St James has formed an important part of the St Peter Port landscape since it opened in 1818. The brainchild of Lord de Saumarez, it opened as a place of worship for the Guernsey garrison. Having fallen into a state of disrepair, the building became redundant in 1970 and remained closed until a small group of local music enthusiasts began a tireless campaign and secured funding from the Guernsey States for its refurbishment. St James re-opened as a concert venue in 1983.
For many years the venue was known for its classical music events and with its beautiful acoustic, was the preferred performance venue for local and visiting musicians alike. But the challenge of running a profitable venue, with a finite local audience together with the ongoing upkeep and certain limitations of an ageing building has led to a re-think of how the venue is used. If you never thought that a classical piano recital could sit alongside a tattoo show (admittedly not at the same time) think again.
Director of St James Jon Bisson took on his role in 2018. With a background in organising large-scale festivals in the UK and bringing with him a passion for live music performances, Jon set about trying out different types of events to appeal to a wider audience and to improve revenues.
“When I first arrived back on the island, I was very keen on utilising St. James for our children’s charity Sound, which creates live music opportunities for under 18-year-olds. We wanted to run a festival and the team at St James agreed. I was then offered the role of director and here I am.
“I think people work to what they know. St James had delivered fantastic performances over the years, but the market evolves and that had crept up on St James a little. We started programming quite heavily for 2019. We included everything – comedy, theatre, music – just to see what worked just to try and prove the concept. Attendances went up considerably in 2019. But it wasn’t a profitable year. What we quickly understood was with a population of 64,000, the frequency of events is key as people won’t necessarily be able to attend three events in one month.
“Of course, then we had some fun and games for a couple of years, so it was in 2022 when we implemented what we had learnt – a reduction in frequency, so from 10 comedies to five only once a month for example.”
2022 was reasonably successful for St James but since the island – like the rest of the world – was still recovering post-Covid, lower attendance figures were a challenge. Corporate events and meetings previously creating some of the daytime usage of the venue had all but disappeared with companies having proved the efficacy of online meeting platforms and other sources of grants and sponsorships were under inordinate pressure.
Jon and his team set about working out a business model that would guarantee the venue’s future. Repurposing the Dorey Room and moving the bar facility into the main hall was a brave but seemingly successful move. Bar tariffs are kept low and ticket prices as low as possible. Jon has opened St James’ doors to a variety of other organisations to run events free of charge at times when the building would otherwise be empty. So, a motorbike show, a chess tournament and a tattoo show might not have gone down well with Lord de Saumarez but these type of event has expanded the venue’s market and generated café and bar takings from attendees.
Comedians are part of the regular fixtures now. Some great names have been on the stage at St James and this year Milton Jones and Dara Ó Briain have performed. Jon’s goal is to see St James on the list of ‘must include’ venues in the UK for this type of performer. The venue is increasingly being recognised by agents and artists and part of that is because of what Jon described as the traditional “Guernsey welcome” they get when they are here, as well as the venue itself.
The calendar also includes many live music performers including artists who have played at Glastonbury and other major events, as well as local musicians, mirror ball nights and much more. But there remains a strong tradition of classical performances too. Piano recitals, orchestras, choirs, and smaller solo performances in the café. Eclectic is putting it mildly, but this diverse range of styles and genres are co-existing harmoniously under Jon’s stewardship. Challenges are still plentiful with people ever mindful of the ongoing cost of living pressures. So, coming up with new ideas and balancing the books will aways be key. Many local people will feel a personal connection with St James for lots of reasons – whether they got married there, have performed there or had their school assemblies there for many years – it’s part of the fabric of St Peter Port and hopefully here to stay.
