Loss of £500k prompts Empire Museum review
Patrick Steel, Issue 112/02, p7, 01.02.2012
Museum's trustees expect to reach a decision later this month
The trustees of Bristol’s British Empire and Commonwealth Museum (BECM) are reviewing its future after losing more than £480,000 in 2010, including paying for an exhibition that never happened, the abandonment of a planned move to London and costs associated with several “unauthorised transactions”.
A BECM spokesman said that trustees were looking at “a number of options” and expected to reach a decision about the future of the museum later this month.
The museum closed to the public in 2008 and has made losses of more than £870,000 since 2006. Accounts filed in November show that the BECM has a bank loan of £970,000, with repayments deferred, and an overdraft facility of £185,000 against a limit of £250,000.
An independent audit by chartered accountants Target concluded: “These conditions... indicate the existence of a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt about the group’s ability to continue as a going concern.”
The financial situation led trustees to abandon a move to London, and a planned exhibition on the Palestine Mandate had to be shelved, costing the museum £500,000.
The accounts also show income of £222,000 from “the sale of artefacts and other unauthorised transactions”.
The directors and trustees’ report stated: “It became clear in the latter part of 2010 that the museum director had undertaken a number of unauthorised activities.
“As a result of subsequent enquiries, the museum director was dismissed on 17 February 2011, and a police investigation was initiated, which is still continuing.”
In a statement in April, the solicitor for Gareth Griffiths, the director who was dismissed, said: “Any objects were disposed of with the knowledge and agreement of trustees. Any suggestion that our client has profited from the disposal of the collection will be vigorously defended.”
A spokesman for Avon and Somerset Constabulary said the investigation was ongoing.
Meanwhile, a team of four experts from Bristol Museums has begun a review of the BECM’s collections.
A BECM spokesman said that trustees were looking at “a number of options” and expected to reach a decision about the future of the museum later this month.
The museum closed to the public in 2008 and has made losses of more than £870,000 since 2006. Accounts filed in November show that the BECM has a bank loan of £970,000, with repayments deferred, and an overdraft facility of £185,000 against a limit of £250,000.
An independent audit by chartered accountants Target concluded: “These conditions... indicate the existence of a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt about the group’s ability to continue as a going concern.”
The financial situation led trustees to abandon a move to London, and a planned exhibition on the Palestine Mandate had to be shelved, costing the museum £500,000.
The accounts also show income of £222,000 from “the sale of artefacts and other unauthorised transactions”.
The directors and trustees’ report stated: “It became clear in the latter part of 2010 that the museum director had undertaken a number of unauthorised activities.
“As a result of subsequent enquiries, the museum director was dismissed on 17 February 2011, and a police investigation was initiated, which is still continuing.”
In a statement in April, the solicitor for Gareth Griffiths, the director who was dismissed, said: “Any objects were disposed of with the knowledge and agreement of trustees. Any suggestion that our client has profited from the disposal of the collection will be vigorously defended.”
A spokesman for Avon and Somerset Constabulary said the investigation was ongoing.
Meanwhile, a team of four experts from Bristol Museums has begun a review of the BECM’s collections.
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