Application to Isle of Wight Council to acquire, run and renew the Winter Gardens Pavilion on behalf of the Ventnor

community from

Ventnor Winter Gardens Trust

Executive Summary
This group of concerned professionals came together because we feel that it is important that the Winter Gardens stays open and continues to fulfil its community role. We will do this through a charitable company, Ventnor Winter Gardens Trust, which is already incorporated (company number 07543214) and in the process of being recognised as a charity by the Charity Commissioners. We have engaged with the community of Ventnor from the outset and have been both humbled and heartened by the passion that has been expressed for the Winter Gardens. The support for our application has been overwhelming and there is no doubt in our minds that the people of Ventnor see the Winter Gardens as a central part of the community - measured in terms of pledges of money that we have received and the commitment by local business to provide services to get the building back up to scratch and re-opened. We recognise that reopening the pavilion can only be achieved by managing the costs of the facility and increasing the use of the auditorium, as well as improving the profitability of the catering (in particular) and bar. But this must not crowd out community uses, many of which may not be profitable in themselves. It is not our intention to merely continue using the pavilion. We look to the example of other modernist buildings such as the De La Warr in Bexhill, and we will be working to renovate the Winter Gardens once again to become an icon, and one that will lead to the regeneration of the whole town. Key points: market the building under its original name of the Winter Gardens Pavilion in keeping with its heritage manage staffing costs by using a mix of professional managers and supervisors, part time staff and volunteers a new corporate identity and well trained staff relaunch the caf/bar as somewhere for families to go to eat and drink with food freshly prepared on the premises using Island ingredients where possible use charitable status to access grants to renovate the building, respecting its heritage, and make it once again a modernist icon introduce more public events into the auditorium such as exhibitions, popular films and regular dancing remodel the foyer as a welcoming open reception area selling tickets for Winter Gardens events and acting as a Tourist Information Centre on a par with those in other island towns work to establish the upstairs Balmoral Room as a premier location for functions and quality dining on the island, and reinstating its balcony Provide free wifi in the caf/bar, Balmoral Room, reception and auditorium Look to establish a new education facility in the smaller first floor room to replace some of the functions of the Coastal Visitor Centre, and the reduced hours Ventnor Library, this would include Internet connected computers 2

Mission Statement
To acquire, preserve, enhance and develop Ventnor Winter Gardens as a multipurpose entertainment, recreational, meeting and community facility, having regard to and respect for the history and design of the building, the location in which it is situated, and the requirements of potential users from the local community, the wider lsle of Wight and those who may visit whether for recreational or other purposes.

Basis of Bid
The Ventnor Winter Gardens Trust is bidding to take over the Winter Gardens from the Isle of Wight Council as a charitable trust. We are seeking to acquire the freehold of the building as outlined in the tender documents for a peppercorn sum. This document outlines our proposals and how we intend to achieve them.

Ventnor Winter Gardens Trust

The building will be owned by the Ventnor Winter Gardens Trust, a charitable company registered as a charity by the Charity Commission. Our thinking is for the Trust to own a trading subsidiary which will run the activities in the building on a day to day basis. In addition we anticipate forming a Friends Group and a Users Group who will have representation at board level. The current Trustees of the Ventnor Winter Gardens Trust are: John Allen (chair): Proprietor of ventnorselfcatering.co.uk, member of the Isle of Wight Tourism Development Board and one of the organisers of the V-Bay Festival and Ventnor Alexandra Gardens Open Day. Formerly he was BBC English Regions Head of New Services, Programme Controller of LBC Newstalk in London and a producer at BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 4. John has an MSc in Management Science from Imperial College London. Linda Chester: Linda has lived and traded in Ventnor for 17 years and is the proprietor of Bizzy Lizzys shop. She is currently Acting Chair of Ventnor Business Association, which she helped to form in 1998, and is a founder member of V-Bay Festival. Linda brings to this project her skills as a trained Community Worker (Diploma Youth/Community Work Reading University 1990) and her previous experience of facilitating and managing similar projects including: Securing community support and the necessary resources and funding to finance the build of a village hall in Oxfordshire and subsequently managing paid staff and volunteers in the day to day running of the project. Identifying, negotiating and securing community, local business as well as Local Authority support, expertise and resources to facilitate the building of a Family Centre in Oxfordshire.

