Canada Water Theatre and Café tender opportunity

Frequently asked questions

Can some of the box office income be used to pay touring production companies via box office split deals, or does all of the box office income have to be returned to the Council?

As long as you are able to return £140,000 income to the Council over the course of the year, be that from box office and / or meeting room hire fees, you are welcome to use any additional box office income to invest in the programme or delivery of the contract. For example by using it as part of your fees payment to visiting companies. We will monitor your box office income throughout the year and you will need to demonstrate that you are able to achieve a sufficient income surplus above the £140,000 target to do this.

Would a structure in which the organisation keeps all of the box office income and doesn’t require upfront investment [of £160,000] from the Council be more or less appealing to the Council?

The Council has allocated a maximum £20,000 net investment from its budget in the contract per year (currently structured via a £160,000 fee, and £140,000 income target). The Council is open to proposals that require less net investment, as long as you can demonstrate that it is a viable model.

Please explain a bit more about how the building operates in terms of the day to day operations

• The Libraries team open up the building from 8am and close at 8pm. There is a security presence contracted by the Libraries team during normal library opening hours. If there are activities in the theatre / meeting rooms out of library opening hours, the Libraries team can organise out of hours security at a cost to the provider.
• The Libraries team have contracted cleaners, mostly operational during the day but also in the evening after closing (cleaning the staffing areas, meeting rooms, theatre etc).
• The library tends to be very busy during exam season and school holidays, and on Monday mornings during the children’s and families events.
• Building maintenance (e.g. repairs to faulty lights or toilets) is managed by the Libraries team. The Provider will be responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the technical equipment in the theatre, including any contracts relating to servicing and training.

Does the Council have a view on how much the Service Provider should be supporting new or developing work, and supporting artists?

We wouldn’t seek to influence how significant artist development work is within applicants’ proposals. We are excited to hear your artistic vision for the space, which could of course include a commitment to artist development, but we don’t have a view on how central artistic development is to your proposed model.  As a Council, we are particularly interested in how residents of Southwark can best benefit from the space. This could of course include an interest in how Southwark-based artists might benefit from the way the provider manages the space.

Has the name of the theatre recently been changed and why was this?

The naming of the space recently changed from Canada Water Culture Space to Canada Water Theatre to reflect how the space is known locally. This was also to place equal weighting on the building’s dual use, with new signage naming the building as Canada Water Library and Theatre.

Is there an alcohol licence that covers the premises?

The Provider of the new services contract will need to ensure that they have appropriate licences in place. The café / theatre staff employed by the current Provider are the licensees currently. The current licence is for 7 days a week until midnight. A Temporary Events Notice would be needed if serving alcohol beyond that time.  

Do we need to apply for two separate licences for the management and operation of the Canada Water Theatre and meeting rooms and the café? Or, is one licence adequate for both?  Could you also specify if the premises licence that is currently in place is under Canada Water Theatre and needs a supervisor or if it is currently under the name of the current Provider?

The premises licence issued in respect of Canada Water Theatre and Library allows for licensable activities across the entire premises including the café. A separate premises licence would not be required in respect of the café.

Details of the premises licence number 837285 issued in respect of Canada Water Theatre and Library are available on our licensing register.  

The licence names the current Provider as the Designated Premises Supervisor. It is envisaged that this would be transferred to any new Provider if required. Read more about the process for transferring Premises Licences.  

Could you let us know which staff relate to the Cafe Management Contract and which to the Theatre and Meeting Spaces Management Contract?  If there is overlap between staff is there any information available on hours spent on each of the Contracts?

Staff for the café and the theatre / meeting spaces are currently employed separately without formal overlap, although both teams work collaboratively to deliver hospitality catering for space hirers, and lend general support for the benefit of patrons.

Can we access information on box office and ticket sales for shows in 2019/20 to get a picture of what ticket sales were like pre-COVID?

While the financial turnover achieved by the current Provider in 2019/20 is deemed to be commercially sensitive, we can confirm that the ticket sales income in 2019/20 was generated from 4,194 attendances, including 3,547 paid-for tickets.

Why has this contract opportunity become available at this time?

Due to the Council being a public sector organisation, and a contracting authority, the Council is obliged to award its contracts based on compliant procurement process set out by the Public Contract Regulations 2015. The current concession contract at Canada Water Theatre was advertised and awarded as a fixed term contract, which is due to expire in March 2023, hence the Council carrying out the current open procurement process.

Please can you clarify how the costs and income associated with internal Council usage of the theatre and meeting spaces will be managed?

The intention is to remain with the current practice for managing the costs and income associated with Council use of the spaces, whereby the Provider invoices the relevant council department but with clear instruction that it is for reference only. The Council’s Finance department will then arrange an internal transfer of funds into the Culture team budget. To be clear, the income from the internal usage is in addition to the £140,000 income target.

Page last updated: 15 September 2023