The Guildhall closed its doors temporarily on Saturday 16th July this year in order to complete some exciting improvement works. Having successfully received an Arts Council England grant of £230k we identified the following areas of work:

·       full refurbishment of our bar & kitchen including an extension to the bar in the main hall

·       brand new dedicated broadband throughout the venue including all meeting and conference spaces

·       the creation of a new dance rehearsal space with a sprung floor

·       refurbishment of the main hall floor

·       upgrades to technical equipment and lighting

The work in the main hall and kitchen was a slow start due to budgetary adjustments and the availability of products. Some alterations have been made to the designs, but we are now pleased to see building contractors onsite progressing well removing all existing fittings, taking out walls and preparing for the new installation.  

The local company HFL Broadband have been instructed to provide us with high-speed broadband throughout the building and they have been busy laying huge amounts of cable that link up all of the rooms and offices. They will be installing access points in key rooms which will enable visitors to connect at speeds that are suitable for conferences and streaming of high quality content.

The addition of a new sprung dance floor to the Fisher Room has been prepared for with decoration completed of this room as well as the Studio 2 and Henley Rooms. Coupled with the new internet provision these rooms will enable high quality meeting spaces in the centre of the city.

In the main hall a new 4k projector has been installed which significantly increases picture quality.

Facility panels have been installed allowing connectivity in different parts of the hall, i.e, stage, front of house and balcony.

Whilst the intrusive larger works are taking place Guildhall staff are also working hard on improving other aspects of the site and we hope to share more details of the progress soon.