Business Plan 2010/ Final 70 Oxford Street Manchester M1 5HN Tel: 0161 228 7621 Fax: 0161 200 1504 e-mail: director@cornerhouse.org Web page: www.cornerhouse.org
Business Plan 2009 2010 Contents MISSION... 3 VISION... 3 VALUES... 3 Background... 4 Business Plan Narrative... 5... 5 Aims, Objectives and Measures for 2010... 9 Page 2
Business Plan 2010 MISSION Cornerhouse is Greater Manchester s centre for international contemporary visual art and film. A place where all can engage with contemporary ideas through a unique, risk taking, cross art-form and culturally diverse high quality programme of art and film VISION Within the next 4 years to become the creative crossroads for the people of the Manchester City Region acknowledged by our partners and our audiences as being central to artistic and cultural and educational life. Playing a leading role on innovation and risk taking, to span the virtual and real worlds, achieving openness, access and excellence and making a positive contribution to the regeneration of the City Region. VALUES Cornerhouse values: People 1. The work of artists, filmmakers and curators and our audiences, staff and trustees The Work 2. Critical dialogue between artist, audiences, curators and our staff, 3. Innovation in the contemporary visual arts and wider cultural industries 4. Original thinking and a contemporary outlook 5. Internationalism and multiculturalism The Way We Do Business 6. Creative collaboration with individuals, institutions and our funding partners 7. Education as a tool for change and for increasing understanding of cultural, social, aesthetic and political issues 8. Taking calculated risks in the pursuit of artistic excellence 9. Fiscal responsibility The Mission, Vision and Values of the organisation have been translated into 7 aims which underpin the Business Plan. These are: 1 To be a leading international centre for contemporary visual arts and film engaging audiences, artists and filmmakers in ideas, knowledge and dialogue 2 Support innovation, creativity and the development of talent 3 Make a leading contribution to local, national and international cultural and knowledge agendas 4 To develop inclusive participation, learning and skills in visual arts, film and digital media 5 To be a social, creative and business network hub for Manchester city region 6 To attract talented people to our team and invest in them 7 Achieve our objectives within a framework of a balanced budget and a well run organisation Page 3
Background Cornerhouse has been working to deliver on a strategy to enable Cornerhouse to make a step change in the quality of work presented and fundamentally change the organisation s business processes to make it more innovative and open. This new strategy was needed to reflect the way artists, filmmakers and audiences are engaging in the Web 2.0 world where the boundaries between producers and consumers is becoming increasingly blurred. The core of the strategy is as follows: Programming in an integrated way across film and visual arts with engagement in the programme seen as central, Developing innovative partnerships to increase the quality of the programme and increase risk taking by sharing the risk more widely, Expanding the digital footprint of Cornerhouse to engage a wider audience, Increasing the impact of the work of Cornerhouse on the Knowledge Economy, Becoming more commercially focused and effective as state funding for our work becomes squeezed. Adopting open working practices at the core of the new strategy and making this central to delivering an integrated, innovative and risk taking programme. (Open in this context means creating a way of working where there is a continuous and open dialogue between audiences, staff and artists about ideas and this dialogue helps to shape and redefine what Cornerhouse does.) Business Climate Implementation of the new strategy has been slowed as a result of changes in the regional, UK and international economic environment. So far sales income, particularly ticket sales, at Cornerhouse have remained strong. However, there continues to be a noticeable downturn in the fundraising environment with large reductions in funding available from trusts, foundations and business sponsorship. Furthermore indications are that state funding agencies, i.e. Arts Council England and UK Film Council will not be able to maintain current levels of expenditure in the future. Strategic Opportunities Despite the challenging business climate there continue to be significant strategic opportunities for Cornerhouse. The recent report by Tom Fleming 1 identified three key opportunity areas; MediaCity, City South and Manchester s world class cultural aspiration, all key strands of the Knowledge Capital strategy. Fleming identifies eight key aspects of the organisation that need addressing to enable Cornerhouse to position itself to make some key strategic moves. The aspects concern; Brand and Identity, Resources, Management Capacity, Physical Footprint, Digital Footprint, Programming, Learning and Skills and Appetite for change. Some of these aspects can be dealt with within this plan, others will require partnerships and investment. Ultimately, the goals for this plan are to make sure Cornerhouse is starting to deliver the strategy as outlined above. The strategy works well with the priorities of Cornerhouse s funding partners Arts Council England, AGMA, North West Vision and Manchester City Council. As Fleming points out the direction of travel will be limited without additional investment through new partnerships. The recent agreement with Manchester City Council to fund a package of work around the Creative Industries and working with young people is a significant and vital step in realising capitalising on the Strategic Opportunities. This plan set outs a baseline which is developed from know funding and reasons trading estimates upon which development options can be built. 1 Rising to the Challenge, Tom Fleming Creative Consultancy, February 2009 Page 4
