Birmingham Hippodrome is an independent, not-for-profit, registered charity welcoming an average 500,000 visits annually making it the most popular single auditorium in the UK.

A full list of our current volunteer Trustees, and those who have kindly offered their time, expertise and support over the last 30 years, can be viewed here.
We are proud of our close relationship with Birmingham Royal Ballet and DanceXchange (our resident partners) as well as being the only English venue to present all of Welsh National Opera’s repertoire. We welcome the very best in international dance, major touring dramas, West End musicals and pantomime. Our building also houses the 200-seat Patrick Centre for the Performing Arts as well as extensive in house conference facilities and our very own restaurant.

As a charity with no public revenue funding, Birmingham Hippodrome receives generous support from the business community through sponsorship and other partnerships; from individuals through donations and memberships; and from grant-making Trusts for special programming and infrastructure projects. We are a major employer and play a leading role in the Southside Business Improvement District.

During our 2013/14 financial year, we presented 404 performances attended by 625,732 patrons retaining our position as the highest attended single theatre in the UK. This was our best result in the history of the Theatre Trust and beats all known records for over 50 years.

Musicals form around 48% of our performances, Pantomime 19%, Ballet 16% and Opera 3%. Other performances include drama, dance and comedy. We sell around 17% of tickets at a discounted rate for education, audience development and access (including patrons aged 18 and under or 60+, full-time students, benefits claimants and Passport to Leisure holders). Just over 4% of tickets are sold with an access discount and we sell over 14,000 tickets to schools, plus nearly 1,500 free tickets for teachers. We also offer a very popular ‘Relaxed Performance’ of Pantomime plus regular assisted performances including sign-language interpreted, audio-described and captioned shows.

Hippodrome Creative
Our growing programme of creative learning, community and outdoor performance includes projects such as the Young Carers’ summer school; the Matthew Bourne ‘Curtain Raiser’ with local colleges; workshops with the deaf-blind charity Sense and with Age Concern; and the theatre’s weekly drama classes with special needs experts, Open Theatre.

Our free Summer in Southside weekend features the best in outdoor performance, attracting thousands to our local district. On behalf of Birmingham Arts Partnership, Hippodrome Creative produced 4 Squares Weekender to celebrate the opening of the new Library of Birmingham in 2013; and Birmingham Weekender (Sep 2015) to celebrate the opening of New Street Station and Grand Central, and the city’s Rugby World Cup games.

Hospitality, Conferences & Events
We own and manage all our catering and hospitality services in-house, ensuring the highest quality customer experience. We operate our very own Circle Restaurant in addition to our foyer bars and Deli Bar. Our many private suites are also in demand for show hospitality and daytime meetings and events for a range of corporate and charity clients.

Environmental Management, Customer Service and Staff Awards
In 2010 we were the first UK theatre to be registered to ISO14001, an international standard for Environmental Management Systems. Recently we have been re-certified at this standard, and also achieved certification in OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System. During 2013/14 the Hippodrome compacted and sent for incineration 116 tons of waste, recycled 38 tons of glass and 2 tons of plastic bottles, 12 tons of cardboard and 3.5 tons of paper. This has saved 176 tons going to landfill. Our Environmental Policy Statement can be viewed HERE.

Our Customer Services team achieved the Gold Standard Badge for World Class Service in 2013, one of only three companies to do so. And we were recently listed in the TOP 100 of the well known Sunday Times ‘Best Not-for-Profit Organisations to Work For in the UK’.