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Plymouth Growth Board December 2017 Highlight Report
1
LES FLAGSHIP: VISITOR ECONOMY AND CULTURE “Building on the Mayflower 2020 opportunity and the city’s cultural and visitor offer to raise its profile and
reputation in global markets.”
Growth Board Champion: Adrian Vinken
Flagship Sponsors: Amanda Lumley – Visitor, Dominic Jinks – Culture, Nicola Moyle – Heritage, Charles Hackett -
Mayflower400
Report Author: Amanda Lumley and Dominic Jinks
Destination Plymouth – April 2016 to December 2017
Work has been progressing at a significant rate over the past year on all the core Destination Plymouth and
partner activities which deliver towards the Local Economic Strategy (LES) objectives of (a) Raise the profile of
Britain’s Ocean City in global markets and (b) Grow the city’s visitor economy. Mayflower 400 activities have also
continued to show some significant progress. Due to the crossover in delivery between Mayflower 400 and wider
visitor economy activities this report has been formatted to a slightly different approach with day-to-day visitor
activities being separated out from Mayflower specific activities which are outlined under objective (a).
Visitor numbers:
Britain:
IPS figures for August that VisitBritain has just released show the headline figure is that revenue from overseas
visitors has increased by 10% for the year to date. This means that the inbound sector is on track to generate an
additional £2.2bn in export earnings this year, sufficient to generate over 40,000 new jobs. This is significant
considering the impact that Brexit is having on the ability of tourism businesses in the UK to attract and retain the
staff that they need for provide the level of service required.
Visit Britain’s latest forecast for Britain in 2017 is for 39.7 million visits, up 6% on 2016 and £25.7 billion in
visitor spending, an increase of 14% on 2016.
Plymouth Growth Board December 2017 Highlight Report
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Plymouth:
Visitor numbers for 2016 show a slight increase on 2015 with overall numbers 3% up at 5,116,000 visitors.
Day visitors were 3.4% up, staying 0.4% up and overseas 2.6% up.
Visitor spend was also up 1.6% overall, with day visitor spend up 1.7%, staying visitors down slightly by -0.2%
and overseas visitors up by 7.9%
Overall GVA remains the same at £249m and employment remains at 6% of the total although there is a marked
increase in FTEs which are up 11.5%. This may reflect the reduction in available migrant workers as well as difficulty
in recruiting generally within the sector which means more businesses are trying to retain staff
permanently rather than relying on seasonal labour.
Visitor numbers for staying visitors are fairly static and have been so since 2012 when there was a drop from
678,000 to 645,000 (38,000 per annum). This coincides with the loss of two hotels, The Legacy and The
Quality Inn which had approximately 200 rooms between them. This equates to approximately a loss of 56,940
room nights at 78% occupancy.
Accommodation:
A continuing challenge for the city is the need for more accommodation. Evidence from accommodation providers
within the city is that they are very busy with many running high occupancy all year round over 79%. The most
recent demand study was completed in 2014 and this needs refreshing to see if there has been change. With the
new hotels in the pipeline the city will be back up to pre-2013 numbers (see first graphic over). However, that does
Plymouth Growth Board December 2017 Highlight Report
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not allow for growth/increasing demand (see second graphic below). Visit Britain figures show that the UK inbound
economy is continuing to grow and the national strategy is to push this growth out of London into the regions
which is a major opportunity for Plymouth as a key driver for the South West generally.
0
200,000
400,000
600,000
800,000
1,000,000
1,200,000
1,400,000
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
0%, 3% and 5% growth in UK staying visitors to 2025
0% growth
3% growth
5% growth
Plymouth Growth Board December 2017 Highlight Report
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Plymouth currently receives 5.1 million visitors overall annually (2016 data). Of these visitors 14.5 % are staying
visitors from the UK (640,000) and 1.5% are from overseas (78,000). There is a significant opportunity to
grow overseas visits currently with UK inbound growth currently forecast at 6% for 2017 and the national
tourism strategy to encourage overseas visitors away from London into the regions. Overseas visitors are
particularly good in relation to economic impact as they tend to be higher spending and longer staying.
Current developments will deliver 316 hotel rooms for 2020, which will bring levels back to pre 2013,
however further bed stock is required to enable sustained growth in staying visitors.