Business Plan Narrative Audiences in the market in which Cornerhouse operates are much more concerned with overall experiences than products. Cornerhouse audiences also have a reasonably consistent view of the organisation s brand values. To ensure on-going business sustainability Cornerhouse must ensure that all aspects of the experience are in line with or better than customer expectations. Their experience on-line is as important in the venue. Their experience in the café is as important as their experience in the galleries and so on. If we overlay the current trend for more people to become active participants, either through becoming producers through making films or art or critics through blogging or micro blogging or simply have a dialogue with the programmers, then it becomes clear that Cornerhouse has to play close attention to the total experience and ensure all team members are engaged in making this excellent. Cornerhouse programme will explore two areas of work: Work exploring social-political change Participation in artists practice Cornerhouse is a cross art-form venue that engages with: Visual Arts group and solo shows of emerging and mid career artists, survey shows of emerging culture/sub-cultures, live art, sound art, contextual programmes. Original projects and commissions Film 100% specialised titles, 1 st run world and independent cinema, experimental film and video, issue based programmes, thematic seasons, repertory programme and regionally produced work, festivals. Digital Media this is a crossing cutting theme rather than a separate programme and online projects working with emerging and mid career artists, interactive artist-led projects at the intersection between gaming and art and/or gaming films and art, user generated content, participative projects. Projects will range between small and middle scale but there will be an annual high profile large scale project in using the city and interacting with it. Work will be produced in a number of ways; Commissioned Toured in Developed from the research programme Visual Arts Our core programme for 2010 will continue to explore artists relationships with social change through Contemporary Art Iraq (a major show of recent art from Iraq), and Unrealised Potential and Strategic Questions (a participatory exhibition devised by a team of curators and artists featuring the work of 50 national and international artists). Further exhibitions for are still in the planning phase. 2010 will see the first Manchester edition of the AND Festival a major partnership between FACT, Cornerhouse and folly. Page 5
More flexibility will be built into the visual arts programme under the banner of Edition. For one month of the year we will run shorter exhibitions (group or solo) and one-off events. These will have an emphasis on working with regional artists that provides a space for experimentation and a platform for innovation and new ideas. The Art of With research strand will continue looking at We-think in the contemporary visual arts out of the research will develop clear strategies to enable Cornerhouse to develop excellent programme. During the year our publication distribution service will be growing sales following changing our warehouse partner and will be re-viewing the portfolio of publishers to maximise effectiveness of the service. Priorities - Increasing attendances, income from external sources, partnerships and the open agenda priorities for the Visual Arts Film Full time exhibition of specialised and independent film programme for diverse audiences in Greater Manchester and the North West, including specific audience development programmes aimed at cultural diversity and disabled audiences. Cornerhouse survives in a high competitive Manchester market for cinema by providing a clearly differentiated experience and programme. New specialised / independent releases throughout 2010 11 Hidden Gems smaller films that need our help to profile Classics repertory programme Access regular screenings utilising DSN network and audio description/subtitles Diverse Audiences see below DSN screenings and special events to be scheduled as available Cornerhouse team will provide a tour of Viva title dependent upon availability of funding. In addition to film seasons, Cornerhouse will continue its long-term audience development projects for Bollywood and Beyond, transnational Chinese work and Black film. There will be regular screenings and events in each of these three areas including further developing partnerships (especially with HEIs and the start of a new international