The Royal & Derngate threat in Northampton has just reopened its doors after a massive redevelopment project that completely transformed the venue.

The redevelopment brought together the two main theatres in the town; a small, ornate opera-house style theatre built in the 1880's, and a larger auditorium with a capacity of 1,500 situated 'next door'.  It has united them under one roof as well as creating a host of other exciting facilities including a brand new creativity centre, known as Underground.

The redevelopment cost over £15 million, which was partly funded by the theatre, as well as contributions from Northampton Borough and County Councils, Arts Council England and the Heritage Lottery Fund.  As part of its general fundraising activity, the Royal & Derngate rungs the R&D Business Club, which aims to build partnerships with local businesses to benefit both parties as well as supporting the arts for the local community.  NRG has been a corporate member of the theatre for ten years.

NRG has recently supplied Royal & Derngate with three multifunctional devices (MFPs) which print, scan, copy and fax.  One is a colour machine, while the remaining two are black and white devices.  They are all connected to Royal & Derngate's network, so people on every floor of the theatre offices can use them easily.

Dianne Rowe, Development Director at Royal & Derngate comments "We are very pleased with the service provided by NRG and our account manager, Brian Rowland is extremely helpful and efficient at sorting things out.  We're absolutely delighted with the equipment too.  We do a lot of short run printing and copying in house so we need good quality output and reliability is essential."

For example, Royal & Derngate produces copies of scripts for both professional actors and young theatre members.  The theatre does a lot of work with arts and education providing information for visiting school parties.  Dianne Rowe adds; "We run a lot of fundraising initiatives; this was especially important prior to the redevelopment, so the equipment from NRG was invaluable for producing cost-effective presentations and information packs."

The main theatre foyer has completely changed following the redevelopment and a stunning new suspended walkway has been introduced, which has been named 'The People's Pathway'.  During a special 'Return & Discovery' open weekend held recently for local people to explore the new theatre, everyone had the opportunity to sponsor the People's Pathway in one-centimetre sections.  In return each sponsor received a unique certificate produced by Brian Rowland on a colour printer provided by NRG.

Brian Rowland adds: "The Royal & Derngate is very important to the people of Northampton and we are very pleased to support it in whatever way we can.  It also helps us to become more involved with our local community which is very rewarding."

Dianne Rowe concludes: "It is a very exciting time at Royal & Derngate and we really appreciate the support from NRG.  It is invaluable - we wouldn't be able to function so efficiently and effectively without it.