ABOUT THE THEATRE SECTOR
The theatre sector is a vital part of the UK’s creative industries, contributing to local and global growth, and having a significant impact on the UK’s soft power and international standing.
Pre pandemic, venues represented by The Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre created ticket revenue of £1.28bn, employed 290,000 workers (70% self-employed/freelancers including all actors and musicians) and reached an audience of 34m people (more people than go to ALL football league games in the whole of the UK each year.) According to DCMS, the Creative Industries contributed £111.7bn to the UK economy in 2018, an increase of 43.2% in real terms since 2010.
UK theatres and production companies are held as exemplars of best practice worldwide, with influence stretching across Europe, US, the Middle East, China and further afield. This is evidenced by the worldwide success of theatre productions which originated here (e.g. War Horse, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Les Misérables) and our position as a hub attracting world-class international creative talent and partnership.
Within the UK, our theatre ecology is richly diverse and collaborative, with renowned regional venues (such as Chichester Festival Theatre, Curve in Leicester, Nottingham Playhouse, Sheffield Theatres and many more) providing the fertile environments to nurture exciting new work and develop highly skilled professionals across creative and technical fields. A close relationship with London’s West End means new productions regularly begin live elsewhere in the UK before transferring in to critical and commercial acclaim – with many going on to enjoy long-term success here and abroad. The UK’s theatre sector is also valued as an important training ground and talent pool for the film and TV industries, with world-class on and offstage professionals working across both screen and stage.
ABOUT US
Society of London Theatre (SOLT) and UK Theatre Association (UKT) are the leading trade associations representing the interests of theatre producers, owners, managers and professionals throughout the UK. We are uniquely placed to advocate on behalf of the growing live theatre sector and to lead exciting change and share good practice through working collaboratively with both our membership and the wider industry.
Our advocacy and lobbying work with central and local governments on behalf of the sector was never more significant than during the pandemic, when targeted government support proved critical. This, along with being the focal point for information, communication and strategy, made SOLT/UK Theatre a vital lifeline for the theatre community during the last 2 years.
Collaboration is at the heart of what we do and we work with a variety of different partners and organisations to champion the industry and drive ticket sales including Visit Britain, London and Partners, GLA, local councils and bids. We recently launched Love Your Local Theatre with the National Lottery. We also work closely with O2 and Sky VIP and our headline sponsor for the Olivier Awards, Mastercard.
SOLT, founded in 1908 and originally known as the Society of West End Theatre Managers, works with and on behalf of its members to champion London based theatre and the performing arts. SOLT represents approximately 230 London-based producers, theatre owners and managers, including all the major West End and not-for-profit theatrical organisations in London.
UK Theatre, which began life in 1894 as the Theatrical Managers Association, represents approximately 240 theatres, concert halls, dance companies, producers and arts centres throughout the UK. It embraces everyone from major producing houses and large-scale commercial presenting theatres in towns and cities across the country, to established commercial producers and production companies and emerging producers creating shows that tour across the UK. We are truly national in our outlook and represent theatrical organisations from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England. UK Theatre also operates as a professional association, supporting over 1,400 individuals working professionally in theatre and the performing arts, offering training, networking and a host of other services and campaigns.
Across the two organisations, membership covers the majority of large and mid-scale theatre practitioners in both the commercial and not-for-profit sector. Venues and productions represented by SOLT/UK Theatre generate an average annual ticket revenue of around £1.28bn and reach an audience of 34m people. London theatre alone generates around £133m in VAT payments for the HM Treasury annually.
As not-for-profit entities, all resources generated by SOLT/UK Theatre are invested back into the sector. SOLT turnover in 2019 (the last pre-pandemic year) was £6.2m, and in 2020 the impact of the pandemic saw this fall to £2.9m. UK Theatre saw a 2019 turnover of £935k, and £787k in 2020. Our commercial activities play a vital role in covering the costs of the staffing of both organisations and enabling us to deliver our campaigns and events. SOLT also helps to fund our charity the Theatre Development trust which supports a wide range of education, access, audience development and work force initiatives.
We have a team of around 50 staff based at our offices in Covent Garden and at our TKTS booth in Leicester Square. SOLT/UK Theatre champion good practice and leadership across the sector. The organisation responds to the needs of its wide and varied membership and focuses on the areas where collaboration can bring direct member benefit. The Senior executive team is currently made up of:
- Chief Operating Officer
- Head of UK Theatre and Workforce Development
- Head of Legal Affairs
- Head of Employment Relations
- Head of Marketing & Communications
- Head of Risk & Safety
The senior team work closely with the boards to shape the priorities and business strategy for both organisations and draws on the experience of the wider membership to ensure that the work we do is relevant and reflects the changing needs of our workforce and audiences.
The CEO and members of the senior executive team also sit on a variety of external boards and working groups to amplify the voice of our sector. SOLT/UK Theatre is the secretariat for the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Theatre. We also work with commercial sponsors who are keen to be associated with theatre and who financially support our campaigns and events.