Current developments:
Former Co Op Derrys Cross 110 bed Premier end of 2018
Millbay 126 bed Premier 2020
1620 - The Hoe 80 beds 2020
Pipeline development sites:
Railway Station 80 beds 2022
Derrys Cross 179 beds 2021
Register Office 100 beds 2022
Strategic Objectives in the Flagship
a) Raise the profile of Britain’s Ocean City in global markets
Accountable person: Charles Hackett – Mayflower 400, Amanda Lumley – Visitor Economy
Period covered by this report: March 2016 to Dec 2017
Project update – Mayflower 400
The profile of Plymouth as Britain’s Ocean City has continued to be raised through the development of the
Mayflower 400 programme including marketing activities, events and consistent high level lobbying within
government in the UK and US.
The Mayflower 400 partnership of over 13 destinations is becoming increasingly engaged in developing their
own plans along with ‘joined up’ approaches to large-scale cultural events and programming. The concept of a
national Mayflower Trail has become firmly embedded nationally and work is on-going to develop the
associated projects.
Objectives of the Mayflower 400 programme within Plymouth are:
Plymouth perception:
• To showcase Plymouth internationally, nationally and locally to drive visibility and
engagement with the Plymouth city brand
Residents engagement:
• To increase pride and aspiration in Plymouth through the Mayflower 400 programme
locally and internationally to make 2020 ‘our year’ for Plymouth
Physical space & experience:
Plymouth Growth Board December 2017 Highlight Report
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• To catalyse improvement in the space & experience of Plymouth and the necessary
infrastructure to host visitors
Improved offer, service & welcome:
• To increase the offer, service and welcome to visitors, and increase the number of
national and international visitors through 2020 and afterwards
Milestones and activities completed since 2016 – Mayflower specific
US Ambassador reception Sept 2016
£500k secured from Visit Britain for development of national Mayflower Trail 2016
Capital business case for Mayflower projects – circa £5 million – Nov 2016
HLF grant bid submitted April 2017 (unsuccessful)
US delegation Sept 2016 and October 2017
Mayflower partnership meetings quarterly
UK Inbound conference hosted February 2017
Meetings with Secretary of state, Tourism Minister, DCMS Senior Officers, DIT Senior officers
Work with Lord Lieutenant to secure Royal visit on going
£500k secured from Visit England from Discover England Fund for ‘American Connections’ project
Local and regional activity:
Funding:
The creation of the Mayflower ‘Founders Club’, with organisations across the city committing significant
financial support in principle for the programme.
Appointment of a specialist fundraising consultancy to approach national companies across the UK and
overseas for major project funding.
Capital projects:
Plymouth’s new £38m cultural attraction, ‘The Box’ (see detail in section c).
5 star hotel on the Hoe (Hotel 1620) planned to open by 2020 – start on site imminent.
£5 million capital project including refurbishment of Elizabethan and Merchants House, 3 new heritage
trails, monument and enabling infrastructure. These projects are now ‘live’. Planning submission has
been approved and heritage architects commissioned to do phase 1 of the Elizabethan House which is
to take back to the original structure to determine total extent of works required to renovate.
Feasibility study in process to determine appropriate use for Merchants House long term.
Consultants appointed to provide feasibility for monument.
Trails development in process appointment of design team in procurement.
Education:
The creation of dedicated Mayflower educational content covering all syllabus areas through key stages 1, 2 and
3, ensuring all young people have the opportunity to understand the Mayflower’s story and its contemporary
relevance. Further education engagement has taken place nationally through the Youth Parliament, and in the
creation of a dedicated University working group which meets to promote Mayflower within higher education
activity.
Plymouth Growth Board December 2017 Highlight Report
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Sport:
The appointment of Argyle Community Trust to develop the Mayflower sports offer. Appointed in October,
the Trust have already made major progress in securing buy-in from key local, regional and national partners.
Alongside this, they have created a £10kp/a community fund to stimulate grassroots sporting activity
Events:
£400k invested in events and capacity by the local authority, enabling the development of the Mayflower
programme locally and enabling major events such as the Mayflower Muster to take place in 2020.
Support provisionally agreed from the Navy Board to develop Mayflower activity, orientated around the
proposed ‘Mayflower Muster’ which will see major military activity taking place within the city.
The event calendar for 2020 is now being firmed up alongside work to develop a year-long cultural programme
being led by Plymouth Culture and cultural organisations across the city.
Community:
The creation of the ‘Make a Difference for Mayflower’ business volunteering scheme, for example in the
development of a dedicated venue for the local ‘Street Factory’ dance group, who work with socially
disengaged young people. Already, over 40 organisations have pledged some form of support to the
programme.
