Museum of Kent Life is taken over

Attractions company Continuum has taken over the running of the Museum of Kent Life and said it is likely to take on other museums as the recession bites.

The deal will involve a phased investment of funds in exchange for a 25-year lease and profits share for Continuum.

The museum, which has been run by a trust and supported by Maidstone District Council and Kent County Council since 1983, made an initial approach to Continuum in 2006.

Continuum also runs The Canterbury Tales, Portsmouth's Spinnaker Tower, Oxford Castle - Unlocked and The Real Mary King's Close in Edinburgh.

The York-based company plans to add more family attractions and take a more commercial approach, but claimed it would preserve the integrity of the museum, which is closed for the winter until mid-February.

Continuum's chief executive, Juliana Delaney, said she expected to take on similar projects as the recession took hold. "We will be focusing on building our portfolio," she said.

She added that the museum had suffered competition from other farm attractions in the region. "It was heading for a serious discussion as to whether it stayed open or not," said Delaney.

Heritage consultant Adrian Babbidge said Continuum's involvement would mean the museum loses the benefits of charitable status and must now meet running costs, maintain its collection and make a return for itself as an investor.

"It will be interesting as a benchmark against the rest of the independent museum sector to see how well Continuum performs, because that will clearly be something other independent museums want to compare themselves against," he said.

Delaney said the site had great potential. "We saw huge opportunities to make so much more of what they had," she said. "The caveat was to maintain a historic core of Kent memorabilia."

She added that she aimed to boost visitor numbers by between 30 and 60 per cent.

Delaney said the deal had the backing of the two councils.