Cabinet agrees preferred venue operator for Salisbury’s City Hall

Wiltshire Council’s Cabinet has approved a preferred operator to take over the running of City Hall in Salisbury – ensuring the reopening of the entertainment venue takes a significant step forward.   

The council cannot yet formally confirm the provider until terms and a lease are agreed. This is due to the need to maintain commercial confidentiality at this stage of the process. 

Although Wiltshire Council have not confirmed the operator, Salisbury Radio can confirm that Meca who are based in Swindon are the preferred operator.

Moreso, once the lease has been agreed and signed - there is an agreement in place to allow Salisbury Radio to return local radio to the studios at City Hall, once occupied by Spire FM. This agreement will return local commercial radio to Salisbury's City Hall where it first launched back in 1992.

In a further demonstration of the council’s commitment to reopen the venue, Cabinet has also approved around £300,000 of funding to make improvements to the external fabric of the building. This work will be completed either in advance of the lease starting or concurrently with any fit out by the occupier. The final cost of these works will be subject to a formal procurement process taking place.  

Although no timescales can be confirmed at this stage, if a lease and terms can be formally agreed with the provider, they have indicated their intention to reopen the venue later this year.    

This update follows the council’s thorough process to ensure that when City Hall does reopen as an entertainment venue that it is financially viable and has the best opportunity to be a vital part of the Salisbury’s entertainment and cultural offer for the long-term.  

 
As part of this work, the council first carried out an insightful market engagement process which established that, after speaking to potential third-party providers, offering the venue on a long-term lease would be the preferred arrangement and would help ensure it continues to thrive as an entertainment venue for many years to come.  The council then worked with Savills to formally market the venue to prospective tenants and at the end of this process, following further due diligence, a preferred operator has been identified.   

Wiltshire Council Leader, Cllr Richard Clewer, said: “It’s always been our priority to open City Hall as a live entertainment venue in a long-term sustainable way without subsidy. 

“I’m pleased we have now agreed a preferred operator and that we now look to agree formal terms. The process we have followed, and the necessary due diligence we have carried out, means that when the venue does reopen then it has the best possible opportunity to thrive as an entertainment venue. 

“Despite the local speculation of the preferred operator, it’s important we as a council continue to follow the proper process so we do not jeopardise any potential agreements, but all being well we should have some good news and formal confirmation very soon.”   

The proposals were discussed at the Council’s Cabinet meeting on 21 January and the full report can be found at Agenda - Democratic Services - Wiltshire Council.  Due to reasons of commercial confidentiality part of the report was discussed as a confidential Part II item.