The Make a Difference steering group now consists of: Plymouth City Council – Darin Halifax
and Babette Hughes, Improving Lives Plymouth – Claire Hill and George Plenderleith, Business –
Leila Nottage (Duke of Cornwall) and Mark Collins (City Bus), City College – Pauline Hands.
The Mayflower Makers (Mayflower ambassadors) volunteering opportunity has been designed
based on the package designed for taxi drivers. Training will start in December 2017 and then be
delivered every 6 weeks. The training is for a total of 6 hours and can be spread over 2 days. To
date, 141 individuals have expressed an interest.
Improving Lives Plymouth has been working with Livewell Southwest to develop their Employee
Volunteering Policy and through this to enable their staff to be part of Make a Difference. A
presentation is being made to their board in December to gain their approval.
Improving Lives Plymouth has also been working with Plymouth Community Homes to develop a
policy to enable their staff to be part of Make a Difference.
Street Factory launched a Make a Difference Adopt a Space project in November. So far, 20
companies have delivered free support worth £30,000.
Taxi Drivers training recommences in January 2018 with a further 25 individuals scheduled to
complete the course.
Plymouth City Centre Company, Plymouth City Council Street Services and the Plymouth
Waterfront Partnership now supply a monthly list of Make a Difference opportunities for
businesses to link into.
The Mayflower Community Fund will be launched in April 2018. This will provide further
volunteering opportunities for people in communities of interest, identity and geography.
The results of the campaign also include sign ups to the Plymouth Octopus project for volunteering
and applications for the Cultural fund which has just closed with 108 applications from cultural and
community groups across Plymouth.
Plymouth Growth Board December 2017 Highlight Report
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Engagement:
Key events attended or upcoming:
- 2 x PCCC/PWP business engagement sessions (70+ attendees)
- Multiple business networking events hosted by partners including the Chamber, Santander
and Plymouth Raiders
- POP+ network (40+ attendees, digital contact with 300+ organisations)
- Plymouth and Devon Racial Equality Council
- Plymouth Pride
- Migrants Forum
- Environment Forum
- Cultural Leaders Network meeting
- Age Concern
- PADAN
- Mayflower Education Group and Plymouth Leadership Advisors
- Two dedicated Councillor engagement sessions hosted at the Council House, and
information disseminated digitally via a briefing note. Further contact is required to secure
ensure all Councillors are engaged.
Communications;
‘#Getonboard’ campaign
Launched on 16th September 2017 to coincide with the 3 year countdown to Sept 16th 2020 this campaign is
aimed at Plymouth’s local community to encourage them to get engaged, to raise awareness of the anniversary
and to encourage volunteering and development of community, cultural and local projects.
A ‘Mayflower flashmob’ was created in Plymouth city centre and the viral footage spread as well with an edited
high quality version being shared again via social media.
Ongoing social media has been created through a content calendar, which is also being used to promote the
wider destinations.
Results to date:
Flash mob - over 209,000 views, engagement 11,900
Social media generally – 291,668 impressions, 4,736 engagements, 799 link clicks.
Plymouth Growth Board December 2017 Highlight Report
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National activity:
The creation of a national Mayflower trail, linking 11 destinations across the UK. The trail is
underpinned by a common interpretation of the story and a commitment to the creation of common
signage that will create a coherent visitor experience and drive footfall across locations
Dedicated Mayflower branding, including core, volunteer and other brands. These are currently in the
process of being trademarked, which will support the generation of commercial income
Positive progress in implementing a commercial approach. The programme’s first national commercial
income is anticipated in the next month, valued at over £25k, and a dedicated agency to develop
sponsorship income has been appointed and anticipated propositions will go to market early 2018
Significant political lobbying and influence. Ongoing conversation with DCMS and DIT to ensure we
deliver the greatest possible impact. A dedicated Special Representative has been appointment directly
by the Prime Minister to support political activity. An All Party Parliamentary Group has been formed
including MPs from across the partnership. Further political engagement has taken place across the US
and Netherlands, for example with the US Ambassador hosting a dedicated Mayflower event in 2016 at
their official residence
The creation of a formal governance process, with buy-in from local authorities at Chief Executive
level. Within this, dedicated sub-groups have been established to lead cultural, sporting and wider
activity.
Plymouth Growth Board December 2017 Highlight Report
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Positive engagement with the BBC and wider media outlets, who are already delivering Mayflower
related content and actively considering how this can be incorporated in programming for 2020
National Partners’ Capital Projects:
Development, delivery and integration with a range of associated major public and private capital projects.
