ABSA Awards: A celebration of 10 Years’ Business Sponsorship of the Arts by Arts & Business

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ABSA Awards A celebration of 10 Years’ Business Sponsorship of the Arts “The role of business cannot be underestimated in our society. Sponsorship of the arts is an important way business can be seen to be helping the community to flourish. I was delighted to have been able to present the Annual Awards in 1980 and again in 1987, on their 10th anniversary. The work of ABSA* in encouraging more companies to support the arts is well illustrated in this commemorative book on the Awards. I join with the world of business and the arts in congratulating ABSA and the award winners, and wish them much success in the years to come.” HRH The Prince of Wales, 1987

The following businesses listed are winners of the first ten years of the ABSA Awards, between 1978 – 87. In addition, the first five arts organisations to receive the ABSA Arts Award are also mentioned. These are extracts from the publication titled: A Celebration of 10 Years’ Business Sponsorship of the Arts. *In 1999 ABSA changed its name to Arts & Business.

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1978 Benson and Hedges Midland Bank Ltd Crown Wall Coverings The Bank of Scotland Provincial Insurance Co. , Kendal John Harvey & Sons Ltd Bryant & May Ltd Hallmark Cards Inc Ciba-Geigy (UK) Ltd Lloyds Bank Ltd

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1978 Best Single Project Benson and Hedges Nominated by DVC Limited for their sponsorship of the annual Benson and Hedges Festival at Snape Maltings and the associated Benson and Hedges Gold Award, an international competition for concert singers. The Snape Maltings Foundation was also promised a share of the profits from the sale of festival gramophone records and television programmes. Midland Bank Limited Nominated by The Royal Opera House Trust for their sponsorship of the Midland Bank Prom week at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, then in its fourth year. The stall seats were removed and standing room could be bought for £1, enabling audiences who could not normally afford a ticket to attend. The scheme was extremely popular, especially with young people. Crown Wall Coverings Nominated by the Contemporary Art Society for their sponsorship of its project „Interior Motives‟. Art students from all over Britain were invited to submit two-dimensional works on that theme. The winning entries, together with paintings on a similar theme by established artists, formed the basis of an exhibition seen in London and several provincial towns.

Best Corporate Programme The Bank of Scotland Nominated by Kallaway for their wide-ranging sponsorship of the arts in Scotland. The main recipient was the Scottish National Orchestra (six concerts and three records), but eight other arts events were supported, including the International Festival of Youth Orchestras, the major annual productions of the Scottish Youth Theatre, a concerto competition at the Edinburgh Music Festival and a concert at the Perth Festival. Provincial Insurance Company, Kendal Nominated by Sadler‟s Wells Theatre which through their sponsorship was able to present without loss a season by the English Music Theatre Company which included a special production of Purcell‟s Fairy Queen. This was part of London‟s contribution to Her Majesty‟s Silver Jubilee celebrations. The company were also nominated by Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal, for setting up the gallery, the Museum of Lakeland Life and the Brewery Arts Centre; and by the Lake District Festival Society, the Lakeland Sinfonia and the Midday Concert Club for supporting concerts.

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John Harvey & Sons Limited Nominated by Kallaway for their sponsorship mainly of the Western Orchestral Society, including 13 concerts in Bristol and four in London. Other recipients were the Theatre Royal, Bristol (a new production of Chekhov‟s The Seagull), the Bath Festival and the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition. Harveys also commissioned and produced Harveys Arts Guide to the arts in Bristol.

Best First Time Sponsor Bryant & May Limited Nominated by the Cambridge Theatre Company for their sponsorship of the company‟s production of Thornton Wilder‟s The Matchmaker, which was expensive to mount and would have been difficult without their help. The title had particular relevance for the firm‟s products, and bookmatches publicizing the production were distributed in every town visited. Hallmark Cards Inc Nominated by the Royal Shakespeare Theatre for sponsoring a three-month tour by the Royal Shakespeare Company presenting three specially prepared productions including Shakespeare‟s Twelfth Night and Chekhov‟s Three Sisters. The tour was primarily intended to visit smaller theatres and non-theatrical halls in places often poorly provided with theatrical performance. It would have been impossible to launch without Hallmark‟s assistance.

Best Youth Sponsorship Ciba-Geigy (UK) Limited Nominated for their sponsorship of the Manchester Youth Theatre each year since 1974. The MYT had staged large-scale, high standard productions, by and for young people, in professional theatres in the Manchester area, as well as sending touring productions round schools and clubs and running an Experimental Theatre Club. The support of Ciba-Geigy had played a large part in broadening the scope and improving the standard of the work achieved. Lloyds Bank Limited Nominated for their sole sponsorship of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain started in 1976 and planned to continue until at least 1981. The long-term commitment enabled the orchestra to plan courses, concert tours and the engagement of soloists and conductors, as well as to keep down the cost of tickets. The Bank also sponsored a recording of Stravinsky‟s The Rite of Spring, the orchestra‟s first recording under studio conditions. The NYO, comprising 180 young people under 17, is chosen from 700 who audition for the orchestra each year.

