do this justice in Ensemble. So, with the consent of the nominators, we have contacted all nominees and forwarded on their personal commendations. Thank you to everyone who took the time to take part and acknowledge their colleagues.  

So today, we show our appreciation and celebrate every single one of you. Our brilliant, innovative, creative, inspiring, resilient teams. Thank YOU! 

We Are Trafalgar Entertainment.  

Until next time, take care of yourselves.
Sending you all my very best wishes
Rosemary