The Stage

Wales Millennium Centre needs £4 million funding to safeguard future

Published Wednesday 17 October 2007 at 14:00 by Lalayn Baluch

Wales Millennium Centre is facing an uncertain future as it looks to the Welsh government for a five-fold subsidy increase to ensure its survival.

Officials at Cardiff’s £106 million arts venue have claimed they require its funding to be increased to as much as £4 million by the Welsh Assembly Government. WMC currently receives £750,000 public funding every year, but also holds a £13.5 million debt which it wants the government to repay.

A WMC spokesperson told The Stage: “We are hoping that we will have a resolution to the loan, which is guaranteed by the Welsh Assembly. Underlying that is the more general issue of the level of funding - if you speak to anybody, they are just amazed that we have achieved what we have achieved with the level of subsidy. People comment that £750,000 probably doesn’t even cover our cleaning and maintenance.”

According to WMC figures, since opening it has attracted more than 1.5 million visitors and achieved ticket sales of £21 million. However, in the WMC’s 2006 annual report, its auditors KPMG stated that there was “considerable uncertainty” that it would achieve “a suitable settlement with the Welsh Assembly Government, and the existence of this material uncertainty may cast significant doubt about the group’s ability to continue as a going concern”.

Meanwhile, an unpublished report leaked by BBC Wales allegedly warns that the venue is in serious danger of insolvency.

The government’s financial contribution makes up 6% of the centre’s annual income - a figure that was settled on before the present management and board were in place - while ticket sales account for 58%. Fund-raising equals 15%, and 21% is raised through commercial and other activities.

By comparison, London’s Southbank Centre and Barbican Centre each receive public subsidy totalling more than 50% of their annual income.

Warnings were made by independent consultants as early as 2001 - three years prior to the venue opening - that the centre would not be viable with such a small subsidy.

James Woods, a producer for Mark Goucher Ltd, said that he was surprised to hear of the financial difficulties as the WMC had regularly been one of the highest performing venues for tours staged by the company.

He added: “With the shows we have taken there, such as Footloose, Saturday Night Fever and High Society, we’ve had nothing but huge successes. It surprises me if they have had financial troubles because for us they’ve been one of the best venues in the UK, both in terms of the audiences and in terms of the way the venue has been run.”

WAG has confirmed that it is in ongoing discussion with the WMC, and heritage minister Rhodri Glyn Thomas is expected to make a statement to Assembly members outlining the government’s position on the matter later this week.