THE ANGEL SUITE'S VALUE TO BRIGG

It would cost Brigg Town Council more than £9,000 a year to operate the Angel Suite purely as an office base and the authority’s meeting venue, councillors have been told.
The Town Council hires out the Suite to organisations, groups, companies and individuals for a wide range of events, including wedding receptions, Christenings, carpet bowls sessions, coffee mornings, exhibitions, meetings and craft fairs.
The council also holds all its own meetings in the Angel – the main “upstairs” room and the Lounge – and there is office accommodation for the authority’s small staff.
Over many years, the cost of operating the Angel Suite has often been discussed by councillors, with determined efforts being made to increase lettings to outside organisations, in an effort to generate additional income.
At the latest meeting of the Property and Services Committee, Town Clerk Jeanette Woollard provided the £9,000 figure to show how much the Angel Suite would cost the Town Council, even if no lettings were made to the public.
It was also revealed that the Town Council currently charges itself, in the accounts, around £3,000 a year for use of the Angel, while the income from lettings to outside organisations generates income of about £25,000.
An interesting debate developed.
Coun Ann Eardley suggested if the Town Council tried to find an alternative “outside” venue, that would cost a lot more than the Angel.
She forecast that when North Lincolnshire Council eventually relocated Brigg Library to the front of the Angel building, off the Market Place, it would result in more people visiting the adjoining Angel Suite.
Coun Chris Dyson was keen to know the level of bookings for the venue. Was the take-up 50 per cent or three-quarters?
He inquired: “Have we got a target?”
The Town Clerk described the level of bookings as “variable” but “nowhere near 100 per cent.”
Coun Dyson said that, in business, annual targets were set.
The Town Clerk replied: “We are running a community facility.”
Coun Jackie Brock, a long-serving councillor, looked back at the history of the Angel Suite.
She said when another authority had decided to demolish the old Corn Exchange, the town of Brigg had been offered the chance to take on the Angel Suite as a replacement community venue.
Efforts had been made to get a committee of Brigg people to run the facility, but due to insufficient interest, it had been taken on by the Town Council “by default.”
Following a rigorous review of hire charges a year ago, the income generated from lettings is now covering the cost of this aspect of the building’s use - to provide a community venue for Brigg.
The figure of £9,000 is a baseline figure for maintenance/heat/water/light/and the general running costs associated with a building of this size as council offices and meeting rooms. It does not include staff administration costs.
Therefore, the financial burden on the cost of managing the Angel Suite is its use as the Town Council ' Head Office' (for want of a better title), not its use as a community facility.

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