LES FLAGSHIP: VISITOR ECONOMY AND CULTURE...December 2017 Highlight Report 1 LES FLAGSHIP: VISITOR...

Plymouth Growth Board December 2017 Highlight Report

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LES FLAGSHIP: VISITOR ECONOMY AND CULTURE “Building on the Mayflower 2020 opportunity and the city’s cultural and visitor offer to raise its profile and

reputation in global markets.”

Growth Board Champion: Adrian Vinken

Flagship Sponsors: Amanda Lumley – Visitor, Dominic Jinks – Culture, Nicola Moyle – Heritage, Charles Hackett -

Mayflower400

Report Author: Amanda Lumley and Dominic Jinks

Destination Plymouth – April 2016 to December 2017

Work has been progressing at a significant rate over the past year on all the core Destination Plymouth and

partner activities which deliver towards the Local Economic Strategy (LES) objectives of (a) Raise the profile of

Britain’s Ocean City in global markets and (b) Grow the city’s visitor economy. Mayflower 400 activities have also

continued to show some significant progress. Due to the crossover in delivery between Mayflower 400 and wider

visitor economy activities this report has been formatted to a slightly different approach with day-to-day visitor

activities being separated out from Mayflower specific activities which are outlined under objective (a).

Visitor numbers:

Britain:

IPS figures for August that VisitBritain has just released show the headline figure is that revenue from overseas

visitors has increased by 10% for the year to date. This means that the inbound sector is on track to generate an

additional £2.2bn in export earnings this year, sufficient to generate over 40,000 new jobs. This is significant

considering the impact that Brexit is having on the ability of tourism businesses in the UK to attract and retain the

staff that they need for provide the level of service required.

Visit Britain’s latest forecast for Britain in 2017 is for 39.7 million visits, up 6% on 2016 and £25.7 billion in

visitor spending, an increase of 14% on 2016.


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Plymouth:

Visitor numbers for 2016 show a slight increase on 2015 with overall numbers 3% up at 5,116,000 visitors.

Day visitors were 3.4% up, staying 0.4% up and overseas 2.6% up.

Visitor spend was also up 1.6% overall, with day visitor spend up 1.7%, staying visitors down slightly by -0.2%

and overseas visitors up by 7.9%

Overall GVA remains the same at £249m and employment remains at 6% of the total although there is a marked

increase in FTEs which are up 11.5%. This may reflect the reduction in available migrant workers as well as difficulty

in recruiting generally within the sector which means more businesses are trying to retain staff

permanently rather than relying on seasonal labour.

Visitor numbers for staying visitors are fairly static and have been so since 2012 when there was a drop from

678,000 to 645,000 (38,000 per annum). This coincides with the loss of two hotels, The Legacy and The

Quality Inn which had approximately 200 rooms between them. This equates to approximately a loss of 56,940

room nights at 78% occupancy.

Accommodation:

A continuing challenge for the city is the need for more accommodation. Evidence from accommodation providers

within the city is that they are very busy with many running high occupancy all year round over 79%. The most

recent demand study was completed in 2014 and this needs refreshing to see if there has been change. With the

new hotels in the pipeline the city will be back up to pre-2013 numbers (see first graphic over). However, that does


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not allow for growth/increasing demand (see second graphic below). Visit Britain figures show that the UK inbound

economy is continuing to grow and the national strategy is to push this growth out of London into the regions

which is a major opportunity for Plymouth as a key driver for the South West generally.

0

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

1,200,000

1,400,000

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

0%, 3% and 5% growth in UK staying visitors to 2025

0% growth

3% growth

5% growth


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Plymouth currently receives 5.1 million visitors overall annually (2016 data). Of these visitors 14.5 % are staying

visitors from the UK (640,000) and 1.5% are from overseas (78,000). There is a significant opportunity to

grow overseas visits currently with UK inbound growth currently forecast at 6% for 2017 and the national

tourism strategy to encourage overseas visitors away from London into the regions. Overseas visitors are

particularly good in relation to economic impact as they tend to be higher spending and longer staying.

Current developments will deliver 316 hotel rooms for 2020, which will bring levels back to pre 2013,

however further bed stock is required to enable sustained growth in staying visitors.