Tony Careless: Tony is a solicitor who moved to the Isle of Wight in 1989, and opened his own firm in Ventnor in 1991. He has lived and practised here ever since. Tony is an active member of Ventnor Theatre Group and has experience of using the Winter Gardens for shows and musical productions over a number of years, often as musical director. David Groocock: David has been in the hotel industry all his working life, after catering college he worked with his parents at St Maur in Ventnor until buying the business in 1989. He has increased the turnover year on year and is open for business most of the year. He has been on the Tourist Board (in its different stages) for the past 12 years and chairing the board for eight years until September 2010. He is an Isle of Wight Chamber of Commerce, Tourism and Industry board member and Vice President, director of the Isle of Wight Equal Opportunities Board who look after the Isle of Wight Lottery, and on the Finance and Administration Board of the Chamber. Ann Hutchins: Ann is Secretary of the Ventnor Business Association and one of the organisers of the Ventnor Alexandra Gardens Open Days. She moved to the Isle of Wight in 2003 when she became an hotel proprietor partner. Ann was trained in business management and has 27 years experience in hospitality and catering management. For part of that period she was employed as restaurant manager for a public sector leisure centre complex. Ann is also trained as a staff trainer in food safety with experience in delivering courses in food safety and related subjects. Paul Hutchins: Paul is the proprietor of a hotel in Ventnor since moving to the Isle of Wight in 2003. For the past two years he has been an organiser of the English Heritage open days in Alexandra Gardens. Paul was trained as an electronics engineer and has experience in various sectors of the electronics industry. Paul was also a partner in a successful outside catering business for a number of years before moving to the Isle of Wight. Robert Ventress: Bob is the Director of Henry Ingram & Sons (Ventnor) Ltd, a local company established in 1840 and is an Islander who has worked and lived in Ventnor since 1975. He has a wide range of experience in major refurbishment works, including listed buildings and conservation. He has been Chairman of the Island branch of the National Federation of Building and is currently Chairman of the Isle of Wight Building Safety Association. His other role locally is as a Funeral Director. During the last 30 years or more he has gained much affection and respect of the local community. In his role as President of the local Lions Club, he was involved in organising many charity events which involved considerable use of the Winter Gardens. In addition local accountant, Alan Whitehouse, and retired Chartered Surveyor, John Whitehouse, have assisted us in putting this bid together. As requested three references, including a financial status report, on individual trustees are supplied alongside this application. Please note that the financial status report refers to the main business of the Trustee, not to this newly set up trust.

Sources of funding
An appeal for funding has been made in the town and we have been accepting pledges. The individual pledges are available for inspection if required. Additionally we have a scheme for people who donate larger sums, at least 5,000, to become Freemen of the Winter Gardens Pavilion which will mean their contribution will be permanently recognised in the reception, and they and a guest will be welcomed to attend events at the venue for no charge during their lifetime. We have approached the Isle of Wight Lottery for a loan of 25,000 and we have, subject to loan application being made, received a clear indication that this is the sort of project that the IW Lottery has been set up to support, should our bid be successful. We have been overwhelmed by the strength of feeling for our bid in the town, which has been reflected by the number of people who have been prepared to pledge money for our bid and in the amount that has been promised.

Town survey
Over the last six weeks we have been conducting a survey around Ventnor to find out how people have used the Winter Gardens and what changes we need to make when the building reopens to ensure continued or improved usage. The results can be summarised: as expected, the main usage was from the auditorium, followed by the restaurant with the bar coming in third occupancy of the restaurant and bar varied but our survey suggests usage could be improved by offering a welcoming, good quality restaurant and bar, suitable for families and using local produce Other results confirm that occupancy of the building, as a whole, could be improved by offering a well-managed building and theatre, welcoming and friendly staff and a varied events programme

The results have been noted and fed into this proposal.

Outline of uses for the building

The activities and facilities at the Winter Gardens Pavilion can be divided into four areas: the bar/cafe/restaurant the auditorium function rooms the reception area

