Earlier this week, the Royal Opera House welcomed Labour Shadow Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds to its Thurrock site – home of the organisation's scenic construction and scenic art facility.

Accompanied by Jen Craft, the Labour Parliamentary Candidate for the area, Reynolds toured the ROH Thurrock site for the first time, meeting with apprentices, production workers and Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House, Alex Beard.

Thurrock is the second of the Royal Opera House’s three sites, located at the High House Production Park, Purfleet. The site is home to the Bob and Tamar Manoukian (B&TM) Production Workshop - the ROH Scenic Construction and Scenic Art facility. Creating work that will be seen by thousands of audiences on the Royal Opera House stages, and millions more through Royal Opera House Stream and the ROH cinema programme, the Thurrock site builds the sets that bring Royal Ballet and Royal Opera productions to life.

Based at the Thurrock site, the ROH employs 50 specialists in scenic drafting, metalwork, carpentry, and scenic art. It also is the home to a new class of apprentices learning their crafts, from metalwork to carpentry.

Alex Beard, Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House, said:

“It was a huge pleasure to welcome the Shadow Business and Trade Secretary to our Thurrock site. The Royal Opera House has always been the home of world-class ballet and opera, but our impact goes far beyond the great works people flock to see on our stages. Our operation here in Thurrock is a true demonstration of the global impact of our organisation, from training the next generation of production staff to exporting our wonderful theatre across the globe.”

Part of the Thurrock-based High House Production Park, for which Alex Beard is the Chair, the site is also home to the Royal Opera House’s B&TM Costume Centre and B&TM Production Workshop alongside the Essex College’s National Backstage Centre and Acme Artist Studios. All these organisations contribute to making the park an international centre of excellence for the creative industries.

Jonathan Reynolds, Shadow Business and Trade Secretary, said:

“Creativity is not the preserve of a certain type of person, or of one place in our country. Everyone deserves the opportunity to explore their talent and passion and get one of the many great jobs on offer in this sector.

It was wonderful to see first-hand the talent and creativity of people in Thurrock, building and designing sets that will be admired by thousands of theatre goers.”

Jen Craft, Parliamentary Candidate for Thurrock, said:

“Having the Royal Opera House here in Thurrock provides us with great opportunities that we need to make more of for the benefit of all in our community. They provide many great apprenticeships and chances for our young people but, like them, I am determined to do more.”

Thurrock is also home to the ROH Thurrock Trailblazer programme, now in its tenth year. The programme is a community outreach project offering teacher training, high quality creative experiences for pupils and an opportunity for arts-based learning for the local community.