Venue Hire Guide
1. Introduction
2. Key Contacts
3. Process overview
4. Costs
5.Selling Tickets
6. Additional Space and Equipment
7. Merchandise
8. Catering
9. Ticket Pricing
1. Introduction
This short guide is designed to give you a quick overview about how to book an event, arrange tickets and potential extra costs.
2. Key Contacts
For bookings and hire enquiries:
Edward Dyer
Programme Coordinator
edward.dyer@warwick.ac.uk
024 765 23384
For technical questions and enquiries:
Howard Potts
Technical Director
h.potts@warwick.ac.uk
02476 523793
For the Students’ Union:
More information and contact details can be found here.
3. Process Overview
4. Costs
We’ll agree the hire charge with you by email and outline what’s included in those hire fees. There may be additional costs depending on the venue, technical requirements, additional support (such as marketing).
If you have any questions or concerns about budgeting for your event, please don’t hesitate to get in touch using the key contacts above .
5.Selling Tickets
If you’re putting on a public event and want to sell tickets:
| Description | Cost | Illustration based on ticket sales of £2,000 | |
| Box Office Fee | This pays for our Box Office to print and sell your tickets | Maximum 10% of ticket sales + VAT | £200 Box Office Fee + £40 VAT = £240 |
| Credit Card Commission | This goes towards the costs of providing a credit and debit card payment option | 1.75% of sales made by card + VAT | – |
| PRS Licence Fee | PRS license organisations like us to play or perform copyrighted music and distribute the resulting royalties to their members. This fee goes towards our PRS licence. After your event, we will also ask you for a list of any copyrighted music that you played during the day. | 3% of ticket sales +VAT | £60 PRS + £12 VAT = £72 |
6. Additional Space and Equipment
If you need extra time in the space or extra equipment:
| Description | Cost | |
| Extra venue hire | Hire of the venue outside the standard hours (8.30 am – midnight) | Please get in contact for a quote |
| Technical overtime | Technical support over the agreed number of hours stated in the hire or before 8.30am, after midnight or on University or public holidays. | Please get in contact for a quote |
| Projector & screen | The only space with a built in projector and screen is the WSR, for the other spaces you will need to hire one. | £320 + VAT |
| PA system | This will be for spaces like the Helen Martin Studio where a sound system is not already installed. | £150 + VAT |
| Radio / lapel microphones | Wired microphones are included in most hire fees but if you need wireless mics we have to hire them in. | £45 per mic per day + VAT |
| Piano tuning | Please give us 2 weeks’ notice | £85 + VAT |
7. Merchandise
| Description | Cost | |
| Merchandise commission | If you want to sell programmes, t-shirts, mugs etc. you need to factor in this merchandise commission. | 20% commission if our stewards sell +VAT or 15% if you sell + VAT |
8. Catering
According to the terms of our license we cannot allow you to provide your own food and drink for your event. Your audience will have access to the theatre bar, café bar and ice cream stands where they can buy refreshments.
If you want to provide any other catering you can get in contact with either Warwick Food & Drink or the Arts Centre Café.
9. Ticket Pricing
Before completing the Ticketed Event Form (if our Box Office is selling your tickets), you’ll need to decide how much you want sell tickets for.
Try and keep it simple! We recommend a Full Price and a Concession Rate. You might also want to offer a special student rate. We can also offer group rates and discounts, so please list them when you complete the form.
For any tickets costing £5 and above, there is a £1 booking fee. This helps cover Box Office costs that aren’t covered by the commission fee that you pay.
Ticket price illustration:
£9 (£7 concessions) + £1 booking fee
This is called a 1 price house. It is also possible to offer different ticket prices for different sections of the venue. For example, you might like to offer cheaper tickets for people sitting in the balcony or in seats with a restricted view of the stage. These would be a 2 price or a 3 price house.
2 price house illustration:
Price 1: Stalls £9 (£7 concessions) + £1 booking fee
Price 2: Balcony £8 (£6 concessions) + £1 booking fee
We charge for our box office services and ticketing by deducting 5% + VAT of your ticket sales. In return, your audience will receive professional looking tickets which they can buy online, over the phone or in person from our trained Box Office staff. No headaches about seating allocations, cash floats or double-bookings either!