Worthing Borough Council wants a new operator for Colonnade House's galleries and 10 studios from April 2027. Bids from £35,000 a year close 30 November.
Worthing Borough Council is looking for someone to run Colonnade House, the arts hub on Warwick Street, when the current lease ends in March 2027. Bids close at 5pm on Monday 30 November.
The Adur & Worthing Trust, an arts and heritage charity, has run the building with the council since 2016. In its announcement, the council said the trust’s lease expires in March 2027 and that it has “a legal duty” to put the next lease out to open tender. The new lease would start in April 2027.
What is on offer
The building has been split into three parts, set out in the council’s expression of interest pack (reference COLWBC26). Groups can bid for one, two or all three:
| Part | What it is | Minimum rent a year |
|---|---|---|
| Zone A | Two street-facing galleries on the ground floor | £10,000 |
| Zone B | Ten artists’ studios over three upper floors | £20,000 |
| Zone C | A new workshop space next door in High Street, about 290 sq ft | £5,000 |
Every bid must include the galleries. The council wants at least £35,000 a year plus VAT for all three together. The lease would be full repairing and insuring, so the tenant would cover repairs and insurance. Bidders propose their own length of lease.
The whole building is about 2,115 sq ft. The ground-floor galleries are small, at 129 and 46 sq ft; the studios range from about 119 to 348 sq ft.
Who can bid
The pack asks for a submission of no more than 10 pages. Bidders need:
- at least two years of running similar operations
- a recent 12 months of accounts
- a funding record and a projected budget for the building
- a plan for what they would put on, and how
- a statement on accessibility and inclusion
Proposals must follow Arts Council England’s “Let’s Create” strategy. The council says it particularly wants more types of art in Worthing, a ground floor that stays open and inviting to people walking past, and a plan that pays its way.
Money matters most. A business plan that stands up carries 40 per cent of the marks, twice as much as experience. A panel of council officers, councillors and community representatives will do the scoring.
The timetable
- Monday 30 November, 5pm: bids close
- Week of 7 December: interviews
- Thursday 17 December: decision in principle
- January to March 2027: contracts and handover
- 1 April 2027: new operator moves in
The building
Colonnade House was built in the early 1800s as a library and post office, according to the pack. It was partly destroyed by fire about 80 years later and remodelled in the 1930s.
It became a creative hub in 2016, after the council won money from the Coastal Communities Fund. The pack says two staff run it today, a gallery coordinator and a gallery assistant, backed by a culture manager at the council. The hub recently marked its tenth anniversary with an exhibition by artists from every year it has been open.
Councillor Dom Ford, Worthing’s cabinet member for communities, culture and leisure, said: “Colonnade House is extremely important to the local creative community here in Worthing, which is testament to the great partnership with the Adur & Worthing Trust over the last 10 years.”
What it means for you
- If you run an arts organisation: email your expression of interest to richard.manders@adur-worthing.gov.uk with the subject line “Colonnade House EOI. Ref: COLWBC26” before 5pm on 30 November.
- If you rent a studio there: the pack does not say what happens to existing studio licences when the lease changes hands, or whether the trust is bidding. Ask the trust or the council before you plan beyond March.
- If you visit the galleries: nothing changes before April 2027, and every bid has to keep the ground-floor galleries open to the public.
For more on what is happening in the town, see our guide to things to do in Worthing.
Have your say