The Stage

National Theatre and Travelex recognised at A&B Awards

Published Friday 19 November 2010 at 15:57 by Michael Quinn

Travelex and the National Theatre have been recognised for their partnership on NT Live - the company’s digital cinema broadcasts of live performances - at the 32nd annual Arts & Business Awards.

Awarding the initiative the Lloyd’s A&B Business Innovation Award, judges hailed the scheme “a partnership in the truest sense” and applauded its success in “breaking new markets and attracting new audiences”.

Travelex first launched its partnership with the National in 2002, helping the venue to offer subsidised £10 tickets for live performances at the London venue. The venture was extended last year with the launch of NT Live, with Travelex sponsoring the scheme and helping to support global transactions when shows were broadcast abroad.

Meanwhile, Sheffield’s Open Door Theatre won the Jaguar Land Rover A&B Community and Young People Award for a collaboration with engineering firm Ekspan that transformed a 15,000 square foot factory space into a theatre venue.

The Halle Concerts Society in Manchester took the Prudential A&B People Development Award for the success of its programme of singing workshops in boosting the performance of employees of Siemens, the engineering and technology services multi-national.

Two awards for individuals were also made: the Garret Award to Vanessa Swann, chief executive of London’s Cockpit Arts, in recognition of her development of the venue into a “creative business incubator for designer-makers”, and the Prudential-backed A&B Board Member of the Year Award to John Middleton of The Broadway in Barking.

The British Museum’s Indian Summer programme won the Cultural Branding and International awards for collaborations with the Telegraph Media Group and Classic FM, the radio station also receiving the BP A&B Sustained Partnership Award for its continuing support of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic.

The recipient of the Simon Hornby Award, named after the former chairman of Arts & Business who died earlier this year, was Sky Arts for its involvement with “hundreds of arts organisations” and “helping to grow audiences in their tens of thousands”.

A&B chief executive Colin Tweedy said: “We know that business engagement in the arts is not only critical for survival in this harsh age but actually makes good business sense. We believe culture is the most cost effective way for businesses to reach out to consumers, develop staff and take their brand around the world – and these awards demonstrate this in a powerful way.”