Each of these requires its own resources and running, but all are interdependent. We firmly believe that to achieve the successful running of the Winter Gardens all areas must be coordinated and be managed as a whole. To grant concessions to other operators of any areas, whilst convenient and time saving in the short term, with income being received, could be to the detriment of the long term viability of the operation. All income should come to the Trust to be ploughed into the building as a whole. For example, if bar and catering takings are increased as a result of activities or events being staged in the auditorium, then that increase should be for the benefit of the Winter Gardens Trust not a commercial operator. We see staff training and having a clear corporate identity as vitally important. Visitors need to feel welcome and well looked after while they are in the Pavilion. We will also be looking to see whether we can extend our training programme to provide apprenticeships and on the job learning opportunities for local education institutions. We intend to have free wifi available in all of these public areas. Bar/caf/restaurant We see that a significant increase in bar and catering sales is the key element for the success of the building and, along with the reception area, this is an area we intend to refurbish before reopening. Essentially there are four areas where these sales can take place: the ground floor bar (currently the Bell Bar) with 40 covers - which we would seek to remodel to provide 60 covers - would be our main outlet open from 11am, although the offer will differ according to the time of day. While bar sales would continue to be important we would shift the emphasis more towards the catering the terrace outside the ground floor bar. This has 20 covers or more depending on usage, and in summer season days would be an extension of the bar the bar at the rear of the auditorium where drinks would continue to be sold during larger events the upstairs restaurant (currently the Balmoral Room) which would be used for more formal dining and functions. It has an outside terraced area which, in 6

summer, will make this a very special venue. Because the kitchen is situated some distance away on the floor below, it is our intention to establish a second kitchen on this floor, although this is unlikely to be possible for the 2011 season. In the 2011 high season this room has potential as an all-day bar with buffet food service We envisage that the core daytime food offering on the ground floor will be a family oriented caf serving simple food well food prepared where possible on the premises with local ingredients. Until 6pm we will be serving light meals and snacks such as homemade soups, wraps and baguettes, salads, wholemeal quiches, rustic breads, free range burgers, oven baked wedges and vegetable crisps. In the late afternoon we would be serving afternoon teas, as they come back into fashion, and after 6pm in-house freshly prepared bistro meals would be available. A childrens menu will be available throughout the day. On warm days in the summer we intend to experiment with having barbecues outside on the terrace. Take away packed lunches and childrens lunch boxes to take to the beach could be a service we offer. Buying local ingredients would be key to everything on offer, both food and drink, and we would intend to have display panels in the ground floor caf/bar highlighting the contribution made by our local suppliers. Given our proximity to the Haven we would be looking to highlight the fish and seafood being landed in Ventnor. We have arrived at this offer in the light of our survey, considering the capabilities of the existing kitchen, and also by considering the market in the town. We believe that our offer will be well differentiated from the other establishments in Ventnor and provide a unique experience for our customers. The offering in the bar/caf would be co-ordinated with events in the auditorium, so we would package theatre tickets with pre-show meals, cater as appropriate for interval refreshments and be a welcoming venue for visitors to linger for a drink after a meeting or event. Auditorium The auditorium is the largest meeting space in Ventnor and is important to the town for a wide range of activities from ballroom dancing classes, to the Saturday morning Flea Markets, to town meetings to the V-Bay Festival. We have talked with users and recently lapsed users of the Winter Gardens, and they overwhelmingly say that the facility is one that they would return to using, provided that we treat them in a professional manner. More reassuringly we have had a significant number of approaches from people who would be prepared to put on shows and perform for free at the Winter Gardens as benefits, to help get the venue back on its feet. Most significantly the Ventnor Theatre Group, which has not been able to rehearse a new production this year, has undertaken to reprise previous successes over the summer for the benefit of the 7

Winter Gardens. This is especially welcome as their productions are of a high quality and well attended, so can be expected to generate significant revenue for the auditorium as well as the bar and catering. The group are also thinking of taking an extended season for their pantomime later in the year. Consequently our model for auditorium use is broadly to continue with what it was being used for, which was at too low level to be sustainable, with additional elements: showing popular films once a week across the summer (the nearest cinema is in Newport) comedy nights more exhibitions e.g. the annual model railway exhibition is looking for a home tea dances more middle ranking music gigs e.g. Chas and Dave, Troggs, tribute bands (we have been talking to promoters who wish to use the auditorium for this) the home of Isle of Arts each April Ventnor Fringe Festival events in August

In short we intend that there will always be things going on at the venue, so attending will become a habit across the island. Once we have invested in restoring the building we would be looking to establish the Winter Gardens Pavilion as the base for 4-6 medium sized conferences in the spring and autumn. These will, we believe, provide the Winter Gardens with significant revenue as well as generating spend in hotels, restaurants and shops in the town. Appendix 1 shows the indicative schedule of how we intend to use the auditorium from July to December 2011 and the direct revenue we expect it to generate. We would expect the programme would have a positive effect on bar and catering revenue too. Our charging model will take into account the importance to the community of particular bookings so, for example, a commercially promoted concert would be charged more than a local group wanting to hold a meeting or someone organising an activity for less advantaged people locally. Function rooms The jewel in the Pavilions crown is the under used Balmoral Room on the first floor with a balcony which must have one of the best sea views on the island. We intend as a priority to resurface the balcony and replace the railings which have been recently removed. We would be looking to make this room and the balcony available to hire for functions and see it as a potential venue for high quality dining. However this would have to be limited at first, due to the rooms distance from the kitchen. We would be looking to establish a second kitchen in what were the old Ventnor Town Council 8

