Tag Archives: Neil Chandler
Our latest podcast on giraffes, Marks & Sparks and murder
In our latest Croydon Insider podcast, our guests catch up on what’s happening in Croydon, discussing the spate of murders in and around the borough, plus what’s caught their eye on the pages of our website over the past couple … Continue reading
Podcast: The Croydon Insider discusses issues of the week
Hear about the plans to get Croydon’s biggest organ throbbing once more. Listen as our guests discuss the arrogance of local authority chief executives who have described a £6,000 per year pay rise as ‘pettiness’. Talk about Croydon’s speeding drivers. … Continue reading
Podcast: Croydon Insider – the Borough of Culture Special
Fairfield Halls struggling to sell tickets for Culture opener
Our veteran arts correspondent, BELLA BARTOCK, on the council-owned arts centre’s struggle to win back its old audiences There’s mounting, and justifiable, concern that the Fairfield Halls, despite the best-efforts of its new-ish operators, are failing to win back audiences … Continue reading
Council ignored £5m offer to revive Fairfield’s reputation
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Moves to take the management of the troubled arts centre out of the hands of Bournemouth-based BHLive are being resisted by Labour politicians. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Senior officials and the Labour cabinet member in charge of … Continue reading
Fairfield Halls’ £70m fiasco: ‘BxB didn’t know what it was doing’
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Trade newspaper The Stage has described the five-year saga of the Fairfield Halls refurbishment as a ‘catastrophic mess’ and a ‘£70m fiasco’. Now, the centre’s former artistic director has broken his silence over the bungling of Brick … Continue reading
Facing uncertain future, Fairfield Halls returns all its pianos
The Fairfield Halls had the removal men in yesterday – taking away the arts venue’s pianos. Inside Croydon understands that the pianos – nine in total, including two grand pianos – have been returned to their makers after the venue … Continue reading
Three months late, BID hires headhunters to recruit chair
Croydon BID, the organisation made up of some of the town centre’s biggest businesses, has gone into the covid-19 crisis while looking for someone to chair the organisation. As predicted by Inside Croydon, the departure from the Fairfield Halls of … Continue reading
Seconds out: Operator hopes wrestling will boost Fairfield Halls
EXCLUSIVE: The art venue’s director quit in a dispute over dumbing down of its programme in a bid to boost ticket sales, reports BELLA BARTOCK, who has discovered that BHLive are recruiting for Neil Chandler’s replacement, but offering a lesser … Continue reading
Fairfield Halls needs to be more London, and less Bournemouth
CROYDON COMMENTARY: Could Brit Awards-winner Stormzy help to save the Fairfield Halls? Following Inside Croydon’s exclusive news report yesterday that Neil Chandler, the venue’s artistic director, had quit amid growing concerns about poor audiences in the first six months since … Continue reading
Fairfield Halls director quits less than six months after opening
EXCLUSIVE: A £42.6m white elephant without its mahout? Our arts correspondent, BELLA BARTOCK, reports on the most dramatic of exits from the Fairfield Halls Neil Chandler has left the building. The Fairfield Halls’ venue and artistic director has left his … Continue reading
‘Lack of trust’ sees arts venue selling just 26% of tickets
With the Fairfield Halls refurbishment costs now confirmed as £42.6m, and still rising, the venue is struggling to win back its audiences, as KEN LEE reports The costs of refurbishing the Fairfield Halls rose by another £1.6million in just five … Continue reading
What’s in a name? Ashcroft Theatre is sign of commonsense
Our arts critic, BELLA BARTOCK, on how pointless meddling with an established venue’s name could be a cause of marketing confusion There’s been something of a victory for commonsense, for the views of local councillors and, it has to be … Continue reading
Who’d pay £50 to see Barry from accounts as Max Bialystock?
It may be more than a year late in re-opening, and is at least £11million over budget, but that hasn’t stopped the operators at the Fairfield Halls from continuing to pursue their pointless exercise of re-naming the Ashcroft Theatre. Workmen … Continue reading
What a joke! Fairfield bookings open ahead of website launch
Tax-dodger Jimmy Carr is one of a handful of headline acts who will be performing at the Fairfield Halls next year. Provided, of course, that the much-delayed refurbishment project is finished in time. The Fairfield Halls management had promised a … Continue reading
Fairfield Halls chief tells councillors not to ask questions
Political editor WALTER CRONXITE reports on how the manager hired to run the Fairfield Halls won’t tolerate questions about the venue from the borough’s elected representatives Neil Chandler, the former cruise ship entertainments officer who has been placed in charge … Continue reading
Joy to the world: Please don’t wreck our Arnhem Gallery
Political editor WALTER CRONXITE on a rare outbreak of critical thinking in the council chamber, as one councillor spells out for the Fairfield Halls management the blatant imbecility of one of their proposed name changes At last, a Labour councillor … Continue reading
Now Fairfield operators want to re-name the Ashcroft Theatre
Our arts correspondent, BELLA BARTOCK, on the latest piece of meddling going on around the much-delayed arts venue’s refurbishment Neil Chandler, the former cruise ship entertainments officer who has been placed in charge of the Fairfield Halls’ artistic programme has … Continue reading
People of Arnhem say ‘We won’t change Croydonplein’s name’
The good burghers of Arnhem, Croydon’s twin town in the Netherlands, won’t be changing the name of Croydonplein, the residential square in the town centre, regardless of how the Fairfield Halls might discard part of this borough’s heritage by renaming … Continue reading
92% say council should stop Arnhem Gallery name change
Even long-standing council staff have been outspoken about the proposals to change the Arnhem Gallery’s name. “Who comes up with this twaddle?” they said, as our arts correspondent, BELLA BARTOCK, reports Nine out of 10 responders to an Inside Croydon … Continue reading
Arnhem link could be dropped from refurbished Fairfield Halls
The council and BHLive, the venue managers appointed to run the Fairfield Halls, have been accused of “crass cultural vandalism” over secretive plans to change the name of the Arnhem Gallery when the town centre arts venue re-opens. The arts … Continue reading
New Fairfield Halls chief finds time to chair business group
Croydon BID, the town centre business group, has appointed Neil Chandler, recently hired as the venue director of the Fairfield Halls, as its new chairman. That could be bad news for the Fairfield Halls, which was supposed to re-open after … Continue reading
Chandler lands ‘best job in town’ as Fairfield Halls director
Neil Chandler, a former operations manager at Fairfield Halls, has been appointed venue director for the borough’s cultural hub, which is due to re-open in 12 months’ time following a council-funded £30million refurbishment. The appointment was announced this week by … Continue reading
