National Marine Aquarium: UK heatwave blamed for cuts

The National Marine Aquarium has blamed a lack of visitors during the heat wave for job cuts

Job cuts at the UK's largest aquarium have been blamed on the summer heat.

The National Marine Aquarium (NMA), in Plymouth, Devon, said the restructuring would "future-proof the charity against increasingly drier weather".

CEO Roger Maslin said that the hot weather had a "significant impact on financial reserves" and up to 15 staff would be cut as a result.

Visit Devon chairman Rhys Roberts said that indoor attractions had struggled this year while beaches had thrived.

Mr Maslin said that staff had now been informed of the "regrettable" need to resize the business.

He said: "The NMA is a charity that relies on ticket revenue from public footfall but as an indoor attraction the business plan is heavily dependent on the weather".

CEO Roger Maslin said that the hot weather this summer had a "significant impact on financial reserves"

Mr Maslin added that job cuts were likely to be made by the end of November, depending on the outcome of a consultation process.

The NMA is the largest public aquarium in the UK with 300,000 visitors per year.

Latest figures show the attraction has made an annual loss of more than £500,000.

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Mr Roberts said that the weather has a "huge impact" on tourism in the South West.

He explained that many indoor businesses had been affected by the warm weather, while beach resorts had been extremely busy.

He said that he was sorry to hear about "the first job losses" as a result of higher temperatures.