An "ambitious" five-year business plan has been published for Gloucester Guildhall to boost revenue and funding and slash council subsidies.

It reveals Gloucester City Council plans to almost triple annual ticket income from £346,000 to £1million by 2029.

It also wanted to grow its customer database from 15,000 to 40,000 and almost double revenue from event hires and the cafe.

Hiring out of the iconic Eastgate Street venue currently generates £68,500 and it wants to boost this to £150,000 and money made by the cafe bar from £178,000 to £314,000.

This will allow it to cut its cash subsidy from 28% of turnover to 13%.

The plan has been drawn up after Arts Council England gave the venue a "new lease of life" by designating it as a National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) in ​​April 2023.

It now has £250,000 annual funding until 2026 to enable it to transform into a multi art form centre and find its place in the city's "cultural ecology".

To achieve this it will be developing its music and comedy offering, adding dance and other performance types to its programmes, hiring more staff, introducing ticketed live streaming of events and creating an incubator for emerging creative organisations.

The council said the designation has been a "significant catalyst for change" but "change is never easy".

It currently owns, operates and subsidises the Guildhall, which dates back to 1892 and has been a respected live music venue since 1987.

Figures in the Gloucester Guildhall Business Plan 2024-2029 show in 2023/24 it will cost the council £322,401 in subsidies to run the venue.

This is because of a shortfall between the £457,643 spent on operating costs and £123,346 spent on marketing and the £188,911 made from programmed events, £38,330 from commercial hires and £31,347 from the cafe bar.

By 2028/29 it is expected to cost almost £1m to run the venue with the operating costs reaching £643,800 and marketing costs £240,324.

The aim by then is to be making £411,033 from the programmed events, £76,370 from commercial hire and £111,661 from the cafe bar.

This will leave the council with £285,061 of subsidies to pay.

It has also assumed £50,000 additional grant income every year from year 3 and an £100,000 annual uplift in the NPO grant from year 4 onwards.

The grade II listed arts venue underwent a £230,000 refurbishment in 2022, funded by a grant from Arts Council England.  It saw the creation of a new dance rehearsal space with a sprung floor, the installation of super-fast broadband and improvements to the lighting and audio equipment.

However, the business plan said there are still many challenges to overcome to make it a success. They include the venue's lack of visibility on Eastgate Street, hard-to navigate layout, an ageing technical rig, poor physical accessibility and a stretched but committed staff team.

The venue currently has 13.45 full time equivalent staff members but it plans to increase the team over the five years to enable it to grow sales.

The current programme relies heavily on its music programme which the council said is the "backbone" of the business and its reputation with bands and promoters a "trump card".

Going forward this will be built on with a major focus on its large out-of-venue gigs currently known as 'Guildhall Presents'. The aim will be to hold at least five shows a year in venues including Llanthony Priory, GL1 and Gloucester Park which has a 2,000 people capacity, plugging a gap in the city's offering and encouraging bigger artists with larger audiences to the city.

Regular jazz and blues nights will be introduced as well as headline hip hop and electronic acts. Comedy will be grown and diversified to include variety shows and interactive/gaming events.

Tribute bands will be cut from the regular programme by year 3 but will still be able to hire the venue for gigs.

The business plan is due to go before councillors on Wednesday (July 17) for endorsement. The project will be overseen by Louisa Davies, who was appointed head of culture and leisure services for Gloucester City Council in April.

The document states: "This business plan sets out an ambitious and realistic trajectory of investment and growth for Gloucester Guildhall over five years, setting out a plan to deliver on its NPO status and increase the level of subsidy awarded at the next funding round 2027-30.

"The plan explains how we will develop and implement new programming strands, establish a clear brand identity, develop and deliver for loyal audiences and form a creative and community hub for the city.

"It also articulates how we will grow our event hires and catering businesses, and gradually reduce Gloucester City Council's contribution to the business's running costs."