Examples include:
Harwich’s Mayflower Visitor Centre £0.5
Southampton’s £1m+ public realm improvement programme and £400m Royal Pier development
Southwark’s Mayflower Pier and £250k Mayflower park developments
Bassetlaw, Pilgrim Roots Project: New visitor centre and interpretation £680,000
International (Mayflower 400):
International visitor marketing:
Outputs to date (Mayflower grant fund):
Project manager recruited Oct 2016
Mayflower branding established and rolled out across the partnership
National trail feasibility study delivered in March 2017
New national Mayflower trail product developed, bringing content from 11 destinations
together for the first time
HLF bid for £4.75 million for national trail (11 partners) submitted April 2017
New partnership website produced, including travel trade toolkit
Photographic and video content developed
10 national suggested itineraries developed, working with trade
Business visits and events content developed across partners
International PR agency recruited
Research commissioned jointly in USA through general panel/family societies demonstrates
strong interest
Travel trade engagement through Visit Britain and UK Inbound since DBNA event in 2015
has provided strong evidence of an interest from the trade and support
Attendance at major events - Explore GB 2017, DBNA 2017, VIBE 2017, Meet the buyer
USA 2017, UK Inbound convention hosts 2017, UK Inbound Discover event Sept 2017
Work with Cruise Britain to develop ‘Mayflower cruise’ product
First trade partners took product to market in US Sept 2017 (Select Travel, Tours
International)
Formal international launch at DBNA and WTM Nov 2017 – over 20 media interviews at
WTM
Tour operators who have committed to take product so far – Kuoni, Select, Tours
International, Abbey UK & Ireland, ECE, Groups International
Commenced engagement with regional gateway airports, TOC’s, airlines and cruise sectors
Launch of draft 2020 cultural and events programme
Destinations starting to work together to develop content and themed tours
Over 1000 businesses and stakeholders briefed to date
Over 20 fam visits already hosted in regions
5 cruise ships booked for 2018, 1 provisional for 2020
Plymouth Growth Board December 2017 Highlight Report
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£500,000 funding received through Discover England Fund for ‘American Connections’
project
Future milestones and activities 2018/19:
Funding application to HLF for Elizabethan House
Applications to HLF for trail projects
Merchandising plan procured
Brand agreements signed by partners
Sponsorship propositions approved and out to market
Completion of brand trademark process
Teacher exchange April 2018
KS 1,2 and revised KS 3 education packs on website
Event and cultural programme agreed
Risks
Further funding and resources required to reduce funding gap and maximise potential project delivery
particularly in relation to marketing and communications, engagement and development of cultural
programme.
Further accommodation required to maximise 2020+ opportunity – permanent and temporary.
RAG
Plymouth Growth Board December 2017 Highlight Report
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b) Grow the city’s visitor economy
Accountable person: Charles Hackett – Mayflower 400, Amanda Lumley – Visitor Economy
Period covered by this report: April 2016 to Dec 2017
Project update
Visitor Strategy:
The Destination Management Plan supports the original 2011 visitor strategy with Mayflower 400 and the
Britain’s Ocean City brand as its key focus. There are three key priorities:
Destination development
Marketing and events
Business development
Within these three priority areas are 47 projects citywide, which are being delivered by partner organisations
across the city including Plymouth City Council, Business Improvement Districts and wider stakeholders.
A copy of the current ‘RAG’ rated plan showing short, medium and long term priority projects is in the
appendix to this paper. The plan demonstrates significant progress against core objectives and 2 years out
from Mayflower 400 in 2020 is in need of a strategic refresh to enable focus on delivery post 2020.
Milestones and activities completed during 2016/17
New governance structure for Mayflower/Destination Plymouth Sept 2016
Procurement of developer for Hoe hotel site 2017
PCC completes new bus station Mar 2017
Waterfront and City Centre masterplans finalised
New waterfront BID secured Mar 2017
Plymouth taken to international market DBNA Sept 2016, Vakantibeurs Jan 2017
First trade e-newsletter Sept 2017
First trade familiarisation visits in October 2017
Cruise terminal slots agreed and taken to market Sept 2017
Cruise bookings for 2018 x 5 – confirmed Oct 2017
Tourism sector deal submitted Oct 2017
Destination development:
Work continues to deliver specific capital projects relating to the visitor plan - see Mayflower capital above.
