Exclusive: Riverside Studios enters administration

Riverside Studios is to enter administration, with the trust behind the Hammersmith-based venue blaming the "significant burden" of debt incurred by its recent redevelopment.

However, the Riverside Trust, which has run Riverside Studios since 1983, insisted that it would continue to trade under administration while a new buyer is found to take on ownership of the arts venue.

The redeveloped Riverside Studios opened in November 2019, four months before the first Covid lockdown.

Greg Parston, chair of the Riverside Trust Board, said: “Launching the new Riverside Studios with such a huge burden of inherited debt from the building development was never going to be easy. With the fantastic team that we have built over the past three years, it was our fervent hope that careful business planning – coupled with the support we received from the government’s Culture Recovery Fund and Triodos Bank during the darkest days of the pandemic – would put us in a healthier cash-flow position."

He added: "We had planned and expected to continue to operate with sufficient surpluses to begin to pay off some of our debt in the coming year. That was not to be, however. As a result, it is the board’s view that entering administration now is the best and most responsible route to preserving Riverside for the community as the centre of enjoyment, art and learning that we have worked so hard to re-establish.”

In a statement, the trust said there was growing "audience support" for the venue but that it had taken the first steps toward entering administration by filing the appropriate Notice of Intention with the High Court.

The next stage will be the appointment of administrators within the statutory 10-working day deadline.

Following that, the trust said it had been difficult to pay off construction debt through ordinary trading activities, with this set to worsen in November 2023 when the current loans are due to be refinanced.

The trust also said it was facing "dramatically increased operational costs", mainly for services and maintenance, but also including a 300% increase in energy bills.

It also blamed "a difficult operating environment post-Covid", which it said had made it harder to rebuild revenue streams vital to supporting the trust’s charitable activities.

"The weight of the debt burden, coupled with eye-watering operating costs, have overtaken the trust’s recovery plans," the statement said.

Riverside Studios will be open as usual for productions and food and drink and will continue to trade while administrators "use the months ahead to seek new owners for the building". 

The trustees’ preference is for continued charitable ownership.

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