Coutts & Co sponsor refurbished live theatre in Newcastle

Coutts & Co are delighted to be sponsors of Newcastle’s Live Theatre which reopened last night, after closing its doors for a two-year refurbishment period. It unveiled its new exciting state-of-the-art theatre with The Pitman Painters; a brand new play sponsored by Coutts, from Lee Hall, writer of Billy Elliot.

Sarah Deaves, Chief Executive of Coutts & co. commented: “We are delighted to be sponsoring the curtain opener for the new revamped Live Theatre. Coutts has a long history of supporting the arts, and we are delighted to be continuing this 300-year tradition through to the present day. We’re particularly proud to be sponsoring new work by such an established playwright and we’re looking forward to an exhilarating new season.”

Housed in a stunning collection of grade I and II listed buildings, the new look theatre is a stunning fusion of historic and contemporary architecture. A new fantastic glass tower gives unique and spectacular rooftop views across the quayside area. With spacious, comfortable seating, a stylish new foyer, bar area, restaurant and a beautiful new Theatre Studio.

Coutts celebrated the new opening with a champagne reception for its guests. Coutts Chief Executive, Sarah Deaves, gave a welcome speech and Lee Hall personally introduced his cast. After a rapturous reception of the play, guests were invited to view the first floor art exhibition and join the cast for a post performance drink. As this was the first original play written by Lee in a while, last night proved to be a highly memorable evening.

The Pitmen Painters tells the story of a group of miners from Ashington in 1934 who hired a professor to teach an evening class in art appreciation. Completely unable to understand each other, they decided to embark on one of the most unusual experiments in British Art as the pitmen learned to be painters. This humorous and thought provoking play is bound to be one of the region’s cultural highlights of 2007.

Coutts presence in Newcastle is growing. Its regional office, which opened in 1999, has experienced tremendous growth and is planning to expand further in 2008. Private Bankers have been added to the team to meet extended demand both in Tyneside, Northumberland and Durham as well as in Cumbria and Teesside. To support this continuing expansion, the North East Regional Office is relocating to Trinity Gardens on Newcastle’s historic Quayside in  February 2008.

Tickets are priced from £8 - £16

Production runs until Saturday 27 October

Booking office: 0191 232 1232
Online: www.live.org.uk

For further information please contact:

Jo Thorne, Regional PR Manager, Coutts & Co. Tel: 020 7957 2650, mob: 07766070859,
or email: joanna.thorne@coutts.com

Notes to Editors

·Coutts is the international private banking arm of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group. The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is one of the world's largest banking groups.

·Coutts manages the wealth of 100,000 high net worth clients worldwide through a network of over 40 offices globally.

·The first Coutts regional office to be opened was Eton in 1961. Today, Coutts has regional offices in Bath, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Chelmsford Eton, Guildford, Hampshire, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford and Tunbridge Wells.

·Coutts offers clients a range of products and services covering sophisticated investment products together with expertise in trust and fiduciary services and UK tax and banking services.

·Coutts & Co is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Coutts & Co Registered in England No 36695Registered Office 440 Strand London WC2R 0QS.

·Calls may be recorded.

www.coutts.com