In addition the following projects are now completed or in process:
Waterfront and City Centre masterplans
Drake Leisure development Bretonside
Armada Way public realm project
Cruise terminal discussions
Plymouth Growth Board December 2017 Highlight Report
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Marketing and events
a) General Marketing activity:
Local/regional generic:
The new website launched in 2016 has been continuing to grow with unique visits well over 1 million
annually.
Social media stats have also continued to grow organically with specific acquisition campaigns over the
summer and in the Christmas build up currently helping drive follows, likes and engagement.
Plymouth Growth Board December 2017 Highlight Report
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In addition recent poster sites have been acquired at Exeter airport and are currently being used to
showcase Plymouth as a leisure destination:
Events:
2017 saw continued good attendance at visitor events across the city including Flavourfest in its new
slot in June. Details of events attendance are shown on the table below.
Plymouth Growth Board December 2017 Highlight Report
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National/International generic:
PR agency Hills Balfour continued to deliver good results and audience reach up to their retainer ending in May
2017. A new agency has been recruited as of October 2017 (Onshore media) and so there is a gap in
reporting, however, early results show good strong interest in Plymouth product from media continuing.
AVE - April 2016 to March 2017
Month
AVE Value at 100% Attributable (£)
Circulation
Apr-16 £30,449.15 1,793,894
May-16 £98,953.03 92,366,643
Jun-16 £313,026.12 10,899,736
Jul-16 £533,435.81 11,884,190
Aug-16 £125,190.72 2,601,763
Sep-16 £2,555.54 725,479
Oct-16 £86,092.50 897,751
Nov-16 £32,188.88 1,064,416
Dec-16 £134,433.62 1,704,600
Jan-17 £301,748.04 8,853,460
Feb-17 £411,084.45 8,171,274
Mar-17 £298,836.16 4,600,850
Total £2,367,994.02 145,564,056
Plymouth Growth Board December 2017 Highlight Report
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South West Trade activity:
Following on from the £5 million SW Growth Fund, Plymouth has continued to work with regional partners to
market internationally in Europe and has also connected through into key US activities including:
Destination Britain North Americas – Sept 2016 (and 2017 with Mayflower 400) – the largest event outside of
Britain, this three-day event offers British tourism suppliers the opportunity to nurture business relationships
with the North American markets of Canada and the United States.
Vakantibeurs in Holland – Jan 2017 – 108,779 visitors over 5 days, 700 destinations, 1,100 exhibitors
ITB Berlin – Mar 2017 - 160,000 visitors over 5 days, 10,000 exhibitors
Cruise:
Plymouth was relaunched to the cruise trade at SeaTrade Hamburg in September working closely with AB
Ports and Cruise Britain. In addition a round table discussion was held with leading cruise ports across the UK
to explore the opportunity for Mayflower cruises.
Subsequent to this a meeting was held at Visit Britain in London with key cruise ground handlers and at least
two have indicated an interest in taking ‘Mayflower’ cruises to market in 2018/19.
To date this activity has resulted in 5 bookings for 2018 and 1 for 2020.
Future milestones and activities – 2018/19:
Discover England Fund in delivery to March 2019
Submission of further grant application Oct 2018
Vakantibeurs Jan 2018
ITB Berlin Mar 2018
Sea Trade Cruise Global Mar 2018
Announcement about new music event Jan 2018
DBNA Sept 2018
Visitor strategy refresh in 2018
Risks
Further funding and capacity is required to maximise opportunities around city visitor marketing.
Visitor strategy needs refreshing 2018 to maximise opportunities post 2020.
Recruitment in sector increasingly difficult.
RAG
Plymouth Growth Board December 2017 Highlight Report
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c) Unlock the potential of the city’s creative sector and cultural heritage
Accountable person: Dominic Jinks
Strategic Objective: “Unlock the potential of the city’s creative sector and cultural heritage”
Key Actions:
Refocus cultural priorities to Mayflower 2020, through a refresh of the Vital Spark.
Support creative industries start-ups, including digital, gaming and audio/visual arts.
Expand the city’s cultural infrastructure, including a ‘world class’ history centre.