Current developments:

Former Co Op Derrys Cross 110 bed Premier end of 2018

Millbay 126 bed Premier 2020

1620 - The Hoe 80 beds 2020

Pipeline development sites:

Railway Station 80 beds 2022

Derrys Cross 179 beds 2021

Register Office 100 beds 2022

Strategic Objectives in the Flagship

a) Raise the profile of Britain’s Ocean City in global markets

Accountable person: Charles Hackett – Mayflower 400, Amanda Lumley – Visitor Economy

Period covered by this report: March 2016 to Dec 2017

Project update – Mayflower 400

The profile of Plymouth as Britain’s Ocean City has continued to be raised through the development of the

Mayflower 400 programme including marketing activities, events and consistent high level lobbying within

government in the UK and US.

The Mayflower 400 partnership of over 13 destinations is becoming increasingly engaged in developing their

own plans along with ‘joined up’ approaches to large-scale cultural events and programming. The concept of a

national Mayflower Trail has become firmly embedded nationally and work is on-going to develop the

associated projects.

Objectives of the Mayflower 400 programme within Plymouth are:

Plymouth perception:

• To showcase Plymouth internationally, nationally and locally to drive visibility and

engagement with the Plymouth city brand

Residents engagement:

• To increase pride and aspiration in Plymouth through the Mayflower 400 programme

locally and internationally to make 2020 ‘our year’ for Plymouth

Physical space & experience:


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• To catalyse improvement in the space & experience of Plymouth and the necessary

infrastructure to host visitors

Improved offer, service & welcome:

• To increase the offer, service and welcome to visitors, and increase the number of

national and international visitors through 2020 and afterwards

Milestones and activities completed since 2016 – Mayflower specific

US Ambassador reception Sept 2016

£500k secured from Visit Britain for development of national Mayflower Trail 2016

Capital business case for Mayflower projects – circa £5 million – Nov 2016

HLF grant bid submitted April 2017 (unsuccessful)

US delegation Sept 2016 and October 2017

Mayflower partnership meetings quarterly

UK Inbound conference hosted February 2017

Meetings with Secretary of state, Tourism Minister, DCMS Senior Officers, DIT Senior officers

Work with Lord Lieutenant to secure Royal visit on going

£500k secured from Visit England from Discover England Fund for ‘American Connections’ project

Local and regional activity:

Funding:

The creation of the Mayflower ‘Founders Club’, with organisations across the city committing significant

financial support in principle for the programme.

Appointment of a specialist fundraising consultancy to approach national companies across the UK and

overseas for major project funding.

Capital projects:

Plymouth’s new £38m cultural attraction, ‘The Box’ (see detail in section c).

5 star hotel on the Hoe (Hotel 1620) planned to open by 2020 – start on site imminent.

£5 million capital project including refurbishment of Elizabethan and Merchants House, 3 new heritage

trails, monument and enabling infrastructure. These projects are now ‘live’. Planning submission has

been approved and heritage architects commissioned to do phase 1 of the Elizabethan House which is

to take back to the original structure to determine total extent of works required to renovate.

Feasibility study in process to determine appropriate use for Merchants House long term.

Consultants appointed to provide feasibility for monument.

Trails development in process appointment of design team in procurement.

Education:

The creation of dedicated Mayflower educational content covering all syllabus areas through key stages 1, 2 and

3, ensuring all young people have the opportunity to understand the Mayflower’s story and its contemporary

relevance. Further education engagement has taken place nationally through the Youth Parliament, and in the

creation of a dedicated University working group which meets to promote Mayflower within higher education

activity.


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Sport:

The appointment of Argyle Community Trust to develop the Mayflower sports offer. Appointed in October,

the Trust have already made major progress in securing buy-in from key local, regional and national partners.

Alongside this, they have created a £10kp/a community fund to stimulate grassroots sporting activity

Events:

£400k invested in events and capacity by the local authority, enabling the development of the Mayflower

programme locally and enabling major events such as the Mayflower Muster to take place in 2020.

Support provisionally agreed from the Navy Board to develop Mayflower activity, orientated around the

proposed ‘Mayflower Muster’ which will see major military activity taking place within the city.

The event calendar for 2020 is now being firmed up alongside work to develop a year-long cultural programme

being led by Plymouth Culture and cultural organisations across the city.

Community:

The creation of the ‘Make a Difference for Mayflower’ business volunteering scheme, for example in the

development of a dedicated venue for the local ‘Street Factory’ dance group, who work with socially

disengaged young people. Already, over 40 organisations have pledged some form of support to the

programme.

