Proposed Kettering Conference Centre closure is devastating - but can it be saved?

Kettering MP Philip Hollobone says the proposed closure of the town’s conference centre is devastating – but that he would not be surprised to see an investor step in and save it.

Earlier today it was confirmed that the Thurston Drive venue – along with The Lighthouse Theatre, Balance Health Club and Arena Sports Centre – would close on May 31.

It’s left about 80 people at risk of redundancy, theatre shows have been cancelled and gym members have been forced to find a new fitness facility.

And the Conservative MP said: "Together with local residents I am extremely concerned to learn of the proposed closure of the Kettering Conference Centre at the end of May. This is devastating news for the town. It's not just the conference centre, but also the Lighthouse Theatre, Balance Health Club and the Arena Sports Centre.

"There can't be many Kettering residents who haven't been to the conference centre at one time or other. Thousands of local residents who are customers of all these important local facilities will be badly affected.

"The conference centre has been a really important feature of Kettering life since the 1990s, and especially since 2008 when the Lighthouse Theatre opened supported by Kettering Borough Council. Local people will be in disbelief if we can't find a way to save these much-loved local facilities.

“I do not know definitively the exact details of the freehold/leasehold/operational arrangements of Kettering Conference Centre, but I do know that the closure announcement has been made by the Compass Group which took over the centre in 2017 through its Lime Venue business, which at that time operated 89 venues across the UK.

"The conference centre is the largest in Northamptonshire with capacities for 2,000 for conferencing and 1,500 for dinner. The 560-seat Lighthouse Theatre has played host to many wonderful shows and been enjoyed by thousands of local people. The Balance Health Club is a popular and thriving local leisure business whilst the Arena Sports Centre is host to Volleyball England. Football has Wembley, tennis has Wimbledon, rugby has Twickenham and volleyball has Kettering.”

Those behind the decision to close the site say their operational costs have increased significantly and that the venue is ‘no longer financially viable’. The site is believed to be owned by North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) and a private landlord.

Mr Hollbone said he is in active discussions with NNC to see how the venue can be saved.

He said: “Ultimately this is a commercial decision by the Compass Group and it is clear that the drop in footfall as a result of the pandemic and the steep rise in energy bills driven by Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine have been the important factors that have tipped them over the edge into making this decision.

"Having said that, Kettering remains a very exciting destination for business investment with superb road and rail connectivity and one of the fastest growing local populations in the country. So I would not be at all surprised to see another commercial investor with a more optimistic business model come along and view this as a wonderful opportunity to repurpose the venue and reinvigorate the facilities on site.

“Kettering Borough Council played a key role in the initial development of the site and the ongoing subsidy to the theatre and with this mantle now passed to North Northamptonshire Council I anticipate that NNC will be fully engaged in helping to find an alternative investor in the conference centre as part of the council's responsibilities for the promotion of local sport, leisure, culture and tourism.

“I have already contacted Compass Group to pledge my assistance as appropriate to see if the facility can either be kept open somehow or passed to another organisation who can keep the activities available to the public and I am also in active dialogue with NNC to see how the conference centre can be kept alive."

One employee at the site, who did not want to be named, said they believe it is viable – but that they need someone to step forward to take it on.

They said: "I see bands like Showaddywaddy and The Illegal Eagles selling out theatres and I cannot believe a full theatre at £30 a ticket is not making money. Four nights of James Acaster sold out in about half an hour.

"There were 2,000 people on-site recently for a church convention. The gym is the most significant gym in Kettering.

"The use of Arena Sports and the gym is back to above pre-Covid levels, so how can it not be viable?

"I believe it is viable, but the longer we leave it the more shows will be cancelled.”

Staff had been told of the decision yesterday afternoon before gym members and those with theatre tickets were informed by email today.

Last night the Kettering Conference Centre website went down and it remains unavailable today. The site, part of The Venues Collection group, has also been removed as a venue on their website.