BACKGROUND
This highlight report sets out the progress made against the three key actions (listed above) of
the creative sector and cultural heritage objective in the LES. Key highlights include:
Expanding the city’s cultural infrastructure including the development of The Box
Plymouth towards a ‘world class’ facility for Plymouth. This has has successfully achieved
capital funding from funds such as Heritage Lottery Fund, Arts Council England, The
Wolfson Foundation and Clore. The Box has also achieved core funding from Arts
Council England from 2018-2022
Support for the creative industries start-ups is continuing to increase with a new range
of new businesses in Plymouth. in 2011 there were 9 registered arts organisations in the
city. There are now 47 in 2017. Some of these organisations include Beyond Face,
Mutants Labs, New Model Theatre, The Wrong Crowd and KARST
The Devonport Market Hall took a significant step closer towards becoming Plymouth’s
new digital arts hub with the announcement of a new funding agreement for £2.9 million
and is set open later in 2018
Receiving the largest uplift in England for core funding to organisations from Arts
Council England from 2018-2022. This is £16m over 4 years and represents a 39%
increase and includes five new organisations
Plymouth Culture was successful in its bid for ACE’s Ambition for Excellence fund for
£635K. This was for a 2 year programme of Visual Contemporary Art called Horizon. In
total this programme is in excess of £1M
ACHIEVEMENTS DURING 2016-17
a) International Programme
Plymouth’s unique geography and access to the international community combined with its rich
higher education institutions and cultural and creative organisations places the city in a prime
position to engage strategically with international cities from mainland Europe, East Coast USA
and China, particularly in the context of the Mayflower400 plans for 2020:
Plymouth Growth Board December 2017 Highlight Report
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Plymouth is part of a successful 5M Euros project from INTERREG called Creative Area
Youth Hubs. The partnership includes Devon CC, Plymouth College of Art, and
Plymouth CC. There are partnerships with Belfast, Nantes, Gijon and Brussels. The
focus of the project is the offer of opportunities for young graduates to participate in
live digital creative projects and a major programme of skills development.
Plymouth Culture in partnership with the visual arts sector secured £635K from the
Arts Council’s Ambition for Excellence Programme. The programme was for ‘Horizon’
, a two-year development programme focusing on commissioning, community
engagement and international partnerships, and will deliver three key projects: a multi-
site exhibition with Plymouth’s leading art galleries, two enhanced Plymouth Art
Weekenders, and the Atlantic Festival, a major international art festival capitalising on
close connections with USA arts organisations in the lead up to Mayflower400 for 2020.
The multi-site exhibition and Plymouth Art Weekender have delivered successful
projects with over 25,000 visitors for both events in 2017
The Plymouth Art Weekender had its third year event this year in September.
Organised by Visual Arts Plymouth (VAP) the weekender is a three day festival and
aimed to be a visual arts festival for everybody and by everybody. Over the three days,
and with over 400 artists and 90 events, it has quickly established itself as the largest
contemporary visual arts festival of its kind in the UK.
The Atlantic Festival for 2018 will play host to a range of international galleries and
artists with countries such as Turkey, Italy, US, China and UAE engaging in the festival.
Mayflower 400 is seeing a range of projects in development with US organisations. The
partnership includes: Plymouth College of Art and The Fuller Craft Museum; The Box
and Plimoth Plantation, Pilgrim Hall Museum, Harvard Arts Museum The REIKS Museum
(Leiden) and The Boston Museum of Fine Arts; The Atlantic Festival and The Boston
Institute for Contemporary Arts; Street Factory and The Boston Hip-Hop Education
Centre; Theatre Royal Plymouth Plymouth and The American Repertory Theatre and
The Wampanoag tribes of Mashpee and Aquinnah
Illuminate 2017 includes an international partnership through the Creative Europe
funded project, Euronim, involving Spain and France. Digital commissions for Illuminate
have been created in partnership from this project.
b) A growing cultural infrastructure
Plymouth has ten ACE national portfolio organisations (NPO). This increased by 39% relative to
the previous round from 2014 and was the largest increase of any English City. The investment
is £16m over 4 years (2018 - 2022). The NPOs are:
• Plymouth Theatre Royal
• The Real Ideas Organisation
• Plymouth Barbican Theatre
• The Box Plymouth
• Ocean Studios
• Take-a-Part
• Plymouth Culture
• KARST
• Plymouth Music Zone
Plymouth Growth Board December 2017 Highlight Report
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• Literature Works
There are now various cultural partnerships in the city including:
• The Culture & Arts Network - network of culture organisations and artists
• Visual Arts Plymouth - collection of visual arts organisations and artists
• The Plymouth Visual Arts Programming Group - group of visual arts venue
• DOO:ZIE - networking group of artists/creative
• Talking Heads - informal art discussion group
• Plymouth Arts Centre Home - n for artists development led by Plymouth Arts Centre
• BETA - theatre, dance and performance engine to test new performance
• Digital Plymouth - creative network for digital industries.
