The Shaftesbury Theatre’s foray into meetings and events

Can you tell us about your career leading up to your time at the Shaftesbury Theatre? 

I started in the events industry back in 2013, working for a London-based staffing agency that was looking for waiters and bar staff for various venues. I signed up to support my studies while I was at university and it took off from there. Then, I became an event manager for a derelict venue that needed a bit of life injected; I was taken on to see what we could do with the place, if there was something profitable to be done there. I ended up being an event manager, as we turned the place into a dry hire events venue, mainly doing corporate events, birthday parties, and funeral wakes, believe it or not – that was a big learning curve. 

I did that for quite a while – I think for two years – and so, I really wanted to break out of it to see what else was out there. I’ve always lived in London, having grown up here, so I went as far away as I possibly could and ended up in Cornwall right at the end of the foot. There, I took on a temporary contract in a seasonal role, which was as a catering manager for holiday resorts. At the time, they just opened a brand new restaurant at the holiday resort, so I took on a temporary contract in a seasonal role as a catering manager. Besides the new restaurant, they also had a clubhouse that had just been renovated and were looking for someone to take on the catering element. I did that for a season, but in moving from East London to Cornwall, I realised pretty quickly that, actually, it’s super remote and that there wasn’t a lot around there, even though it’s absolutely stunning.  

So I thought I’d just come home and find another job. I spent some time reflecting, travelling, enjoying the Southwest and finally settled in Reading and loved it; I thought it was the perfect mix of country and city. I started a role at Wasing Park, which is a wedding venue as an event manager, and I left as a system venue manager. I worked there for four years and absolutely loved working with couples and clients doing weddings and corporate events. We did the in house catering, managing the event on the day and working with the events team, eventually leading the events team. 

And that was my previous role before my role at the Shaftesbury Theatre that I started at the beginning of this year. It was time to come home and be closer to family, so I’ve kind of come full circle.

Do you think your time as a wedding events manager translated well to the theatre scene?

I think it’s a very different side of the industry, but whenever you work within events, there are always common goals, and there’s common ground. Ultimately, the kind of values within an event are always the same. You want to engage with your guests or your clients or your couples in that case, and you want to create an event that people are going to enjoy, and they’re going to be able to connect with other guests. And you want it to be successful. That’s just on face value before you have even thought about the planning and communication, the catering options, and everything that goes into planning an event. So I think in some ways it has translated really well.

What does your day-to-day routine look like as an events coordinator? 

Every role is different here at The Shaftesbury. I spend my days emailing or speaking on the phone with potential clients and managing incoming event inquiries. I also spend a lot of my time reviewing the events marketing strategy with Clara, who is our programming and marketing assistant, so that we can make sure we’re absolutely showcasing The Shaftesbury’s event spaces to the maximum. I meet with prospective clients so they can come in and see the 1911 or The Taffner Suite. 

I also get to meet with local businesses a few roads over about how we can collaborate, how we can market each other, which is really amazing. It’s a great opportunity to be able to do that and also manage an event itself. I’m there on the day, getting stuck in welcoming clients and making sure the event runs successfully.

How long has the theatre been collaborating with local businesses?

We’ve always been speaking with local businesses; the theatre community is quite small. Obviously, I’ve been in this role for a short amount of time. James, our theatre director, is very, very keen to always speak with local businesses to make sure that we are maximising on the potential there and finding ways to boost relationships. 

Likewise, if we can support each other – especially in these current times – then we do by making sure that we’re letting our neighbours know that we’re available if they need anything. We also have a really good relationship with the Central District Alliance, who are really brilliant in forming those connections. 

How has the theatre’s expansion into meetings and events been, and what led to it?

There’s a lot going on, so it’s been a long time coming – especially with Covid-19 – a lot was postponed, but actually a lot was also able to continue even whilst the theatre was closed, luckily. It started with the nature of the building and the spaces that were already there to be expanded on. 

The question that came up was: how can we continue to improve that user-friendly, inclusive space for the modern and diverse audiences? Obviously, being a theatre, we welcome people from all walks of life every single day to come in and watch the production. The most recent production we had was & Juliet and now we’re getting ready for Mrs. Doubtfire. 

With a building of this nature and this stature, we’re busy from four o’clock onwards, it’s chaos here – we have rehearsals, and there’s actors singing down the halls, in preparation for the show. But before that, during the day, it’s fairly quiet because there’s no show on, so investing in meetings and events is a way to inject some life into those earlier hours and to make sure the theatre stays active. We have hugely successful productions, even with the Sunday shows as well, but by expanding into the conference and event arena, it’s a way of ensuring a constant hub of activity throughout the day, each week. 

We also have a unique venue; not many venue spaces can say that they have the array of production, lighting, sound tech, and engineers on site, as well. So that again is really useful if you want to host a conference and you want to have some amazing lighting or sound effects, or visuals. If we’re not using it for a theatre production, why not use it to build an event offering, but also, after you do that much renovation, it is also a way of increasing business turnover, as well as to support ongoing renovations for future use.

What’s the new 1911 Bar like?

It’s comfortable, really plush and sophisticated. It’s got that moody dark green, which is a really luxurious colour and also very reflective of the age and history of the building. A lot of the old elements of the old stone walls have still remained. We also have the history wall, which goes from end-to-end along the longest part of the room, showcasing the history of the building and the famous faces that we’ve had here. Whilst enjoying a drink, you can admire and learn more and more about The Shaftesbury’s history. 

It’s certainly multifunctional and our clients that we have in the 1911 alone range from small conferences to larger receptions, script readings, and high-end corporate meetings, as well. And they all comment on the flexibility and adaptability of the space that they love to be in, so it’s really versatile.

After all the current refurbs are completed, what’s next for the theatre?

It’s a never-ending process. There’s many more spaces to improve; the theatre is 111 years old, so maintenance and upkeep is constant.

At the moment, we’ve got Mrs. Doubtfire, which is the newest production launching in May – and it’s selling extraordinarily well. We also have works being conducted by Camden Council outside on Princess Circus and on the street outside us, which is going to be operational by summer. That’s going to be a lovely, usable space right outside. 

We’re also opening our ‘Grab and Go’ just on the street, so we’re going to make use of that outside space. Hopefully, the new offering will be called Princess Coffee (on Princess Circus). We have our second indoor bar, which will hopefully be finished being refurbished by then and then we’re moving on to decorating and carpeting the auditorium. That’s going to refresh and bring some new life into the auditorium. 

Once all of that is hopefully complete, we will work on the exterior renovation at the front of the theatre, making sure that the front of the theatre has some attention as well and is brought up to date a little. And when we finish all of that, we’ll probably start all over again! 

There’s a lot more to come, a lot more to come, and hopefully, a really busy and successful events venture will come from all of that refurbishment and modernisation.