Birmingham Hippodrome’s Fiona Allan will be the new President of UK Theatre.  The announcement was made at UK Theatre’s AGM on Wednesday 22 June. The guest speaker at the event was Ed Vaizey MP, Minister of State for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries.

Fiona succeeds Rachel Tackley, Director of English Touring Theatre and soon to be Executive Director of Chichester Festival Theatre, who was elected as President in 2010.  Fiona Allan is Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Birmingham Hippodrome. Prior to this she spent four years at Curve, Leicester and six years at Wales Millennium Centre.

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Fiona Allan, new President of UK Theatre

Rachel Tackley said: “It has been a huge privilege to lead UK Theatre for six years and to have been able to bring about such a huge change in the organisation. I am proud of the work we have done and I am indebted to the great team at UK Theatre both past and present for all their inspiration and support. But we are only at the beginning of a very exciting journey and I am delighted to be handing over to Fiona Allan to continue to drive the organisation forward.”

Fiona Allan added:  “Rachel Tackley has provided outstanding leadership to UK Theatre, and I am honoured to succeed her as President.  Theatre and performing arts are crucial to the UK’s reputation as a creative industries global leader, yet are constantly challenged to evidence economic, cultural and social benefits. Arts leadership needs to be more flexible, resilient and entrepreneurial than ever before.  These are challenging times for theatre and performing arts organisations in the UK, and I look forward  to working with Julian Bird, Cassie Chadderton and the whole UK Theatre team to ensure we continue to provide the tools, advice and advocacy our membership needs to adapt and thrive in the current landscape.”

Julian Bird, Chief Executive of UK Theatre said:  “We are immensely grateful to Rachel for her tireless work and campaigning on behalf of UK Theatre and wish her the very best for the future. Theatre is one of the country’s most vibrant and important industries and will have a great champion in Fiona.”