touring project for late on new Malaysian cinema. Priorities - Increasing ticket yield and maximising box office will be a major focus for the year. This will be the first full year of working holdovers to maximise box office income without under mining the cultural remit of the programme. It will also be important to continue to investigate open in relation to the film programme where possible. Engagement Engagement programme is divided into: Projector (schools and colleges) General Public Exposures (Universities)* Young People s Membership Scheme (LiveWire 14 19) Creative Industries Cornerhouse develops audiences through a programme of Engagement activity. This will continue to focus on developing a programme of participation activity targeted at schools (14-19 year olds), learning for leisure courses, talks, seminars and panel debates, access activities particularly focused on Page 6
improving access for people who are sensory impaired and young people s work through the new free membership scheme (formally LiveWire). activity will be promoted through targeted communications campaigns. Increasingly we will be using sophisticated web based and digital communications channels as our website is enhanced and more Web 2.0 savvy. We will be looking to maximise the impact of the NorthernNet Media Access Bureau and will be exploring how we can support and develop an innovation ecology across the cultural industries sector. Wider engagement with the creative industries will be a priority with a focus on meeting outputs for the programme project funded by Manchester City Council. Marketing and Communications activity will significantly improve in quality and application over the year. In the current economic climate Cornerhouse will have to work harder to retain audiences and harder still top grow them. The product offer is strong so it is vital that it is effectively communicated to existing and potential audiences. This will be achieved through smarter use of print and on-line tools but particularly through building on the valued relationship with customers through the membership scheme and use of Web 2.0 on-line tools. Growth of digital capacity will be achieved through work of the Digital Content Producer and the implementation of activity associated with the NorthernNet Media Access Bureau. Furthermore improving internal communications and advocacy for the organisation will require Communications Team support especially during the period of change. This will require a fresh approach and additional staff resources in the Marketing and Communications team. Priorities - Improving the effectiveness of the communications mix to increase attendances through the development of clear and simple marketing and communications plan and then ensuring timely delivery of activities will be the main focus of this team. Publications Cornerhouse Publications will continue to provide a service to organisations nationally and distribute their work internationally. Cornerhouse provides a specialist sales and distribution service for many of the most innovative publishers, galleries and museums working in contemporary visual arts. While Cornerhouse publications works with a number of larger publishers, the majority of clients are small, publicly funded arts organisations whose publications, judged purely on commercial terms, are often unattractive to the mainstream art book distributors. Cornerhouse Publications will continue to sell through the book trade, mail order, and online via our own website and Amazon enabling customers worldwide the opportunity to acquire publications that might otherwise not be available to them. Cornerhouse distributes over 2,500 titles on behalf of publishers. Contemporary visual art is a niche market and many titles that are distributed will only sell in small numbers, typically 50 to 200 copies. However, publications that accompany major exhibitions or on important artists will sell more widely and may achieve sales of over 2,000 copies. Priorities - The focus for the year is to consolidate the move to the new warehouse, NBN International and improve margin through greater efficiency and improved cost recovery. Page 7
Operations Completion of the extension in November 2009 has shifted the focus to making sure that buildings work well and delivers revenue to the organisation. Close attention will be paid to managing energy costs and ensuring that standards of presentation in the building remain high. Establishing our Carbon Footprint will be the key first step in establishing a carbon reduction plan for Cornerhouse that both reduces operating costs and improves environmental sustainability. Our catering partner will continue to deliver a high quality food and social offer. This will be monitored and managed during the year. Finally, it will be vital to ensure that our customer facing staff are kept motivated during a period of change and upheaval as it is important to make sure that the customer experience is not undermined. Priorities Increasing revenue from hires and catering activity, maintaining standards and delivering good service will be the focus for the year. Staffing Following the re-organisation which took place in 2009 the structure will need to be monitored to ensure that Cornerhouse has the right level of expertise