We engage with our membership through a range of means, including regular newsletters, member meetings and webinars and medium and large-scale conferences. The Theatre and Touring Symposium is an annual conference bringing together members from across the UK, to discuss the burning issues facing the sector that year. It sits alongside other smaller conferences which cover more specific topics, including the Revenue Generation Summit, our Learning and Participating Conference, and our Business Resilience Conference. We also coordinate Working Groups, along the themes of Safeguarding, Skills and Development, and Inclusion and Anti-Racism, where members with specialist skills sit alongside SOLT/UK Theatre Board members to advise us and guide our thinking on policy and practice development.
At the core of what SOLT/UK Theatre do is the communication of our sector’s needs and priorities, whether through Public Affairs or both B2B and B2C marketing and press. Our advocacy and lobbying work with central and local governments on behalf of the sector was never more significant than during the pandemic, when targeted government support proved critical. This, along with being the focal point for information, communication and strategy, made SOLT/UK Theatre a vital lifeline for the theatre community during the last 2 years.
Our organisations are regularly called on to represent the theatre industry in the media, issuing statements on behalf of our members, and providing a unified sector voice with carefully and thoroughly briefed interviews with the Chief Executive, Presidents and other senior leadership.
SOLT/UK Theatre are responsible for negotiating and implementing a number of collective agreements held with Equity, BECTU and The Musicians’ Union. These agreements determine the minimum pay, terms and conditions that apply across the industry for the engagement of actors, stage management, creatives, technicians and musicians. Our role is to represent the complex and varying needs of our members in the negotiations with these unions.
Research and data collection increasingly supports both our public and discreet advocacy and media work. The commissioning of research and reports like Securing the Future of London’s Theatre (Publica), Workforce Review of Offstage Theatre (Nordicity) and the current Economic Impact Study (Sound Diplomacy) enables us to better make the case for theatre to those who have the power to make changes and improvements to policy. In creating an Evidence Centre to both aggregate and expedite analysis of existing data sets around sales, audience, economy and workforce, we aim to lead the way for the sector and support our workforce.
SOLT/UK Theatre also provide members with a legal and employment relations advice service. We advise on risk, health and safety and technical matters across the theatre industry, and during the pandemic we created the See it Safely mark to guide theatres and consumers through the complexity of Covid restrictions and offered training and specialist support.
SOLT/UK Theatre look to improve the resilience of theatre in a variety of ways. We are committed to developing the skills of the sector’s workforce through advocacy, initiatives to promote best practice, and a programme of training and events– from early careers and outreach initiatives such as TheatreCraft and Inspiring Future Theatre, to UK Theatre’s extensive programme of industry courses and conferences.
Our diversity and inclusion initiatives and resources aim to improve representation, including the support of the Speak Listen Reset Heal anti-racism Conference with Inc Arts, creating a Diverse Casting Toolkit with Tonic Theatre, publishing an Inclusive Recruitment Guide, and a Flexible Working Toolkit, commissioned from PIPA (Parents and Carers in Performing Arts). Our work around safeguarding and well being aims to protect the welfare of the workforce and strengthen their resilience, through initiatives like the 10 Principles for Safe and Inclusive Workspaces, and the ongoing support of the Theatre Helpline. All this work facilitates improvements to organisational culture through the support of arts professionals across the UK.
Audience development and championing theatre is a significant part of the work of both organisations. Theatre Tokens, our nationwide gift voucher scheme promotes theatregoing and generates significant income for the organisation and for the Theatre Development Trust.
Excellence in theatre is celebrated through the Olivier Awards supported by Mastercard, held annually at the Royal Albert Hall, and the UK Theatre Awards. These awards are a chance to recognise extraordinary talent across the live theatre sector, generate positive press coverage and inspire future theatre makers.
SOLT partners with Westminster to produce West End Live, a free weekend of musical theatre, and has recently worked with the Mayor of London on a free outdoor Kids Week Festival, Performance by Rankin (a portrait exhibition and book celebrating London theatre’s post-lockdown return) and Show Time in Stations with Network Rail as part of our #BackOnStage campaign to support the sector as it reopened.
Since 1922, SOLT has produced the London Theatre Guide listing everything that is on in our member venues. We run the OfficialLondonTheatre.com website which had over 25 million page views in 2019 and continues to grow and the TKTS booth in Leicester Square. We work closely with member theatres and productions to promote their work and drive ticket sales, and are known as a trusted, influential audience-facing brand, with large followings across our social channels, YouTube, website and newsletters.
As part of our aim to make theatre accessible for all, SOLT runs the successful Kids Week campaign – which has introduced over 1.5 million families to the magic of live theatre with free kids tickets and activities – as well as our popular New Year Sale and Show Time ticket promotions offering West End theatre tickets from £10. We also produce the Access London Theatre guide and newsletter, highlighting access performances put on by our members and venue information for those with access needs.