The Stage

Rhys Jones: Board had ‘no choice’ but to close Hackney Empire

Published Thursday 14 January 2010 at 10:55 by Alistair Smith

Comedian and Hackney Empire board member Griff Rhys Jones has claimed that the venue’s board had “no choice” but to decide to close the theatre next month, in a letter to friends of the Empire.

Last September, The Stage revealed that the controversial decision to suspend main stage production at the north London theatre from next month had been taken because of severe financial problems. At the time, it was claimed that Arts Council England had taken too great an involvement in the decision to close the venue - an accusation that both ACE and Hackney’s interim chief executive Clarie Middleton both denied.

However, in Rhys Jones’ recent letter to friends of Hackney Empire, he said: “The board had no choice. The arts council have offered continued financial support, but only with an entire reboot. Hackney council have advanced a small sum. Both parties wanted a change of management, a period of closure and the sale of the Wilton Way property to be used to pay back creditors.”

Despite this, both Middleton and the arts council have again insisted that the plan to close the venue for a “period of reflection” was the board’s.

Middleton acknowledged that Rhys Jones’ statement “could perhaps be construed as ambivalent or ambiguous”.

However, she added: “What that [Rhys Jones’ statement] actually means is the Empire had major organisational weaknesses and was insolvent. It had no choice but to look for any kind of support that would deal with these problems. An obvious port of call was the existing stakeholders. In my role as consultant to the board, I developed a plan for the stabilisation of the Empire. I took this to a board meeting and the board agreed - reluctantly because it’s quite draconian in a lot of respects - to it as a way of trying to free up more money from the stakeholders and revive the organisation.

“This plan looked at the staffing structure and whether the way we managed the organisation was working properly. Obviously, we already knew we needed to sell Wilton Way to pay creditors. The arts council and Hackney council accepted this plan and have advanced us a considerable sum, in addition to their existing grants.

“Like any arts council or local authority grant, these things come with conditions. The conditions attached to these grants merely reflect what was laid out in the plan.

“This is the board’s plan - the board commissioned and accepted it.”

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Arts Council England said that the language Rhys Jones had used was “not helpful”.

She said: “Obviously I can’t speak on behalf of Griff, but I would reiterate that we’ve been concerned about the situation, the board came to us with a plan, we talked it through with them and we thought that it was brave and sensible and appropriate, and carefully thought through - as did the London Borough of Hackney.

“The degree to which the language that Griff uses clouds the issue is not helpful. We would just reiterate that we haven’t been leaning on them, it’s absolutely their decision - Clarie with the board - and we support that.”

The spokesperson added: “He [Rhys Jones] is entitled to his opinion, but we absolutely stick with Clarie’s explanation of the situation. That is what happened and that is the basis for how we’re all working towards what we hope will be a successful outcome for the end of this process.”

From next month, Hackney Empire will run a “substantially reduced” programme on its main stage for up to nine months. It is planned that the venue will return to full operation in time for next Christmas’ pantomime.

What ACE said last September:

“This is the board’s plan. Of course, we and the London Borough of Hackney have been in very close conversation with them for quite a considerable period of time. But the changes that are taking place at the Empire and the measures that they are having to bring in to make that happen is the plan of the board. This is not about micro-management.”

What board member Griff Rhys Jones says now:

“The board had no choice. The arts council have offered continued financial support, but only with an entire reboot. Hackney council have advanced a small sum. Both parties wanted a change of management, a period of closure and the sale of the Wilton Way property to be used to pay back creditors.”

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