and skills/knowledge profile at its disposal for the new strategy and that the staff establishment is affordable and flexible. The implementation of the restructure inevitably caused a significant dip in morale at Cornerhouse. Management are focused on the future and will work to ensure that staff have a clear understanding of the future vision. It will also be important to continue with the development plan to support staff through the change period. Governance During the year the Board will take sometime to review current governance arrangements and in particular arrangements for succession planning. The board will consider how the Art of With programme should impact on the governance of Cornerhouse. Building on this Plan There are a number of opportunities for further strategic development of Cornerhouse. Already in progress there are the following: Development of the CAV programme The Art of With research Project funded by ACE Additional support from ACE Sustain and two year project funding from Manchester City Council will provide some scope for development over the period covered by this plan. However, it should be noted that any development must be focused on creating sustainable growth. Page 8
Aims, Objectives and Measures for 2010 1.1 Create and present a year round high quality unique contemporary visual arts programme 1. To be a leading international centre for contemporary visual arts and film engaging audiences, artists and filmmakers in ideas, knowledge and dialogue 1.2 Present a high quality year round unique programme of specialised film 1.3 Present a high profile project outside of Cornerhouse buildings 1.4 Work in collaboration with a range of curatorial and academic partners on the creation and presentation of the programme 1.5 Create a dialogue around the programme and issues it engages with is high quality Artists are contemporary and relevant The programme is culturally diverse Open programming approaches are piloted Commission at least one new art work presented during the year Two participatory projects delivered 60,000 attendances achieved is high quality is culturally diverse is 100% specialised within UK:FC guidelines Meet Europa Cinema Targets Open programming approaches are piloted 125,000 attendances 1 project presented The project is high profile Create a curatorial advisory panel to advise on the development of the programme and act as a critical friend. 2 university partnerships 2 curatorial partnerships Develop and deliver AND festival in Manchester of 40 artist/filmmaker events takes place at Cornerhouse and on-line There is a dialogue between audiences, artists and Cornerhouse about what the programme is and should be Audience feedback Artists evaluations Website Print Download reports Visitor figure reports Evaluation of open programming pilot Audience feedback Box office reports Europa Cinemas Report Evaluation of open programming pilot Documentation of the work Audience feedback Media coverage Notes from panel meetings Documentation of the work Project evaluations Documentation of the events Web site/blog entries Audience feedback Engagement Manager CEO CEO & Engagement & Engagement Page 9
1.6 Build a significant on-line July 2010 presence that engages a wider audience 1.7 Engage a wider audience with the work and ideas of artists through publications New Web 2.0 sections added to Cornerhouse website 800,000 visitors achieved 20% increase in downloads on 2009/2010 Web site/blog entries Website reports Audience feedback Sell 50,000 books Management reports Publications Page 10
2.1 Develop creative of 18 events take place Documentation of the events Creative industries networking at Cornerhouse Signing in sheets Industries programme 80 creative businesses engaged with 2. Support innovation, creativity and the development of talent 2.2 Present a national show case for emerging talent in moving image 2.3 Present a show case for emerging talent in contemporary visual arts 2.4 Support the development of next generation arts professionals Cornerhouse New partnership is consolidated to deliver exposures with University of Salford and Abbott Vision Exposures is presented by the new partnership Additional new resources are applied to the project Present Cornerhouse Projects strand featuring the work of regionally based artists Host a minimum of 6 Internships 30% are from diverse communities Company incorporation Documentation of the event Accounts Evaluation report Documentation of the event Evaluation report Feedback reports from interns Manager Creative Industries Manager Engagement Manager 3. Make a leading 1.1 Undertake a research Present work in progress at one Copy of conference report CEO February contribution to local, national and international cultural and knowledge agendas programme investigating the relevance and application of We-think in the management and operation of a contemporary cultural venue national conference An approach to building The Art of With into the programme is devised and piloted Program me 1.2 Take a leading role in the development of the CAV network 1.3 Actively engage with relevant national and international professional, academic and trade networks Business plan is implemented First projects designed Hosted meetings at Cornerhouse of at least 3 such networks Published papers in at least 2 journals Copy of business plan Project outlines Documentation of meetings Copies of published papers December 2010 CEO July 2010 CEO, & Program me Engagem ent Page 11
