ATC History
Historical Development
•ATC was formed in 1983 (as the Arts Training Programme at De Montfort University) as the first dedicated provider of management training to the arts sector. It is constituted under UK law as a not-for-profit company with a volunteer Board of Directors.
•Its annual programme of short courses from 1983-94 featured topics such as Financial Planning, Marketing, and Managing People, and helped to develop the skills of some of today’s leading figures behind drama, dance and visual arts in the UK.
•From 1992 ATC began to broaden out into related areas such as research, consultancy, and event management.
•Since then ATC has been responsible for the programming and management of some of the highest profile training events ever held in the sector, and for leading on some of its most creative approaches to individual and organisational development.
•References and testimonials from ATC’s many delighted customers and clients are available on request. Most of these are unsolicited and pay huge tribute to ATC’s influence on their own work.
•One of ATC’s key specialisms has been the use of its customised Training Needs Analysis techniques to identify the needs of clients. This “bottom-up” approach enables ATC to devise unique development solutions based on the specific circumstances and personal objectives of the people they are working with. Its highly regarded facilitation services borrow heavily from this methodology.
•In 1994 ATC helped form the Arts Training Network, an alliance of training providers across the UK who agreed to work on collaborative programmes. ATC devised and managed the nationally accredited Foundation Programme in Arts Management on behalf of the Network, and in 1997 ATC was appointed to be the Network’s General Secretariat.
•In 1998 ATC considerably expanded its range of advisory and support services through the development of an open resource base (including computer suite, library and meeting rooms) at its Leicester base, and by housing a number of developing companies in on-site “incubator units”. These facilities were supplemented by a range of personalised support and consultancy programmes.
•In 2000 ATC formed the Mainstream Group, one of the UK’s most successful networks of creative practitioners from the culturally diverse communities of the UK. ATC acted as its Executive Administration from 2004 during its first two years as an ACE RFO, and both fundraised for and executed its transition to becoming a fully independent company with its own offices, staff and board in April 2006.
•Resources for ATC projects are drawn from a wide range of sources, including Arts Council England, the national lottery, the business support community and ESF. It has a strong record in the area of fundraising, and has had significant recent success with ESF structural funding. Recent funding proposals have involved active partnerships with other agencies, including ACE and MLA East Midlands, and have seen ATC subcontracting delivery of work across the region. Successful fundraising has realised over £2 million in income to ATC during the last ten years.
•Although ATC is a relatively small organisation it increases its influence and ability to deliver by close working partnerships with industry professionals and other providers.
•ATC continues to produce new ideas and challenging initiatives in response to the changing climate within the cultural sector.
© Arts Training Central (ATC) 2006
