Birmingham Hippodrome: Chief exec’s 10-year journey

WHEN Stuart Griffiths arrived at Birmingham’s Hippodrome as its new chief executive in 2002, he inherited an organisation and a building that had undergone a remarkable transformation thanks to a state-of-the-art refurbishment programme.

New studio spaces for artists, more luxurious surroundings for audiences, and an ever-growing and  varied artistic programme gave Mr Griffiths a solid foundation on which to build further growth and development.

The Hippodrome had long enjoyed its reputation as one of the most successful theatres outside of the capital, and, if there was one thing the chief executive needed to ensure, it was continued success in the box office.

Now almost ten years down the line, Mr Griffiths can report to the board that the Hippodrome remains the UK’s highest-earning theatre in terms of ticket sales, and that it generates surpluses that continue to underpin a rigorous  artistic programme, but that also help unlock an increasingly ambitious vision of the future.

Birmingham Hippodrome, in Birmingham's Southside quarterThat vision will see the Hippodrome become an even more integral part of the region’s cultural sector, of Birmingham’s business community, and particularly of the city’s infrastructure, as its immediate neighbourhood is transformed by the redevelopment of New Street Station and the Big City Plan.

“I inherited a fantastic theatre building with some of the best facilities in this country and beyond and a unique partnership of large scale presenting theatre with large ballet and dance development agency.

“But it was also the combination of the new and the old that attracted me to come here. But no one knew where that would take us. There was a period when we really had to get the finances back in balance following the capital development, but in the last four or five years, it’s been about retaining stability and ensuring we’re in surplus every year and look to the future.

“I always said that we shouldn’t spend £30m on a project and just continue in the same way, so it was incumbent on us to do something new and different and take a new direction an look at how we could take advantage of the new facilities, but particularly the amazing mix of cultural organisations in the city.

“In Birmingham there’s always been a collaborative approach where big cultural organisations have got together to make something really special.

“Birmingham has the largest cultural sector outside of London. There are more tickets sold for culture and there are more significant cultural organisations in this city than anywhere in the UK outside London. This is the only city where you’ve got a large scale classical ballet company, a fantastic orchestra, and such a variety of other venues and organisations of all sizes.”

With culture and the arts playing such a big part in the regional economy, doesn’t Griffiths fear for a future defined by dwindling public funding to the sector? With a healthy box office and a varied programme, the Hippodrome is proud of the fact that it receives not a penny of public subsidy, but Griffiths is clear about the linkages between the commercial and funded ends of the arts sector.

“It’s a complex web of interdependencies really. Many highly popular productions that come to us as successful West End shows actually started out life as experimental pieces that only the publicly-funded sector could produce. Take Les Miserable, for example, which started life in the publicly funded RSC.”

“It’s undoubtedly going to be a difficult time for many organisations, but I think the kind of collaboration we’re so good at in Birmingham could really help arts companies to pool resources, make savings and work more closely together.”

To find out more about the Hippodrome and to download its annual prospectus, click here 

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