The Make a Difference steering group now consists of: Plymouth City Council – Darin Halifax

and Babette Hughes, Improving Lives Plymouth – Claire Hill and George Plenderleith, Business –

Leila Nottage (Duke of Cornwall) and Mark Collins (City Bus), City College – Pauline Hands.

The Mayflower Makers (Mayflower ambassadors) volunteering opportunity has been designed

based on the package designed for taxi drivers. Training will start in December 2017 and then be

delivered every 6 weeks. The training is for a total of 6 hours and can be spread over 2 days. To

date, 141 individuals have expressed an interest.

Improving Lives Plymouth has been working with Livewell Southwest to develop their Employee

Volunteering Policy and through this to enable their staff to be part of Make a Difference. A

presentation is being made to their board in December to gain their approval.

Improving Lives Plymouth has also been working with Plymouth Community Homes to develop a

policy to enable their staff to be part of Make a Difference.

Street Factory launched a Make a Difference Adopt a Space project in November. So far, 20

companies have delivered free support worth £30,000.

Taxi Drivers training recommences in January 2018 with a further 25 individuals scheduled to

complete the course.

Plymouth City Centre Company, Plymouth City Council Street Services and the Plymouth

Waterfront Partnership now supply a monthly list of Make a Difference opportunities for

businesses to link into.

The Mayflower Community Fund will be launched in April 2018. This will provide further

volunteering opportunities for people in communities of interest, identity and geography.

The results of the campaign also include sign ups to the Plymouth Octopus project for volunteering

and applications for the Cultural fund which has just closed with 108 applications from cultural and

community groups across Plymouth.


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Engagement:

Key events attended or upcoming:

- 2 x PCCC/PWP business engagement sessions (70+ attendees)

- Multiple business networking events hosted by partners including the Chamber, Santander

and Plymouth Raiders

- POP+ network (40+ attendees, digital contact with 300+ organisations)

- Plymouth and Devon Racial Equality Council

- Plymouth Pride

- Migrants Forum

- Environment Forum

- Cultural Leaders Network meeting

- Age Concern

- PADAN

- Mayflower Education Group and Plymouth Leadership Advisors

- Two dedicated Councillor engagement sessions hosted at the Council House, and

information disseminated digitally via a briefing note. Further contact is required to secure

ensure all Councillors are engaged.

Communications;

‘#Getonboard’ campaign

Launched on 16th September 2017 to coincide with the 3 year countdown to Sept 16th 2020 this campaign is

aimed at Plymouth’s local community to encourage them to get engaged, to raise awareness of the anniversary

and to encourage volunteering and development of community, cultural and local projects.

A ‘Mayflower flashmob’ was created in Plymouth city centre and the viral footage spread as well with an edited

high quality version being shared again via social media.

Ongoing social media has been created through a content calendar, which is also being used to promote the

wider destinations.

Results to date:

Flash mob - over 209,000 views, engagement 11,900

Social media generally – 291,668 impressions, 4,736 engagements, 799 link clicks.


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National activity:

The creation of a national Mayflower trail, linking 11 destinations across the UK. The trail is

underpinned by a common interpretation of the story and a commitment to the creation of common

signage that will create a coherent visitor experience and drive footfall across locations

Dedicated Mayflower branding, including core, volunteer and other brands. These are currently in the

process of being trademarked, which will support the generation of commercial income

Positive progress in implementing a commercial approach. The programme’s first national commercial

income is anticipated in the next month, valued at over £25k, and a dedicated agency to develop

sponsorship income has been appointed and anticipated propositions will go to market early 2018

Significant political lobbying and influence. Ongoing conversation with DCMS and DIT to ensure we

deliver the greatest possible impact. A dedicated Special Representative has been appointment directly

by the Prime Minister to support political activity. An All Party Parliamentary Group has been formed

including MPs from across the partnership. Further political engagement has taken place across the US

and Netherlands, for example with the US Ambassador hosting a dedicated Mayflower event in 2016 at

their official residence

The creation of a formal governance process, with buy-in from local authorities at Chief Executive

level. Within this, dedicated sub-groups have been established to lead cultural, sporting and wider

activity.


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Positive engagement with the BBC and wider media outlets, who are already delivering Mayflower

related content and actively considering how this can be incorporated in programming for 2020

National Partners’ Capital Projects:

Development, delivery and integration with a range of associated major public and private capital projects.

