GFM and Mercury Theatre announce new partnership as GFM supports Mercury Rising Capital Appeal. GFM shows support for the future of arts and culture in Colchester with sponsorship of the new building’s ‘Lounge’ space.
The Mercury Theatre Colchester are excited to announce that GFM Holdings, a local customer experience agency employing almost 300 staff, have agreed to sponsor the Mercury Rising capital campaign to extend and redevelop the much loved theatre in Colchester town centre. The partnership comes as the Mercury Theatre enters into the final stages of fundraising for the monumental project, with just £500,000 of the £9.7 million target left to be raised.
Mercury Rising will see the theatre transformed for the community with a modern, fully accessible building delivering engagement opportunities for local people whilst continuing to produce award winning performances to regional and national audiences. There will be brand new spaces available for community hire and engagement, including a rehearsal studio, a dedicated community and arts education studio, a dance studio and the ‘Lounge’ – a flexible use space that will be sponsored by GFM for five years after the building reopens in Summer 2020. The Lounge space, where the theatre’s bar is currently located, will be available for hire by community groups and businesses when not being used for exclusive offerings to audience members, such as pre or post show drinks, book signings and meet and greet events.
Steve Mannix, Executive Director at the Mercury Theatre said:“We are hugely grateful to GFM for identifying the importance of regional theatre and the cultural importance of the Mercury Theatre to the local community. We are very excited to have our first corporate sponsor of the new building and hope their involvement inspires other local companies to see the business benefits of sponsoring such a loved and respected local organisation. We look forward to forging a close working relationship with GFM over the coming years.
Peter Sakal, CEO at GFM said: “At GFM we realise the importance of giving back to our local community and are absolutely delighted to be able to show our support to the Mercury Theatre and their exciting redevelopment project, which will enable them to deliver their incredible shows to an even greater audience. We are all looking forward to working closely with the theatre and helping them make their inspiring vision a reality.
The newly refurbished and extended Mercury Theatre is due to reopen to the public in late Summer 2020. An exciting Autumn/Winter season will be presented at the Mercury Theatre’s temporary offsite location ‘Mercury at Abbey Field’ from September 2019 until January 2020.
For more information and to find out how your business can get involved with Mercury Rising capital campaign, visit www.mercurytheatre.co.uk/support.
For more information on Mercury at Abbey Field visit www.mercurytheatre.co.uk/mercuryatabbeyfield.
To find out more about GFM business offerings visit www.gfm.co.uk.