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1979 Tollemache and Cobbold Breweries Ltd Imperial Tobacco Ltd Mobil Oil Co. Ltd Crosby Group Ltd IBM United Kingdom Ltd Selfridges Ltd Heredities Ltd Marks & Spencer Ltd WH Smith & Sons Ltd Shell UK Ltd

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1979 Best Single Project Tollemache and Cobbold Breweries Limited Nominated by the Eastern Arts Association for their sponsorship of the highly successful Tolly Cobbold Eastern Arts National Art Exhibition. The exhibition, which built on the success of the original exhibition two years earlier, represented an outstanding opportunity for artists. The prizes offered included one for the best picture by an artist from the Eastern region. Tolly Cobbold Eastern Arts Photography, a second joint enterprise prompted by the original art exhibition, was also to be repeated. Imperial Tobacco Limited Nominated by Glyndebourne Festival Opera for their sponsorship of its new production of Fidelio, which followed sponsorship of Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute in 1977 and 1978, with backing for Der Rosenkavalier already announced for 1980. These productions, reaching wide audiences beyond Glyndebourne through touring and television broadcasts, would not have been possible without the backing of Imperial Tobacco. Mobil Oil Company Limited Nominated by the Victoria and Albert Museum for their highly imaginative sponsorship of a series of guides to the twelve primary galleries of the museum. Each guide was designed as a broadsheet and was intended to help the visitor focus on exhibits of particular importance. The texts were written by experts, often the keepers themselves. The museum had long recognized the need for such guides but had not been able to produce them from its own resources.

Best Corporate Programme Crosby Group Limited For their sponsorship of Farnham Maltings Arts Centre, West Surrey College of Arts and Design and Farnham Crosby Concert Band in a well-planned and carefully devised corporate sponsorship programme. The donation to the Maltings gave considerable impetus to their preservation, and the company also sponsored an annual concert there. The two other sponsorships were of great benefit to young people. IBM United Kingdom Limited For their diverse programme of cultural sponsorship throughout the United Kingdom. The sponsorship, embracing 25-30 events each year, was intended to make a contribution to communities where IBM had a local involvement. Its recipients included arts festivals,

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orchestras, the Royal Shakespeare Company (a new production of Shakespeare‟s Pericles) and English National Opera North (a new production of The Merry Widow).

Best First Time Sponsor Selfridges Limited Nominated for their sponsorship of the sixteen-week Young Musicians Festival (SYMF). The musicians came from the Royal Academy of Music, the Royal College of Music, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Live Music Now. Each of these four organizations provided four weeks‟ programmes covering a wide range of music. The concerts took place every weekday from 12.00am to 2.00pm on a specially constructed bandstand in Selfridges‟ summer Garden Exhibition.

Best Youth Sponsorship Heredities Limited Nominated by the Royal College of Art for their sponsorship of the Heredities Awards and Exhibition. Heredities, the world‟s largest firm of cold-cast bronze casters, offered awards for sculpture in any medium from which they can mould and cast. The awards were in three categories: animals, the human figure, and others. All entries were shown and judged at an exhibition in London. Marks & Spencer Limited Nominated by Inter-Action for their sponsorship of the new Weekend Arts College (WAC) run by the Inter-Action Trust. WAC had up to 200 young people training with top professional teachers. On Sunday, WAC trained 100 teenagers in compensatory arts education. It enabled these young people (80 per cent from immigrant backgrounds) to overcome the inadequacy of training in their early years and go on to college or into professional performing arts. W H Smith & Son Limited For their sponsorship of the Children‟s Poetry Week run by the Cambridge Poetry Festival Society, the first of its kind to be held in the country: the Young National Trust Theatre, a leading Theatre in Education group, for its first full-scale professional season; the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, the only nationally based orchestra of its kind; the Newport Piano Competition; the Old Vic Trust Education Project; the Poetry Society‟s „Poets in Schools‟ scheme which gave children the opportunity to write poetry under the guidance of a professional poet; and the Ilkley Literature Festival‟s Children‟s Book Fair. Shell UK Limited Nominated by the London Symphony Orchestra for their sponsorship of the Shell/London Symphony Orchestra Music Scholarship and the 1979 series of Shell Concerts. Shell enabled the orchestra to make its first national tour, during which the area and national finalists received their awards from Andre Previn, the orchestra‟s Principal Conductor.

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1980 IBM United Kingdom Ltd British Olivetti Imperial Group Ltd Amoco (UK) Ltd The British Petroleum Co. Ltd Capital Radio C&J Clark Ltd Herring Son & Daw Tennant Caledonian Ltd Lloyds Bank Ltd

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1980 Best Single Project IBM United Kingdom Limited For their sponsorship of „Post-Impressionism: Cross-Currents in European Painting‟ at the Royal Academy. The exhibition, probably unrivalled in quality and scope broke all records for a picture exhibition in financial terms at the Royal Academy and received massive television publicity. The exhibits ranged from later works by Monet and Degas to major early works by Picasso and Matisse; the core contained masterpieces by Van Gogh, Cezanne, Seurat and Gauguin. Outside France, the emphasis was on neighbouring countries, such as Britain and Germany, where the impact of Post-Impressionism was most clearly felt. British Olivetti Nominated by the Royal Academy of Arts for their sponsorship of the exhibition „Horses of San Marco‟ which was conceived, organized, transported and paid for by them. The project required a year of continual negotiations with over twenty different bodies in Italy, and obtaining permission to remove these exhibits from their permanent place was in itself an outstanding achievement. The exhibition was subsequently taken to New York. Imperial Group Limited Nominated by the Old Vic for their sponsorship particularly of the season ticket scheme, a novel concept for the London theatre. It was launched to revive the Old Vic after two unsuccessful years. The scheme was very popular, providing a larger (and earlier) injection of funds that would otherwise have been possible, and helped to build a regular audience. Statistical analysis of the results was to be made available to other theatres and arts organisations.

