THE ARCHES BOARD TAKES LEGAL ADVICE OVER LICENCE DECISION

This week’s scheduled events to go ahead!
The Board of Directors for The Arches met last night (Monday May 18) to review all possible options for the future of the acclaimed city centre venue.

Glasgow Licensing Board’s decision to curtail the licensed hours of the venue, thus precluding essential club activity, will have a devastating effect on the future of the venue.

The board is now taking legal advice on appealing the decision. Meanwhile this week’s scheduled events go ahead as planned.


Mark Anderson, Executive Director, said: “We are still stunned by Friday’s decision and at a loss to understand just what more we could have done to provide a safer clubbing environment at The Arches. Over the period under review, we welcomed over 250,000 clubbers through our doors. Of that number, just 0.14% were reported for misuse of drugs incidents.

“What is more worrying is that despite the increased safety measures we adopted on the recommendation of Police Scotland, which had already alienated many of our valued club customers, our successful operation of those policies has resulted in the statistics being used against us.”

The Executive and Artistic Directors of The Arches cultural venue will meet this week with funding partners Creative Scotland and Glasgow Life to discuss potential ways forward.

Lucy Mason, Artistic Director, said: “We have been overwhelmed by the humbling and heartening support for The Arches and would like to thank everyone for being so passionate and articulate on our behalf. It is impossible to imagine the cultural landscape with The Arches wiped of the map, a situation which is entirely possible given the inter-dependency of the Arts and Club activity within our organisation.”

The Arches Theatre’s annual turnover of £3.8m is made up of only 15% of public subsidy, with the balance of 85% self-generated through the commercial events programme, corporate hires and income from the café bar and restaurant.

Turnover from club activity, including bar sales, accounts for 51% of group turnover.
The Arches currently employs 133 people. Beyond this, the venue indirectly employs scores of freelance workers in the production of events, from designers to production managers, technicians to door stewards, and artist and musician entourages.


This week’s scheduled events will go ahead at The Arches as planned:



Wed 20th May: [ARTS] UWS BA (Hons) Performance Showcase

Wed 20th May: [ARTS] UWS Contemporary Screen Acting Degree Showcase

Sat 23rd May: [GIG] Walk The Moon + Hippo Campus


The following event has been moved to SWG3:

Sat 23rd May: [CLUB] Last Night On Earth: Sasha

The Arches Café Bar and Restaurant is open as usual.

The Arches was founded in 1991 as a direct result of Glasgow being named European Capital of Culture 1990. Since injecting life into the Victorian archways under Central Station almost 25 years ago, the organisation has grown to become an internationally renowned multi-arts venue, providing a year-round programme of performance, creative learning, live music and club nights.



It is a not-for-profit registered Scottish Charity. All profits from commercial trading, including club activity, are donated annually to The Arches Theatre company.