ENO still seeking buyer for £11m rehearsal space

A north London rehearsal complex owned by English National Opera (ENO) remains on sale for £11m, more than two years since the company placed it on the market.

ENO’s latest accounts, which were filed five months late, state that the company has vacated the historic Lillian Baylis House in West Hampstead and is intent on selling it. 

Ongoing attempts to secure a sale come as ENO proposes a range of staff cuts to deal with reduced income after being dropped from Arts Council England's National Portfolio. It plans to shed more than 30 full time roles from its orchestra, chorus and technical teams.

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ACE has agreed a funding package of £11.46m for 2023/24, with a further £12m set aside for 2024/25 and 2025/26, bringing ENO's total funding for the 2023-26 period to £35.46m, or £11.82m a year, close to the £12.38m a year it received as part of the National Portfolio for 2018-22.

ENO's accounts also show that overall income rose by 40 per cent in 2021/22 – its first full year of operation since the pandemic – to £33.7m. This was up from £20.1m on 2020/21, but is still down £2.5m on the £36.2m recorded in 2019/20.

Meanwhile, the  amount spent on top management went up. Total remuneration, including employer contributions, for key management personnel came to £1.61m for 17 employees in 2021/22 – up nearly £100,000 on the £1.51m spent across 19 employees in 2020/21.

Last month, ENO was issued a notice for compulsory strike-off from the Companies House register because its accounts for the year to 31 July 2022 were significantly overdue. The strike-off was shortly after that discontinued, with ENO saying that filing was delayed while it "awaited confirmation of ACE subsidy".