The Organisation
Band on the Wall is a historic, award-winning live music venue and Arts Council England (ACE) national portfolio organisation (NPO) in the Northern Quarter of Manchester. The venue has been central to the Manchester music scene since the mid 1970s, when many notable bands of the time played there, including The Fall, Joy Division and Buzzcocks. More recently, it has hosted the likes of Paloma Faith, Fall Out Boy, Nubya Garcia and Femi Kuti.
Band on the Wall has built a reputation for its wide-ranging jazz, folk, blues and international music programme and has expanded its remit to include a learning and participation programme alongside a growing touring slate of international and British artists. In 2020, the venue underwent a significant capital project, expanding into the adjoining Cocozza Wood building, saving the locally significant Victorian-era site from dereliction. The renovation, supported by ACE and National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF), expanded the venue’s capacity to 500 and created a second performance space as well as additional studio and classroom facilities, increasing earned income potential and further opportunities for engagement activity.
The Opportunity
Band on the Wall approached the Arts & Culture Impact Fund (ACIF) team to refinance the organisation’s existing loans, which were taken out to cover Covid-19-related delays and cost increases on the capital project. The refinancing would reduce annual debt service payments by 45%, helping the organisation to build reserves and become more financially resilient in a challenging economic environment.
Band on the Wall also took on a small amount of working capital to develop its bespoke internal database for managing events, customer data and communications, predicting audience attendance and forecasting event income and cost. The aspiration is to develop this software and roll it out on a freemium basis to other grassroots music venues to give them greater control over their programme and audience data in an intuitive system. The proposed budget will get the database to a point where it can be beta tested within other music venues, the results of which will inform future funding applications to roll out the software even further and at a higher specification, which could be game-changing for the sector.
Fulu Miziki. Photo by Brandon Taylor. Image courtesy of Band on the Wall.
The Process
As the bulk of the investment was for a refinancing and not a new venture or adaptation of the business model, the due diligence focused primarily on historic trading and how this compared with future projections. The majority of Band on the Wall’s income comes from bar sales and this is very driven by programming, so the ACIF team needed to understand the nuts and bolts of programming the music venue – influences on ticket sales, different types of artist deals and managing commercial risk alongside fulfilling the charitable objectives of putting on a diverse and eclectic line-up. Producing touring shows is another key income stream, so understanding the different risk factors around touring was also a central part of the due diligence.
The Impact
The ACIF loan will help a best-in-class grassroots music venue and cornerstone of the Manchester cultural scene consolidate and reduce its monthly liabilities, enabling the organisation to gradually build its reserves. This will contribute to the organisation’s financial resilience, increasing its capability to withstand any short-term shocks due to wider economic pressures. The development capital for the event management system also presents an exciting opportunity for technological innovation within the grassroots music venue sector.
The Rose and Monkey
In the summer of 2024, Band on the Wall had the opportunity to acquire the lease of the adjacent grassroots music venue and pub, The Rose and Monkey. The venue has a rich history dating back to 1783 and had recently been transformed from a ‘run down boozer’ into a popular destination featuring a beer garden, small music stage and Airbnb accommodation. A £200k increase to the loan helped Band on the Wall complete the purchase in September 2024.
The ACIF team was excited to support the purchase as it represented an excellent opportunity for Band on the Wall to increase its financial resilience whilst also helping to safeguard both venues’ futures. The additional income generated by The Rose and Monkey will help to sustain Band on the Wall’s further development and the roll-out of their venue management system, along with their charitable activities (such as engagement activities exploring the musical heritage of migrant communities) and regular clubs and workshops for young people and parents.
Image courtesy of Band on the Wall.
