Cafe blames museum fees as it scraps evening event

Taste runs the cafe inside Dorset Museum in Dorchester

A cafe that operates inside a museum says it will no longer hold a popular evening event after the museum increased its costs.

Taste Cafe and Dorset Museum began hosting their Night at the Museum meal and museum tours on a trial basis last year.

But Taste said the sell-out events were no longer sustainable after the museum increased its fee for staffing and tours by 550%.

Dorset Museum, which disputed the 550% figure, said it had been operating at a loss during the trial period and described the increase as "very small".

It said the "nominal amount" of £50 it had initially charged Taste had not covered its costs for providing staffing, museum access and guided tours, and the trial had now come to an end.

The Night at the Museum evenings included a tour of the galleries and exhibitions

A statement released by Taste said: "Sadly we will no longer be able to host these evenings due to a cost increase of over 550% from Dorset County Museum.

"Unfortunately it is not sustainable for a small business like ours.

"We're incredibly disappointed, as these nights were a real highlight for us."

Museum executive director Claire Dixon said: "The partnership [with Taste] is really important to us but we also recognise that we are all working in a challenging climate and need to ensure we achieve the right balance between income generation and cost management.

"We are committed to supporting Taste with any activities and events that widen access for visitors and generate income for both of our organisations, whilst ensuring we cover any costs we incur, so we can continue to develop our own activities."

Dorset Museum reopened in 2021 following a £16.4m revamp, but the Covid-era relaunch and a sharp increase in costs left it struggling.

Last year it received £250,000 of lottery money to invest in schemes to increase footfall and diversify income.