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Preston Guild Hall is to see its first live events for more than half-a-decade from early October.
Proposals to re-open the foyer area as a make-shift venue branded as The Guild Lounge can be revealed.
Blog Preston can confirm Preston City Council is pushing ahead with a significant investment in bringing the foyer venue back into life – while the main Guild Hall (Grand Hall) and Charter Theatre await their inspection for what to do about the RAAC (reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete) which was uncovered in the roof of both venue halls and confirmed back in January this year.
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A six month programme of music, comedy, children’s entertainment and more is planned in the Guild Lounge starting from early October this year – the first time a committed opening date has been given after it was repeatedly stated a ‘temporary venue’ would be looked at.
Under the previous owner, the late Simon Rigby, the foyer area had operated as ‘LiVe’ between 2016 and 2018 with the likes of the then up and coming White Lies and many local bands playing within the space.
Deputy city council leader and cabinet member for resources councillor Martyn Rawlinson told Blog Preston: “This is a step towards getting the venues back operating and we know how important that is for the city and the businesses in the city centre.
“We want this [the Guild Lounge] to become a venue in its own right and be part of the live music and arts scene in the city centre which has some great things already happening.”
The Guild Hall, as Blog Preston revealed earlier this month, is currently costing the city council more than £1million-a-year with very limited revenue to show for it.
Chief executive of the city council, Adrian Phillips, told Blog Preston: “There’s a programme of events which we will deliver and we have the aim of ensuring the Guild Lounge becomes cost-neutral as soon as possible.
“Our ambitions continue to be to bring the whole venue back into use, but that timeline remains unclear because of the RAAC.
“As well-documented we have the inspections to take place first from structural engineers, due in late July, to then understand the repair plan for the Charter Theatre and Grand Hall.”
Mr Phillips indicated they hope the Charter Theatre, which has a flat roof, is a potentially easier repair job but the main Guild Hall (Grand Hall) venue could remain out of action for more than 12-months or longer depending on the scale and complexities of repairs needed.
Cllr Rawlinson said: “We know and understand everyone wants the Guild Hall back open but it will require a significant investment to be able to do that, and most likely working with a number of partners. We’ve shown with Animate, Amounderness House, the Harris, that we’re able to attract that kind of investment to the city.
“The Guild Lounge is a great way to get live events going, help boost the city and over time we can hopefully re-open other parts of the venue as the RAAC situation becomes clearer.”
Mr Phillips repeated a call he made, in early July, that is was likely a significant intervention from the Arts Council or another organisation was likely to be able to stabilise the situation with the RAAC.
He said: “We will continue to speak to potential funders and we need the Guild Hall to be recognised as what’s called an NPO – this would qualify it for some potentially significant sums going forward and help with the work for the RAAC and its long-term future as a venue.”
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Where is the money coming from?
Funding for The Guild Lounge was described as a ‘major six-figure investment’ with £100,000 or so of its funding coming from a portion of the Cultural Recovery Fund secured in 2021 from the Arts Council but which has remained unspent since then. Further capital funding, from the city council is an undisclosed sum, is being injected into upgrading the foyer venue – with work needed on the bars, staging and ‘backstage areas’.
Cllr Rawlinson said: “There needs to be a fair amount of work now happening to ensure the venue is ready to use and change a few bits of it round.
“There will be a capacity of around 350 seated and then 500 or so standing, but we need to make some changes to the space so that can happen.”
Mr Phillips declined to reveal the full figure being invested, saying it was ‘primarily capital funding’ and ‘was commercially sensitive’.
The full programme of events, still being worked on, is due to be released in the coming weeks.
Blog Preston understands the initial focus will be on a ‘Thursday to Sunday offer’ with the Thursday being ‘a more experimental day’ with the Friday and Saturday holding ‘more broader appeal events’.
Cllr Rawlinson said: “We want it to be a quality venue but also ensure there’s a good ticketing system and people feel they are seeing acts they want to see.
“Over the six months it will build up, I’m sure, and we get into a position where then we’re able to operate The Guild Lounge and hopefully the Charter Theatre.
“Under the previous operators the foyer was used as a venue, with a range of acts on, so we know it can work.
“With the Harris reopening, Animate opening, and The Guild Lounge, it will have a positive and good impact for the city.”
Deputy chief executive, Sarah Threlfall, told Blog Preston: “One of the things we’re going to ensure is there’s a strong children’s programme for The Guild Lounge, building on what we’ve already done while the Harris is closed and using alternative venues for this.
“Particularly in the run up to and over the Christmas period there will be lots on for families. We’ll be working with a number of providers to put these on and it’s important the venue is seen as a place where all of the community can come.”
Mr Phillips confirmed there were no plans for a panto this year.
