BLAIZE

What BLAIZE does

Blaize Community Arts (legal entity: Blaize Ltd) is a United Kingdom-based community arts organization founded in approximately 1994 and headquartered in West Yorkshire, operating for over 30 years under the leadership of Director and General Manager Ellen Thorpe and Artistic Director Mike Bettison. Its core function is rural touring: the organization delivers live theatre, music, dance, children's entertainment, and comedy directly to village halls, libraries, and community venues across the north of England, operating two flagship touring schemes — ArtERY Live (East Riding of Yorkshire, founded by Thorpe at the invitation of Arts Council England) and LiveLincs (Lincolnshire). Beyond touring, Blaize runs community arts workshops covering video, audio, music, drama, and performance, tailored to varied skill levels and demographics including people with learning disabilities and those with Alzheimer's.

The business model is a hybrid of public arts funding and box-office income. The primary revenue stream is grant funding from Arts Council England, including Strategic Touring programme awards (notably the 2017 Dance Across the North project with Balbir Singh Dance Company), supplemented by ticket sales for individual touring performances across community venues. Pricing is event-specific and not publicly disclosed. The organization is privately held with no institutional investors, no parent company, no subsidiaries, no recorded funding rounds, and no M&A activity. Customer reach is concentrated in rural and underserved communities in East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, with international scope limited to collaborations through IETM, Contact East (Canada), and European touring partners (Peer Group NL, DasLetzte Kleinod D, 5eKwartier NL).

The technology footprint is minimal: a WordPress website (blaize.uk.net), Facebook, and Twitter are the primary digital channels, with no proprietary platform, mobile app, public API, or data assets. Operational differentiation is built on 30 years of community relationships, accredited ACE funding status, and a pop-up distribution model that physically transforms village halls into performance venues. The core team is approximately 11 people including the Director/GM, Artistic Director, Associate Artistic Director, and Associate Artist, supported by a UK-wide alliance of rural touring schemes that jointly book artists and share programming risk.

Name

BLAIZE

Legal name

Blaize Ltd

Website

https://blaize.uk.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Blaize Community Arts is a UK community arts organization that runs rural touring schemes (ArtERY Live in East Yorkshire and LiveLincs in Lincolnshire), bringing live theatre, music, dance, and comedy to village halls and libraries, primarily funded by Arts Council England.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Arts Touring Services

NAICS

Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries (711), Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries (713), Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Performing Arts Organizations (Theater, Dance, Opera, Music) (BPAGAHAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Arts Education & Community Arts Programs (BPAGAHAC), Media Arts & Performance (Film, Stagecraft, Lighting, Sound) (EDAMAAAJ)

Keywords

• Rural arts touring
• Community arts programming
• Performing arts tours
• Live entertainment booking
• Arts workshop services

Headquarters

HQ city

Yorkshire

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Arts Council Funding: Primary funding from Arts Council England, including Strategic Touring funding for specific projects
2. Ticket Sales: Revenue from ticket sales for touring performances and events

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Blaize Community Arts is a rural touring arts organisation that delivers live theatre, music, dance, comedy, and children's entertainment directly to community venues across East Riding of Yorkshire (via ArtERY Live) and Lincolnshire (via LiveLincs). It transforms village halls and libraries into professional-quality performance spaces and provides community arts workshops in video, audio, music, drama, and performance for varied skill levels and demographics.

Product overview

Blaize Community Arts operates as a community arts organization delivering a portfolio of touring schemes and creative services. The core offerings include LiveLincs (Lincolnshire touring) and ArtERY Live (East Yorkshire touring), which bring quality theatre, music, dance, children's entertainment, and comedy directly to rural communities. The organization also provides community arts workshops in areas such as video, audio, music, drama, and performance. The company has delivered programming for approximately thirty years with Arts Council funding.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ArtERY Live: Rural touring scheme in East Yorkshire bringing quality arts performances to community venues
• Live Lincs

Products and services

• LiveLincs

Quantifiable outcome

• Reached audiences outside 'highly engaged' segments as defined by ACE research

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Balbir Singh Dance CompanycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint enterprise on Dance Across the North project - a year-long tour of dance around community centres, market places and small venues in the north of England.
• Contact East (Canada)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMaritime states of Canada showcasing event that rotates among Canadian provinces. Blaize participates in co-ordinating visiting Canadian artists' tours across the North and into Shropshire and Herefordshire.
• IETMminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational network for contemporary performing arts. Blaize is a long-standing member and actively engages with artists and companies within IETM who work in rural areas, leading sessions and delivering presentations.
• UK Rural Touring Scheme AllianceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic alliance of touring scheme managers including Arts Alive, Spot On, Cheshire Rural Touring Arts, Arts Out West, Highlights, LiveLincs and ArtERYlive for joint booking of artists and sharing workload/risk.
• European Touring Partners (Peer Group NL, DasLetzte Kleinod D, 5eKwartier NL)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean companies collaborated to develop projects with a strong rural agenda across three countries.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Take Art: Somerset-based rural touring and participatory arts charity operating a comparable ACE-supported rural touring programme into village halls across the South West.
• Rural Arts (North Yorkshire): North Yorkshire organisation delivering touring performances and participatory arts to rural venues, directly overlapping Blaize's north-of-England geography and audience.
• Creative Arts East: Norfolk-based rural touring scheme bringing professional arts to village halls and community venues; operates the same model as Blaize in a different but comparable rural region.
• Arts Out West: Rural touring scheme covering the west of England and a UK Rural Touring Scheme Alliance peer, sharing artists and touring logistics with Blaize.
• Cheshire Rural Touring Arts: Rural touring scheme operating in Cheshire and part of the UK Rural Touring Scheme Alliance, delivering the same model of professional touring acts into village halls.
• Junction Arts: Community arts charity delivering touring arts and participatory projects in rural and ex-mining communities, sharing Blaize's combination of touring and workshop programming.
• Highlights Rural Touring Scheme: Northern England rural touring scheme and fellow UK Rural Touring Scheme Alliance member, presenting professional theatre, music and dance in non-traditional rural venues.
• Pentabus Theatre: Rural touring theatre company producing work specifically for village hall touring in the English countryside, closely aligned with Blaize's performing arts touring model.
• Arts Alive: UK rural touring scheme and member of the UK Rural Touring Scheme Alliance alongside Blaize; runs comparable professional arts bookings into rural community venues.
• Spot On (Rural Touring): Operates one of the UK Rural Touring Scheme Alliance schemes for rural touring of professional arts into village halls; explicitly listed as an alliance peer alongside Blaize's ArtERY Live.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/blaizearts
• Facebookfacebook.com/BlaizeInfo-109090651441516
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/blaize

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about BLAIZE