The Apex in Bury St Edmunds smashes box office records by selling most tickets ever in a month since 2010 opening
A cultural venue in a town has smashed box office records by selling the most tickets in a month since its opening in 2010.
The Apex in Bury St Edmunds, sold 13,087 tickets worth £330,889.34 in October.
It makes it the best month for ticket sales and box office income, beating levels before the pandemic as well as the previous best month in March 2019 when 12,692 tickets were sold.
The news comes after a record period of sales last year when 113,356 tickets were sold from April 1, 2023, and March 31, 2024 – its best performance since it opened.
Cllr Ian Shipp, cabinet member for leisure and culture at West Suffolk Council, said: “I am absolutely delighted to see that The Apex is going from strength to strength with a record month in October smashing all previous sales, including pre-pandemic.
“This follows a record breaking year of delivering arts and culture for the people of West Suffolk and beyond. This success is helping support the sustainable growth of our local economy and thriving communities.
“The Apex and other West Suffolk Council-run venues support the arts, help our local communities and groups as well as bringing visitors to the district helping showcase our area. It is undoubtedly contributing tourism spend to businesses including the hospitality sector.”
The Apex helps community groups locally provide essential services for residents and supports arts and culture.
It is continuing to grow as an established community hub in the area serving as a meeting place for a range of groups including the Bereavement Café and St Edmundsbaby, as well as a gallery space for West Suffolk College and the Bury St Edmunds Photographic Society.
The concert hall is regularly hired by local organisations and yoga sessions, with painting and harmonica workshops often held in the studios.
The venue is additionally used for corporate events by local businesses and for the West Suffolk Business Awards.
Cllr Shipp said: “We are proud to invest in arts, culture and leisure as part of our work to help our communities thrive.
“Whether it’s through grants to others or at our own facilities like The Apex, it’s about providing a mix of activities that residents across West Suffolk can access and enjoy for the benefit of their health and wellbeing.
“That is why it is also fantastic that so many community groups are making use of the building as a meeting place, for workshops, their own events and as a gallery space for artists of all ages.”
More than 75,000 of the tickets sold between 2023 and 2024 were bought by people from outside of West Suffolk.
As well as selling a record number of tickets in the year, it outperformed other venues throughout the UK, achieving above the national average in terms of the percent of tickets sold for its shows.
So far in 2024, the Apex is continuing to grow its audience with ticket data showing that 10,674 new customers booked tickets for events at The Apex in the past year.