1.4 Work with the city Establish at 1 jointly hosted Doctoral Doctors student is recruited CEO, & region s HEI s on studentship with University of Documentation and evaluation of Program knowledge transfer Manchester KTP project me projects Submit 1 additional KTP 1.5 Work with key institutions in the city region to create a world class cultural offer Support implementation of new Manchester Cultural Ambition strategy A leadership development project comes out of the original modern culture meetings Board reports Proposal for the leadership project 4.1 Actively engage 14-19 year olds in creating, view and evaluating art, films and digital media 4. To develop inclusive participation, learning and skills in visual arts, film and digital media 4.2 Actively engage adults and young people in learning through art, films and digital media 4.3 To become an example of good practice in the provision of visual art and film for people with sensory impairments 4.4 support teachers in the use of digital tools in the regions schools LiveWire membership scheme launched and 200 members recruited Deliver projector programme Evaluation of the programme by participants is that 95% of the events are high quality 2000 attendances Delivery of 9 X 8 week courses Evaluation of the programme by participants is that 95% of the events are high quality 500 attendances All exhibitions will have provision of interpretation for sensory impaired people A year round programme of screenings is presented An evaluation of the provision takes place Attendances are increased by 25% on 2009 2010 A minimum of 4 projector digital courses for teachers take place in the Apple Regional Training Centre 30 teachers trained Membership report from box office Copy of the programme Documentation of the events Evaluation by participants Box office reports Copy of the programme Documentation of the events Evaluation by participants Box office reports Copy of the programme Documentation of the events Evaluation by participants Box office reports Copy of the programme Documentation of the events Evaluation by participants Attendance reports CEO Engagem ent manager Program me & Engagem ent Manager Engagem ent Manager Engagem ent Engagem ent Manager Page 12
4.5 Develop strategy for Implement recommendations from Copy of the strategy and action plan CEO July 2010 supporting skills Tom Fleming s report Creative Hub development Page 13
5.1 To be one of the best 5 good reviews Reviews Operation Café/bars in Manchester 12% increase in turnover Customer feedback summary s 5 To be a social, creative and business network hub for Manchester city region 5.2 Develop a networking programme for the cultural industries sector working closely with NWVM, ACE, MDDA 5.3 Maximise the opportunity presented by the Northern Net Media Access Bureau 5.4 Maximise the opportunity created by the Annex Achieved income of 110,000 Implement recommendations from Tom Fleming Creative Hub report An action based research project with a NW University is developed A collaborative project with CAV venues is delivered A private hires marketing plan is in place and targets set for future years Management accounts Revised Business Plan CEO May 2010 Documentation of the opening Research proposal Documentation of the project Copy of the plan CEO Operation s 2010 May 2010 6 To attract talented people to our team and invest in them 6.1 All team members to know what Cornerhouse is aiming to do and their role in making that happen Complete performance appraisal and feedback process Manual for the process Report forms from performance appraisals CEO & Operation s 6.2 All team members to have the right level of knowledge and skill to enable them to develop in their job role and enhance their career prospects 6.3 That Cornerhouse rewards all staff to the best of its ability within available resources All staff to have personal development plans There is a staff development plan for the whole organisation Salary structure is reviewed Non financial rewards packages are developed and piloted. Sample personal development plans Copy of the organisation development plan Copy of salary review Evaluation of pilot CEO & Operation s CEO & Operation s Page 14
7.1 A trading surplus of Copy of accounts 45,000 is generated 7 Achieve our objectives within a framework of a balanced budget and a well run organisation 7.2 Three year business plan is updated 7.3 Management, staff and board have an up to date picture of performance and finance 7.4 To be consistently working to a high quality standard 7.5 Cornerhouse becomes an open governance organisation Target is exceeded Achieve membership of 400 Increase publications sales by 20,000 Business plan is agreed by the Board and with funding partners Copy of business plan Board minute CEO & Commerci al CEO & Commerci al Report is introduced continued Copy of the dashboard Commerci al Bigger Picture quality review process is fully implemented and acted upon Plan is developed and implemented Copy of Bigger Picture review and action plan Documentation of implementation Evaluation of the project CEO CEO October 2009 2009 Page 15