Spinning Wheel Theatre Limited

What Spinning Wheel Theatre Limited does

Spinning Wheel Theatre Limited is a registered charity (No. 1170509) and company limited by guarantee, founded in 2011 and headquartered in Rickinghall, Diss, Suffolk. The organisation operates as a rural touring theatre company, co-creating inclusive and accessible productions with children, families, schools, and rural communities across East Anglia. Its performance practice centres on accessibility techniques — multi-rolling, puppetry, song, Makaton signing, and relaxed performance spaces — designed to welcome young audiences and those with sensory processing needs. Core outputs include family touring productions (Five Little Ducks, The Velveteen Rabbit, A Christmas Carol, The Secret Garden, Casanova, Mindgame, Two, Measure for Measure), alongside schools programmes, the Let's Make History heritage project, Summer School, Colab:East early-career development, Creative Generations intergenerational work, and Bespoke Community Projects.

The underlying technology stack is operational rather than digital: production logistics, venue relationships, and co-creation methodologies. The company co-produces with regional theatres (New Wolsey Theatre, Mercury Theatre Colchester, Marina Theatre Lowestoft, Angles Theatre) and partners with heritage bodies (Lynn Museum, Ancient House Museum), libraries (Suffolk Libraries), and broadcasters (BBC Radio Suffolk/Norfolk). Two Co-Artistic Directors (Amy Wyllie/Amy Potter and Becca Gibbs) lead the organisation, supported by a seven-member Board of Trustees and 35 freelance creatives (94% East Anglia-based).

Revenue is generated as a charity through three streams: grant funding from charitable trusts and the National Lottery Heritage Fund (dominant), individual donations (one-time, monthly, quarterly, and annual options at £10/£20/£30/£40 or custom amounts), and ticket sales (less than 10% of total). The organisation raises approximately £150K annually and provides 70% of activity for free, including bursary places and complimentary tickets to food banks and children on free school meals.

Name

Spinning Wheel Theatre Limited

Legal name

Spinning Wheel Ltd

Website

https://spinningwheeltheatre.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Spinning Wheel Theatre is a registered charity and rural touring theatre company that co-creates inclusive, accessible productions with and for children, families, schools, and rural communities across East Anglia, delivering them via village halls, libraries, schools, and regional theatre partnerships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Theatre Services

NAICS

Other Performing Arts Companies (711190)

akta.pro primary industry

Children’s & Youth Theatre (MPAGABAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Touring Theatre Productions (MPAGABAC)

Keywords

• Rural touring theatre
• Community theatre productions
• Inclusive family theatre
• Children's theatre performances
• Creative arts education

Headquarters

HQ city

Rickinghall

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Grant Funding: Approximately £150K raised per year through grant-giving organisations and charitable trusts. Less than 10% of funding comes from ticket sales.
2. Ticket Sales: Ticket revenue from touring productions to rural venues, schools, and community centres.
3. Public Donations: One-time and recurring donations from individuals supporting the charity's work with children and communities.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Spinning Wheel Theatre is a rural touring theatre company based in East Anglia that creates and tours professional, inclusive, accessible theatre productions and creative projects for children, families, schools, and local communities. The company co-creates productions with young audiences and embeds accessibility features such as Makaton signing, puppetry, multi-rolling performances, song, and relaxed performance spaces. Alongside touring productions, it runs community projects, schools workshops, CPD for teachers, and early-career artist development programmes.

Product overview

Spinning Wheel Theatre Limited operates as a single, unified theatre production and community engagement organisation rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. The core offering consists of professional rural touring productions presented across East Anglia, including adaptations of literary classics (The Velveteen Rabbit, The Secret Garden, A Christmas Carol), original works (Casanova, Mindgame), and Shakespeare (Measure for Measure, Two). Supporting the productions are educational and community programmes including Summer School for young people aged 13-21, Let's Make History heritage projects for schools, Play/Practice/Process CPD training, Colab:East early-career artist development, Creative Generations intergenerational project, Youth Takeover, and Bespoke Community Projects. The company also embeds accessibility features including Makaton signing and relaxed performance spaces. The organisation functions as a registered charity (No. 1170509) founded in 2011, with associate artist status at New Wolsey Theatre.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Rural Touring Productions

Quantifiable outcome

• 76% of children experiencing live theatre for the first time
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• New Wolsey TheatrecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAssociate artists relationship from 2024, collaborating on co-productions including Five Little Ducks (2024-25) with New Wolsey Theatre as a producing partner.
• Mercury Theatre ColchesterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAssociate company relationship from 2017-2018, supporting rural touring productions.
• Suffolk LibrariescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProducing partner for Five Little Ducks (2024-25), bringing performances to library venues.
• Angles TheatreminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProducing partner for Five Little Ducks (2024-25).
• Marina Theatre LowestoftcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVenue partner for Creative Generations project performances and broadcasts on BBC Radio Suffolk and Norfolk.
• BBC Radio Suffolk and NorfolkminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorBroadcast partner for radio plays created through Creative Generations project.
• Lynn MuseumminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHeritage partner running hands-on history workshops for Let's Make History project.
• Ancient House MuseumminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHeritage partner running hands-on history workshops for Let's Make History project in Thetford and King's Lynn.
• University of CambridgeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed among supporters, suggesting institutional partnership or support relationship.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Half Moon Theatre: East London theatre producing professional work for young people and running extensive participation, CPD, and touring programmes, overlapping with Spinning Wheel on youth theatre, co-creation methodology, and education partnerships.
• Eastern Angles Theatre: Rural touring theatre company based in Suffolk that tours original productions to village halls and community venues across East Anglia, sharing Spinning Wheel's geographic niche, rural touring distribution model, and community-facing mandate.
• Pied Piper Theatre Company: Touring theatre company producing high-quality children's productions that travel to schools and community venues, sharing the rural/community touring model and primary focus on school-age audiences with Spinning Wheel.
• Polka Theatre: Children's theatre producing and presenting productions for 0-12 year olds alongside creative learning and outreach programmes, comparable in combining touring/participatory work for young audiences with a strong education-sector focus.
• Unicorn Theatre: London's leading children-focused producing theatre, creating professional work for young audiences with an explicit inclusivity and accessibility agenda directly comparable to Spinning Wheel's co-creation and relaxed-performance approach.
• Little Angel Theatre: London-based children's theatre company producing professional productions and participatory projects for young audiences, comparable in mission to deliver inclusive theatre for children and families using accessible techniques such as puppetry.

Broad incumbents

• Mercury Theatre Colchester: Regional producing theatre in Essex where Spinning Wheel was previously an associate company (2017-18); a larger fixed-venue incumbent with broader programming but overlapping interest in family work and rural touring.
• New Wolsey Theatre: Regional producing theatre in Ipswich with whom Spinning Wheel is an associate artist and co-producer; a larger fixed-venue incumbent offering overlapping family programming and providing producing infrastructure that Spinning Wheel plugs into.
• Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds: Regional producing theatre in Suffolk where Co-Artistic Director Amy Wyllie previously worked in creative learning; a broader incumbent theatre in the same East Anglia footprint that overlaps on family programming and creative learning for schools.

Emerging players

• Big House Theatre Company: Small-scale touring theatre company producing original work that tours to rural and community venues; an emerging peer with a comparable touring/community engagement profile but smaller established network than Spinning Wheel.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SpinningTheatre
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@spinningwheeltheatre5875
• Facebookfacebook.com/spinningwheeltheatre
• Instagraminstagram.com/spinningwheeltheatre
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/shanghai-fire-museum

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 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 Spinning Wheel Theatre Limited