Agenda item

The Executive Member for Wellbeing submitted a report that covered the performance and financial position for the 2025/26 year, setting out challenges and control measures in place along with business plan targets for 2026/27 onwards.

The Executive Member for Wellbeing advised that BEAM had recorded a net loss of £970,000 at 31 March 2026, with £440,000 held in future ticket sales relating to 2026/27. Members were advised that this represented a significantly different outcome to that envisaged within the original business plan. It was acknowledged that a number of factors had contributed to the position, including changes in audience behaviour after Covid-19 and wider cost of living pressures and overly optimistic assumptions within the original business case.

The work undertaken by BEAM staff and volunteers was commended by the Executive Member for Wellbeing in going over and above to help ensure a positive experience for all of BEAMs visitors. She said that Head of BEAM had worked tirelessly in securing high performing national shows and building the audience at BEAM. He has also worked on opportunities to best manage the venues cost and there was considerable work on a new website.

The Executive Member for Wellbeing said that part of building new and returning audiences including testing different shows to understand what works for East Herts. This inevitably meant that some shows did not return a profit but there were invaluable insights for future programming. BEAM was now in a much stronger position to attract bigger shows.

The Venue Director for BEAM delivered a presentation on the venue’s operational performance and revised business plan. Members were advised that the venue had hosted more than 3,100 ticketed events during the year, attracting over 77,000 visitors to stage performances and more than 53,000 cinema attendances.

The Venue Director said that despite the strong activity, the first full year resulted in a significant loss, and this was not reflective of a single issue but more of a series of complex early-stage challenges.

Members were advised that a structured action plan had been implemented that focussed on revenue optimisation, cost control and risk management, resulting in improvements in attendance levels, booking fee income, food and beverage income and occupancy rates.

The Committee was advised that an updated business plan had been prepared, which forecast a break-even position by 2028/29. Members heard that the revised plan reflected current market realities and included increased emphasis on commercial income streams such as conferences, meetings, events and catering activity.

During debate, Members welcomed the work that had been undertaken to improve the venue’s performance but expressed significant concern regarding the scale of the reported loss and the variance between earlier financial forecasts and the year-end outturn.

Members questioned the assumptions underpinning the revised business plan, the robustness of financial reporting arrangements and the Council’s ability to identify emerging financial pressures at an earlier stage.

The Venue Director explained that work had been undertaken to strengthen financial monitoring and forecasting arrangements, including the development of improved reconciliation processes and the appointment of a dedicated finance resource to support BEAM.

Members also discussed the challenging national environment facing arts, theatre and cinema venues and sought assurances that appropriate risk management measures had been incorporated within the revised business plan.

The Venue Director advised that growth forecasts had been deliberately moderated and that contingency measures had been built into the plan together with diversification of income streams. Members debated the high fixed costs of BEAM, and whether there were options for reducing them.

The Venue Director said that work on reducing fixed costs was ongoing in terms of securing contracts at lower rates. He said that staffing costs were quite high, and this was not unique to BEAM and was normal for a venue.

Following Member discussion around a Thursday night Member Briefing, the Director for Regeneration, Customer and Commercial Services explained that a Thursday night member briefing on BEAM and the business plan could be set up relatively quickly. The formal process of building the business plan into the budget would come later on.

The Committee expressed a clear view that BEAM’s financial position required ongoing scrutiny and that consideration of the revised business plan should not be deferred for a full year. Members requested that the revised business plan be brought forward for detailed consideration at a further Audit and Governance Committee, with commercially sensitive information considered in exempt session where necessary.

Councillor Jacobs proposed and Councillor Deering seconded, a motion that BEAM’s position be reviewed and Audit and Governance Committee make any recommendations to the Executive Member for Wellbeing in respect of BEAM’s performance and business plan targets and a further meeting of the Audit and Governance Committee be arranged during July 2026 to consider the revised BEAM business plan in detail.

After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED – that (A) BEAM’s position be reviewed and Audit and Governance Committee make any recommendations to the Executive Member for Wellbeing in respect of BEAM’s performance and business plan targets; and

(B)   a further meeting of the Audit and Governance Committee be arranged during July 2026 to consider the revised BEAM business plan in detail.