Inverness Eden Court posts £670,000 losses, according to new financial report
Eden Court recorded losses of almost £670,000 in the last year despite a rise in income from its ticket sales and commercial operations.
The Inverness art venue recorded a new loss of £668,498 in the financial year to the end of March.
But the loss was an improvement on the previous year where it recorded a loss of nearly £890,000.
And in other positive news its income rose by almost £200,000 to £6.8 million.
The number of ticket sales was also up over the year, while the likes of the 2023 pantomime posted record-breaking attendances, despite the previous year also being a record setter.
A statement in the trustees’ report accompanying the financial results said: “Out 23/24 panto, Sleeping Beauty, was seen by over 35,000 audience members and ticket income was four per cent higher than the previous, record-breaking year,
“The show also received positive reviews.”
A number of large-scale touring productions also stopped at the venue - including the likes of Sister Act, The Mousetrap, The Bodyguard, Jesus Christ Superstar and Abigail’s Party. This was a trend which continued into the current financial year through the likes of Madagascar and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and concerts from big name stars like Hollywood superstar Russell Crowe - although the results for these won’t be released until the next financial report late in 2025.
Elsewhere, the amount of money the venue received through "donations and legacies" fell by almost £400,000 from £1.365m to £981,000, but this was more then offset by an increase in "charitable activities" which raised almost £500,000 more than in the previous year (up from £4.09m to £4.56m). In total its income rose from £6.6m to £6.8m.
Staff costs - which includes wages, social security costs and pension costs - also fell in 2024 - down from £2.597m in 2023's accounts to £2.414m in this year's.
Its overall expenditures also fell, albeit marginally - from £7.509m to £7.500m - but this was not enough to avoid posting a £668,498 loss.
However, Eden Court chief executive Rebecca Holt is bullish, with a statement following publication of the figures stressing that the losses did not represent a cash deficit, but that they mainly related to the 2007 capital project, the cost of which was being recognised over a number of years.
She added that Eden Court had instead been running a day-to-day surplus in cash inflow.
And she stressed that ticket sales were also up more than 10,000 on the previous year as Eden Court continues to recover from the post-Covid slump.
She said: “In the last financial year, we sold over 211,000 tickets – a five per cent increase on the previous year. This increase in ticket income combined with our robust and positive response to the challenging economic environment has seen us achieve financial stability, with a modest operating surplus of £123,000, which is 1.8 per cent of our turnover.”
