Audience development agencies to become one

A new, single national organisation to support the arts, culture and heritage sector is set to emerge from the ashes of England’s network of audience development agencies, which lost their Arts Council England funding when the its National Portfolio was announced earlier this year. Operating under the working title Audiences Plus, a number of the remaining agencies are now working together to establish the new national organisation by April 2013, in a merger being spearheaded by Audiences London in the south and All About Audiences in the north of England, with the support of Audiences Central in the West Midlands.

The work of Audiences South has already been taken over by the London agency, and talks are progressing for the work of Audiences South West also to be merged into the London agency. Conversations are ongoing about how the three remaining English arts development organisations, namely &Co in Yorkshire, Audiences North East, and Cultivate in the East Midlands, might also partner with the new body. Alison O’Hara, Chief Executive of Audiences North East, said: “This planning is still at an early stage and Audiences North East is working hard to ensure that there is continued high level support for cultural organisations within the North East to enable them to undertake audience development activity.”

The new organisation will be established as a not-for-profit entity, and although its precise organisational structure is yet to be determined, its remit has been agreed: to continue the work of the existing agencies to increase public engagement with the arts and culture, and “to evolve a range of nationally available products and services”. As well as bidding for major projects, it will be in a position to support audience development by providing a service to large and small arts organisations across the whole of England: one of the notable gaps that will be filled will be in the East of England, where there is no agency at present. Explaining the plans for the future, Anne Torreggiani, Chief Executive of Audiences London, said: “We believe it is essential to build on current success rather than creating something new that has no solid foundations and lacks the long corporate memory held within some of the agencies. Services will be modelled on the most successful ones currently on offer in some regions but adapted to encompass the best elements of others… Retaining a local overview is important, so we are looking at involving local advisers to sustain a strong point of contact in the regions.”

The merger proposals draw into question the future of Audiences UK, the national network body that links the agencies, which has for the past two years been working to coordinate the work of the agencies on a series of major national audiences development projects. These will be completed in the next few months, and Chief Executive, David Brownlee, has announced his departure at the end of October to take up a new role as General Manager for the Theatrical Management Association (TMA) as well as heading Research and Membership for both the TMA and Society of London Theatre. The Board of Audiences UK has endorsed the proposals for the new national organisation, “in the context of the complete withdrawal of revenue support to the English Audience Development Agencies.” Their Chair, Alison Edbury, who is also Chief Executive of &Co, has stepped down, and a new Chair, Michael Noonan, has been appointed. An organisation development consultant with considerable experience of change management, he was described by Brownlee as “the right person at the right time” for the role. He added: “Personally I hope the new organisation will increase the quality and range of services to cultural organisations in England and will work with Agencies in the other UK nations to ensure learning and best practice is effectively shared.”

Further announcements will be made later in the autumn, following discussions with stakeholders and the formalisation of the alliance between All About Audiences and Audiences London and its partners.