Maintaining the Woolwich Works building costs nearly £1 million a year, its interim head revealed to councillors last night – but she insisted that the arts hub will have a bright future if it can get through its rocky start.
Clare Williams admitted that she feared for the future of the centre when she joined as a troubleshooter seven weeks ago. But she said she now had a “smile on her face” and believed that it would become a venue to be proud of, even if she had to contend with a leaking roof, broken boilers and radiators coming off walls.
A programme of free, family-friendly events – only confirmed in the past few days – is being held at Woolwich Works during the summer in an attempt to jumpstart its fortunes.
Greenwich Council spent £45 million – £14 million more than the publicised budget – on building the creative hub, which opened nearly two years ago and is run by an independent trust. But its launch came amid the pandemic and a downturn in the arts sector, while it has also been criticised for poor promotion and programming.
Danny Thorpe, the council leader at the time, initially called rumours of financial problems “fake news”, but the troubles facing Woolwich Works have turned out to be worse than first revealed.
Despite the £45m spent on the project, Williams said the condition of the building was “the greatest problem we have, the one that keeps us awake at night”.
“To actually run the building, before we bring in any rent or drink cups of coffee, costs £990,000 to run every year. It’s a building that drains us in every way. It’s a huge site and there are a number of teething problems, we’re now out of warranty with some of those problems and we’re trying to solve them.
“I can sit here and talk about a wonderful programme, I can talk about the events business becoming more successful but the building – the difficulty in being able to budget for things going wrong, windows being smashed, the roof leaking, the boilers going, radiators falling off walls. There are a raft of problems with the building which is eating up a huge amount of energy and our time .”
The town hall made £2 million in loans available last year. But both Labour and Conservative councillors on the overview and scrutiny panel were alarmed to learn that the trust had already drawn down £1.775m of the money by February – even though the cash was meant to be spread over a two-year period. The business plan that the loans were based on had to be replaced by a “recovery plan”.
Pressed on the matter by Matt Hartley, the Conservative opposition leader, Stuart Godfrey, the assistant director of central and corporate services, said that financial problems were “an issue faced by the cultural sector across London as a whole”.
“You might be aware of a report issued in the last month showing the impact of the cost of living crisis as well as the Arts Council moving money out of London,” he added.
But Godfrey admitted that the council had “learned a lot” over the past year after having an independent consultant work temporarily on the issue – councillors had pressed last year for a permanent appointment when the loans were announced, but were rebuffed by Anthony Okereke, the council leader.
Michael Bates, a senior council finance officer, said he was visiting Woolwich Works every week to go through the books and talk to staff, while the council’s head of finance was holding monthly meetings.
Williams said she had to draw up “a very, very quick strategy to try to turn things around”.
She said: “I have to admit that when I first arrived at Woolwich Works, I was extremely worried about it, but now I have a smile on my face. I seriously, seriously believe that in three years’ time you’ll be able to look at Woolwich Works and say this is a flagship that you’re so proud of.
“I do believe that the worst is over now. There’s still some rocky times to go through, but we’re really looking at a very exciting future.”
Williams said her strategy was to use the summer holidays to increase footfall, visibility and income. Parkrun’s arrival on the Thames Path had been a boost, she said, noting that the cafe was “packed” for Saturday brunches.
Free Sunday heritage tours of the venue were also proving a success, she said, adding that capitalising on the venue’s history as part of the Royal Arsenal would be a part of its future.
But what Woolwich Works can currently stage is more limited than the £45m outlay would suggest.
Williams also the venue had been unsuccessful in applying for a £750,000 Arts Council grant to go towards shutters for its glass roof, flooring more suited to dance performances and secondary glazing “to allow us to programme more broadly – and loudly”.
The terms of the buildings’ lease had meant that its ability to promote itself was also limited, Williams said, but after an “incredibly useful meeting” with Berkeley Homes there would be new signage on the Royal Arsenal and outdoor furniture for the venue.
A sponsorship deal for the summer family events had only been agreed at 2pm on Wednesday, she added, but the programme was now being added to the website as contracts with performers were agreed.
“All of this is possible thanks to Berkeley Homes, so every day we’ll have some activity for people to know there’s something happening in Woolwich,” she said.
Ben Howard, the trust’s chair, said that while there were “no easy shortcuts” to building a successful venue, “the ones that are most likely to work are free family activities”.
Howard appealed for “patience” from councillors as the recovery plan was put in place, adding that his team was “kicking the tyres of every penny going out of the building”.
“This will take time,” he said. “If I was in your shoes I’d find that frustrating but it takes time to establish a venue. We’ll build a reputation through excellence, through amazing, free programmes, through word-of-mouth recommendations.
“It’ll be over several years, that’s my main message. Some things will work, we’ll do more of them, some won’t work and we’ll stop doing those. We will get there, but it’ll take time to do so.”
Hartley told The Greenwich Wire this morning: “What we’ve now heard is alarming – particularly given the financial risk that the council has exposed Greenwich taxpayers to, with this £2m loan which has been spent far quicker than planned.
“Its only now, a year later, that the scrutiny panel has been told that the business plan on which the loan was based was – afterwards – found by the Council to be unfit for purpose.
“Everyone wants Woolwich Works to succeed – so the council needs to do more to support the trust, and much more to mitigate the risk to the taxpayer.
“To do that, the council urgently needs arts venue-specific expertise – and the leader of the council’s decision not to accept that recommendation last August can only be seen, now, as a big mistake. That mistake needs rectifying, straight away – to avoid further requests for financial support from the taxpayer.”
Details of events at Woolwich Works are at woolwich.works.
Story updated at 10.20am to include a quote from Matt Hartley and to rewrite the second paragraph.
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