When COVID-19 hit, many organisations in the arts and culture sector faced an existential threat. For Stagetext, the UK’s leading charity making arts and culture accessible for deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people through captioning and live subtitling, the outlook initially seemed bleak. “Initially we thought it was going to absolutely decimate us,” recalls Melanie Sharpe, CEO of Stagetext. “Our main income was from live theatre, and we thought, my goodness, it’s going to absolutely implode.”

Instead, something extraordinary happened. As theatres closed their doors, the world shifted online and demand for Stagetext’s services exploded. “previously we were delivering and advising on 150 deaf access events in museums and galleries and this exploded to 600 within 6 months,” says Melanie.

Meeting that surge in demand with limited resources demanded radical internal change. That’s where Peak Signal came in. Peak Signal were recommended by a team member who had seen first-hand how well they listened, adapted and delivered practical, user-led solutions through the work they had undertaken for the RSC’s ‘Dream’ production.

With Stagetext’s services under unprecedented pressure, Peak Signal helped design and implement new systems, smarter workflows and user-centred processes that dramatically improved efficiency. “They listened,” Melanie emphasises. “They didn’t come in with a fancy idea, they listened to the people doing the work and made it about their needs.”

Peak Signal’s approach combined process analysis, user-centred design and practical, scalable solutions which were all sensitive to Stagetext’s accessibility requirements as a deaf-led organisation. “They understood what was needed,” Melanie says. “Their diagrams, flowcharts and summaries worked for all kinds of communication styles, whether visual, written or conversational. It meant our whole team could engage fully.“

From this initial engagement, Stagetext was able to quadruple its live output during the pandemic, without increasing team size and importantly, without compromising the personal touch that defines its service.

In 2024, building on the transformation momentum, Stagetext wanted to focus on finding a sustainable, mission-led way to expand impact – making more events accessible. With clear objectives in mind, they turned to Peak Signal to support them with their strategic business planning. 

Peak Signal built flexible financial models and scenario planning tools that allow Stagetext to adapt as they grow, while always staying anchored to their core purpose.

As Melanie explains “the vision was already there.  What we needed was how to operationally deliver that vision. Peak Signal collated all our knowledge, all our analysis, all our pre-thinking and all our worries and concerns. Peak Signal distilled those inputs and developed the road map to get to our vision as well as providing us with the tools to manage the journey”.

What stands out in Stagetext’s story is not just the technical success, it’s the relationship behind it. From acting as critical friends during tricky decisions, to offering advice beyond the formal brief, Peak Signal’s support has been deeply embedded and consistently people-centred. “I feel like we’re talking to a friend, to a partner, to an integral cog to Stagetext” Melanie says. “Peak Signal is not just a consultancy, they have become a trusted external knowledge bank of support to Stagetext in helping us realise our vision.” Today, as Stagetext looks ahead to even greater ambitions, Peak Signal remains a crucial partner in their journey “We couldn’t do now what we do if Peak Signal hadn’t been part of our journey” Melanie says. “Their approach is integral to our success”