Audience Agency goes into liquidation

The Audience Agency has announced that it has been put into voluntary liquidation.

A statement from the company, which has provided advice on audiences and cultural policy to arts and heritage organisations for the past 14 years, said: “This decision follows sustained financial pressures and extensive efforts to identify a viable way forward. After exploring various options with the team, the board has concluded that the charity can no longer continue operating in its current form.”

The Audience Agency offered various consulting and research services to the sector, including a tool for segmenting UK cultural audiences, and Let's Get Real, a series of action learning, research and skills development programmes that often focused on new technology.

The Audience Agency statement said: “We recognise the challenges facing the cultural sector, and we deeply regret the disruption this closure will cause for clients, staff and stakeholders. Our priority is to communicate clearly with everyone affected and to support our staff throughout the process.

“Significant public investment has contributed to the development of the Audience Agency’s research, platforms and evidence base. The knowledge, relationships and expertise created through that work represent an important and needed legacy. 

“With the support of the charity’s trustees, colleagues and partners are exploring appropriate ways in which this legacy might benefit the sector in future. We ask for patience and understanding during this period of uncertainty and change.”

The Audience Agency’s annual returns on the Charity Commission website for the year to 30 March 2024 show that the company had 58 employees and eight trustees. Total income for the year was £2,651,072 while expenditure was £3,125,699, making a deficit of about £474,000.

In November 2022 it was revealed that Arts Council England had appointed global consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers to run a new service modelled on Audience Finder, which the Audience Agency had run as a Sector Support Organisation since 2018.

The company’s 2023/24 accounts said it had “adopted a revised business plan as a result of the disinvestment from Arts Council England”.

It continued: “The board had agreed that 2023/24 would be a transition year for the Audience Agency, with the aim that by the end of the year, the organisation would have a clear strategy for the future, with an appropriate business model and organisational structure to support that.”

The Audience Agency merged with another sector consultancy, Culture24, in November 2023.

“We are immensely proud of what the Audience Agency has achieved alongside its staff, trustees, clients, funders, partners and the wider cultural sector,” said the statement from the company. “Together, we have strengthened the evidence available to policymakers and funders, supported organisations to understand their communities, innovate and grow their audiences, and developed nationally significant datasets, research and digital infrastructure.

“Despite this impact, continuing to provide the full scope of our affordable and free services has proved impossible in the current financial climate.”

The Audience Agency was placed into liquidation on 10 September, with Simon Farr and Tom Bowes of FRP Advisory Trading Limited appointed joint liquidators.