The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire Edition 35: Feb/March 2018 | Page 4

BUSINESS NEWS

WILTSHIRE MUSIC CENTRE CELEBRATES 20 YEARS

2018 marks twenty years since the opening of Bradford on Avon’ s Wiltshire Music Centre.
Setup as a registered charity in 1997 the professional concert hall works strategically with key local and national partners to deliver an exemplary programme of concerts, education and community work which encompasses all ages, abilities and backgrounds.
The Centre is a unique and contemporary architect-designed building comprising of a first-class 300 seat concert hall with superb acoustic and hospitality spaces. Over 800 young musicians rehearse at the centre on a weekly basis, with 60,000 people using the Centre each year.
Wiltshire Music Centre has calculated that since opening its doors it’ s hosted over 3,000 concerts and over 500,000 minutes of live music. Every year the Centre showcases over 150 live events featuring the best in jazz, world, folk and classical music, and also delivers education work in the community for over 5,000 children and young people.
To keep the Centre thriving for the next twenty years and beyond, they have launched a fundraising appeal to raise £ 100,000 this year to support new LED lighting and its artistic and education programmes. This target is to be achieved through donations and a number of activities throughout the year including a Charity Golf Day and runners in the Bath Half Marathon.
Maud Saint-Sardos joined the team as chief executive towards the end of 2017 and has high ambitions for Wiltshire Music Centre’ s future. She said:“ Building on our success over the last twenty years, our plan is to extend our programme and activities in the community. We’ re launching

SAILSBURY RACECOURSE GETS READY FOR THE RACING SEASON

Salisbury Racecourse is arguably one of the most historic and picturesque racecourses in the country, with racing having taken place up on the Race Plain, four miles outside the cathedral city, for over 450 years.
Dementia-friendly Cake Concerts this year as part of that commitment and we’ re currently looking for a sponsor. If you can help, please get in touch.”
Wiltshire Music Centre is available to corporates for event hire and boasts a number of break out rooms in addition to their 300 seat auditorium. To find out more contact Maud Saint-Sardos.
For more info: www. wiltshiremusic. org. uk
01225 860110 maud. saint-sardos @ wiltshiremusic. org. uk
The racecourse hosts 16 Flat racing days each season between the end of April and the beginning of October. There is a good mix of afternoon and evening, weekday and weekend race meetings.
Clerk of the Course & Executive Director, Jeremy Martin said:“ We have a healthy level of corporate hospitality on our race days, and have several companies that have bringing clients every year, for over 20 years now. That is something we are very proud about. We also welcome new clients every year, which is also very important”. Being a medium sized racecourse, it is perhaps a bit more intimate than some of its larger counterparts. Martin added:“ Salisbury is quite compact and the facilities are all very close to the track. This all contributes a heightened sense of atmosphere and excitement with the finish to the races, as the horses flash past the winning post.”
The catering is provided in-house and Martin emphasises the importance of the food and drink provision:“ Our corporate clients are spending a chunk of their marketing and entertaining budget with
us, and it is a very important day for them. Providing good food is therefore vital, and is often the most commented on aspect of the day.”
As well as businesses, boxes are often hired out for private parties and special events, such as birthdays and anniversaries.“ Every year we have several box bookings taken by a family or a group of friends in order to celebrate something. They see that taking a box for a day at the races as a great way of a having a social event and get-together.”
Salisbury Racecourse has eight private boxes, including the recently refurbed area of four rooms at the top of the Bibury Stand.“ We invested over £ 275,000 in upgrading the Bibury Stand boxes and we are delighted with the results. The rooms are modern and very smart, and have gone down very well with our customers. The two rooms in the Wiltshire Stand are also excellently located and popular.”
The three Saturday evening race meetings and the Friday evening in August, each have music or a concert after the
racing has finished.“ The views you get of the stage from the balcony of the boxes, are excellent, and this post-racing entertainment very much adds to the value.”
The race dates for 2018 are: Sunday 29th April, Monday 30th April, Thursday 17th May, Saturday 26th May( evening), Tuesday 12th June, Sunday 17th June, Wednesday 27th June, Saturday 14th July( Ladies Evening), Saturday 28th July( evening), Wednesday 15th August, Thursday 16th August, Friday 24th August
( evening), Thursday 6th September, Tuesday 11th September( twilight), Friday 14th September( twilight) and Wednesday 3rd October.
Package prices for private box hire start at £ 108 + VAT per person and more details can be found on the website salisburyracecourse. co. uk, calling 01722 326461, or by emailing Emma Tranteremma @ salisburyracecourse. co. uk
4 THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2018