Today, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) is announcing a grant of £3,992,000 to transform the neglected Grade II listed Art Deco Globe Theatre on Stockton High Street into a live music and comedy venue with capacity for around 2,500 people. It is one of the first buildings to be awarded funding through HLF’s new Heritage Enterprise scheme.

The Grade II Listed Globe is an Art Deco ‘super theatre’ situated on the main high street in the centre of Stockton. It originally opened its doors in 1935 and between the 1950s and 1970s was a premier venue hosting famous acts including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry, Cliff Richard and the Shadows, Buddy Holly, Lonnie Donegan, The Bay City Rollers and Mud. The Beatles played the Globe twice, the first time on 22 November 1963, the day US President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

The building closed its doors for the last time in 1997 and has since suffered from significant deterioration. This new HLF funding can now see it re-opened as a live music and comedy venue with capacity for audiences of around 2,000 people and the potential to create 64 FTE jobs. The Globe Stockton Foundation will deliver this project in partnership with Stockton Council and the building’s owner, leading local developer Jomast Leisure and Property Ltd, along with a leading entertainments event organiser.

Dame Jenny Abramsky, Chair of HLF, said: “In almost every town and city there is at least one historic building standing empty that at one time was at the heart of the local community. Whilst much-loved, these buildings present huge financial challenges. This new scheme works to unlock the potential of these precious old buildings, encouraging private investors and encouraging regeneration. The result is good for us all – substantial economic growth, much-needed new jobs and a wonderful part of our heritage saved from further neglect.”

The Trustees of the Globe Stockton Foundation, commented: "The Globe Stockton Foundation is delighted with the news that the Heritage Lottery Fund has approved its application for development funding. The Jomast Group, Stockton Council and David Wilmore of Theatresearch have been working hard for over two years and submitted a very compelling and powerful case for support. This is fantastic news for Stockton and the wider region."

Leader of Stockton Council, Councillor Bob Cook, added: “The Globe has hosted world-famous acts like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Cliff Richard and holds a special place in the hearts of many so I'm delighted to hear the Globe Stockton Foundation bid for Heritage Lottery Funding has been approved.

"It is very exciting news as it means the stunning, art deco elements of the building are one step closer to being restored to create a spectacular music venue that would again attract the kind of big names that will bring thousands of visitors into a bustling and lively Stockton Town Centre.

“We have formed a close working partnership with Jomast to help them bring this wonderful Grade II listed venue back into use as we believe it can become a huge asset for Stockton High Street. I am looking forward to hearing more details so we can start working with Jomast and the Globe Stockton Foundation to plan the next steps for the redevelopment of the building.”

Heritage Enterprise addresses ‘market failure’ – where buildings have previously failed to attract investment or realise their commercial potential because the cost of repair has meant that – until now – they were not commercially viable.  The Lottery investment announced today bridges that financial gap. It will specifically help fund vital repairs and conservation works to historic buildings, converting them into safe, usable and inspirational spaces for new businesses. By doing so, this Lottery grant will help remove one of the key obstacles currently standing in the way of regeneration by transforming neglected buildings into productive enterprises that will create local jobs and generate wealth.

Heritage Enterprise launched with the publication of the first ever comprehensive analysis of how businesses across the UK use historic buildings. New ideas need old buildings revealed the positive impact historic buildings have on the UK’s economy and their proven ability to contribute to growth. The key findings of the analysis demonstrated a commercial business based in a historic building generates more wealth than is the average for the UK economy as a whole.

Jenny Abramsky added, “Our research was incredibly revealing. The important role heritage plays in creating a strong sense of identity and place is well known. However, these new findings demonstrated for the first time the role heritage buildings play in economic development.”

Notes to editors

New ideas need old buildings
This research was commissioned by the Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage. The analysis of business use within listed buildings was undertaken by Colliers International, using data supplied by ProMap, with further work on economic impacts undertaken by Oxford Economics. The market research survey of businesses occupying listed buildings was carried out by Spirul Research. HLF is also grateful to Historic Scotland, Cadw and Dept Environment Northern Ireland for supplying data on listed buildings.

The research was carried out in five steps

• Establishing the types of businesses that occupy a large sample of listed buildings in 62 towns and cities across the UK.
• Comparing these uses with the pattern of use within non-listed buildings– both across the UK and within each of the sample places. This gave us our key measure used in the analysis – the ‘propensity to occupy’ indicator. This compares the frequency that listed buildings are occupied by different types of business, with the frequency in non-listed buildings.
• Using reasonable assumptions to aggregate up from this sample to give estimates of the total number of different types of business occupying all listed buildings.
• Using economic data on business classification to generate estimates of the total output and employment that is generated by businesses occupying listed building.
• Undertaking a telephone survey of over 200 businesses in listed buildings in 15 different locations showed why the patterns of use described above materialise.

Heritage Enterprise applications are assessed in two rounds. A first-round pass is given when HLF has endorsed outline proposals and earmarked funding. A first-round pass may also include an immediate award to fund the development of the project. Detailed proposals are then considered by HLF at second-round and as long as plans have progressed satisfactorily and according to the original proposal, an award for the project is confirmed.

FTE – Full-time equivalent jobs created, based on applicant estimations.

Further information

HLF press office: Natasha Hughes on 020 7591 6143. Out of hours mobile: 07973 613 820.