One of York’s most loved museums lost revenue of £400K last year, as its owner says it cannot continue to trade with a deficit.
York Castle Museum ‘had a difficult year’, a report to councillors states.
The discovery of collapse-risk Raac concrete in the roof installed on the former female prison by City of York Council in the 1980s meant that part of the museum had to close last September.
It reopened in mid-December. But the closure significantly impacted the museum’s revenues, says a report to the council’s children, culture and communities scrutiny committee.
“The Female Prison is the venue for Kirkgate which is our major visitor attraction,” writes Kathryn Blacker, the chief executive of York Museums Trust.
“We had to drop our prices in this period and we had much lower visitor numbers which impacted our retail and catering on site.”
They did reopen with the full Christmas at York Castle Museum but were not able to market this fully.
“The lost revenue from this closure was c£400k. In addition, YMT have had to find from our reserves the unplanned remedial works costs of over £80K.”
Loss of £400K
The York Museums Trust, which also runs the Yorkshire Museum and York Art Gallery, is now expecting an overall annual loss of around £400K for 2023/24.
“This will leave us with reserves of £0.8m which is less than two months of our operating costs and is below our reserves policy of three months,” writes Ms Blacker.
“We are currently preparing the 2024/25 budget which will at best project losses of around £0.25m which will further diminish our reserves position.”
Ten years ago, the trust received a £1.1m annual grant from City of York Council. Today it receives a £300K grant.
“We and CYC recognise the need to address and create a long-term sustainable funding model for YMT given we cannot continue to trade at a deficit and make needed improvements to the buildings to create an accessible 21st Century visitor experience to attract audience now and into the future,” the report goes on.
“We are working alongside CYC and other partners in the city to explore how we can protect the future sustainability for YMT and ensure a flourishing museum and art gallery to benefit the residents of the city.”
The buildings are owned by the council and their state is causing “concern”. The trust hopes to secure a £5m Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND) fund bid in 2024/25 to re-roof the Yorkshire Museum.
The report will go to the committee next Tuesday (9 April).