Future Arts Centres

Creative enterprise

Arts centres as creative enterprises

In early 2024, a small group of FAC members met six times to interrogate the current picture and identify future activities that might be useful for the wider FAC network.

Activity included a combination of workshops and provocations from external speakers including Steve Chalke founder of the Oasis Trust, Rachel Green from Nesta, Dominic Campbell from Impossible Ideas and Mike Harris, founder of 89UP. Members can access some of the slides from these speakers in our Resources (password protected).

Conversations and outcomes were wide-ranging, and included:

Business and asset model analyses of a ‘typical arts centre’ which contributed to FAC’s Sector Insight Report,
Establishing new, practical workshops delivered in partnership with Achates, and a new action research group designed to strengthen individual giving initiatives,
Peer-learning and planned workshops for all FAC network to increase awareness, understanding and access to creative tax reliefs.

What would you do?

Starting in December 2024, we launched a new series of online talks for all FAC members, where we are inviting guests from beyond the sector to consider ‘if you were running an arts centre, what would you do?’

Building on the thinking from the previous action research group, we hope that these speakers will inspire members to develop the assets, relationships and opportunities of our art centre in fresh ways.

Upcoming sessions

Imwen Eke

Imwen is an experience designer and social games creator, who’s curious about creative technology. She explores technology, participation and game mechanics, focusing mostly on Play in Adulthood and co-creation.

Imwen Eke is an Experience Designer, Social Games Practitioner, Creative Technician, Educator, Consultant and TEDX Speaker. She tours the sensorium of technology, participation, game mechanics and play to explore new conversations and narratives for culturally curious audiences. Her focus is on Play in Adulthood and co-creation. Imwen creates work through her games studio New Party Rules Labs.

She is Advisory Board Chair of MyWorld, co-founder of the Livesey Exchange and co-founder of Black Excellence Global Network.

Imwen is joining us 8.30am on Thursday 5 June 2025.

John Knell

John Knell is one of the UK’s leading thinkers on the changing face of work and organisations, and as a strategy consultant works widely across the private, public and third sectors. He is also known as an incisive and provocative (when required) influencer of policy and practice.

Over the last twenty years he has built an international reputation as a cultural policy analyst, working with governments, funders, cities and major cultural institutions around the world. He is an internationally recognised thought leader in cultural policy and cultural value measurement, and is the Director of Counting What Counts, which delivers the Impact & Insight Toolkit for funded NPOs.

John has authored numerous reports on work, the labour market, organisational change, and arts and cultural policy. He is a frequent public speaker and media commentator on cultural, workplace and public policy issues, and is represented by London Business Forum for his public speaking work in the UK. He is co-author (with Richard Reeves) of the international best-selling business book, The 80 Minute MBA.

John has a long standing reputation as a policy entrepreneur. For example, during his career he has been commissioned by Government Departments; Universities; Arts Council England; The Wellcome Trust; and a host of private sector companies to design and lead policy focused events and produce policy focused public reports – most recently a report on Impact Investing for Taylor Vinters (who were recently acquired by Mishcon De Reya) and the National Theatre funded Scene Change report on business model innovation in the performing arts sector.

John began his career as an academic at the University of Leeds (1990 -1997) where he successfully undertook his doctoral research in political economy. He was then Director of Research and Policy at the Work Foundation between 1998 and 2003, and he has been self-employed running his own businesses for the last twenty years. John retains strong links with leading research centres; is a fellow of the RSA; and is currently the Chair of Crafts Council.

John is joining us 8.30am on Thursday 8 May 2025.

Previous sessions

Andy Haldane

Andy is the Chief Executive of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA). He was formerly Chief Economist at the Bank of England and a member of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee. He was the Permanent Secretary for Levelling Up at the Cabinet Office from September 2021 to March 2022. Andrew is Founder and President of the charity Pro Bono Economics, Vice-Chair of the charity National Numeracy and Chair of the National Numeracy Leadership Council. Andy chairs the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre’s Industrial Board. He is contributing editor at the Financial Times and Chief Economic Advisor at PwC. Among other positions, he is Honorary Professor at the Universities of Nottingham, Manchester and Exeter, Visiting Professor at King’s College, London and a Fellow of the Royal Society and the Academy of Social Sciences.

Andy joined us on Thursday 6 February 2025.

Louise Stewart

Louise is an experienced CEO in the culture, tourism, events and leisure sector. She became CEO of Chester Race Company in March 2022 responsible for leading the company, which operates Chester, Bangor-on-Dee and Musselburgh racecourses as well as a hotel, city centre bar, and significant catering and gaming divisions.

Previously CEO of Alexandra Palace, one of the country’s largest independent event venues, she oversaw the successful delivery of a £30m restoration programme, the growth of own brand events, increased revenues and significant improvements in visitor experience, organisational culture and reputation.

Louise joined us on Thursday 8 May 2024.