2015-09-15 Infrastructure and Services Committee Att 1 to Item 4 The J Business Plan 2015-18

These conflicts may mean that increasing occupancy in the ancillary spaces is counter-
productive from a financial perspective, in that it may make the theatre unavailable.

While the information below sets out draft occupancy targets for The J, these will need to
be managed and reviewed to ensure the highest priority uses (e.g. commercial rate
performances, conferences and entrepreneured events) are able to access the venue.

                      Performance
                                                        Community venues
                        venues
Benchmark         70% days used in      55-65% considered good for single-space venue
                  theatre               (previous halls studies)
                  APACA average 2009    Estimated maximum for each space in a multi-space
                                        venue would be 40% per space depending on venue
                                        factors.
The J             60% days used in      25-42% per hireable space including theatre:
                  theatre               42% Theatre
                                        33% Deck room
                                        25% Board room



Draft occupancy targets
Over the next three years, the following occupancy targets are recommended, subject to
annual review:
           o Use of theatre – 70% of days/ year by 2017-18 (i.e. activity in the theatre
              255 days per year)
           o Use of Deck Room – 43% of 84 hours (i.e. 36 hours per room per week) by
              2017-18
           o Use of Board Room – 35% of 84 hours (i.e. 29 hours per week) by 2017-18.

Annual targets to achieve full potential occupancy are shown in the table below.

                                       2014-15    2015-16     2016-17      2017-18

 Theatre days used per year                 219         226         241          256

 Deck room hours used per
 week                                        28          29          33            36

 Board room hours used per
 week                                        21          23          26            29
The table overleaf depicts a “typical” week at The J – from Monday 1 June 2015 to Sunday
7 June 2015.

Analysis of usage patterns suggests there are timeslots when there is potential to attract
more venue hire activity or initiate more entrepreneurial events to fill under-used days




The J Business Plan 2015-2018                                                                19