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A considerable amount of interest has been expressed recently by the Tower Theatre
membership as to what function is carried out by "The Guarantors", and just who they are and
why? This article aims to clarify the situation and invites anyone and everyone with the
Tower Theatre's well-being at heart to join the members of the Guarantors. It is written by
David Holyoake, a member of the Board of Directors of the Guarantors for over 15 years,
making him one of the more recent appointees to the Board. Other Board members include
our Financial Director, four past Tower Theatre Chairmen, and a few others with over 30 years
of Tower membership each.
The Tower Theatre Company was founded in 1932 in Tavistock Place WC1, hence the original and
legal name - the Tavistock Repertory Company (London) - and managed to successfully
survive the first 20 years of life without any need of Guarantors. However, when the company
decided to take on the lease of Canonbury Tower and King Edward's Hall, the landlords'
agents were somewhat sceptical of the ability of any amateur theatrical organisation to
meet the obligations that would be imposed on it by a lease that would include
1) payment of an agreed rental
2) employment of resident Wardens as required by the lease
3) full internal AND external repairs to a Grade II listed historic building,
in addition to the costs of ongoing heating and cleaning the buildings, really before any
productions could be mounted to pay for it.
To mitigate this uncertainty to the Landlord's satisfaction, the TRC established the concept
and legal entity of the Guarantors who would stand behind the TRC ready and committed to
step in to ensure those legal obligations would be met. Each Guarantor commits to
contribute up to a maximum of £25 towards these obligations should the company
fail as a business operation. So far, no Guarantor has been asked for a penny under these
terms. In 1952, £25 was a considerable amount of money for many individuals; it may
surprise today's readers that a list of around 50 Guarantors was adequate to satisfy the
Landlords' Agents, and since then the amount of personal guarantee has not changed.
That was the situation then, and today's situation is basically the same, though the
regulatory framework has been considerably revised during these 50+ years. Thus it became
apparent that the most advantageous structure was to have the Guarantors registered as a
Limited Company and a Charity (the full company name is Tavistock Repertory Guarantors Ltd. - or TRGL for short).
TRGL negotiates leases (including
storage facilities, office space etc), employs staff (Administrator, cleaners), and generally
provides a stable background against which the artistic endeavours of the Repertory
Company can operate. TRGL then charges the Tower Theatre Company for the use of these facilities.
As Guarantors, the individual Guarantor basically does nothing other than elect, at the TRGL
AGM, a Board of Directors who do the requisite legwork. This itself is totally
unrewarding in every sense; there is nothing of artistic fulfilment in the work, and no
Member of the Board is paid. In recent years, the burden on some has been considerable. Nobody
joined the Tower to spend their time negotiating contracts, inspecting potentially useful
properties, interviewing candidates for jobs, and such like. All this work is voluntary.
There has not been a drive to recruit more Guarantors for many years, but at the recent
AGM it was felt that now would be an appropriate time to go to Company Members and Friends
to see if others would be willing to take on this financial
commitment (now much reduced 'in real terms' thanks to 50+ years of inflation) and maybe even
bring new blood to the Board.
So, would you consider giving your support in this way to the Tower Theatre? Not in its
hour of need - your financial support would hopefully be separately requested before the
Company's life was seriously in danger - but in the hour of the Company's ceasing to exist,
should that situation ever come to pass. That may sound a little like a donation in memory
of past good times rather than an investment for the future. Financially, for the individual,
this is true; but collectively it shows a strength to the Company that will psychologically
help future fund-raising efforts to support our new home (wherever that may be) - just as it
did in back in 1952 when we moved to the Tower Theatre in Canonbury. As stated
above, we never needed the money! Nor do we need any mystery about the Guarantors, which is
why this is being written.
If you are willing to join, you can download a form here. Go on! If the Company
remains viable and vibrant - which is the enjoyable bit - it costs you nothing. Isn't that a
really good investment for you to make?
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