Examples include:

Harwich’s Mayflower Visitor Centre £0.5

Southampton’s £1m+ public realm improvement programme and £400m Royal Pier development

Southwark’s Mayflower Pier and £250k Mayflower park developments

Bassetlaw, Pilgrim Roots Project: New visitor centre and interpretation £680,000

International (Mayflower 400):

International visitor marketing:

Outputs to date (Mayflower grant fund):

Project manager recruited Oct 2016

Mayflower branding established and rolled out across the partnership

National trail feasibility study delivered in March 2017

New national Mayflower trail product developed, bringing content from 11 destinations

together for the first time

HLF bid for £4.75 million for national trail (11 partners) submitted April 2017

New partnership website produced, including travel trade toolkit

Photographic and video content developed

10 national suggested itineraries developed, working with trade

Business visits and events content developed across partners

International PR agency recruited

Research commissioned jointly in USA through general panel/family societies demonstrates

strong interest

Travel trade engagement through Visit Britain and UK Inbound since DBNA event in 2015

has provided strong evidence of an interest from the trade and support

Attendance at major events - Explore GB 2017, DBNA 2017, VIBE 2017, Meet the buyer

USA 2017, UK Inbound convention hosts 2017, UK Inbound Discover event Sept 2017

Work with Cruise Britain to develop ‘Mayflower cruise’ product

First trade partners took product to market in US Sept 2017 (Select Travel, Tours

International)

Formal international launch at DBNA and WTM Nov 2017 – over 20 media interviews at

WTM

Tour operators who have committed to take product so far – Kuoni, Select, Tours

International, Abbey UK & Ireland, ECE, Groups International

Commenced engagement with regional gateway airports, TOC’s, airlines and cruise sectors

Launch of draft 2020 cultural and events programme

Destinations starting to work together to develop content and themed tours

Over 1000 businesses and stakeholders briefed to date

Over 20 fam visits already hosted in regions

5 cruise ships booked for 2018, 1 provisional for 2020


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£500,000 funding received through Discover England Fund for ‘American Connections’

project

Future milestones and activities 2018/19:

Funding application to HLF for Elizabethan House

Applications to HLF for trail projects

Merchandising plan procured

Brand agreements signed by partners

Sponsorship propositions approved and out to market

Completion of brand trademark process

Teacher exchange April 2018

KS 1,2 and revised KS 3 education packs on website

Event and cultural programme agreed

Risks

Further funding and resources required to reduce funding gap and maximise potential project delivery

particularly in relation to marketing and communications, engagement and development of cultural

programme.

Further accommodation required to maximise 2020+ opportunity – permanent and temporary.

RAG


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b) Grow the city’s visitor economy

Accountable person: Charles Hackett – Mayflower 400, Amanda Lumley – Visitor Economy

Period covered by this report: April 2016 to Dec 2017

Project update

Visitor Strategy:

The Destination Management Plan supports the original 2011 visitor strategy with Mayflower 400 and the

Britain’s Ocean City brand as its key focus. There are three key priorities:

Destination development

Marketing and events

Business development

Within these three priority areas are 47 projects citywide, which are being delivered by partner organisations

across the city including Plymouth City Council, Business Improvement Districts and wider stakeholders.

A copy of the current ‘RAG’ rated plan showing short, medium and long term priority projects is in the

appendix to this paper. The plan demonstrates significant progress against core objectives and 2 years out

from Mayflower 400 in 2020 is in need of a strategic refresh to enable focus on delivery post 2020.

Milestones and activities completed during 2016/17

New governance structure for Mayflower/Destination Plymouth Sept 2016

Procurement of developer for Hoe hotel site 2017

PCC completes new bus station Mar 2017

Waterfront and City Centre masterplans finalised

New waterfront BID secured Mar 2017

Plymouth taken to international market DBNA Sept 2016, Vakantibeurs Jan 2017

First trade e-newsletter Sept 2017

First trade familiarisation visits in October 2017

Cruise terminal slots agreed and taken to market Sept 2017

Cruise bookings for 2018 x 5 – confirmed Oct 2017

Tourism sector deal submitted Oct 2017

Destination development:

Work continues to deliver specific capital projects relating to the visitor plan - see Mayflower capital above.

In addition the following projects are now completed or in process:

Waterfront and City Centre masterplans

Drake Leisure development Bretonside

Armada Way public realm project

Cruise terminal discussions


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Marketing and events

a) General Marketing activity:

Local/regional generic:

The new website launched in 2016 has been continuing to grow with unique visits well over 1 million

annually.

