Manchester's £210m arts centre which will be opening its doors later this month will be known as Aviva Studios as a multi-million pound deal is agreed. The Factory International building, which will be the permanent home of the Manchester International Festival, will be sponsored by the insurance firm.
It comes as the final preparations are made before the long-awaited venue opens to the public for the biennial festival with an official opening in October. The development at the old Granada Studios in the city centre is the largest investment in a national cultural project since London's Tate Modern in 2000.
However, the project - which is being funded mostly by the government and Arts Council England - has been plagued by delays and increased costs. Last year, Manchester council agreed to put another £25m towards the scheme at the heart of the regeneration of the St Jonn's area - taking the town hall's total investment above £80m - some of which would be recouped by sponsporship.
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In October, councillors were told that the sale of the name rights is expected to raise at least £25m. But the details of the deal with Aviva remain undisclosed.
Aviva group chief executive officer Amanda Blanc said: "We really feel this is a phenomenal venue that's going to do wonderful things, not just culturally in the front of house, but in the back of house with the skills that people will be trained in to work behind the scenes in the cultural trade and the accessibility of tickets for the local community so that not just the usual people get to see some of these fantastic things, but it's way more accessible."
Aviva will be working with Factory International and a Manchester council on a number of initiatives linked to the long-term sustainability and community impact of the project. This includes being the principle partners of the Factory Academy – the award-winning skills training programme which provides opportunities for careers in Manchester's ever-growing creative industries.
The company will also support Factory International's affordable pricing strategy with a discount scheme to be known as Aviva £10 Tickets. The council will be getting the largest share of the multi-million pound deal.
Council leader Bev Craig said there was 'lots of interest' in the naming rights, but the local authority was selective about who it would enter into partnership with. She said that the intention had always been to sell the naming rights, but the productions at Aviva Studio will still retain the Factory International name.
She said: "It has always been in the plan. There have been some behind the scenes smaller deals struck over the years, but we're particularly excited to have a deal of this size and a partnership with Aviva."
