Up to 12 jobs could go at Eden Court
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STAFF at Eden Court are facing redundancy as bosses at the Inverness theatre attempt to deal with funding cuts.
The paper understands as many as 12 of the theatre’s outreach staff stand to lose their jobs, although the theatre would not confirm this.
Eden Court lost £400,000 worth of support from Creative Scotland and Highland Council this year.
Chief executive James Mackenzie-Blackman insisted everything possible was being done to mitigate the impact of the cuts, but admitted staff were being consulted on plans which could lead to some of them losing their jobs.
"Earlier in 2018, two months before the new financial year, Eden Court lost £400,000 of annual funding from Highland Council and Creative Scotland," he said.
"This represents a reduction of 40 per cent in our public sector funding, coming as it does after cuts in previous years from Highland Council.
"We understand that our funders face difficult choices and there are no easy answers.
"However, these cuts are significant and in order to survive we are looking at all ways that we can generate additional profitable revenue and reduce costs.
"We are consulting with some of our staff on a potential reorganisation which, if implemented, may result in redundancies.
"This reorganisation is one step towards mitigating the financial risk we are facing and to allow us to continue delivering a world-class programme of arts and culture for the people of the Highlands.
"We are committed to building on our existing work. However, we anticipate that some aspects of our programme will need to be redesigned and alternative sources of funding found.
"What we need most of all is the continuing support of our staff, our customers and the people of the Highlands which we serve."
