Birmingham Rep is delighted to share the news that its newly appointed Chair of the Board, Andy Street CBE has been awarded a Knighthood in the New Year’s Honours list for services to Public Service.
Chief Executive of Birmingham Rep, Rachael Thomas, said,
“We are thrilled for Andy and on behalf of the entire Rep team I offer him our deepest congratulations on this well-deserved honour. Andy’s contribution to the civic and cultural life of our city and wider region is unparalleled and he has consistently championed the arts and secured additional funding for the sector. He is a passionate advocate for the work of all the region’s cultural riches.”
Andy Street started as Chair of the Board for Birmingham Rep on 1st November 2024.
Andy Street served as Mayor of the West Midlands from 2017 to 2024, helping to establish the West Midlands Combined Authority and oversee a huge influx of public and private investment into the region. Prior to that he was Managing Director of John Lewis, guiding the employee-owned business to one of the most successful spells in its history – culminating in the department store chain being named the most trusted brand in Britain.
In Birmingham, Andy served as chair of the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership from 2011 to 2016 – helping to establish Britain’s most successful enterprise zone in Birmingham city centre – and has also served as Vice-Chair of Performances Birmingham. He has always been a vocal advocate for arts and culture in the city, regularly citing its critical role as the lifeblood of Birmingham and the means by which the city’s story is told.
Birmingham Rep is the oldest building-based theatre company in the UK, and the forerunner of both the RSC and the National Theatre. The Rep has an unparalleled pioneering history and is the only producing theatre in the UK’s Second City. It has been at the forefront of theatre in the UK for over 100 years.
The Rep’s mission is to create artistically ambitious, world class, popular theatre for everyone. The commissioning and production of new work lies at the core of The Rep’s programme and over the last 15 years with the company has produced more than 130 new plays. As well as presenting over 60 productions on its three stages every year, the theatre tours its productions nationally and internationally.
The Rep’s acclaimed learning and outreach programme is one of the largest and most diverse of any arts organisation in the country. The Rep has nurtured new talent throughout its history – from Laurence Olivier and Peter Brook to its modern-day youth theatre, and the ground-breaking Rep Foundry theatre-makers programme, it has offered opportunity and training for thousands of early career writers, directors, and artists.
Many of The Rep’s productions go on to have lives beyond Birmingham. Since 2021 Rep tours and transfers include Of Mice and Men, Idiots Assemble: Spitting Image the Musical, The Way Old Friends Do, The Play What I Wrote, Animal Farm and East is East.The theatre’s long-running production of The Snowman celebrated its 29th anniversary as well as its 27th consecutive season at London’s Peacock Theatre this year.