Social media stats have also continued to grow organically with specific acquisition campaigns over the

summer and in the Christmas build up currently helping drive follows, likes and engagement.


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In addition recent poster sites have been acquired at Exeter airport and are currently being used to

showcase Plymouth as a leisure destination:

Events:

2017 saw continued good attendance at visitor events across the city including Flavourfest in its new

slot in June. Details of events attendance are shown on the table below.


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National/International generic:

PR agency Hills Balfour continued to deliver good results and audience reach up to their retainer ending in May

2017. A new agency has been recruited as of October 2017 (Onshore media) and so there is a gap in

reporting, however, early results show good strong interest in Plymouth product from media continuing.

AVE - April 2016 to March 2017

Month

AVE Value at 100% Attributable (£)

Circulation

Apr-16 £30,449.15 1,793,894

May-16 £98,953.03 92,366,643

Jun-16 £313,026.12 10,899,736

Jul-16 £533,435.81 11,884,190

Aug-16 £125,190.72 2,601,763

Sep-16 £2,555.54 725,479

Oct-16 £86,092.50 897,751

Nov-16 £32,188.88 1,064,416

Dec-16 £134,433.62 1,704,600

Jan-17 £301,748.04 8,853,460

Feb-17 £411,084.45 8,171,274

Mar-17 £298,836.16 4,600,850

Total £2,367,994.02 145,564,056


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South West Trade activity:

Following on from the £5 million SW Growth Fund, Plymouth has continued to work with regional partners to

market internationally in Europe and has also connected through into key US activities including:

Destination Britain North Americas – Sept 2016 (and 2017 with Mayflower 400) – the largest event outside of

Britain, this three-day event offers British tourism suppliers the opportunity to nurture business relationships

with the North American markets of Canada and the United States.

Vakantibeurs in Holland – Jan 2017 – 108,779 visitors over 5 days, 700 destinations, 1,100 exhibitors

ITB Berlin – Mar 2017 - 160,000 visitors over 5 days, 10,000 exhibitors

Cruise:

Plymouth was relaunched to the cruise trade at SeaTrade Hamburg in September working closely with AB

Ports and Cruise Britain. In addition a round table discussion was held with leading cruise ports across the UK

to explore the opportunity for Mayflower cruises.

Subsequent to this a meeting was held at Visit Britain in London with key cruise ground handlers and at least

two have indicated an interest in taking ‘Mayflower’ cruises to market in 2018/19.

To date this activity has resulted in 5 bookings for 2018 and 1 for 2020.

Future milestones and activities – 2018/19:

Discover England Fund in delivery to March 2019

Submission of further grant application Oct 2018

Vakantibeurs Jan 2018

ITB Berlin Mar 2018

Sea Trade Cruise Global Mar 2018

Announcement about new music event Jan 2018

DBNA Sept 2018

Visitor strategy refresh in 2018

Risks

Further funding and capacity is required to maximise opportunities around city visitor marketing.

Visitor strategy needs refreshing 2018 to maximise opportunities post 2020.

Recruitment in sector increasingly difficult.

RAG


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c) Unlock the potential of the city’s creative sector and cultural heritage

Accountable person: Dominic Jinks

Strategic Objective: “Unlock the potential of the city’s creative sector and cultural heritage”

Key Actions:

Refocus cultural priorities to Mayflower 2020, through a refresh of the Vital Spark.

Support creative industries start-ups, including digital, gaming and audio/visual arts.

Expand the city’s cultural infrastructure, including a ‘world class’ history centre.

BACKGROUND

This highlight report sets out the progress made against the three key actions (listed above) of

the creative sector and cultural heritage objective in the LES. Key highlights include:

Expanding the city’s cultural infrastructure including the development of The Box

Plymouth towards a ‘world class’ facility for Plymouth. This has has successfully achieved

capital funding from funds such as Heritage Lottery Fund, Arts Council England, The

Wolfson Foundation and Clore. The Box has also achieved core funding from Arts

Council England from 2018-2022

Support for the creative industries start-ups is continuing to increase with a new range

of new businesses in Plymouth. in 2011 there were 9 registered arts organisations in the

city. There are now 47 in 2017. Some of these organisations include Beyond Face,

Mutants Labs, New Model Theatre, The Wrong Crowd and KARST

The Devonport Market Hall took a significant step closer towards becoming Plymouth’s

new digital arts hub with the announcement of a new funding agreement for £2.9 million

and is set open later in 2018

Receiving the largest uplift in England for core funding to organisations from Arts

