Commercial income unlikely to recover for ‘several years’ in Welsh museums 2 Sep 2020

A new report from the Senedd’s Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee has called for an extension to the furlough scheme when it ends in October to prevent ‘unnecessary job losses and insolvencies’ in Welsh museums and archives. The report also points to evidence that commercial income of cultural organisations is unlikely to return to pre-covid levels for several years: this financial year alone, National Museum Wales expects to lose £1.8m in commercial revenue. There is also a double hit from scarcer support from funding bodies: NLHF’s Andrew White said that 27 projects in Wales worth £1.7m had been paused in favour of creating emergency funding programmes, with the risk that they will ‘never return’. In considering future Welsh Government support, there were suggestions that the funding model should become ‘less dependent upon visitor numbers’ with new KPIs which encouraged working for greater social benefit across health and education (see RSA report on NMW in the article below). The committee recommended revised funding taking into account lost commercial income and increased digital delivery. Museums Journal, Senedd