Theatre Breaks Ltd

Stuart Harding, founder and Managing Director of Theatre Breaks Ltd, looks back over 25 years in the business

We were fortunate to be spawned out of my working with the "old" British Rail, not the rag tag that now exists as an apology for a national railway system but an organisation that one could be proud to work for led by managers with vision and foresight but who were also nice guys and people for whom you wanted to succeed.

Theatre Breaks started as the Theatre Rail Club and the idea that the public could buy their London theatre ticket and their rail travel, usually at a discount but all with one phone call.  The idea germinated from a lunch time phone call to me, a relatively lowly railway marketeer, from Peter Parker, the then chairman of British Rail.  Everyone else in between was out to lunch and if an excitable Chairman of a national corporation has an itch he wants someone to scratch it immediately. If you are old enough to remember Jesus Christ Superstar at the Palace Theatre, we decided to experiment with a Theatre Rail package on that great production.

 The producers Stigwood and  "always up to try anything new" Bob Swash came up with a good price, we produced a leaflet, spread it widely and sat back to see the bookings role in as surely they would with such a good idea. 

They didn't! 

The first lesson, if you wish to change behaviour you are unlikely to do it at the first try.

The second lesson, if you really believe in an idea don't be put off by initial failure. 

I knew that other experiments in promoting theatre with rail travel had been carried out using railway booking offices as the sales point!  Not a good idea. Can you imagine the booking clerk in the rush hour being asked about London theatre and whether a customer's grandmother would enjoy "No Sex Please We're British"? And where in the theatre did you say the tickets are? And how far from the underground station is the Lyric?

I always had a great interest in theatre and the conclusion that the Theatre Rail idea could be a runner drew me to the conclusion that if the concept was to go anywhere then it had to be outside the railway organisation.  Remember the concept of privatisation in the late seventies was almost unheard of.

So British Rail allowed me to stay within the railways but privatise the theatre packaging to an upstairs flat in St.Albans The Theatre Rail Club was launched in the Crush Bar of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden on 30th June 1980.  The Railway managers, theatre producers and actors turned out in force and of course the press. It could not have had a more auspicious launch. 

Lesson three, auspicious launches, good press coverage and a good idea do not make a profitable operation. 

Even more reason to be optimistic was that I had the mailing list of every amateur Operatic and Drama association in the country and the launch was followed up by a mailing to all those tens of thousands of good people who have an active interest in theatre.

 The result was one telephone call. 

I didn't believe it, surely the post office had lost the mailing, but the one telephone call assured me that the mailing had in fact taken place. Not given to self doubt! I did wonder if this was not such a good idea after all. 

Lesson four, don't over extend yourself financially: one room in a friend's house and a part time super efficient friend allowed me to continue beyond the early disappointments.

If you would like to read about the roller coaster history in detail I suppose you will have to wait for the book!  How the railways eventually dished the dirt when our success was being measured in millions of pounds of revenue to British Rail, how questions in the House of Lords supported our cause!  How to pick your friends and partners, how the theatre business is honourable and why! How good are the banks when the going gets really tough! When getting to sleep at nights consists of counting in your mind how much money you can scrape together and how many organisations you just have to pay in the morning, there is a limit to the number of times you can say "the cheque is in the post" but there are a number of wrinkles I can tell you about that keep the wolf from the door and in the garden where he should be!

We are now in calm waters thanks largely to Simon who joined us after 'A' Levels for a summer job and is still here 20 years later.  He discovered the Web for Theatre Breaks, stopped me going off in too many different directions at the same time and brought a discipline into everything which is surprising!  He is now joint Managing Director, owns half the company, if you can't trust your son who can you trust! And of course 17 great people who work for us now and the hundreds who have worked for us in the past and gone on to take up a wide and varied list of other challenges in their lives.

Theatre Breaks Ltd now brings over 25,000 people to London and Stratford each year and has enjoyed fantastic growth over the last four years.  We also have an office in Budapest and Lille with a French web site at www.formuletheatre.fr

The last two years have seen some of the biggest openings in London's theatrical history and this year we are completing the work of 10 years by going online with our breaks allowing visitors to our site the chance of designing their own visit to London and booking online.