The case: The Klondyke Centre
The Klondyke Centre is a former railway works in the South-east of England that has been converted into a Cultural Industries centre. The Klondyke houses artists’ studios, an exhibition / performance space that is also used for rehearsals, a large training room, retail units for creative businesses and an organic restaurant / café.
The Centre is itself a heritage site; it was constructed in 1846 following the arrival of the Railway in Harchester. The works dominated the town from its construction to its eventual closure in 1981. During its working life, more than 1000 local people worked at the Klondyke site and more than 1500 trains were produced there. In 1997, the almost derelict site was taken over by a trust and renovated using a National Lottery Grant and money from the Regional Development Agency and the Local Authority. Over two years, the Klondyke was transformed into a heritage destination and creative industries hub for the region.
The director of the Klondyke Centre left six months ago. During this period the management team, comprised of the: Facilities Manager, Education Manager, Restaurant Manager, Studio manager and Marketing Manager has been led by the board of the Klondyke Trust. They have been seen as ‘distant’ and as not understanding the day-to-day work of the Centre. The Education and Marketing Managers were so unhappy that they left their posts. Two new members of staff have just been recruited to fill the vacancies. The management team is between them, responsible for 40 full and part-time staff. Sarah has just been recruited as the new Director. Until recently, the Klondyke Centre has been successful, both in attracting tourists and supporting the local creative sector. However, over the last two years, as the initial ‘buzz’ around the new Centre has lessened, visitor numbers have dropped and the occupancy rate in the studios has dropped below 70% for the first time.
The Board of the Klondyke Trust has explained to Sarah that they feel that the Marketing team has been performing particularly badly in attracting new visitors and users for the Centre. They feel that this is due to the fact that the Marketing team has grown complacent following the early success of the Klondyke facility. The marketing staffs seem unenthusiastic about their roles and have begun to turn up late for work and to leave early. The new Marketing manager is finding it difficult to motivate the team and has explained to Sarah that he feels the team is being obstructive and uncooperative on purpose.
The restaurant staff has also been singled out for poor performance. Originally, the organic restaurant was a novelty for the area and was fully booked on most nights. Now however, a number of similar establishments have opened locally and booking numbers have dropped. Recently, one of the board members visited the restaurant on a Friday night and was shocked at the poor levels of customer service and the quality of the food.
The Studio manager, who is also responsible for the exhibition and performance space, has been involved with the local Arts scene for twenty years. The new marketing manager has found her difficult to deal with and unwilling to think about changing the relationship between the Centre and local artists in order to attract new talent to the venue. Sarah has noticed that there seems to be little effective communication between the different departments at the Klondyke Centre and that the staff does not seem to realise that they are all dependant on each other for their own success. Each team acts on its own priorities and the work of the Centre is poorly coordinated in general. This has resulted, on a number of occasions, in double bookings of spaces and equipment that has frustrated and alienated the Facilities Manager and her team.
The major funders for the Klondyke Centre have indicated that a number of the Centre’s targets are not being met. Specifically, the number of visitors to the site has dropped drastically and the support being offered to the local creative community has been judged as inadequate. Visitor numbers and the take up of studio space are two key indicators of the Centre’s performance, as is the use of the exhibition and performance space. Unless performance within the Centre can be improved, the funders have explained they may withdraw their funding to the Klondyke in the future. The funders have given the board six months to show an improvement in performance, at which point they will review their funding to the Centre. The board has explained to Sarah that making this improvement is her top priority. If the Centre can become more successful in itself, it will be less dependent on external funding in the future. Sarah is confident that the performance improvements can be made and is keen to communicate her enthusiasm to her staff.
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