Best Corporate Programme Amoco (UK) Limited Nominated by Welsh National Opera for their sponsorship of WNO covering five years and totalling over £250,000, the most comprehensive commercial sponsorship of the arts hitherto negotiated in the United Kingdom. The money was to be used to provide a biennial week of opera in London, alternating with visits by foreign guest companies invited by WNO. Other funding was to include a tour in Wales of Handel‟s Rodelinda, bursaries for players and singers, and records. The British Petroleum Company Limited BP‟s arts sponsorship was an integral part of their UK community and educational affairs

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programme. It included sponsorship of the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, the National Youth Orchestra of Wales and the British Youth Symphony Orchestra; children‟s concerts by the London Mozart Players; and four scholarships at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Capital Radio For their intensive corporate sponsorship programme which has included sponsorship of the London Choral Society, the Wren Orchestra, a performance of Berlioz‟s Grande Messe des Morts at the City of London Festival, concerts at the Snape Maltings and three rock weeks. Capital had also commissioned two symphonies and purchased the Duke of York‟s Theatre in London, which they undertook to retain as a live theatre.

Best First Time Sponsor C & J Clark Limited For their sponsorship of the Whirligig Theatre which could not have existed without it. Whirligig was the first national touring company for children to provide high quality work in medium-sized and large theatres. The company aimed to play at venues in areas where theatre-going would probably be a new experience for children. The target attendance of 75,000 children for the inaugural tour was achieved, each of the children receiving a set of giveaways to take home. Herring Son & Daw For their sponsorship of a series of six concerts in National Trust houses, using performers of international standard who raised the quality of music in these locations to a previously unattainable level. The concerts would not have been possible without support from the sponsor, the first firm of chartered surveyors to embark on sponsorship of the arts. Another series of six concerts was planned, some of them in houses further from London. Tennent Caledonian Limited For their sponsorship of an annual cast award, initially for three years, for the commissioning and production of a new work in any art form. The first recipient was Peter Maxwell Davies for his 90-minute music theatre piece The Lighthouse, premiered at the 1980 Edinburgh Festival, where it received very favourable notices.

Best Youth Sponsorship Lloyds Bank Limited Nominated by the Leeds Youth Opera Group for sponsorship dating from 1978. The group performs operas written for young people both in conventional theatres and in schools. Lloyds were also nominated by the New Shakespeare Company for a series of eight schools workshops on Shakespearean comedy; the Mercury Theatre Trust (Ballet Rambert) for a new matinee programme for young people; and by the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain for sponsorship dating back to 1976.

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1981 The Littlewoods Organization Norwest Holst Ltd Gallaher Ltd John Harvey & Sons Ltd Commercial Union Assurance Co. Ltd LG Harris and Co. Ltd Matthew Brown Brewery Ltd House of Du Maurier J Sainsbury Ltd PLC The British Petroleum Co. Ltd

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1981 Best Single Project The Littlewoods Organization Nominated by the Walker Arts Gallery. The judges believed the biennial J M Exhibition (established in 1957) made a significant contribution to the arts in the North West. By organizing the competitive exhibition of modern art and sculpture, Littlewoods did much to stimulate creativity and provide an opportunity for the public to see some of the best and most vital contemporary work. Norwest Holst Limited Nominated by the Manchester Palace Theatre Trust and the Royal Opera Company. Norwest Holst‟s contribution to the artistic life of the nation had been considerable and permanent, for they have saved the Manchester Palace Theatre and enabled the building to be restored and reopened as one of the best equipped and most beautiful of the major regional theatres. In addition, they had sponsored the first regional appearance of the Royal Opera Company for seventeen years at the Palace Theatre. Gallaher Limited Nominated by the Ulster Orchestra Society Limited, to which responsibility for the Ulster Orchestra was transferred in 1980 from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. At the same time, the BBC was disbanding its own Northern Ireland Orchestra. The Gallaher sponsorship enabled the Ulster Orchestra to increase in size and employ some of the BBC musicians. The sponsorship had helped to produce a first-class orchestra for Northern Ireland and was a brave and constructive move in a part of the country very much in need of cultural support. John Harvey & Sons Limited Nominated by the Leeds International Piano Competition, which John Harvey & Sons Limited first sponsored in 1978. The judges were most impressed by the ways in which Harveys had developed and expanded an already successful sponsorship. The three particular areas of expansion were (a) organizing and subsidizing a nine-concert tour for the winner (b) commissioning six records of major piano works performed by Leeds winners or leading pianists from past competitions (the records form part of „The Harveys Collection‟). (c) Commissioning six artists to design sleeves for the records.

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Best Corporate Programme Commercial Union Assurance Company Limited Nominated by Cantilena, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Schools Prom, the Royal Opera House Trust, Glyndebourne Festival Opera and Scottish Opera, Commercial Union Assurance Company were chosen for the wide regional spread of their sponsorship and for the weight, continuity and breadth of their support. Events sponsored included the City of London Festival and new opera productions. Support was also given to the British Museum Society, the Tate Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum. L G Harris & Company Limited Nominated by the Bromsgrove Music Festival, which had been arranged by L G Harris for seventeen years and whose events covered a wide section of the arts. The citation stated „that the festival makes use of the company‟s offices, corridors, Board Room, conference room and dining hall as well as the gardens‟. The judges felt that few sponsors involved themselves to this remarkable degree. The festival was a significant contribution to the cultural life of the Bromsgrove district, and the scale of the sponsorship large in relation to the size of the company and the area in which they operated.

