Watford Borough Council has awarded ‘preferred bidder status’ to Qdos Entertainment’s Venues Division, HQ Theatres Ltd to manage Watford Colosseum. The Council hopes an agreement will ensure that the venue can offer a wide-ranging entertainment programme for local people. Mayor Dorothy Thornhill said that Qdos “demonstrated a real understanding of Watford and its people”. Watford Council has been directly operating the Colosseum as a hall for hire with a limited public entertainment programme since the previous operators went into liquidation in 2004. The Council has been seeking a long-term partner after consultants identified the potential to provide a broad public entertainment programme, but also advised that improvements to the building would be required.