At the recent All Staff Briefings, Andrew Lovett, our Chief Executive, reflected on the highlights of 2022 as well as looking ahead to 2023. He also posed three questions for everyone to think about; see the end of this post.
Our people
We have a great team. We all have our part to play. But, there are inter-relationships between us all. We support each other, and success by someone supports the success of someone else. Do a great job and learn from each other.
Reputation and profile
Both largely very positive. We see a universal respect for the Museum from local, regional and national government, and our peers in the world of museums and heritage, and increasingly from businesses. And visitors, we overwhelmingly get it right. Reading reviews on TripAdvisor are a good way of seeing what our visitors think.
Sustainability
Our financial position at the year-end is better than we budgeted. Local and regional market continues to be strong for us. Events have been good and general admissions strong. Schools are weaker, with more factors out of our control to reverse the trend. Memberships are the strongest we have ever seen.
Building openings
There will be multiple openings from Forging Ahead this year, including the row of shops – Stanton’s Music Shop, West Bromwich Building Society, Marsh & Baxter’s Butchers, Minett’s Ladies Fashions, Laurie Thomas Hairdressers and Burgin’s Newsagents, plus the Weighbridge – by mid-June. The Infant Welfare Centre by early September, and the Cast Iron Houses and Industrial Area by mid-October.
Our new Learning Centre will be a great new facility, and one of the ways in which we intend to attract back schools. It will be opening in April.
Arts Council England investment
We are on the final furlong of finalising the funding agreement with Arts Council England, which will see almost £2.3m invested, including £600,000 to support Key Stage 1 school children across the Black Country.
Relationship with visitors
We have seen growth in the use of the Unchained Pass and Membership. Turning first-time visitors into loyalists is how we will succeed. We have set a forecast of 400,000 visitors for this year. And we have increased admission prices for the first time in a couple of years, linked to our strategy to create long-term relationships and that emotional connection to the Museum. If we reach our forecast of 400,000, we’ll be welcoming our 11 millionth visitor by December.
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
This will continue to be integral to our work, impacting the breadth of our storylines, staffing and our Board of Trustees. It is important so that we are better reflecting modern society, breaking down barriers and tapping into the full range of skills and experience available to us.
New Strategic Plan
Work on this has already got underway. As a project, it is being led by Vicki Stanley and Carolyn Sankey (Co-Directors of Development), and they will be setting out very soon how you can get involved.
A big thanks to you all. You make me a very proud Chief Executive.
Over to you
Andrew also posed the following three questions for you to think about:
- We all buy things and services to solve a problem(s). If you think of the Museum in this way, what problem(s) are we solving for visitors?
- During your time at the Museum – long or short – what do you think is the biggest lesson we have learnt, or should have learnt?
- What would you like to see the Museum achieve over the next 10 years? Or if that’s a bit too far ahead to think about, what about by 2028, when the Museum will celebrate its 50th anniversary?
Please share your thoughts and feedback to Andrew by emailing [email protected] by 6 February 2023.