Best First Time Sponsor Matthew Brown Brewery Limited Nominated by the Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston. Matthew Brown, an independent brewery based at Blackburn, won an award for choosing such an imaginative way of celebrating their 150th anniversary, namely enabling the Harris Museum to purchase a collection of English coloured glass, thus adding to the extensive decorative arts collections already housed in the museum. The collection included a significant number of drinking glasses – an appropriate link with the sponsor. The contact with the museum had since led to Matthew Brown sponsoring two exhibitions. House of Du Maurier Nominated by the Philharmonia Orchestra. The judges were impressed at the sheer magnitude of the Du Maurier sponsorship of the orchestra and also by the countrywide element of the sponsorship, the emphasis on recordings, commissions and publicity incorporating the Du Maurier colours and logo. The judges also felt it to be a successful development of sponsorship allied to brand promotion rather than solely a corporate advertising activity. J Sainsbury Limited PLC Nominated by Kent Opera, Polka Children‟s Theatre and Sadler‟s Wells Royal Ballet. The judges felt this was a significant departure from Sainsbury‟s traditional charitable support of the arts. Their sponsorship of these organizations was promoting excellence and enabling that excellence to be enjoyed by as many people as possible. The programme had been designed for further development and the judges felt that this, together with its strong regional flavour, should be recognized.

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Best Youth Sponsorship The British Petroleum Company Limited BP won this award for their extensive programme of Youth and Music. Their support included sponsorship of the three National Youth Orchestras, Scholarships at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the BP/London Mozart Players concerts for children and the Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra. The support was nationwide and was particularly associated with areas where BP had plants and offices.

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1982 American Express Co. Habitat/Mothercare PLC Midland Bank International The British Petroleum Company PLC National Westminster Bank PLC Winsor & Newton Matthew Gloag & Son Arthur Price of England Sherry Producers of Spain Rediffusion PLC

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1982 Best Single Project American Express Company The National Trust‟s 1982 Summer Festival was funded by attribution of two pence made by American Express every time cardholders used their cards to make a purchase in Britain during June and July. The substantial donation to the National Trust enabled more than one hundred arts events to take place in National Trust properties. Habitat/Mothercare PLC Habitat are well known for their investment in design of the highest standard, and the Boilerhouse Project at the Victoria and Albert Museum was created at the personal instigation of Sir Terence Conran. As well as staging several exhibitions a year, the Boilerhouse Project would make ideas about design available to both students and the general public. Midland Bank International The Great Japan Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts which attracted over 750,000 visitors was not only an artistic and financial success but was also of major educational and diplomatic significance. A full public relations programme in Japan was simultaneously instigated by the sponsor, Midland Bank International. This international campaign and the extensive television news coverage in Tokyo brought Midland Bank International into direct contact with the Japanese government, media and corporate bodies.

Best Corporate Programme The British Petroleum Company PLC BP in their outstanding programme had assisted an increased number of smaller groups and acted as a catalyst for smaller events. BP‟s programme covered many different art forms and they had helped to bring the arts to more people than ever before, to new parts of the country, to their own employees and to schools, colleges and universities. National Westminster Bank PLC The continuing diverse arts sponsorship programme of National Westminster Bank included a new production of The Marriage of Figaro by Kent Opera, twentieth-century music, a new production of A Midsummer Night‟s Dream by the Royal Shakespeare Company, a new work by Christopher Bruce for Ballet Rambert and the Wren Exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery.

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Best First Time Sponsor Winsor & Newton „Paint and Paintings‟ at the Tate Gallery was sponsored by Winsor & Newton to celebrate 150 years of research. There was an exhibition inside the gallery and outside there was a studio where visitors were offered free advice on the use of watercolours and oils. Also, Winsor & Newton sponsored a one-day symposium on the conservation of modern paintings. Matthew Gloag & Son The Sporting Crafts exhibition at the British Crafts Centre was of an extremely high artistic standard, and was aimed at an audience which was of interest to both the sponsor and the Crafts Centre. The theme of Famous Grouse Labels was used for the publicity leaflets, posters and signs. Arthur Price of England The first public performance in Wales of Messiaen‟s „Turangalila‟ Symphony by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra sponsored by Arthur Price was an imaginative first venture into arts sponsorship. By enabling this work to be performed in Wales, the sponsors felt they were presenting the right kind of image for their company. Sherry Producers of Spain The Segovia International Guitar Competition sponsored by the sherry producers was an extremely important collaboration. The event was held at Leeds Castle, Kent, and Segovia himself was involved throughout the competition. The sponsors funded two specially prepared films on the competition which were scheduled for worldwide networking and video distribution.

Best Youth Sponsorship Rediffusion PLC Now in their eighth year, the Rediffusion Choristers‟ Awards attracted wide national and regional publicity through newspapers, radio and television. Over 1,600 choirboys participated in the competition which increased social awareness of the work of church choirs.

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1983 Agfa-Gavaert Ltd Mobil Oil Company Ltd J Sainsbury plc Capitol Radio Ltd TCB Division – Alberto – Culver Company (UK) Ltd The Langdale Partnership The Orion Insurance Company PLC York Avenue Garage Pork Farms Texaco Ltd

First ABSA Arts Award by IMB UK Ltd Pioneer Theatre for Theatre Royal Stratford East

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1983 Best Single Project Agfa-Gavaert Limited Agfa-Gavaert sponsored the „Light Dimensions Holography‟ exhibition held by the Royal Photographic Society in Bath. The exhibition was an undoubted success with more than 70,000 visitors, and the sponsors had gambled courageously on this new art form. Mobil Oil Company Limited The British Film Institute urgently needed funds to preserve old film stock stored in the National Film Archive. Seventeen classic British films had been restored as a result of the first year of the sponsorship. It was important to recognize the first commercial sponsors of film restoration. J Sainsbury plc Artists and illustrators were invited to submit work based on „Images for Today‟ which had to be capable of reproduction by photolithography in four colours only. The exhibition sponsored by Sainsbury visited seven different cities and had brought contemporary art within the price range of many.

