Column: Councillor Paul Bellenger: The benefits and the costs of the Piece Hall

This stunning building rose like a phoenix from the ashes: closing its doors back in 2014 and reopening in 2017 after undergoing a £19million conservation and transformation programme.

The building has seen a plethora of small businesses open along its colonnades which all overlook the 1.7-acre open courtyard with its cascading water features and aesthetically pleasing layout, which combines the old architecture with the new and which I can honestly say works really well.

The Piece Hall has now become such an iconic building that it has gained worldwide recognition. Visitors come from many corners of the world and can spend the day perusing the shops, enjoying food at one of the many eateries dotted around the edge, and, during the summer, be entertained by the many acts who perform for the thousands of evening visitors.

The Piece Hall has helped boost the economy of Halifax town centre, especially during the entertainment season, as many people arrive early and visit the restaurants and bars within the vicinity of the Piece Hall. Many of these people have travelled from far and wide, bringing in revenue from outside the borough

Taking on board everything mentioned above, we might by now expect the Piece Hall to be in a strong financial position. Unfortunately, this is not the case and recent accounts show a £700,000 loss, even though there is an increase in income of £3.8million from charitable activities.

The recent financial report (publicly available online) clearly shows the astronomical wages bill of £4.184million, covering 119 staff, with two senior staff in receipt of £250,000 per year, the CEO of the Trust being one of them with a remuneration of £166.750 over the past 18 months.

There is a substantial amount of detail to digest in the financial report, especially around the worrying losses from a place which I believe should really be thriving and generating income. Instead, it has to be propped up with taxpayers’ money.

Is it time for a change with regards the running of the Piece Hall, and should this be from the top down? Should a review take place with regards to the remuneration packages senior staff are currently receiving? There are a number of questions that should be quite rightly asked. We cannot lose the Piece Hall, yet we cannot afford to keep bailing it out every year due to its losses. Somebody is accountable for these losses and to me it’s the person who gets paid the most.

I personally would like to see more events take place that are organised by the Piece Hall itself, rather than by external companies who take the lion’s share of ticket sales.

The Piece Hall should have a full diary of events throughout the whole year with no week where nothing is taking place, and with more ticketed events in the evenings.

I would certainly like to hear people’s thoughts and ideas on this.