offices adjacent to this room by the end of the second year of operation, sooner if funds are available. The smaller first floor room, sometimes known as The Chancellor Room, has a number of potential uses. We are mindful of the feedback obtained by the Ventnor Town Council when they canvassed local opinion in autumn last year for the use of the Winter Gardens, which suggested Internet and copying facilities. This room could be set up as an Internet caf, and meet this local need, particularly as Ventnor library hours are reducing in April. The old Parsonage on the site included a reading room, as did many of the 1930s seaside pavilions, and this new use would therefore echo that original concept. We also see this room as having potential to deliver educational facilities. It could be a seminar or study room for small meetings or school groups and visiting field trips on pre-booked occasions, consistently with being an Internet cafe. Because it is difficult at this stage to be sure of the revenue generation potential of these rooms we have not factored income from them into our finance model, although we have included necessary refurbishment costs. Reception area The reception area of the Winter Gardens is crucial to the whole operation it is the point of entry to the building and will be remodelled to reflect the whole Winter Gardens Pavilion experience. It will become a welcoming reception area, the hub of the whole business - a place where visitors are met and greeted; can gain information about the Winter Gardens and Ventnor; where they can book tickets for shows; hire the auditorium and book for functions. The Auditorium Manager will be based there and it will be staffed by volunteers. The space will be opened out with an open plan reception desk where tickets would be sold - no more peering through a window to buy a ticket. There would be a small private office to give the manager privacy when required. The main telephone for the Winter Gardens would also come through to this area. It is planned that this area will be refurbished ahead of the building reopening as it is so important to the way visitors will perceive the building. Initially supervised volunteers would be staffing a box office operation throughout daytime opening hours and on evenings when the auditorium has a ticket event. However we would plan to incorporate a Tourist Information Centre in this area to enhance existing facilities in the town, and we intend to explore the possibilities with other interested parties. We would also look towards reinstating the ATM and having food and drink vending machines. We are also planning to have some exhibition space here and in the adjacent crush area, where we can have small exhibitions of local arts and crafts, as well as an evolving exhibition about the heritage of the building and the Trusts plans for it.

The purpose of these changes is so that the reception area will become a welcoming community resource, bringing people into the building.

Staffing
We anticipate employing six full time or near full time staff: an Auditorium Manager an Auditorium Technician a Catering Manager/Chef a Catering Supervisor a Bar Manager a Bar Supervisor

There will also be significant part time and casual staff employed in the bar and catering areas as well as to keep the building clean. We would anticipate volunteers being involved in all part of the operation, particularly in the reception area and when we have events in the auditorium.

Opening hours
We are planning: the reception to be open from 10am till 5pm every day, and more when required by functions in the auditorium the caf/bar to be open from 11am 11pm every day The auditorium to be available from 8am until 2am every day

In the first two years of operation we envisage that the auditorium will, during all of its opening times, to be available for community use. We would include theatre productions, film screenings, exhibitions and concerts in this definition of community use, as the public would be able to attend at affordable cost. This availability will amount to 126 hours per week and we would see this being a combination of events promoted by ourselves and events where we hire the auditorium to a third party promoter. Once the auditorium is refurbished we would anticipate that we would hire it out for some high value non-public uses, such as small and medium sized conferences. We would intend these to be largely in the spring and autumn. The long-term financial stability that they would give would justify their being staged in the premises. We would anticipate there would be a maximum of eight three day blocks and a small number of single days in a year.

