Pestel and Swot of the Oxford Playhouse

PESTEL and SWOT analysis of the Oxford Playhouse

Political – Due to the coalition government’s new budget, £100 million pounds was announced to be cut from the Arts Council budget, this is about 30% of the money they receive (BCC News 2010). Last year the Arts Council gave the Oxford Playhouse £301,000 and now as a result of cuts this year they received £278,000. This reduction of capital will make it harder to break even and could limit the creation of new shows, reduce improvements to the building and quality of shows, decrease marketing and in general reduce promotion of the arts.

Economic – Oxford is not as recession proof as the Oxford Playhouse once thought, during the economic downturn ticket sales were not the worst affected however the reduction in refreshments sales with bar revenue decreasing and money spent on snacks such as ice creams falling. Luxury items like the theatre have not been to badly affected however additional expenses such as refreshments have fallen, this reduces the revenue the company receives increasing the difficulty to break even.

Social –The Oxford Playhouse is situated on Beaumont Street one of the most grand streets in Oxford. Beaumont Street has regency style buildings such as the Ashmolean Museum, Worcester College, The Randolph Hotel and is where Beaumont Palace used to be. It is a street which many locals would not go down and would be put off the Oxford Playhouse by associating rich, posh status and may feel the playhouse would not be something that they would enjoy. This social self exclusion is a difficult stigma to overcome however by putting on productions outside away from the playhouse allows people to see exactly what the theatre is about and would possibly change peoples outlook on visiting the theatre.

Technological –

Environment – The Oxford Playhouse is a relatively high carbon emission business with high energy consumption in lighting, heating and also uses a lot of paper for admin, marketing e.g...