Ahead of next week's Spring Budget, Claire Walker, Co-Chief Executive of Society of London Theatre & UK Theatre, is calling on the Chancellor for renewed investment to sustain the UK's world-leading theatre sector.
Ewa Ferdynus
There is nowhere in the world that has a theatre sector like we do in the UK. We are a world-leading, innovative, growing sector. Theatre delivers enormous economic, social and cultural value in communities across the country and to the UK as a whole.
It is an economic powerhouse and a source of immense social good. However, the conditions for theatres across the country are increasingly challenging.
Costs for the sector have risen dramatically since the pandemic while ticket prices remain stable. It is harder to recruit and retain the skilled workers needed to develop and present shows and public investment is increasingly squeezed resulting in a more vulnerable theatre ecosystem.
The Society of London Theatre (SOLT) & UK Theatre are calling for strategic measures to support the health and vitality of the theatre sector in next week’s Spring Budget through investment in productions, theatre infrastructure and expanding access.
Turbo-charged bounce back
Theatre Tax Relief (TTR) has been instrumental in supporting theatrical productions across the UK since its introduction in September 2014. When it was introduced in 2021, the higher rate of TTR turbo-charged our sector’s bounce back from the pandemic, enabling risk taking when the stakes had never been higher.
The announcement of the extension of that higher rate last year immediately unleashed new, richer productions, creating new jobs and stimulating investment in our sector from within the UK and overseas.
83% of respondents to our recent survey said current TTR rates enable greater scale of productions and 65% are producing more shows than would be possible at a lower TTR rate. The higher rate has helped create groundbreaking productions, showcasing the transformative power of investment in the arts.
Without the higher rate productions like Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, Guys and Dolls and Mark Gatiss’s A Christmas Carol – to name just a few - would not have reached the stage.
Theatre infrastructure needs investment
The survey also found the sector is already taking action in anticipation of the higher rate being lost, with a reduction of almost a third in total number of productions and playing weeks planned for 2026.
For this reason, SOLT & UK Theatre urge the Chancellor to make the higher rate of TTR permanent in his Spring Budget, to ensure the continued success and growth of the UK theatre.
We also call on the Chancellor to invest in the theatre infrastructure. Many theatre buildings are in urgent need of investment, to ensure they are as energy- and cost-efficient as possible while providing audiences with an excellent experience.
We suggest establishing a Theatre Energy Efficiency Grant Scheme, developed in partnership with the Theatres Trust, to enhance energy efficiency across the sector, while supporting HM Treasury's environmental objectives.
Improving access cultivates future workforce and audiences
Further, we call on the Chancellor to invest in access. Every child has the right to enjoy our country’s world-leading theatre and to experience the joy and opportunity that it can bring.
To do this we propose a funded commitment to ensure every child has the opportunity to attend a theatre before leaving school. Such initiatives not only promote cultural enrichment and educational benefits but also cultivate future audiences and workforce for the sector.
Theatres and producers have the ambition and creativity to maintain and grow our dynamic, world-leading sector. We can only do this with the right fiscal and policy environment which enables us to unlock this potential.
We urge the government to commit to this investment in the Spring Budget. By investing in theatre - through targeted tax relief, infrastructure investment, and access initiatives - the government can make an investment in communities up and down the country, which benefits us all.
Claire Walker is Co-Chief Executive of Society of London Theatre & UK Theatre.
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