Best Corporate Programme Capital Radio Limited Capital Radio‟s sponsorship reached a cross-section of all Londoners. The Chairman, Sir Richard Attenborough, said that Capital Radio „may properly claim to be an indispensable part of the London scene‟ and the judges endorsed the view.

Best First Time Sponsor TCB Division – Alberto – Culver Company (UK) Limited TCB were the first major sponsor of the Theatre Royal, Stratford East, and sponsored Welcome Home Jacko. The success of the production at Stratford East encouraged an American branch of TBC to sponsor it on its US tour. The Langdale Partnership The Langdale Partnership‟s sponsorship of the Theatre in the Forest was of great benefit to both parties. The sponsorship had enabled the theatre to mount events of a higher artistic content than would otherwise have been possible.

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The Orion Insurance Company PLC The Orion Insurance Company sponsored the First Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition. Orion had taken on a very large and perhaps rather risky project as its first step into sponsorship and the judges congratulated them for their vision. The event was held in Folkestone, the headquarters of Orion, rather than in London. York Avenue Garage York Avenue Garage sponsored an exhibition of figurative paintings by six Northern artists, arranged by the Bede Gallery. The exhibition was unusual in two ways: it took place in the garage showroom and all the paintings were bought in advance by the garage which gave them to customers purchasing a car from the garage during the exhibition.

Best Youth Sponsorship Pork Farms Pork Farms sponsored Taking Steps, a small street theatre company, to take a production called Simple Simon into shopping centres. Simple Simon was based loosely on the nursery rhyme and involved pantomime, tumbling, slapstick and audience participation. Texaco Limited Texaco Limited sponsored for the second year the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain. As a result of this sponsorship, the theatre had been able to expand its activities and offer opportunities to more young people than ever before. Texaco also financed the Texaco/National Youth Theatre Playwriting Competition launched that year.

First ABSA Arts Award by IBM UK Limited This award of ÂŁ1,000 was presented by the arts organisation making the best use of arts sponsorship to develop and maintain the quality of its activities. It was awarded to Pioneer Theatres for the Theatre Royal Stratford East. Having obtained sponsorship from AlbertoCulver Company (UK) Limited, the Theatre was able to offer reduced price tickets to young unemployed people, to take a production to New York and to establish a series of theatre workshops in association with the Black Theatre Co-operative.

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1984 Kennedy Brookes Hotel and Catering Ltd Whitbread and Company PLC National Westminster Bank PLC Radio City (Sound of Merseyside) Ltd JVC (UK) Ltd Austin Rover Group Ltd Pedigree Dolls and Toys Ltd Cadbury Ltd TSB (Trustee Savings Bank) W H Smith and Son Ltd

Second ABSA Arts Award donated by Rank Xerox Phoenix Arts

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1984 Best Single Project Kennedy Brookes Hotel and Catering Limited The Henley Festival was created by Kennedy Brookes who realized that the potential of a Thames-side setting, combined with the marquees and grandstands of the Regatta, could produce an exciting arts festival. The festival and the sponsor had brought together a lively new addition to Britain‟s festival life. Whitbread and Company PLC The judges, aware that business sponsorship of literature was very difficult to achieve, were delighted to give an award to Whitbread who had supported the Whitbread Prize for fourteen years. An additional award for a first novel had been introduced in 1981, and this year a Short Story Award for Young Writers was added.

Best Corporate Programme National Westminster Bank PLC This remarkably varied and substantial arts sponsorship programme was nominated by twenty-five separate arts organizations. National Westminster‟s programme created a balance between national and local arts events of every variety, with a strong emphasis on youth. Radio City (Sound of Merseyside) Limited Radio City‟s sponsorship programme was bold and imaginative, with a genuine commitment to the region in which the company operates. Radio City‟s workshops for disadvantaged young people, with artists and choreographers from leading dance companies, were particularly important.

Best first time Sponsor JVC (UK) Limited The JVC/Capitol Radio Jazz Parade was an effective first arts sponsorship by a company well known in the sports sponsorship field. The Jazz Parade, part of the 1984 Capital Music Festival, gave 21,000 people the opportunity to hear live some of the world‟s greatest jazz musicians. Austin Rover Group Limited A first time sponsorship by a major division of a nationalized industry was most welcome.

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The Austin Rover Group sponsored a concert at the National Exhibition Centre with 3,000 children taking part. The company used arts sponsorship to associate themselves with the community where they had both their Group Headquarters and a major plant close by. Pedigree Dolls and Toys Limited The Royal Academy of Dancing was sponsored by Pedigree for its International Summer School. This school, for 9 to 13 year olds, was open to children from all over the world. Five „Sindy‟ scholarships, named after a Pedigree doll range, were awarded to children showing the most promise to attend next year‟s school.