Council England from 2018-2022. This is £16m over 4 years and represents a 39%

increase and includes five new organisations

Plymouth Culture was successful in its bid for ACE’s Ambition for Excellence fund for

£635K. This was for a 2 year programme of Visual Contemporary Art called Horizon. In

total this programme is in excess of £1M

ACHIEVEMENTS DURING 2016-17

a) International Programme

Plymouth’s unique geography and access to the international community combined with its rich

higher education institutions and cultural and creative organisations places the city in a prime

position to engage strategically with international cities from mainland Europe, East Coast USA

and China, particularly in the context of the Mayflower400 plans for 2020:


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Plymouth is part of a successful 5M Euros project from INTERREG called Creative Area

Youth Hubs. The partnership includes Devon CC, Plymouth College of Art, and

Plymouth CC. There are partnerships with Belfast, Nantes, Gijon and Brussels. The

focus of the project is the offer of opportunities for young graduates to participate in

live digital creative projects and a major programme of skills development.

Plymouth Culture in partnership with the visual arts sector secured £635K from the

Arts Council’s Ambition for Excellence Programme. The programme was for ‘Horizon’

, a two-year development programme focusing on commissioning, community

engagement and international partnerships, and will deliver three key projects: a multi-

site exhibition with Plymouth’s leading art galleries, two enhanced Plymouth Art

Weekenders, and the Atlantic Festival, a major international art festival capitalising on

close connections with USA arts organisations in the lead up to Mayflower400 for 2020.

The multi-site exhibition and Plymouth Art Weekender have delivered successful

projects with over 25,000 visitors for both events in 2017

The Plymouth Art Weekender had its third year event this year in September.

Organised by Visual Arts Plymouth (VAP) the weekender is a three day festival and

aimed to be a visual arts festival for everybody and by everybody. Over the three days,

and with over 400 artists and 90 events, it has quickly established itself as the largest

contemporary visual arts festival of its kind in the UK.

The Atlantic Festival for 2018 will play host to a range of international galleries and

artists with countries such as Turkey, Italy, US, China and UAE engaging in the festival.

Mayflower 400 is seeing a range of projects in development with US organisations. The

partnership includes: Plymouth College of Art and The Fuller Craft Museum; The Box

and Plimoth Plantation, Pilgrim Hall Museum, Harvard Arts Museum The REIKS Museum

(Leiden) and The Boston Museum of Fine Arts; The Atlantic Festival and The Boston

Institute for Contemporary Arts; Street Factory and The Boston Hip-Hop Education

Centre; Theatre Royal Plymouth Plymouth and The American Repertory Theatre and

The Wampanoag tribes of Mashpee and Aquinnah

Illuminate 2017 includes an international partnership through the Creative Europe

funded project, Euronim, involving Spain and France. Digital commissions for Illuminate

have been created in partnership from this project.

b) A growing cultural infrastructure

Plymouth has ten ACE national portfolio organisations (NPO). This increased by 39% relative to

the previous round from 2014 and was the largest increase of any English City. The investment

is £16m over 4 years (2018 - 2022). The NPOs are:

• Plymouth Theatre Royal

• The Real Ideas Organisation

• Plymouth Barbican Theatre

• The Box Plymouth

• Ocean Studios

• Take-a-Part

• Plymouth Culture

• KARST

• Plymouth Music Zone


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• Literature Works

There are now various cultural partnerships in the city including:

• The Culture & Arts Network - network of culture organisations and artists

• Visual Arts Plymouth - collection of visual arts organisations and artists

• The Plymouth Visual Arts Programming Group - group of visual arts venue

• DOO:ZIE - networking group of artists/creative

• Talking Heads - informal art discussion group

• Plymouth Arts Centre Home - n for artists development led by Plymouth Arts Centre

• BETA - theatre, dance and performance engine to test new performance

• Digital Plymouth - creative network for digital industries.

The city has seen a progressive rate of successful lottery grants from Arts Council England. This

demonstrates the ongoing commitment of ACE but is also the impact of the developmental

work of Plymouth Culture and PCC in up skilling the sector in fundraising. Here are some

statistics to demonstrate the rapid improvement in successful lottery applications.

