The Pound Arts Trust Limited

What The Pound Arts Trust Limited does

The Pound Arts Trust Limited is a UK-registered charitable company limited by guarantee that operates The Pound, a community arts centre in Corsham, Wiltshire. The organisation runs a year-round programme of live performances (music, theatre, comedy, dance), film screenings, visual art exhibitions, and creative learning activities built around a 100-seat auditorium and ancillary spaces including a café and gallery. Its stated mission is to connect people through creativity, with explicit emphasis on community access through free family events, partnerships with local schools and family support services, and subsidised programming for disadvantaged groups.

The centre operates an event-driven go-to-market model, generating revenue from ticket sales (typically £3–£24 per ticket depending on event type and concession status), venue and space hire, on-site café hospitality, Friends of The Pound membership subscriptions, workshops and classes, gift vouchers, and donations via match-funding campaigns such as the Big Give Christmas Challenge. It also benefits from grant funding from Wiltshire Council. Its technology stack is modest: a Next.js website backed by a Sanity CMS, with TicketSolve as the third-party ticketing infrastructure for online bookings, memberships, and donations. The organisation is not technology-led and develops no proprietary software.

The business model is fundamentally a community-impact non-profit rather than a commercial enterprise. Distribution is direct through the physical venue and online ticketing, supplemented by rural touring partnerships that extend reach into neighbouring Wiltshire communities. Strategic partnerships with Take Art (touring theatre), Institut D'Estudis Balearics (international cultural exchange), Corsham Primary Schools, Wiltshire Council, and Spurgeon's Family Hub are central to its programming and community reach. No revenue figures are publicly disclosed and the organisation has no disclosed funding rounds, venture capital, or private equity involvement.

Name

The Pound Arts Trust Limited

Legal name

The Pound Arts Trust Limited

Website

https://poundarts.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Pound Arts Trust Limited is a UK charitable trust operating The Pound, a 100-seat community arts centre in Corsham, Wiltshire, delivering a year-round programme of live performances, film screenings, exhibitions, and creative learning for local residents, schools, and disadvantaged families.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Arts Centre

NAICS

Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries (713), Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Performing Arts Centers & Presenters (Programming/Booking) (MPAGABAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Performing Arts Organizations (Theater, Dance, Opera, Music) (BPAGAHAB), Arts Education & Community Arts Programs (BPAGAHAC), Arts & Culture Service/Support Organizations (Networks, Advocacy, Capacity Building) (BPAGAHAL)

Keywords

• Community arts centre
• Live performance venue
• Art exhibitions
• Creative learning workshops
• Venue hire services

Headquarters

HQ city

Corsham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Ticket Sales: Direct ticket sales for performances, films, exhibitions, and events through their box office system. Pricing varies by event type with standard tickets, concessions, and special rates.
2. Venue and Space Hire: The Pound offers fully equipped spaces for hire including an auditorium seating 100 people, suitable for performances, talks, conferences and classes. Contact via box office for room bookings.
3. Cafe and Hospitality: On-site cafe serving cakes, scones, Bristol Twenty Coffee, specialist teas with plant-based and low gluten options. Friends get 10% discount.
4. Donations and Fundraising: The organisation accepts donations through their ticketing system and participates in the Big Give Christmas Challenge, a match-funding campaign to double donations.
5. Membership (Friends of The Pound): Friends membership programme offering benefits including priority booking access and 10% discount in the cafe bar.
6. Workshops and Classes: Revenue from creative learning activities including workshops, youth theatre summer school, art classes, and life drawing sessions.
7. Vouchers: Gift vouchers available for purchase through the ticketing system.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Pound Arts Trust Limited operates a community arts centre in Corsham, Wiltshire, delivering a year-round programme of live performances, film screenings, visual art exhibitions, and creative learning activities including workshops and youth theatre. Revenue is generated through ticket sales for events, venue and space hire of a 100-seat auditorium, an on-site café, Friends membership subscriptions, gift vouchers, and donations including Big Give Christmas Challenge match-funding. The organisation partners with touring companies, local schools, Wiltshire Council, and Spurgeon's family hub to extend its cultural and community programming across the region.

