York Museums Trust finances unsustainable - report

The city's castle museum is among venues the trust runs

The financial position of the organisation which maintains some of York's most well-known attractions is not sustainable, a report has said.

York Museums Trust (YMT) said it expected to make a loss for 2022/23 of about £300,000.

Estimated visitor numbers at its venues were forecast to be about 80% of those prior to the pandemic.

YMT made 30% of its staff redundant in 2020 due to the pandemic, but said it was "rebuilding its workforce".

YMT was created in 2002 as an independent charitable trust to manage the museums and gallery service previously run by City of York Council.

It runs York's Castle Museum, the Yorkshire Museum and Gardens and the Art Gallery.

In its annual report to councillors it said its initial predicted losses for 2022/23 had been £800,00 but that had been reduced due to "scrutiny of every cost and tight control on recruitment".

The report added: "This is not a sustainable financial position given the pressures are not going away."

In terms of visitor numbers it said its three main venues were expected to have attracted 395,559 visitors in 2022/23 compared with 419,477 visitors in 2019/20.

It said the decision to not charge for admission to its permanent exhibitions at the Art Gallery in 2020 had "not seen income from secondary spend or donations increasing" and it was costing them £200,000 a year in lost revenue.

The trust said it expects losses of £500,000 in 2023/24

The report confirms the trust survived the pandemic with about £1.7m in support from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Arts Council England.

It also received £600,000 in furlough support.

YMT confirmed it had retained Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) Status for 2023 to 2026, but its grant of £1.253m was unchanged since 2019, despite inflation.

The trust also receives £300,000 in council support.

"We are currently preparing the 2023/24 budget which will at best project losses of around £0.5m which will further diminish our reserves position," the report warned.

YMT added it did not have any capital funding and the "state of the buildings" in its care remained a concern with no cash to make improvements or changes.

The report will be presented to councillors on 7 March.