Agenda item

Report of the Managing Director.

Members received a report of the Managing Director providing updates from the six Barbican Directors on their respective areas. The Directors spoke to each update with a number of questions asked by the Board:

·      Olympic Park Development: The opportunities arising from the development of a new East London cultural hub located in the site of the Olympic Park were discussed, with Members keen to understand the potential for co-operation and any risks associated with the development. The Managing Director confirmed that the Centre had been aware of the development for some time and felt that adopting a flexible approach to working with others across East London would be more beneficial than establishing a permanent presence at the new site. The Director for Creative Learning and Director of Arts had also been involved in discussions with Chobham Academy, a specialist arts school at the site, who the Barbican were looking to work closely with, thereby providing a focus on the creative learning aspect at the cultural hub. Members agreed that a flexible approach to working with others would be the sensible approach to take, particularly as it facilitated early engagement and delivery of outcomes rather than requiring a delay until a material building was erected.

·      Touring: Members noted the success of a number of shows which had now been scheduled to go on tour to a number of foreign cities. It was suggested that thought should also be given to touring around the UK, thereby spreading the Centre’s cultural offerings across the regions.

·      Creative Learning: Validation had now been received for the Guildhall School of Music & Drama (GSMD) and Barbican Centre’s jointly taught Bachelor of Arts degree in Performance & Creative Enterprise. Separately, the Centre and GSMD had also launched a joint manifesto outlining the creative learning offering to young people; this was symptomatic of increasing joining-up between educational departments across the City Corporation and a presentation was being made to the next meeting of the Education Board outlining the work being undertaken.

·      Commercial: The commercial side of the business was in good shape, with challenging income targets being met across the board. Members would be considering a proposal to bring the bar service in-house later on the agenda, which it was anticipated would generate further increases in commercial revenue. A new Head of Commercial Development was also being recruited following the departure of the previous incumbent.

·      Cultural Hub: The Managing Director and the Director of the Museum of London had recently held a positive meeting with the Barbican Residents’ Association where good progress had been made in working towards a common position and consensus for the future shape of the cultural hub.

·      Cinema: Members were pleased to note that the cinema had, after a disappointing start to the year, vastly improved its performance and was back on track to meet financial targets for the year.

·      Exhibit B: The Director for Arts advised that she had recently attended one of the Paris performances, noting that there had been an increasing number of demonstrations and that one of the early showings had had to be closed for a brief period. Wider talks about the show and associated matters was also ongoing. 

·      Website: A new incremental approach was being adopted for the project, with officers undertaking improvements in-house. The initial focus would be around the booking journey and mobile optimisation. It was also confirmed that the gateway process would be implemented as appropriate.

·      Exhibition Halls: It was advised that feasibility studies around Exhibition Hall 2 were still ongoing and that a report would now be presented to the Resource Allocation Sub Committee at its January meeting.

RECEIVED.