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. The prizewinner receives a £10,000 cash prize and the opportunity to work closely with NWBLT member companies during their winning year.

Arts & BusinessThe Lever Prize

Download Application Form

  • The Lever Prize Entry Form
    Entry Form
    Microsoft Word document - 37k

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

     

    Winner 2011

    The Whitworth Art Gallery – www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk

    The Whitworth Art Gallery

    Maria Balshaw, Director at the Whitworth said "This is really exciting news for the Whitworth following on from our recent Heritage Lottery Fund £8 million announcement. We are extremely keen to develop links with key regional businesses and winning the Lever Prize gives us that opportunity. We are delighted to join such an illustrious group of Lever Prize 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 2012– 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

  • 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

    General

    (LtoR) Gary Timperley, DaDa Chair, Ruth Gould, DaDa Chief Executive, recieving the Lever Prize Trophy from Paul Lee, NWBLT's Chair, and Geoffrey Piper, NWBLT's Chief Executive.

    DaDaFest wins 2012 Lever Prize

    24/01/2012

    DaDaFest 2012, the UK’s largest Disability and Deaf Arts Festival, has scooped this year’s prestigious £10,000 Lever Prize award. DaDa – Disability and Deaf Arts, who organise DaDaFest, became the seventh organisation to receive the annual accolade. DaDaFest will be taking place in Liverpool from 13th July – 2nd September 2012.

    National & International Links

    Secretary of State for Transport, Justine Greening, with High Speed Train

    NWBLT Welcomes High Speed 2 Announcement

    10/01/2012

    The North West Business Leadership Team (NWBLT) has warmly welcomed the Government’s decision to approve HS2, the proposed High Speed Rail Link between London, the Midlands and the North of England.

    General

    Left to Right. Jim Hancock, Jackie Arnold (Deputy Chair, Cumbria LEP), Ged Fitzgerald (Board member, Liverpool City Region LEP), Mike Blackburn (Chair, Greater Manchester LEP), Edwin Booth (Chair, Lancashire LEP) & Christine Gaskell (Chair, Cheshire & Warrington LEP)

    Local Enterprise to drive North West growth

    06/01/2012

    The North West has begun its drive for enterprise and sustainable growth in 2012 with a landmark conference, ‘Shaping Our Future’, bringing together all five Local Enterprise Partnerships in the region. 26 members of the LEP Boards attended the event, alongside over 100 other private and public sector leaders.

    General

    'Pulling together for the North West’ – NWBLT Chief Executive’s Annual Report

    03/01/2012

    NWBLT Chief Executive Geoffrey Piper’s Annual Report for 2011 emphasises the vital importance of business leaders working together for the North West to meet the current economic challenges.

    Sustainable Innovation

    From left to right - Geoffrey Piper (Chief Executive of NWBLT), Arisha Hussain (William Hulme's Grammar School, Manchester), Sue Halliday (Catalyst) and Conor Mulligan (Bankfield School, Widnes)

    Success for two pupils in the North West Schools Science 'X-Factor’

    02/12/2011

    The third annual final of the North West Schools Science Competition organised by NWBLT was hosted at the Catalyst Science Discovery Centre on 1st December. Similar to X-Factor each finalist took it in turn to deliver a short presentation to an expert panel of judges from scientific, business and educational backgrounds on why they wanted to be scientists when they were older, before going on to answer a series of questions from the panel testing their knowledge and passion for the subject. Judges praised the high standard of entries before selecting a winner from Year 7 and a winner from Year 8. Conor Mulligan, age 12, a pupil at Bankfield School, Widnes was named winner of the Year 7 category. Conor said “I am ecstatic to have won – my Uncle Robert inspired me to want to become a scientist!” Arisha Hussain, age 13, from William Hulme's Grammar School in Manchester was winner in the Year 8 category. Arisha said "I cannot believe I have won the Year 8 category – I am so excited. I think science is the answer to all the questions." Conor and Arisha each received an iPod Touch and £250 for their school to spend on science equipment. In addition to this their classmates will all be invited to come along to the exciting Flash Bang – What a Reaction! event at the Catalyst Science Discovery Centre next year.

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