The city has seen a progressive rate of successful lottery grants from Arts Council England. This
demonstrates the ongoing commitment of ACE but is also the impact of the developmental
work of Plymouth Culture and PCC in up skilling the sector in fundraising. Here are some
statistics to demonstrate the rapid improvement in successful lottery applications.
• From 2012/13 to 2015/16, applications to ACE’s Grants for Arts scheme have risen by 54%
• From 2012/13 to 2015/16, per capita lottery income income has risen by 293%
• Plymouth’s creative arts sector has grown from 9 registered arts organisations in 2011 to 47
now in 2017
Here is a breakdown of funding through ACE’s Grants for the Arts from 2012-13 to 2015-16:
Table 1
Year Total number of
G4A applications
Number of
successful
applications
Total amount of
funding awarded
Average funding
per application
2012-2013 31 10 £231,000.00 £23100.00
2013-2014 38 15 £585,000.00 £39000.00
2014-2015 41 17 £612,000.00 £36000.00
2015-2016 48 19 £909,000.00 £47842.11
Plymouth has also been developing various models of new approaches to funding cultural
activity. These include social investment, crowd funding, event funding and trusts and
foundations. Here are some examples:
• Crowdfund Plymouth - this is a local campaign set up to support community groups, start-
up businesses, charities and individuals across the city. We have £130,000 of funding available
for projects in Plymouth
Plymouth Growth Board December 2017 Highlight Report
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• Plymouth Social Investment Fund - this provides a mixture of loans and grants for social
enterprises to create jobs and bring redundant buildings back into use in the city. This has
currently funded a range of cultural initiatives such as The Devonport Guildhall and the
Barbican Theatre.
• Vital Sparks - a bursary funding programme for marginalised communities to engage in arts
and cultural activity. The work over the last 3 years has funded over £60,000 to communities
with 43% of successful applicants coming from communities with protected characteristics
• Devonport Soup - Plymouth’s micro granting dinner based on the hugely successful Detroit
Soup model – it’s about bringing people together, having fun and supporting projects that
benefit Devonport, Plymouth and the wider community
Through targeted initiatives as outlined above and a focus on improving the skills of the sector
at fundraising it is interesting to note that funding from ACE’s Grants for the Arts programme
rose by 293% from 2012 to 2015. The city is beginning to see a number of emerging companies
in the city over the last 5 years such as KARST, Toast, New Model Theatre, Effervescent, Ocean
Studios, Beyond Face and Mutant Labs. Plymouth is also establishing a series of annual/biennial
events such as Mayflower Illuminate, The Plymouth International Book Festival, The Fringe
Theatre Festival, Outpost Performance Festival, The River Tamar Project and The Plymouth Art
Weekender. Plymouth’s arts and culture organisations have grown from 2011 from nine
registered arts and culture organisations to 47 in 2017.
c) Community engagement
At a community level, the Vital Sparks bursary programme has continued to connect with local
community groups through targeted projects to inspire confidence and creativity in different
groups who’ve never written a bid for money. In the last year new projects that have received
support from this programme have been the Hoe Conservation and Residents’ Association who
received £5,000 to commission a filmmaker to create a new film with music from Imperfect
Orchestra for Tinside Lido while £2,577 will support a multimedia art project that aims to
integrate members from the local homeless hostel with the wider community of Devonport. In
total over 40 projects received bursaries totaling just under £30,000 in total. Interestingly, 43%
of successful awards have been from community groups with protected characteristic
d) Major Projects:
i) Mayflower 400
November 2017 saw Plymouth’s largest Illuminate Celebrations with an estimated audience of
over 15,000 over 3 days. This was Plymouth’s fourth year of Illuminate. This project was hosted
at Royal William Yard and included digital mapping installations, immersive light projects,
participatory performances and workshops over 2 days. It was a major partnership between
RIO, Plymouth University, Plymouth College of Art, Destination Plymouth, Plymouth City
Council and Plymouth Culture.
Plymouth Culture is developing a large scale application to Arts Council England for Illuminate in
2019 and 2020 for £750K to assist in funding the project at a national level. Plymouth Culture, in
partnership with Destination Plymouth, is also working with appointed Mayflower 400
fundraisers (Reg & Co) to secure sponsorship for the 2019 and 2020 events.
Plymouth Culture is administering a Mayflower 400 Cultural Fund of £400K for Plymouth based
projects. The fund has recently closed (Nov 17) and 106 Expressions of Interest have been
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submitted for Mayflower related projects. Decisions on the the successful projects will be made
in December 2017.