Best Youth Sponsorship Cadbury Limited For thirty-six years the National Exhibition of Children‟s Art has been an important platform for young aspiring artists. Cadbury took up the sponsorship in 1980 and the exhibition has since grown in scope and educational importance. In 1983 Cadbury introduced „Poetry‟, a new category, to the exhibition, from which the Cadbury‟s First Book of Children‟s Poetry was produced. TSB (Trustee Savings Bank) The TSB Music Club embraced the Manchester Lunch-Box Concerts, Aberdeen International Youth Festival Cushion Concerts and the Royal Philharmonic Society/Youth and Music Project. The second nomination was for the National Schools Rock and Pop Competition and the third was for the „TSB All Wales Young Musicians 1984‟ nominated by Theatr Clwyd in Mold. WH Smith and Son Limited WH Smith sponsored the 1984 Youth and Music Cushion Concert Tour and Fifth London Season. The Youth and Music Cushion Concerts attracted new young audiences through the combination of art and music in informal settings at art galleries nationwide. Five hundred bright orange WH Smith cushions were toured around the country by the company‟s area and transport managers.

Second ABSA Arts Award donated by Rank Xerox Limited The Phoenix Arts Centre, Leicester, Was considered to have made the best use of sponsorship during the year. Central Independent Television sponsored „The Hobbit‟, by the Phoenix Theatre Company, with 12 actors and two casts of 25 local children. It was Phoenix Arts‟ most successful production and the run was extended to six weeks with capacity houses. Fifty percent of the audiences received concessionary tickets as students, school children or unemployed people. The sponsorship created strong links between Central Television and Phoenix Arts which led to further collaborations.

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1985 Booker McConnell plc J Sainsbury plc Royal Bank of Scotland plc Citicorp/Citibank Scottish Postal Board The British Petroleum Company PLC Lederle Laboratories Coombs & Son Bakers Ltd Imperial Chemical Industries plc, Agriculture Division Allied Steel and Wire Limited

Third ABSA Arts Award donated by Rank Xerox Battersea Arts Centre

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1985 Best Single Project Booker McConnell plc The Booker McConnell Prize for Fiction, administered by the National Book League and set up in 1968, was increased in prize money to £15,000 in 1984, and remained Britain‟s most valuable and prestigious literary award for this sponsorship, though in the first year of these Annual Awards in 1978 they received a Certificate of Honourable Mention. J Sainsbury plc The Sainsbury‟s Choir of the Year Competition began in 1984 with 22 regional venues, 38 adjudicators, 260 choirs and 11,500 performers. The sponsors had created a national choral competition tailor-made to Sainsbury‟s requirements. Royal Bank of Scotland plc In June 1985 the Royal Bank of Scotland received Royal Assent to merge with Williams & Glyn‟s Bank. To celebrate this event and to highlight the bank‟s increased presence in the South, they sponsored a spectacular open-air firework concert with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. A crowd of 125,000 people were given free concert which was subsequently broadcast.

Best Corporate Programme Citicorp/Citibank The Citicorp/Citibank corporate programme heralded a major new force in arts sponsorship. The wide range of art forms supported, balanced between the regions and London, from Glyndebourne to Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in Jersey, contemporary British art in Edinburgh to jazz in Lewisham, was exemplary. Scottish Postal Board The breadth and imagination of the programme, devised to support the Scottish Postal Board‟s corporate promotion, deserved praise. The Board‟s enthusiastic support, from the loan of Post Office vans and even aircraft from Orkney to London, through to financial sponsorship in particular for contemporary music, must act as inspiration to other public bodies. The British Petroleum Company PLC BP won best corporate programme in 1980 and 1982 and the youth award in 1981. A large oil company would be expected to have a considerable arts sponsorship programme, but it was

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BP‟s support of young people through the arts which stood out so dramatically through the years.

Best First Time Sponsor Lederle Laboratories Lederle Laboratories‟‟ first time sponsorship was conceived in December 1984 by Lederle and a Royal College of Nursing Oncology Nursing Officer. The initial programme entitled Invitation to the Ballet, took dancers from the Royal Ballet and Sadler‟s Wells Royal Ballet together with musicians from the Royal Opera House to 26 oncology units, specialist hospitals and hospices. Coombs & Son Bakers Limited Coombs‟ directors decided that their Christmas advertising budget should be spent on sponsoring the Leicester Haymarket Theatre‟s children‟s Christmas Production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Coombs are retail bakers and confectioners and this was their first sponsorship. A new cake called a Willy Wonka Cake was sold in the shops and in the theatre snack bar.

Best Youth Sponsorship Imperial Chemical Industries plc, Agricultural Division ICI Agricultural Division sponsored Nightshriek, an original musical based on Shakespeare‟s Macbeth, written and composed by Trisha Wood, a 21-year-old Cleveland girl, performed at the National Youth Theatre back in the North East. Allied Steel and Wire Limited Allied Steel and Wire sponsored a Welsh National Opera Community Programme which took place in a deprived dockland area of Cardiff. Allied Steel and Wire were able to increase the company‟s profile in the community through the sponsorship, while bringing Welsh National Opera closer to young people who had previously no experience of their work.

Third ABSA Arts Award donated by Rank Xerox The Battersea Arts Centre‟s approach to sponsorship impressed the judges in selecting the Centre from over two hundred arts organisations for the third ABSA Arts Award. Particular interest was taken in the sponsorship in kind supplied by ICL of computer equipment. With the delivery of the computer, a new membership and mailing scheme was introduced bringing in one third of the Centre‟s audience. Sales of the mailing lists to other user groups created a new source of income for the Centre.