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Building fabric
We recognise that the building is in a far from satisfactory state, both in terms of structure and in terms of cosmetic appearance. We plan, over a period, to restore the building, as far as possible, to its original state but recognise that this will require serious fundraising. Our preferred option is to apply for a grant under the Heritage Lottery Funds Townscape Heritage Initiative and we have carried out preliminary work on that and other options. However we cannot get much further and apply until we have our charitable status and have taken ownership of the building. Although there are structural issues, most seem to be related to movement which took place in the 1950s, and we note that most of the recommendations of the 2003 structural survey were not carried out, and the building does not seem to have got much worse. This leads us to believe that most of the work require on the building can be deferred for about two years until we have proper long term funding in place. Our plan for the immediate use of the Winter Gardens is therefore based on necessary work and some cosmetics being done before re-opening, and deferring major expenditure. Immediate work There are a number of things that have to be done to the building and some that are highly desirable, before it can reopen. We regard it as essential that when we reopen we are able to market our offer as something new, and this will involve cosmetic as well as structural work. We have a retired Chartered Surveyor and a reputable local building company director in our group so we have been able to prepare a schedule of works. In outline this schedule is: improvements to the reception area and staircase to give a better impression when entering the Pavilion sanding and sealing the bar/caf floor as well as removing unnecessary fixtures and making good deep cleaning and redecoration of the kitchen refurbish the Balmoral Room balcony flooring, new railings and repair the windows repairs to the roof a clean-up and redecoration of the exterior frontage remedial work to electricity and gas services upgrading and repairing fire doors and fire protection equipment new displays and furniture

We estimate that this will cost 45000 and that we would be wise to allow a further 5000 for contingencies. At present the boiler is not working and the cost of repair has not been included in the above schedule. 11

We are also concerned about the boundary wall that was demolished by the Council, which we understand is due to be replaced in the near future by a wooden fence. However we have not yet seen the conservation area planning application for this, so require reassurance as to progress. Five year plan We will be seeking significant funding to restore the building and ensure that it is fit for the twenty first century. Among the items to be give attention will be: Roof overhaul Complete refurbishment of the render and redecorate the exterior Replacement of windows Restoration of the auditorium dance floor Improvement of auditorium acoustics New auditorium heating Remodelled reception and entrance New seating for the auditorium Work on fire exits to increase the capacity of the auditorium General interior refurbishment and redecoration Re-introduction of modernist features such as lighting Remodelling the ground floor bar/caf New first floor kitchen to support functions in the Balmoral Room A feasibility study, taking into account cost and safety, into opening the upper sun-deck

Financial
Our financial plan is based on the assumption that we will get access to the building at the end of April and will reopen in the middle of June. Fundamentally our financial plan is in three parts: finance to enable us to reopen in mid-June, with sufficient improvements to market the Pavilion as something new, and provide working capital a business plan to sustain the building for the first two years ambitious plans in year 3 to renovate the building using heritage grants

If there is a delay with heritage grant funding the model is designed to be selfsustaining using year 2 as a template. We consider our model to be conservative as it does not include potentially good revenue streams: room hire (other than the auditorium) for functions, private parties and meetings, together with associated catering and bar receipts 12

any bar takings before 6pm

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Marketing
The Winter Gardens has been significantly under-marketed in the recent past. In the initial years we will only have a modest provision for marketing but we believe that by creative thinking this will achieve great impact. Key to the marketing will be to emphasise that this is a new proposition and a fresh start. With that in mind we intend to revert to the original branding for the building and call it the Winter Gardens Pavilion, tapping into the nostalgia that has been generated by other modernist pavilions such as the De La Warr in Bexhill and the Rothesay Pavilion on the Isle of Bute. The Trust already owns the domain names ventnorwintergardens.com, ventnorwintergardenstrust.com and ventnorwintergardenstrust.co.uk and we are assuming that ventnorwintergardens.co.uk, which is registered to the building, will be included in the sale. The aims of the marketing will be: to encourage people from Ventnor, the island and visitors to eat and drink at the Winter Gardens to make people aware of the schedule of events in the auditorium and encourage them to attend to present the venue as a compelling place for promoters to hold their events

Central to this will be: an up-to-date website which will include the ability to book online for ticketed events in the auditorium. a DL leaflet about the building, its heritage, its facilities and schedule of events. This would be widely distributed in the town and on the island through Tourist Information Centres, shops and accommodation providers posters to support the building and specific events, to be distributed in a similar way to the leaflet building on our existing goodwill with the local media to ensure that the Pavilion and its events continues to be widely featured we are looking to an incentive scheme to help Ventnor accommodation providers encourage their guests to eat and drink in the Winter Gardens and for larger providers to act as booking agents for ticketed events work with the ferry operators to build packages to encourage visits to the island and the Winter Gardens from elsewhere in the UK a good display about what is happening at the Winter Gardens at the entrance in Pier Street this will include a full menu of food available in the caf/bar activity to mark the 75th anniversary of the opening of the Pavilion this coming August

All of our marketing activity will stress the heritage of the Pavilion and where possible highlight the qualities of Ventnor as a town.

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