Today I was asked to speak at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust's study day on the future of their Henley Street site. You can read what I said below: Four years ago last month, I became the MP for Stratford-on-Avon. Nearly every day since, I have to pinch myself to check it’s true. Stratford is a wonderful place and I am privileged to be its elected representative. If I ever travel with colleagues on a parliamentary trip then whilst they are struggling to explain where their constituencies are I simply get to say I am the member for Shakespeare. The fact that anywhere in the world this resonates - be it with people in business, politics or just members of the public - tells us something important about this town, a town that I’m proud to call my adopted home. Stratford quite clearly has a place on the international stage. People have heard of it, and in fact increasingly more and more people have visited it. With around 5 million people a year visiting the Stratford District and roughly 3.5 million of those making it to the town itself our reach is huge. Heritage tourism alone is worth £26.4bn a year to the UK economy a significant increase since 2010 and in the wider Stratford area, tourism businesses contribute £355m of spend into the local economy every year and support 8,000 jobs. In 2013 the Birthplace Trust had a bumper year welcoming 818,000 visitors to its properties. But here at the birthplace its not just about tourists, they also welcomed 1,676 researchers and hosted 60 tours of their amazing vaults. Not to mention the countless ambassadors and heads of state that have walked over this floor to the hallowed birthplace just over there. It is Shakespeare and the birthplace that have put Stratford on the map and it is Shakespeare and the birthplace that will keep it there. Shakespeare has made Stratford the place it is today. Without Shakespeare the town would be very different. No huge selection of restaurants and cafes, no Marks and Spencers and Debenhams, no Jack Wills. Thanks to the visitors that Shakespeare brings we have a vibrant town centre that punches well above its weight for a town of its size. The challenge as we move forward is how we keep it that way. Now I know that for some the solution is to preserve Stratford in Aspic, to never change anything. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. But with Stratford falling down the attraction ratings in recent years something we have to ask ourselves is how fit for purpose is our offering? How much does it appeal to the modern visitor, and indeed, who is that modern visitor? But also why settle for what we have already, why not go for growth? To an extant the term growth has become somewhat negative. It is too tied to the idea of housing growth which is obviously very controversial. But if properly managed, planned and provided for, growth in visitor numbers and importantly growth in their spend could improve the town for everyone, not just for the visitor. So if we were to go for growth how would we go about it? What are the greatest assets we have in Stratford and indeed that the Birthplace Trust have? How can the Trust build on those in its future plans for Henley Street. Now today is very much about the birthplace and its role in the Shakespeare pilgrimage. How does the birthplace act as a magnet for shakespeare aficionados? But it’s also important to consider how it, and Shakespeare the brand, act as a magnet for those that aren’t that interested in Shakespeare. I started out by saying that Shakespeare has put Stratford on the map, and that’s true. Back in 2010 I commissioned a face to face representative survey of residents and visitors in the town centre on an average weekend. One of the most surprising statistics from the survey was that only 25% of visitors had come for “the Shakespeare experience”, but that 55% had come because they believed the town was “a good day out”. Of course if Shakespeare wasn’t a central part of Stratford’s offer it’s unlikely that the 55% would still be here. They probably wouldn’t have even heard of Stratford, let alone come because it was a good day out. But these statistics raise an important point. Whilst we shouldn’t underestimate the importance of the Shakespeare Pilgrim - the visitor who’s going to take their shoes off in the birthplace to walk on the same floor as Shakespeare - the majority of visitors to the town are here because of Shakespeare, not for Shakespeare. This is something the RSC realised with the tower. Hate it or love it, there can be no doubt that it’s getting people through the front doors of the RSC that wouldn’t normally step into an RSC theatre. This need to connect with the general public, in order to in some way touch them with your core messages is something that the Birthplace is also going to have to recognise with its future plans. I’m sure this is something that we’ll come back to today. Just how do you match up what seems to be two competing priorities of visitor types? Finally that survey also brought up some interesting statistics in relation to the Bancroft gardens, which you may remember in late 2010 had only just been completed. The survey found that 55% of people either strongly agreed or agreed that the redevelopment of the Bancroft gardens was excellent, by contrast only 37% of people chose one of the negative options. I suspect if you asked the same question today the positive sentiment would be even higher. This tells us something about change. The construction of the Rusty Shed by the RSC predates my time in Stratford, but from what I understand it wasn’t universally popular at the time, yet today it is part of the town. The RSC tower may not be the most popular now, but then neither was the Jam Factory when it was first built. Of course that doesn’t mean we can let just anything into the special place that is Stratford. We are the custodians of this place for future generations after all. With any big project comes the challenge of funding it. I wish I could say that Government is just waiting to fund a project like the redevelopments here, but you will all have heard me talk about the state of the government coffers before so I won’t bore you again. That said there are always ways to find funding for innovative projects that will make a difference, particularly if that difference is economic. The Local Enterprise Partnership has funding open to it and in years to come the amount of money that flows through the LEPs - as they’re known - will only increase. In the new Secretary of State for Culture, we also have a nearby MP in the form of Sajid Javid so we shouldn’t underestimate the potential for support from him for preserving and interpreting our most famous cultural asset’s home. Then of course there is private business who are always looking for a halo brand, such as Shakespeare to wrap themselves in. So whilst money from government and grants is tight the Birthplace really shouldn’t be put off from thinking big in their plans. Thank you for listening to my own thoughts, I look forward to our discussions today.