'Incredibly good news for the city' as English Touring Opera announces it is relocating to Sheffield
English Touring Opera will make its permanent home in Sheffield, it has been announced.
It came after Arts Council England introduced a transfer programme to provide funding for organisations to relocate outside London, in line with the government’s levelling up agenda .
London-based ETO, which has 15 employees and receives the lion’s share of its funding from ACE (£2.13m), is the sixth taking part in the programme.
Sheffield Council said ETO, which currently opens at London’s Lyceum Theatre, would move to temporary office space in the city by October.
ETO’s ambition is to start rehearsing and opening in Sheffield from Spring 2026.
The company already knows Sheffield from regular performances at the Lyceum Theatre and its general director Robin Norton-Hale said they’d had a warm and enthusiastic welcome.
Councillor Martin Smith said: “We are delighted to learn that ETO is relocating to the city.
"Having more world class musicians and performers based here in the city is just incredibly good news.”