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1986 Shell UK Ltd Gallaher Tobacco (UK) Ltd Imperial Chemical Industries plc, Agricultural Division Mobil Oil Company Ltd Rank Xerox Scottish Post Office Board Colour Film Services Ltd Eldridge, Pope & Co plc Heritage Shops Marks and Spencer plc

British Railways Board Fourth ABSA Arts Award donated by WH Smith & Sons Ltd Bath International Festival Online version ÂŠ Arts & Business 2014 www.artsandbusiness.org.uk

1986 Best Single Project Shell UK Limited The creation of new work in the 1986 Edinburgh International Festival‟s Scottish Art Today – Artists at Work‟ project was sponsored by Shell. Twelve young artists, nine painters and three sculptors worked for the three weeks of the festival in the Edinburgh College of Art and other locations. All the artists sold some of their work and the project attracted much media coverage, including television. Gallaher Tobacco (UK) Limited Gallaher had supported the Ulster Orchestra since 1981 with an annual series of eight concerts in Belfast and other towns and cities throughout Ulster Orchestra since 1981 with an annual series of eight concerts in Belfast and other towns and cities throughout Ulster, as well as an orchestral tour of the UK. Gallaher had also funded a series of five recordings of British music, thereby enhancing the orchestra‟s reputation as a notable performer of twentiethcentury British music. Imperial Chemical Industries plc, Agricultural Division For the second year running ICI Agricultural Division had won an award. The Framework Photographic Project, a commission from West Midlands Arts, was designed as a comprehensive documentation of modern British agriculture. The project was the largest single photographic documentation of British Agriculture. The judges hoped this award would extend sponsorship into field of photography. Mobil Oil Company Limited The Mobil Playwriting Competition for the Royal Exchange Theatre Company was launched in 1985 to encourage new full-length plays written in English and the winning plays were to be performed whenever possible by the Royal Exchange. The judges were encouraged to see a company supporting contemporary literature.

Best Corporate Programme Rank Xerox The growth of Rank Xerox‟s corporate programme and the substantial sponsorship of the 1986 Commonwealth Arts Festival has to be encouraged. Rank Xerox‟s support of the contemporary arts and their commissioning of young artists to create new work for their Head Office was important. The personal commitment of Derek Hornby, the Rank Xerox UK

Chairman, who attended nearly every event of the Commonwealth Arts Festival, should act as an inspiration to others. Scottish Post Office Board For the second year the Scottish Post Office Board won an award for its remarkable support for the arts in Scotland. Their support of the Twentieth-Century Music weekend at the 1986 Edinburgh International Festival advanced the frontiers of business sponsorship. The Board flew the instruments of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra by Royal Mail to the 1986 St Magnus Festival in Orkney. Peter Maxwell Davies also premiered his own overture, „Jimmack the Postie‟, a portrait of the ebullient postman of Hoy, dedicated to Ian Barr, Chairman of the Scottish Post Office.

Best First Time Sponsor Colour Film Services Limited Colour Film Services Limited sponsored „Images of Wales‟, an ambitious three-week film season mounted by Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff in February and March 1986. The judges were particularly pleased to hear that other potential sponsors were coming forward after this initial sponsorship. Eldridge, Pope & Co plc The Colway Theatre Trust‟s production of the Dorchester Community Play in Dorset, written by David Edgar, was estimated to have involved over 60,000 hours of amateur effort and many letters of appreciation were received. The Chairman of Eldridge, Pope offered £2 sponsorship for each £1 raised voluntarily. The employees were encouraged to apply for parts in the play and the Chairman of Eldridge, Pope undertook the role of the Mayor of Dorchester.

Best Youth Sponsorship Heritage Shops Heritage Shops were looking to Channel their sponsorship into a single project and the lack of support for young string quartets seeking professional status was highlighted. National String Quartet Week 1986 for post graduate musicians was launched and at least six professional engagements had already been offered as a direct result of the week. Marks and Spencer plc Marks and Spencer had played a major role in supporting the arts for many years, but in 1986 decided to take on their first major arts sponsorship with Music for Youth, which involved over 20,000 young people performing annually nationwide, with regional auditions, a national festival and schools proms in the Royal Albert Hall and in Cardiff and Manchester. Marks and Spencer also supported the Yorkshire Sculpture Park Artists in Residence scheme.

British Railways Board The Brixton Station Improvement Scheme was designed to revitalize the railway environment in Brixton and was the most ambitious supported by British Rail. The scheme was a collaboration between British Rail, local authorities, the Department of the Environment, the Public Art Development Trust, artists and local people, and created the first permanent sculpture of black British people in the United Kingdom. The models were selected from young people of the local Brixton community. British Rail later issued a new policy statement, „Art on the Railway‟, enabling many more such projects to take place.

Fourth ABSA Arts Award donated by W H Smith & Son Limited The ABSA Arts Awards was presented to the Bath International Festival. The Bath Festival obtained £1135,000 its £500,000 1986 budget from the business community. Sponsorships ranged from Art Plan, sponsored by Bath Securities who extended interest-free credit to purchases of art, to Banque Paribas helping the Bath Festival to return to Bristol after an absence of ten years. The Bath Festival‟s income from sponsorship in 1986 equalled the Festival‟s total budget of two years previously and the Chairman, Director and Staff of the Festival have to be congratulated for their superb work.

