Member Article

World-renowned Bird College demonstrates commitment to training performers despite COVID-19 challenges

One of the UK’s most acclaimed performing arts colleges, Bird College, has added a new state-of-the-art dance and theatre classroom to its facility, underlining the school’s commitment to future performers despite the industry’s recent struggles caused by the pandemic.

The new, two-storey building is a modular facility and the second of its kind in two years for the world-renowned college. It mirrors another classroom on-site, which was delivered back in 2019.

The project team for both facilities consisted of specialist asset management company, Solutions Asset Finance, and leading modular build supplier, Elliott Group.

Completion of this latest space has helped to ensure continuity of operation for the South London-based school during these challenging times, enabling them to take on more students and increase revenue at a time when the arts has been hit extremely hard. When discussing the new facilities, Shirley Coen, CEO and Joint Principle of Bird College said: “We are thrilled with the results of the new teaching facility, which will go a long way in ensuring our students have access to the space and resources required for their education and training.

“Working with the teams at SAF and Elliott Group was a fantastic experience first time around, so it was obvious to us that we should work with them again when we needed a second facility. We were very impressed with both the quality of the building and the flexible finance agreement put in place to pay for it. The entire process was simple and seamless, and we hope to work with them again on future projects.”

With modular buildings being so flexible and reusable, the project is being viewed as a long-term investment strategy for the college, which wanted to increase space to accelerate the uptake of new pupils.

Jane Tabiner, Managing Director at Solutions Asset Finance, said: “We were thrilled when Bird College approached us about financing a new facility for a second time, following the success of the first project completed in 2019. It’s also wonderful to have played a role in helping them to increase their student cohort and revenue at such challenging times.

“We’ve collaborated with Elliott Group on projects for almost a decade and are confident their modular facilities are built with excellence in mind. Using asset finance to fund these facilities is a fantastic, long-term investment made by Bird College, which plays an important role in the UK’s performing arts industry. We look forward to working with both companies again in the future.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Will .