'Sponsors will desert arts over opera tragedy'

In a blunt warning to ministers, they claim that if the company is scaled down, many of Scotland’s high-profile arts sponsors will flee the sector, unwilling to be associated with "failure".

The consequences of such a move would be catastrophic for arts organisations, which rely massively on private sector sponsorship to stage major events. Scottish Opera has benefited from funding of around 100,000-a-year from the Bank of Scotland during its recent staging of Wagner’s Ring Cycle.

Private sponsorship of the Edinburgh International Festival is healthy, having reached 2m, ensuring that high quality art can be produced.

But business leaders warned that destroying one of the nation’s flagship arts institutions in Scottish Opera could have a knock-on effect which would remove much of the allure for sponsoring Scotland’s arts sector as a whole.

"This would give a terminal signal to business funding because Scottish Opera is so important," said Colin Tweedy, chief executive of Arts and Business, a UK-wide institution which makes links between the private sector and the arts world. "Business backs success and not something that they feel is a failure."

He added: "Every business is always evaluating how it spends its money. This could damage the potential for sponsorship because it takes away a key part."

Tweedy spoke out as Scottish Opera’s staff were preparing to learn their fate later this week, when board members will unveil future plans.

With debts of more than 4m, it is understood they will be forced to accept a 5m "restructuring plan" proposed by ministers, under which the 35 members of the chorus would go part-time and its current home, the Theatre Royal in Glasgow, would be leased out privately.

Culture Minister Frank McAveety has insisted that he remains committed to the company’s long-term future, but supporters of the company claim that the proposals will lead to its destruction, preventing it from producing high quality opera.

They are calling for McAveety to increase the company’s 7.4m subsidy. The furious row over the issue continued to escalate last week, after the chairman of the Scottish Arts Council, James Boyle, attacked the company’s board, claiming that no public company should be allowed to be "profligate".

But supporters point to the government’s own review, from 2002, which recommended that the company could only exist in its current form with extra funding.

Tweedy’s comments were backed by Sandy Orr, executive chairman of the City Inn Ltd, and former board member of the Scottish Arts Council, who has been outspoken in his criticism of McAveety’s plans.

Orr also warned that allowing Scotland’s arts scene to wither would leave major firms with one less reason to keep their bases in Scotland. "Business has a major interest in the welfare of the arts. Business has an interest because of the effects on quality of life and its effects on business," Orr said.

"For example, the Bank of Scotland was a huge supporter of Scottish Opera and it has got a great record of supporting the arts.

"They are doing it because it is an investment which they regard as valuable from their point of view. It is a means of promoting their business.

"We have some of the biggest businesses in Britain here. I’m not suggesting that there is a direct connection with Scottish Opera, but one of the reasons firms like the Royal Bank of Scotland have located here is that it has got an excellent quality arts scene where staff and customers can participate.

"If it was a barren place then these companies would think twice about coming or staying here," he added.

Recent research has shown how firms such as the Bank of Scotland have benefited massively from their association with Scottish Opera.

The survey found that, after the bank sponsored the company’s staging of the Ring Cycle at the Edinburgh Festival, nearly 50% of people said they believed it was a major supporter of the arts.

Tweedy, who is based in London, said the Scottish Opera saga was being watched anxiously by Europe’s entire arts community.

If the opera was to suffer "it would be nothing short of a tragedy, in as much as this is one of the truly great companies around at present", he said.

"Scotland must never be seen to be parochial. It has always been an international country and always a world player.

"Therefore, having an opera company is about being seen, and that is what the business community has seen itself as well."

Tweedy added: "If you want to be seen to exist on an international stage, then you should have an international opera company.

If a government gives the impression that it only cares about sport, it makes it more difficult for the arts to be supported."