UK Theatre Appoints Joint Presidents for the First Time in the Organization's History

Today (Wednesday 3 November) at the UK Theatre AGM, the UK Theatre membership have voted in Jon Gilchrist and Stephanie Sirr as Joint Presidents for the first time in the organisation's history.

Current UK Theatre President Fiona Allan, who is leaving the Birmingham Hippodrome for a new role at Opera Australia, stood down as President at the AGM (a year before the expiry of her term of office). With Fiona's tenure coming to an end, Stephanie Sirr automatically assumes the role of President as she is already the current Vice-President, and Jon Gilchrist becomes Interim Vice-President.

From the 2022 AGM for a 3-year term, Stephanie and Jon will be Joint Presidents.

A statement from Jon Gilchrist and Stephanie Sirr:

'We are delighted to be taking up the roles of Joint Presidents in order to continue the work of recent years to deliver an organisation that really supports our industry in its time of greatest need. There is a significant amount of work to be done to continue to move the sector forward and as Joint Presidents we will be better able to deliver this alongside also running venues.

'In addition, as Joint Presidents we underline the commitment of UK Theatre to job sharing and improving the industry's flexibility as employers. Finally, because the interests of both producing and presenting houses will be fully represented by us, we believe that at this critical time our combined approach will assist the sector in its recovery from the pandemic.

'A shared leadership will enable us to focus on a wider range of priorities, and to better reflect the needs of the membership. We are also committed to building a UK Theatre board that is more reflective of all areas of the industry. Over our term we look forward to working with the team at UK Theatre to build on the constitutional changes in place to diversify the board and positions of power.'

Information about newly appointed Board Members will follow in due course.