1987 Allied Irish Bank plc IBM United Kingdom Ltd Yorkshire Electricity Board The British Petroleum Company plc National Westminster Bank plc Digital Equipment Company (DEC) James Henry Estate Agents Monc Blanc Prudential Corporation W H Smith & Son Ltd

Rixon Matthews Appleyard Ltd Hickson International plc

ABSA Arts Award donated by WH Smith & Son Ltd Artists’ Agency and London City Ballet Online version © Arts & Business 2014 www.artsandbusiness.org.uk

1987 Best Single Project Allied Irish Bank plc Allied Irish Bank showed great imagination as a first time sponsor by backing a new company, touring nationwide and abroad. The bank‟s commitment and enthusiasm for the English Shakespeare Company‟s opening productions was outstanding. The success of ESC has encouraged the bank to expand its sponsorship to cover the company‟s next cycle of seven Shakespeare plays. Yorkshire Electricity Board The first Leeds Film Festival in 1987 was created to give people in Yorkshire a chance to see new films. West Yorkshire is a major business centre for the YEB and this sponsorship proved more cost effective than conventional forms of advertising. IBM United Kingdom Limited This innovative sponsorship made possible a unique collaboration between Welsh National Opera, Opera North and Scottish Opera in a new production of Berlioz‟s The Trojans. IBM was involved from the earliest stages in a project which involves an unusually wide spread of audiences over a long period thus enhancing the company‟s image nationwide.

Best Corporate Programme The British Petroleum Company plc From the small but important “Dance for Everyone” project with disabled people to a major exhibition of British Art in the Twentieth Century”, at the Royal Academy, BP remains a consistently innovative corporate sponsor, encompassing many art forms, with a particular emphasis on youth and education, and it‟s programme is constantly growing in size and variety. National Westminster Bank plc National Westminster‟s comprehensive arts programme enables so many projects to flourish that it continues to demand recognition. The sponsorship of “Arts Access”, a national report on access in the arts for disabled people was a highlight of their community support programme this year .It will be the basis for action to improve facilities throughout the country.

Best Time First Sponsor Digital Equipment Company (DEC) DEC conceived a complete programme of seven projects designed to make a major impact on British dance at all levels. “Partners in Dance” balanced classical with contemporary, linked the regions to London, ranged from student scholarships to new choreography, and is the largest, most comprehensive single sponsorship of one art form by a first time sponsor. James Henry Estate Agents For a first-time sponsor to support a new play is unusual, but imaginative sponsorship by a small estate agent broke new ground. The theme of David Pownall‟s “The Viewing” at the Greenwich Theatre inspired a poster design incorporating the sponsor‟s “For Sale” board, thereby advertising the sponsor in a highly ingenious way. Mont Blanc “Comic Iconoclasm”, a major international exhibition of the art of the comic strip at the ICA in London, gave Mont Blanc the opportunity for product promotion. Their slogan “The Art of Writing” was used to advantage in a caption writing competition at the show, which highlighted the work of artists within the pop culture and the art of the pen.

Best Youth Sponsorship Prudential Corporation The London Philharmonic Orchestra wished that its educational schemes were more imaginative than simply inviting children to concerts. Prudential planned to give its corporate image a “human face”. The resulting sponsored concert was the climax of months of work for the LPO musicians and over 50 Tower Hamlets schools and featured Carl Davis‟s specially commissioned piece “Beginners Please”. W H Smith & Son Limited W H Smith re-launched its art sponsorship programme to increase public awareness of its commitment to literature, the performing arts and young people. An important new element of the programme is “Interact” with the National Theatre Education Department, where students across the country can, through workshops, share the skills and imagination of our National Theatre.

Best Commission of New Art in Any Medium Rixon Matthews Appleyard Limited These insurance brokers raised their profile in Hull by an exciting commission of 5 new sculptures on a maritime theme from young sculptors. The long-term commitment of a firsttime sponsor to contemporary sculpture should be an example to others in a region and art form much neglected.

Best Sponsorship of Arts and Disabled People Hickson International plc Amongst many imaginative projects initiated by Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Hickson International‟s sponsorship of the Access Sculpture Trail is particularly significant. Disabled visitors to the Park can enjoy sculpture in a specially designed and landscaped environment. Hickson International, a local firm, also gave timber products for walkways, signs and other structures on the Trail.

ABSA Arts Award donated by W H Smith & Son Limited Artists’ Agency and London City Ballet (Joint Winners) The Artists‟ Agency persuaded business to commission art and house residencies in an area of high unemployment. The works of art and the satisfaction of the sponsors are a tribute to the small staff‟s pioneering work. London City Ballet‟s existence depends on private funding and the drive and imagination of all the staff and volunteers in attracting sponsors to enable the company to grow in size and quality is remarkable.

Ends

A brief history 1976 Association for Business Sponsorship of the Arts (ABSA) founded, based on a model developed in New York by David Rockefeller. The first organisation of its kind, ABSA pioneered business sponsorship of the arts in UK, which in 1976 was worth £600,000. (By 2009 that figure had risen to £686 million) 1978 Created the Arts & Business Awards in seven categories 1983 Colin Tweedy LVO OBE becomes Chief Executive of Arts & Business 1987 HRH The Prince of Wales becomes Patron, now President 1988 Develops UK-wide coverage, with offices in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland 1988 Launches new programme to bring business skills into the arts 1991 Develops the largest national network for information, knowledge and skills sharing for fundraisers 1991 Co-launches CEREC (the Comité Européen pour le Rapprochement de l‟Economie et de la Culture) a pan-European body to develop national and cross-border business support of the arts 1999 ABSA changes name to Arts & Business, and includes nine offices across the UK

www.artsandbusiness.org.uk @arts_business Facebook.com/arts.business ABSA Awards: A Celebration of 10 Years’ Business Sponsorship of the Arts. Original hardcopy published by Telegraph Publications. Designed by Kate Stephens and Philippa Ovens. Typeset in Great Britain by Paragraph; Printed by Richard Clay, Chichester ISBN 0 86 367 1837. © Telegraph Publications 1987. Online version © Arts & Business 2014