Council received no profit share from theatre

Councillors have been told a theatre is a "real asset" despite the local authority not receiving any profit from it last year.

Conservative group leader of Stockton Council, Tony Riordan, outlined the profit share agreement from 2019 which said the council would receive 30% of any of the Globe's earnings over £600,000 from year four of opening at a meeting on Wednesday.

It has been 10 years since the council took over the reins of the theatre's restoration, which was completed in 2021 after being empty since 1997.

The council's Labour deputy leader Paul Rowling acknowledged the council received no profit share for the 2025/26 financial year but said the Globe had put the town back on the map.

In 2021, the Grade II-listed theatre was said to have cost more than £30m once rental payments for the site were taken into account, with the council funding much of the project.

Council leaders hoped the Globe would bring an extra 200,000 visitors to the town every year and give the local economy an £18m boost.

Since opening, they said it had made "great progress" with 185,000 tickets sold worth more than £6m in its first two years, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

But the Labour-led council has faced criticism from the Conservatives, who said it was a vanity project.

Rowling said the council received no profit share for the 2025/26 financial year, but saved the listed building from "further decline".

He also said the subsidy was included in the council's medium-term financial plan which was subject to approval each year, with "all groups" agreeing on it.

"The Globe's 3,000 capacity makes it the biggest live entertainment venue between Newcastle and Leeds, putting Stockton back on the map as a live entertainment destination," Rowling said.

The deputy leader added it was run by the Ambassador Theatre Group which operates venues worldwide, attracting "some of the world's best-known bands, artists and comedians".

"The people of Stockton deserve world-class facilities," he said.

"I think it's a real asset for the town centre and I think this fixation on pounds and pence isn't necessarily the way forward."

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