Birmingham Rep receives grant from Arts Council England

The Rep is delighted to announce it has been awarded £3.047m from Arts Council England’s Creative Foundations Fund to support essential works to its roof, including the removal of RAAC in the original roof structure over the oldest parts of the building. The grant will cover 90% of the capital costs. 

As well as upgrading the fabric of the building, the proposed works will significantly enhance environmental performance, improve insulation and reduce energy usage.

During the construction works, which are scheduled over an eight-month period from February to October 2027, The Rep will remain open and will continue to produce and present a theatre programme in The Studio. The main 800-seat auditorium, The House, will be closed temporarily. The theatre’s Talent Development and Creative Learning programmes, which work with hundreds of children, young people, adults and artists in the building and across the city, will continue as normal. The Rep’s commercial events subsidiary Unique Venues Birmingham (UVB) will also continue to operate from its usual portfolio of spaces across The Rep and Library of Birmingham.

The Arts Council award will cover the capital costs of the project only. A public fundraising campaign will be launched in due course to raise vital funding for revenue losses accrued during the construction period, including support for The Rep’s wider charitable mission while programme surpluses are not available to support it in the usual way.

Full details of the fundraising campaign will be announced in the coming weeks.

CEO of The Rep, Rachael Thomas commented on the award:

We are deeply grateful to Arts Council England for this award and the opportunity it provides to renew The Rep’s building fabric and protect the future of the theatre. The new roof will greatly improve the environmental performance of the building and is environmentally sustainable in design. It will safeguard those sections of the roof affected for another 50 years and enable The Rep to continue producing theatre and welcoming audiences for decades to come.”

Artistic Director of The Rep, Joe Murphy, said:

We are not closing while the work is happening: The Rep will remain open for business. We will continue to stage productions for audiences in The Studio and our other spaces and deliver activities for children, young people and communities on and off site as usual. While we take a short break from making productions for our main stage we intend to use the opportunity to put the spotlight on all the brilliant artists we work with in our smaller spaces and will be inviting audiences to engage with us differently. We also want to invest time in engaging more deeply with our communities about what they want from The Rep in the next 50 years. We want this to be a time of renewal in more ways than one.”

Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy said:

I want everyone, everywhere to feel a sense of pride about where they come from. Cultural organisations across the West Midlands are important custodians of local identity and play a key role in the story we tell ourselves as a nation.

“Our Arts Everywhere Fund is delivering on our commitment to support cultural assets across the country, increasing access and preserving them for future generations. This is demonstrated by grants announced today that will benefit thirteen culture venues, museums, and library services across the West Midlands.

“Arts and culture are the beating hearts of our communities; they have the power to unite us in the face of division and break down barriers to opportunity. We want to harness the power to help us build a brighter future for the people of the West Midlands.”

Liz Johnson, Midlands Area Director at Arts Council England, said:

Our Creative Foundations Fund invests in buildings and equipment to help keep venues across the country up and running, for everyone to enjoy. It improves sustainability and revitalises cultural assets, so organisations can provide a bolder and bigger programme of activity for their communities.

“We’re pleased to offer more than £3 million of funding to Birmingham Rep to upgrade the roof in the main theatre, revitalising the space and ensuring that it can continue to produce and showcase exceptional theatre for many years to come.”

This funding represents a vital investment into the longevity of one of Birmingham’s most important cultural venues.