Boxed off
Oh dear Grimble, thanks for your comments but it is only a title.
View from the South Bank is a way of finding my humble blog in the midst of thousands of other chattering pages.
It is not any grand comparison with London or anywhere else. So let's talk about something more interesting.
Like the fact that another box office has gone belly up.
No, not the Fringe but those of Glasgow's Kings Theatre and Theatre Royal. And not because of any complicated computer system but to cut costs.
The Ambassador Theatre Group have given all 27 staff at both box offices redundancy notices.
Callers will instead be put through to a centralised box office in London which already deals with their 21 other theatres across the UK. They'll also charge you a booking fee for the pleasure.
On top of that, they've just received £7.2m to refurbish the 104-year-old Kings.
Am I alone in thinking that the council - who gave them the grant and own both buildings - might want to consider whether this is a good move?
I'm as adept as the next person at booking tickets online but in quirky old-fashioned theatres like the Kings, I like to make sure I'm not sitting behind a pillar or getting a nosebleed in the gods.
The best way to avoid that it to speak to someone with local knowledge, not someone 500 miles away who's on the clock and on commission.
The Ambassador Theatre Group say the cuts are necessary and in response to "customer demand" but the staff are now urging customers to make clear their demands to the theatre.
Meanwhile, it's all gone quiet at the Fringe where a friendly face in the box office wasn't enough to prevent the system going bust.
I understand a number of staff have already quit in the wake of Jon Morgan's resignation, with more set to follow.
Not London’s South Bank, but the south bank of the River Clyde in Glasgow - every bit as lively in cultural terms as its namesake. I’m Pauline McLean, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Scotland’s arts correspondent, and I’ll be blogging here about arts events and issues happening across the country.
Comment number 1.
At 19th Sep 2008, iansmacl wrote:On Wednesday (17th) posters had been affixed to bus shelters near the Kings telling people of the closure of the box offices. For some strange reason these posters were no longer there on Thursday night.
If the information in the posters was correct, the booking fee will be four pounds. Someone who knows the capacity of the theatres may be able to tell us how much this will bring in to the theatres per show - on top of the savings made by making the staff redundant.
The council should do more than consider whether the closure of the box offices is a good move; it should withhold all subsidies until the move is rescinded.
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Comment number 2.
At 20th Sep 2008, Low Flyer wrote:I wonder what evidence there is of this "customer demand". Perhaps you can ask them to produce the folders full of emails and letters demanding that the box office staff be located 500 miles away. I'm sure they'd be delighted to back up their case with evidence.
Or perhaps not...
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Comment number 3.
At 21st Sep 2008, brucegingerbruce wrote:To close the local box office facility is a very short sighted move, the Glasgow theatres and their customers differ from other "provincial" theatres run by Ambassador group and while there is no doubt a substatntial saving will be made on the payroll costs there will a reduction in the levels of customer service.
ergo:-
a. the staff don't matter
b. customer service is not important
wheres the corporate responsibilty?
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Comment number 4.
At 21st Sep 2008, Comment001 wrote:I much prefer to use the box office at the Kings and don't approve of booking fees at all but I do wonder why it takes 27 to staff two booking offices.
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Comment number 5.
At 22nd Sep 2008, redrobb wrote:Having just attended the Jungle Book show at the Theatre Royal with my family, I'm always irked at having to pay an on line booking fee. But I agree it helps when your dealing with a fellow Scot / local with regards to seating. The announcement of the Ambassadors Group of redundancies will lead me to review where and when I take my family for future performances.
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