Valuing Museums

Written by Tony Travers of LSE and Stephen Glaister of Imperial College, this report details the economic, educational and broader cultural impact of the national museums and galleries. Set out against the context of the wider objectives of these institutions, government policy and funding requirements, the report finds a sector which has unique international scale and standing and that, with an annual impact of £2bn, is significant economically.

Beyond this, the extent of the contributions these institutions make to the cross-Whitehall agendas of education, social inclusion and the regions are highlighted, while the report acknowledges that, without additional investment in their infrastructures, national museums and galleries cannot sustain these levels of activity.

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Text only version of report (PDF 164KB)

Queues in central hall, Natural History Museum (c) Natural History Museum

Key Findings

NMDC institutions had an overall turnover of £715 million in 2003-04
spending generated by visitors to NMDC institutions is estimated to be at least £565 million
the overall impact of the NMDC "sector", including indirect and induced effects is in the range £1.83 billion to £2.07 billion
the overseas "export" of NMDC institutions is some £320 million a year
between 1997-98 and 2003-04, grant-in-aid to major NMDC institutions generally increased no faster than the retail prices index – just under 19 per cent – while average earnings surged by 34 per cent and overall UK public expenditure by 41 per cent
looking ahead to the period 2003-04 to 2005-06, larger NMDC members will receive grant increases of 5.2 per cent, while government as a whole pushes up its spending by 13.9 per cent
six out of the top ten UK visitor attractions in 2002 were NMDC members – Tate Modern, British Museum, National Gallery, Natural History Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum and the Science Museum.
In 2002 NMDC members received 6.1 million visits by children - equivalent to half the UK's entire population of children
3 million people participated in formal learning activities onsite in 2002, with a further 5.6 million learners off site – equivalent to one tenth of the UK population.
Over the same period, their websites received 53 million hits– almost one per head of the UK population
resources distributed to NMDC institutions are spread broadly on the basis of population as between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
NMDC institutions face demands on them to fulfil the competing roles of curators and preservers of collections; educators at university, FE and school levels; providers of mass tourist attractions, managers of public spaces and public communicators

The Valuing Museums project was undertaken in parellel with the Creative Engagement project looking at the value of museums as sources of creativity and inspiration.

In 2006, NMDC and MLA published a further report by Tony Travers, "Museums and Galleries in Great Britain: Economic, Social and Creative Impacts" examining the impact of some of the largest national and regional museums across the UK. More...