The venue is due to be run primarily in-house by the city council, utilising its existing events team but neither Cllr Rawlinson or Mr Phillips ruled out working with different promoters or other organisations. The use of the bar and venue will also see an increased amount of work available for the pool of events staff the city council uses at the moment.
Mr Phillips said: “We’ll listen to anyone who wants to look at running something in there and feels there’s a good use for the foyer space. The focus is on Thursday to Sunday, but if someone has something they think can work on a Monday, Tuesday etc then of course we’ll be looking to work with them.
Cllr Rawlinson added: “Our aim is to get those regular nights going and if people want to book the venue or put something on then of course we’ll look at it.
“I think there’s that space between say some smaller venues in the city – such as The Ferret who do great work – and then the main Guild Hall room – which means there’s bands, acts who want to play that kind of capacity we’ll have in the Guild Lounge.”
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How will the main venue potentially operate?
Asked about negotiations on the main venues, Mr Phillips said they were continuing ‘discussions’ with a number of operators but until a timeline and resolution on the RAAC was obtained then it was very much in ‘early stages’.
Cllr Rawlinson repeated his comments – made back in a previous interview with Blog Preston – that he, the city council’s leader cllr Matthew Brown and his cabinet continued to wish to see the majority of the Guild Hall operated in-house. Cllr Rawlinson has the re-opening of the Guild Hall within his brief and portfolio.
He said: “Every venue has some sort of subsidy, be that sponsorship or a direct subsidy – I don’t think the Guild Hall will be any different when we get it open.
“People don’t realise it’s hard for venues, theatres, to make money. But of course, yes, we want to operate the venue as a council.”
He also confirmed there were no plans for himself to play the venue – with his ukulele – and scoffed at the suggestion.
He said: “As long as it doesn’t compete with the open mic night down the road then that’s fine, I mean I don’t think I could get 350 or so people coming to watch me play.”
Mr Phillips confirmed it was not part of the potential programming at the venue.
The Guild Hall foyer proposals and update on the building are due to go to a full council meeting in August, but a decision has been taken by city council leader councillor Matthew Brown in the interim so the re-opening and work on The Guild Lounge can take place.
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What do city centre businesses think?
Preston’s Business Improvement District manager, Mark Whittle, who represents city centre businesses, welcomed the announcement of The Guild Lounge.
He told Blog Preston: “A vibrant programme of events and activities, in the Foyer, will be a welcome addition to the city centre.
“The city deserves and needs a large multi-format event space, and the re-opening of the Foyer is a step closer to achieving this.
“We hope that the programme is appealing to people, that they embrace it, engage with events, and that they are minded to support and enjoy city centre businesses before and after gigs.”
How did we end up here?
2014 – Preston City Council made the decision to sell the Guild Hall to Simon Rigby for £1, after saying it may have to mothball the venue due to rising losses. Before this the venue was operated in-house by the city council since it opened in 1973.
2014-2018 – Mr Rigby and his organisations operated the venue, with live music, comedy and other events taking place along with a number of different hospitality venues opening and closing within the venue. During this period concerns began to surface about the state of the venue itself.
Early 2019 – The volume of events at the Guild Hall starts to decrease rapidly and rumours of large unpaid debts began to surface.
June 2019 – The Guild Hall closed, with claims surfacing of million pounds in unpaid debts by Mr Rigby linked to the venue. Preston City Council ‘seized back’ the venue, as the landowner, from Mr Rigby – who read about the ‘dawn raid’ on Blog Preston. A legal battle began between Mr Rigby and the city council, with the venue closed.
August 2019 – Simon Rigby died suddenly, aged 58.
2020/2021/2022 – The Guild Hall remained closed during the Covid pandemic and the legal battle with The Rigby Organisation continued. It opened occasionally to hold conferences and election counts.
March 2023 – It was confirmed the legal battle between the city council and the Rigby group had been settled.
May 2023 – The city council announced its intention to re-open the venues and begin a programme of events from Autumn.
September 2023 – As the RAAC crisis gripped the county, the re-opening plans were scrapped after concerns there may be the concrete within the Guild Hall venue. Inspections were ordered and events postponed.
January 2024 – Blog Preston revealed the RAAC had been confirmed and all proposals to re-open the venue remained on hold.
March 2024 – Leader of the city council, councillor Matthew Brown, said the ‘reputational damage’ from the Guild Hall decisions had been ‘pretty serious’ for the city council – during an interview with Blog Preston. The city council said it was continuing to pursue utilising the foyer as a venue, as no RAAC was present in there.
May 2024 – The foyer hosted the local election count and Mayor’s annual charity dinner.
July 2024 – The general election count was held in the foyer. A Freedom of Information request, made by Blog Preston, revealed the city council had spent £4million on the Guild Hall since ‘taking back control’ in 2019 and was £3.4m in the red from operating the building over that five-year period.
What do you think about The Guild Lounge plan? Who do you hope to see perform? Let us know your views in the comments below
