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Scarborough Spa and Whitby Pavilion to Return to Council Control

Scarborough Borough Council will take back control of the Scarborough Spa and Whitby Pavilion from January.

The venues have been operated by a private company (SIV) for the last 8 years, they now want to end their contract early due to funding issues made worse by the COVID situation.

SIV took over the operation of the Scarborough Spa, Whitby Pavilion and Scarborough Cliff Lift in 2012.The contract was for a period of 10 years to expire at the end of September 2022. In April 2014, SIV also took over the operation of Peasholm Café.

SIV have previously indicated that they have had difficulties in meeting budget expectations over the last few years and have increasingly turned to the Council for additional support. They say there have been a number of challenges over the last few years, especially relating to the Spa,with the ongoing repairs to the roof of the little theatre, the essential cliff stabilisation works and of course the global pandemic.

As is the case with many venue operators and the events industry, SIV have been unable to establish ways to operate any of their venues safely during the COVID outbreak leading to the closures of Scarborough Spa and Whitby Pavilion.

Yesterday the Borough Council's cabinet backed a plan to take over the venues.

Director Nick Edwards outlined the plan to the cabinet.

Leader of the Council Steve Siddons has backed the plan and says there is an opportunity to look at the future role of the venues

The Council is now looking to take back operational responsibility for all four venues in January.

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