When you think the Scottish Ballet, you don’t tend to think “Scaffolding”. However, Check It Group & Scottish Ballet have more similarities than anyone would first think. A scaffolding company partnering with a ballet organisation seems like an unlikely pair, however, the relationship the two parties has blossomed ever since. In 2016, Check It was highlighted as a potential sponsor for the ballet, and after discussions, they have been supporting them ever since. Both John and Hilary Austin, director & finance manager of Check It Group were already existing donors of Scottish Ballet, however, Check It as an organisation never had any affiliations with the ballet industry. John, however, attended renditions of Swan Lake as a teenager, sparking the love of ballet as an art form.

As a charity, Scottish Ballet needs the support of public & private funding to continue on as a progressive organisation. After hearing that there was a project in place in order to secure funding for a new production of Swan Lake, Check It saw a perfect opportunity to step in. Swan Lake has always been an important piece and to help add that to the Scottish Ballet’s repertoire is amazing, to say the least. Swan Lake completes the trilogy of Tchaikovsky pieces that the Scottish Ballet is now able to perform, helping to ensure that a new generation is able to watch, enjoy and love the timeless story. Check It’s sponsorship in 2016 gave Scottish Ballet the resources to fund the fee of internationally renowned choreographer, David Dawson. With his help and training, Scottish Ballet was able to choreograph & produce a rendition of Swan Lake that’s in a style and choreographic vernacular that is relevant to the 21st century and unique to Scottish Ballet. David Dawson has worked with famous ballet organisations around the world, and his assistance was paramount to the new production.

The relationship with Check It & Scottish Ballet grew further, as John Austin agreed to match fun the public Swan Lake Appeal, meaning that every pound raised from the public appeal was matched & paid by Check-It Taking into account Gift Aid declarations, this boosted the initial appeal total of £17,000 to £37,000, making the Swan Lake AppealScottish Ballet’s most successful appeal in recent history. ‘’With Check-It Scaffolding’s support, we created a totally new Swan Lake for Scotland’s national dance company that will stand us in good stead for future touring and future generations. We thoroughly enjoyed sharing the creative process with Check-It who attended several events and gained exclusive ‘behind the scenes’ access into the making of this new production. Swan Lake was warmly received by our audiences and also successfully attracted significant new audiences to engage with Scottish Ballet. We are extremely grateful for Check-It’s support and for the match funding from Arts & Business Scotland. ’’Christopher Hampson, CEO / Artistic Director, Scottish Ballet“This has been the most unusual sponsorship Check It Scaffold Services have undertaken, but has proven to be the most successful!! We have benefitted from brand exposure that we would not have been able to achieve without this partnership.

Our company details have been seen by numerous audience members throughout Scotland and beyond, with a fantastic full page company profile in Backstage, that has culminated in our raised profile with our target demographic and potential new clients. We certainly couldn’t have achieved this through advertising alone. “Perceptions amongst our clients of our association with Scottish Ballet were very positive. A number of our clients had the opportunity to see this amazing production and the feedback we had from them all was fantastic. They all agreed that this type of corporate hospitality really stood out from the crowd. Some had never seen a live ballet performance before and are now booking future performances themselves – which is another positive outcome and unexpected success. “We had hoped that this partnership would deliver a positive effect and it surpassed our expectations.

Our scaffold business has helped to fund the creation of Swan Lake, a brand new ballet for Scotland’s national dance company that will tour in future years and be a popular addition to the Company’s repertoire. Through our partnership and the associated marketing opportunities, we were able to introduce the arts to new audiences and in turn to cement our client relationships with memorable and exclusive hospitality and events. This sponsorship has certainly done its job. “We will continue to support Scottish Ballet any way we can in the future and will take forward the key positive outcomes for further development. This partnership has certainly been a huge success for us, for our staff and our clients.