A Mayflower Community Fund will be launched in April 2018 for community led projects
between £100 - £5000. It is expected that this will fund a significant number of projects for
communities for Mayflower 400.
Plymouth Culture is part of a national steering group for cultural projects for Mayflower 400.
The three priority projects for the national compact are, Illuminate, an artists commissioning
programme (Encounters) and a creative industries import, export and showcase project
(Mayflower Makers).
In Plymouth there are a range of projects in development that have international partnerships.
Partnership include: Plymouth College of Art and The Fuller Craft Museum; The Box and
Plimoth Plantation, Pilgrim Hall Museum, Harvard Arts Museum The REIKS Museum (Leiden)
and The Boston Museum of Fine Arts; The Atlantic Festival and The Boston Institute for
Contemporary Arts; Street Factory and The Boston Hip-Hop Education Centre; Theatre Royal
Plymouth Plymouth and The American Repertory Theatre and The Wampanoag tribes of
Mashpee and Aquinnah
ii) The Box
This £32 million scheme in the heart of the city will create the cultural infrastructure required
to support growth in Plymouth’s visitor economy – it is a museum for the future and a symbol
for the city’s current regeneration. As reported in previous reports, a stage 1 Heritage Lottery
grant for just under £13 million was secured in May 2014 and work began to develop detailed
proposals for the new The Box that will transform the existing museum and art gallery on
North Hill into a new unique visitor attraction, three times its existing size, in time for the
Mayflower400 commemorations in 2020.
The Box is planned to open in early 2020 as the flagship capital project for the Mayflower400
programme, and is expected to attract nearly 300,000 visitors, more than three times the
100,000 current visitors to the museum and art, which will lead to an increase of 216 direct jobs
and 60 indirect jobs (276 gross jobs) in the visitor economy. Overnight visitors to the city as a
direct result of the History Centre opening in 2020 are expected to increase by 35,000 bed
nights and overall visitor spend in the city to increase by £25 million each year.
FUTURE MILESTONES FOR 2017-18 & beyond
a) International Programme
In a ‘post Brexit’ era, a new approach to international funding is vital, and
Plymouth is developing new models of funding, sponsorship and giving through its
partnership with the Massachusetts Cultural Council. This partnership will
support the provision of bespoke training on US models of giving and
sponsorship.
Submit bid for £750K to Arts Council England's Ambition for Excellence Fund for
Illuminate 2019 & 2020.
Support the development of the inaugural Atlantic Festival for September 2018
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Continue support and development of Mayflower projects with an international
focus.
With Harvard Club, co-lead a fundraising and PR evening in Boston in 2018.
Support delivery of INTERREG funded Creative Area Youth Hubs project.
b) Supporting and Retaining Emerging Talent
Plymouth will be developing a new Creative Industries Strategy in 2018 through a
partnership with Plymouth City Council, Plymouth University, Plymouth College of Art,
RIO and Plymouth Culture. This will look to map the ecology of the creative sector
including advertising, art and culture, architecture, craft, design, fashion, gaming, music,
publishing, technology, TV and film. This mapping will provide an up to date analysis of
the industries in terms of how many organisations are in the city and where they are
located. It will also help to draw conclusions about where the strengths of the sector
are. The next phase will also map other sectors of strength for the city and outline
where possible opportunities exist for collaboration to enable greater innovations and
partnerships. The plan will also focus on:
• space
• productivity
• skills and development
• graduate retention
• exports
• inward investment
• start ups
• engagement with LEPs
• clusters and networks
This strategy will be scheduled to be completed and implemented by the end of 2018.
Fundraising and business development workshops, seminars and surgeries will continue
in 2018.
c) Major Projects
ii) The Box
Continue major works in the capital development of The Box.
Commence with new Shadow Board and Stakeholder Forum Model.
Submit Business NPO Plan to ACE for 2018 - 2020 for approval.
Commence NPO 2018 programme.
iii) Mayflower400
Submit ACE Ambition for Excellence for £750K (January 2018).
Apply and secure funds for national projects (Mayflower 400 Compact).
Plymouth Culture lead and administer Mayflower 400 Cultural Fund and implement
second phase of process.
Launch Mayflower 400 Community Fund.
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RISKS AND MITIGATION
Failure to secure funding grants: seek early application for all available grants, prioritise
works and develop contingency plans.
Delays to project timetables: ensure sufficient contingency time built into timetables and
regular monitoring.