Victoria Theatre

Overview of Client

Victoria Theatre is a heritage theatre in Halifax operated by Calderdale Council. A Grade II-listed building with a principal auditorium seating up to 1,500 people, it presents various events, from live music and comedy to theatre and community performances. Deeply embedded within the local community, the theatre aims to deliver exceptional experiences for audiences and employees.

Challenges

Victoria Theatre faced connectivity issues that were impacting both their customers and staff. They wanted to improve their booking systems but didn’t have a reliable WiFi solution to support this. When they approached us, the key challenges included:

• Weak or unreliable WiFi in certain areas of the theatre, leading to a poor experience for both guests and employees.
• The need for a dedicated, stable network to support critical systems, including point-of-sale (POS) and booking platforms.
• Installing modern networking solutions in a large, historic Grade II-listed building, which required careful design and infrastructure planning.

Solution

Having already worked with Calderdale Council on the Victorian Market, Performance Networks was chosen to overhaul the entire network, from our consultancy services to managed support services tailored to Victoria Theatre’s unique needs. The project began with a bespoke consultancy and design phase to ensure optimal coverage and connectivity throughout the venue. Careful onsite network planning and implementation were done to maximise signal strength and efficiency. A high-performance infrastructure was installed, including a leased line setup for reliable, high-speed connectivity, fully managed network switches to optimise data routing, and a Supafi Captive Portal to provide guest WiFi access with valuable data insights for the Theatre.

Ruckus Access Points (APs) were deployed to deliver strong, high-density WiFi performance, while Fortigate Firewalls enhanced network security and protection. A dedicated network was implemented to support the POS and booking systems to improve operations further and fulfil the request to help improve the booking system process, which now results in uninterrupted transactions and reservations. Finally, a fully managed service was implemented, providing ongoing support and maintenance to keep the network running efficiently.

Results

Following the installation of the new WiFi solution, Victoria Theatre has experienced significant improvements:

• Consistently strong and reliable connectivity across the entire venue.
• A dedicated network ensures the seamless operation of POS and booking systems.
• An enhanced customer experience with smooth, high-speed internet access.
• Ongoing technical support and proactive monitoring for continuous reliability.

Conclusion

The improvements made to the Victoria Theatre’s network infrastructure has had a big impact on both its operations and guest experience. Our team have delivered a reliable WiFi service that underpins key systems and guest access by solving the venue’s connectivity issues with a bespoke, high-performance solution, which is now fully managed by our support teams. The dedicated network for booking systems offers hassle-free transactions, and the managed service future-proofs performance and security on an ongoing basis. As a result, Victoria Theatre now has a future-proofed network infrastructure that allows it to continue delivering fantastic experiences for audiences and staff members alike.