Product overview

Pound Arts operates as a community arts centre offering a multi-faceted programme of live performances, film screenings, visual art exhibitions, and creative learning activities. The core offering comprises: live events spanning music, theatre, comedy, and dance; cinema screenings including new releases, silent films with live accompaniment, National Theatre Live broadcasts, and Exhibition on Screen presentations; rotating gallery exhibitions featuring contemporary artists; and an extensive Take Part programme of workshops, regular creative activities, and youth theatre for all ages. Supporting services include an on-site café, venue hire facilities (100-seat auditorium), and a Friends membership programme. The organisation also delivers community outreach initiatives including family days and holiday activity programmes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Live Performances and Events

Named customers3 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

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Take ArtcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPound Arts partners with Take Art to bring touring theatre productions to their venue. The Lighthouse was brought to Pound Arts in partnership with Take Art, demonstrating a collaborative relationship to present professional theatre in the region.
• Wiltshire CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWiltshire Council provides funding for community programmes including Free Family Day events at Pound Arts. This partnership supports the organisation's community outreach and social impact objectives.
• Corsham Primary SchoolscoreGTM or Marketing PartnerCorsham primary schools identify and invite families to participate in community events like Free Family Days, helping extend reach to families who would benefit most from accessible arts activities.
• Spurgeon's Family HubminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCommunity Family Navigator from Spurgeon's family hub attends events to help families connect with local services and support, extending the social value of Pound Arts community programmes.
• Institut D'Estudis BalearicsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe DaBraccio Quartet concert is presented with support from Institut D'Estudis Balearics, indicating funding or promotional support for international cultural exchange performances.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Theatr Clwyd: Welsh regional arts centre operating a year-round programme across theatre, music, comedy, and community participation with comparable workshop/youth programming and charitable-trust governance.
• Lakeside Arts (University of Nottingham): Multi-venue arts centre combining a theatre, galleries, and workshop spaces for a mixed programme of live performance, visual arts, and creative learning — a close functional analogue for Pound Arts' venue-plus-education model.
• The Old Fire Station, Oxford: Charitable arts venue presenting theatre, music, comedy, exhibitions and participatory programmes with comparable small-scale venue dynamics and a strong outreach/community engagement focus.
• The Civic, Stourbridge: Mid-sized community arts venue in the West Midlands offering mixed live performance, film, and participatory arts programming, with comparable venue-hire, café, and membership income streams and similar regional audience dynamics.
• Gulbenkian Arts Centre (University of Kent): University-based arts centre offering theatre, cinema, live music, workshops, and a café/bar — a structurally similar multi-vertical programming venue with café revenue and venue-hire operations.
• The Albany, London: Community arts centre with a strong participatory and outreach mission, hosting performances, workshops, and family programmes targeted at local diverse communities — a directly comparable community-arts operating model.
• The Tobacco Factory Theatre: Community-focused performing arts venue in Bristol presenting a year-round programme of theatre, music, comedy, film, and workshops with a similar small-capacity auditorium model and community outreach ethos — making it one of the closest geographic and operational comparables.
• The mac Birmingham: Multi-artform community venue combining theatre, cinema, galleries, and workshops with a focus on participation and creative learning — directly comparable in scope, programming breadth, and charitable governance.

Broad incumbents

• Warwick Arts Centre: Larger-scale Midlands arts centre presenting a comparable mixed programme of theatre, music, comedy, and film with venue hire and family programming — operates at a meaningfully bigger scale but offers the same multi-genre venue model.

Others

• Take Art: Rural touring organisation explicitly named as a Pound Arts partner (The Lighthouse, Pagoda Project). It is an ecosystem participant — comparable as a funder/supplier of touring content reaching the same rural Wiltshire audiences.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pound-arts-trust-limited

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 The Pound Arts Trust Limited