The construction firm that delivered the transformation of Paisley Town Hall has helped put on a show after donating a stage to the team behind a much-loved annual panto.

Morrison Construction found themselves with an unused stage from another project they were working on and asked Renfrewshire Council if a local group could use it.

They were then put in touch with PACE Theatre Group, who were able to use the structure to form the seating bank for their Beauty and the Best panto, which is running until the end of December.

Paisley Town Hall reopened in October after a major refurbishment as part of a wider push by the council to use the power of culture to change the area's future.

The donation of the stage – worth around £40,000 – is part of a much bigger package of community benefits delivered by Morrison Construction as part of the Paisley Town Hall contract, including:

  • Six local people given jobs on the construction project by Morrison's sub-contractors
  • 10 work experience placements and three graduate apprentices given the chance to work on the project
  • Two meet-the-buyer events where local companies were invited to bid for work on the project
  • A two-day event where more than 200 Renfrewshire school pupils got to tour the town hall construction site and learn various traditional building skills

READ NEXT: Warning issued to drivers ahead of 10 weeks of lane closures on busy road

Councillor Lisa-Marie Hughes, Renfrewshire Council’s cultural spokesperson and chair of OneRen, who are operating the reopened venue, said: "We want to thank Morrison Construction for their very kind donation of a stage to PACE, as part of a range of wider benefits they delivered through their contract.

"We want to work with our contractors to ensure major projects such as the town hall transformation directly help the local community and we are delighted this contract did so.

"Of course, the reopened town hall will as a whole benefit the wider area. 

"Not only will it keep this much-loved historic building at the heart of local life for future generations, but the programme of events it will host will bring new footfall into the town day and night, as we are already seeing."

PACE’s annual panto is a long-running festive family favourite and will run until December 31 in their pop-up theatre within the Art Department (the former Co-op store in the Paisley Centre).

You can see show times and book tickets at www.pacetheatre.com/boxoffice.