By Maria Zaccaro, Local Democracy Reporter

The future of the NST City in Guildhall Square and the Nuffield Theatre at the University of Southampton is hanging in the balance as the theatres’ operator has gone into administration.

 

Administrators are now looking to find a buyer for Nuffield Southampton Theatres’ two venues.

Most of the organisation’s 80 staff have been on furlough since the Covid-19 lockdown caused all shows to be cancelled or postponed.

Southampton Nuffield Theatre Trust’s last accounts showed a loss of £507,000 for the financial year ending on March 31, 2019. The public document revealed the NST faced a “challenge to recover the exceptional loss” but it was anticipating a “significant improvement” to a £27,000 loss.

However, yesterday Greg Palfrey and Steve AdsheadAdshead, from the south coast office of Smith & Williamson in Southampton, were appointed joint administrators.

They will be running the organisation’s financial affairs and looking for potential buyers.

 

Southampton City Council, which owns the NST City building, said the site will remain in the ownership of the city council and it is not up for sale.

But the impact the current situation will have on the council’s finances is yet to be confirmed.

Cllr Satvir Kaur, cabinet member for homes and culture at the city council, said: “The council is not in a position to fund an unsustainable business model, and now given the current situation with the pandemic it is important that we do not rush into an unviable alternative.”

The University of Southampton also confirmed that the building at the campus is not up for sale.

The Nuffield Theatres started life in 1964, when the University of Southampton, supported by the Nuffield Foundation, built a venue on its campus for the people of Southampton.

NST City was opened in 2018.

The city is intending to bid to become City of Culture 2025.