• From 2012/13 to 2015/16, applications to ACE’s Grants for Arts scheme have risen by 54%

• From 2012/13 to 2015/16, per capita lottery income income has risen by 293%

• Plymouth’s creative arts sector has grown from 9 registered arts organisations in 2011 to 47

now in 2017

Here is a breakdown of funding through ACE’s Grants for the Arts from 2012-13 to 2015-16:

Table 1

Year Total number of

G4A applications

Number of

successful

applications

Total amount of

funding awarded

Average funding

per application

2012-2013 31 10 £231,000.00 £23100.00

2013-2014 38 15 £585,000.00 £39000.00

2014-2015 41 17 £612,000.00 £36000.00

2015-2016 48 19 £909,000.00 £47842.11

Plymouth has also been developing various models of new approaches to funding cultural

activity. These include social investment, crowd funding, event funding and trusts and

foundations. Here are some examples:

• Crowdfund Plymouth - this is a local campaign set up to support community groups, start-

up businesses, charities and individuals across the city. We have £130,000 of funding available

for projects in Plymouth


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• Plymouth Social Investment Fund - this provides a mixture of loans and grants for social

enterprises to create jobs and bring redundant buildings back into use in the city. This has

currently funded a range of cultural initiatives such as The Devonport Guildhall and the

Barbican Theatre.

• Vital Sparks - a bursary funding programme for marginalised communities to engage in arts

and cultural activity. The work over the last 3 years has funded over £60,000 to communities

with 43% of successful applicants coming from communities with protected characteristics

• Devonport Soup - Plymouth’s micro granting dinner based on the hugely successful Detroit

Soup model – it’s about bringing people together, having fun and supporting projects that

benefit Devonport, Plymouth and the wider community

Through targeted initiatives as outlined above and a focus on improving the skills of the sector

at fundraising it is interesting to note that funding from ACE’s Grants for the Arts programme

rose by 293% from 2012 to 2015. The city is beginning to see a number of emerging companies

in the city over the last 5 years such as KARST, Toast, New Model Theatre, Effervescent, Ocean

Studios, Beyond Face and Mutant Labs. Plymouth is also establishing a series of annual/biennial

events such as Mayflower Illuminate, The Plymouth International Book Festival, The Fringe

Theatre Festival, Outpost Performance Festival, The River Tamar Project and The Plymouth Art

Weekender. Plymouth’s arts and culture organisations have grown from 2011 from nine

registered arts and culture organisations to 47 in 2017.

c) Community engagement

At a community level, the Vital Sparks bursary programme has continued to connect with local

community groups through targeted projects to inspire confidence and creativity in different

groups who’ve never written a bid for money. In the last year new projects that have received

support from this programme have been the Hoe Conservation and Residents’ Association who

received £5,000 to commission a filmmaker to create a new film with music from Imperfect

Orchestra for Tinside Lido while £2,577 will support a multimedia art project that aims to

integrate members from the local homeless hostel with the wider community of Devonport. In

total over 40 projects received bursaries totaling just under £30,000 in total. Interestingly, 43%

of successful awards have been from community groups with protected characteristic

d) Major Projects:

i) Mayflower 400

November 2017 saw Plymouth’s largest Illuminate Celebrations with an estimated audience of

over 15,000 over 3 days. This was Plymouth’s fourth year of Illuminate. This project was hosted

at Royal William Yard and included digital mapping installations, immersive light projects,

participatory performances and workshops over 2 days. It was a major partnership between

RIO, Plymouth University, Plymouth College of Art, Destination Plymouth, Plymouth City

Council and Plymouth Culture.

Plymouth Culture is developing a large scale application to Arts Council England for Illuminate in

2019 and 2020 for £750K to assist in funding the project at a national level. Plymouth Culture, in

partnership with Destination Plymouth, is also working with appointed Mayflower 400

fundraisers (Reg & Co) to secure sponsorship for the 2019 and 2020 events.

Plymouth Culture is administering a Mayflower 400 Cultural Fund of £400K for Plymouth based

projects. The fund has recently closed (Nov 17) and 106 Expressions of Interest have been


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submitted for Mayflower related projects. Decisions on the the successful projects will be made

in December 2017.

A Mayflower Community Fund will be launched in April 2018 for community led projects

between £100 - £5000. It is expected that this will fund a significant number of projects for

communities for Mayflower 400.

