What is happening to Square Chapel: Well-known Halifax business couple asked to take on town's troubled theatre and have not ruled out offering again

In the wake of the theatre’s closure this week and with a question mark hanging over its future, property expert and businessman Stewart Charnock-Bates - who founded chartered surveyors and auctioneers Charnock Bates – has explained how he and his wife Beverly put a case together for managing the venue back in 2020.

Asked whether they would do so again, he said “never say never”.

"It needs to be run for the people of Halifax from a community perspective but it also needs to be run as a business,” he said.

"It has to be self-sufficient.

"It needs someone creative and it needs to be run by someone who understands the town.”

Square Chapel went into administration in March 2020 and was taken over later that year by Arts At The Mill CIC – the umbrella name for Wigan organisations The Old Courts, Wigan Pier and The Royal Court Theatre.

Mr Charnock-Bates says he and his wife – who is the director of a property company - were in touch with the receivers overseeing the administration who were receptive to their proposals to run Square Chapel.

But he says Arts Council England would not even meet with the couple, and handed the venue to the Wigan-based organisation because they had experience running a “community building”.

“We told them this would happen,” Mr Charnock-Bates said, referring to the closure of Square Chapel this week.

"We explained at that time that the building has to be able to be totally self-sufficient otherwise another project will fail.

"How right we were!”

Having operated Charnock Bates for over 30 years and other property companies that specialise in the restoration of listed buildings, he said the receivers told him they felt the couple had the local knowledge to relate to the people of Halifax but also the experience in the restoration of a property like Square Chapel.

Mr Charnock-Bates believes the theatre has been “discarded” by Arts at the Mill but can succeed without the need of any external funding if run in the right way.

"I do feel aggrieved that our proposal was totally ignored,” he added.

"We would have brought our experience to Square Chapel, our understanding of old property, our knowledge of Halifax and our love for the venue.”

A spokesperson for Arts Council England declined to comment.

Concern for the future of Square Chapel has been growing for some time, with the Courier reporting in September how a spokesperson for the group running the venue had admitted there were “a number of artists” who have not been paid following performances there.

A spokesperson for Square Chapel also revealed then that Arts Council England at one stage froze payments to the theatre because of its concerns.

In a statement on Wednesday, Square Chapel CIC – which runs the venue – said it is closing “whilst we work with professional services to discuss the future of the venue”.

It added: “This means that unfortunately all future events have been cancelled until a decision is made about the future of the venue.”