Promoting the Region's Advantages

Promoting the Region's Advantages

The Lever Prize

In May 2005 the North West Business Leadership Team launched the Lever Prize, an annual award for world-class arts organisations in the North West. The Lever Prize is judged by NWBLT with support from Arts and Business North West and the Northwest Regional Development Agency. The prizewinner receives a £10,000 cash prize and the opportunity to work closely with NWBLT member companies during their winning year.

Arts & Business


What Winning the Lever Prize has meant to the Winners...



Winner 2010

Future Everything – www.futureeverything.org

Future Everything

Winning the Lever Prize 2010 is a fantastic accolade and comes at a time of incredibly exciting change and recognition for FutureEverything, an organisation that has been at the forefront of art, music and ideas for 15 years. With innovation and creativity at its core the links with business through the North West Business Leadership Team have already meant that FutureEverything has been able to make strong strategic relationships with a number of the Leadership Team's members. 

The 2010 FutureEverything Festival and Conference will take place in five cities around the globe simultaneously and presents the world’s best speakers under the conference themes of ImagineEverything, Unlimited Connectivity, Open Data and The City Experiment. FutureEverything brings together artists, technologists and future-thinkers to share, innovate and bring the future into the present. 

Winner 2009

National Football Museum - www.nationalfootballmuseum.com

National Football Museum

Being awarded the Lever Prize for 2009 was a major boost to the National Football Museum. Thanks in part to the publicity generated by the award, the Museum had its best ever year for visitors, at 108,000. The Lever Prize also enabled the Museum’s Hall of Fame annual awards ceremony to feature for the first time in a dedicated national television programme. The 30-minute film on the Museum and its Hall of Fame, which featured the Lever Prize award, was shown four times on Sky Sports.

 

Winner 2008

Tate Liverpool - www.tate.org.uk/liverpool

Pendolino trainTate Liverpool (TL) was awarded the Lever Prize in 2008. As a result TL was granted access to the NWBLT team and were able to both deepen existing relationships as well as begin new associations. TL also used the £10,000 cash award to enable our 20th Birthday celebrations and to bring a new audience to the Gallery. An immediate and high profile result was Virgin naming a Pendolino train “ Tate Liverpool” as a 20th birthday present (photo shows Andrea Nixon from TL in the driver’s seat and Chris Gibb from Virgin Trains - a NWBLT member - in the middle). TL continues to maintain these essential business links made through the Lever Prize access and hopes to work more closely with our new business partners over the coming months and years ahead.

TL ran a packed schedule of community and family events to celebrate our 20th birthday in 2008. These events took place between 3 and 5 May, reaching 17,752 people, many of whom came to the gallery for the first time. A range of activity took place from: giggle tours of the Collection displays to Lantern building for children and a Northern Soul night in the Foyer and Café. This activity was targeted at the local community and informed the future programming in terms of TL family activity. This model was used to deliver our Easter events and played a key role in the planning of the critically acclaimed Fifth Floor exhibition December 2008-January 2009

Winner 2007

Manchester International Festival - www.manchesterinternationalfestival.com

Alex Poots

Alex Poots (photo – courtesy of Liz Lock & Mishka Henner) , Festival Director, commented: “Winning the Lever Prize 2007 was a fantastic achievement for the Festival and has enabled us to engage directly with some of the leading businesses in the North West region. The Lever Prize actually made us think long and hard about how to work in partnership with the NWBLT companies and to utilize the specific Intellectual Property that exists within businesses across different sectors. As a result, we have formed partnerships that drive value to both parties and we believe we have formed long term relationships that will continue well into the future.”

Winner 2006

Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art - www.biennial.com

Biennial

Liverpool Biennial’s year as holder of the inaugural Lever Prize in 2006 was an outstanding opportunity. During the year the Biennial developed many new relationships and delivered a number of new projects in collaboration with NWBLT members. Winning the Lever Prize opened doors into many of the region’s leading businesses, and allowed the Biennial to develop valuable contacts with influential business leaders. These relationships allowed them to secure new private investment, with partnerships with regional businesses including the Cheshire Building Society, Bruntwood and Liverpool John Lennon Airport (in photo) facilitating additional activity across our education, exhibition and marketing programmes. NWBLT members were also key in providing in-kind support, training and advice.

Since winning the prize, the Biennial’s ability to commission innovative new artworks, build partnerships and create growth amongst individuals and communities has continued to expand, helping the organisation to secure its place as the UK’s leading contemporary visual arts festival. The Biennial has achieved record numbers of visitors, with the 2008 festival attracting almost 1 million visits to exhibitions and events, generating a total economic impact for the region of £26.6 million.

The Lever Prize 2010– key dates

What the judges are looking for

Rules of entry

The Award is open to arts and cultural organisations, institutions, buildings, museums, performing arts, events, festivals, libraries or archives located or taking place in England’s North West.

The Award will not normally be awarded to a single piece of work, performance or production. Sport is not eligible.

The region of England’s North West includes the counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside.

Downloads

  • The Lever Prize Entry Form
    Entry Form
    Microsoft Word document - 37k
  • Tips on Applying for the Lever Prize
    Presentation
    Powerpoint presentation - 574k
  • Four Northwest Arts Groups named on Lever Prize Shortlist
    Culture 24 Website News
    Adobe PDF Document - 254k

    • Related Links and Articles

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    The Lever Prize 2011 - Open for Entries

    12/05/2010

    Applications for the Lever Prize 2011 are now being accepted. The winner will receive a £10,000 cash prize, a distinctive trophy and the chance to collaborate with the NWBLT member companies throughout the year. The Prize is awarded by NWBLT in collaboration with Arts and Business North West and NWDA. The closing date for entries is 30th June 2010 - shortlisted organisations will be notified during August.

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