Plymouth Culture is part of a national steering group for cultural projects for Mayflower 400.

The three priority projects for the national compact are, Illuminate, an artists commissioning

programme (Encounters) and a creative industries import, export and showcase project

(Mayflower Makers).

In Plymouth there are a range of projects in development that have international partnerships.

Partnership include: Plymouth College of Art and The Fuller Craft Museum; The Box and

Plimoth Plantation, Pilgrim Hall Museum, Harvard Arts Museum The REIKS Museum (Leiden)

and The Boston Museum of Fine Arts; The Atlantic Festival and The Boston Institute for

Contemporary Arts; Street Factory and The Boston Hip-Hop Education Centre; Theatre Royal

Plymouth Plymouth and The American Repertory Theatre and The Wampanoag tribes of

Mashpee and Aquinnah

ii) The Box

This £32 million scheme in the heart of the city will create the cultural infrastructure required

to support growth in Plymouth’s visitor economy – it is a museum for the future and a symbol

for the city’s current regeneration. As reported in previous reports, a stage 1 Heritage Lottery

grant for just under £13 million was secured in May 2014 and work began to develop detailed

proposals for the new The Box that will transform the existing museum and art gallery on

North Hill into a new unique visitor attraction, three times its existing size, in time for the

Mayflower400 commemorations in 2020.

The Box is planned to open in early 2020 as the flagship capital project for the Mayflower400

programme, and is expected to attract nearly 300,000 visitors, more than three times the

100,000 current visitors to the museum and art, which will lead to an increase of 216 direct jobs

and 60 indirect jobs (276 gross jobs) in the visitor economy. Overnight visitors to the city as a

direct result of the History Centre opening in 2020 are expected to increase by 35,000 bed

nights and overall visitor spend in the city to increase by £25 million each year.

FUTURE MILESTONES FOR 2017-18 & beyond

a) International Programme

In a ‘post Brexit’ era, a new approach to international funding is vital, and

Plymouth is developing new models of funding, sponsorship and giving through its

partnership with the Massachusetts Cultural Council. This partnership will

support the provision of bespoke training on US models of giving and

sponsorship.

Submit bid for £750K to Arts Council England's Ambition for Excellence Fund for

Illuminate 2019 & 2020.

Support the development of the inaugural Atlantic Festival for September 2018


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Continue support and development of Mayflower projects with an international

focus.

With Harvard Club, co-lead a fundraising and PR evening in Boston in 2018.

Support delivery of INTERREG funded Creative Area Youth Hubs project.

b) Supporting and Retaining Emerging Talent

Plymouth will be developing a new Creative Industries Strategy in 2018 through a

partnership with Plymouth City Council, Plymouth University, Plymouth College of Art,

RIO and Plymouth Culture. This will look to map the ecology of the creative sector

including advertising, art and culture, architecture, craft, design, fashion, gaming, music,

publishing, technology, TV and film. This mapping will provide an up to date analysis of

the industries in terms of how many organisations are in the city and where they are

located. It will also help to draw conclusions about where the strengths of the sector

are. The next phase will also map other sectors of strength for the city and outline

where possible opportunities exist for collaboration to enable greater innovations and

partnerships. The plan will also focus on:

• space

• productivity

• skills and development

• graduate retention

• exports

• inward investment

• start ups

• engagement with LEPs

• clusters and networks

This strategy will be scheduled to be completed and implemented by the end of 2018.

Fundraising and business development workshops, seminars and surgeries will continue

in 2018.

c) Major Projects

ii) The Box

Continue major works in the capital development of The Box.

Commence with new Shadow Board and Stakeholder Forum Model.

Submit Business NPO Plan to ACE for 2018 - 2020 for approval.

Commence NPO 2018 programme.

iii) Mayflower400

Submit ACE Ambition for Excellence for £750K (January 2018).

Apply and secure funds for national projects (Mayflower 400 Compact).

Plymouth Culture lead and administer Mayflower 400 Cultural Fund and implement

second phase of process.

Launch Mayflower 400 Community Fund.


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RISKS AND MITIGATION

Failure to secure funding grants: seek early application for all available grants, prioritise

works and develop contingency plans.

Delays to project timetables: ensure sufficient contingency time built into timetables and

regular monitoring.

LES FLAGSHIP: VISITOR ECONOMY AND CULTURE...December 2017 Highlight Report 1 LES FLAGSHIP: VISITOR...

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