A large heritage charity has announced that it has made a quarter of staff redundant in a bid to cut costs amid “pressures on the tourism industry”.
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, which is based in Warwickshire and looks after the five family homes of Elizabethan playwright William Shakespeare, has reportedly made 29 out of a total of 122 members of staff redundant due to an "urgent need" to reduce its fixed annual salary costs.
The decision was made following a thirty-day consultation, which began in June as part of a "wide-ranging structural review."
The charity will reportedly save a total of £1.9m in annual salary costs as a result.
The staff members that have been made redundant are from junior, middle management and senior positions.
Previous deficits
According to the charity’s most recently filed accounts, it had an annual income of just over £10m for the financial year ending 31 December 2023, and an annual expenditure of just over £9m.
However, in the previous two financial years the charity had been operating at considerable deficits of just under £2m and just under £3m, respectively.
A spokesperson for the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust told Civil Society that the charity had “not made [redundancy] decisions lightly” and that it was “continuing to support everyone affected by this process”.
However, they said the charity needed to focus on the roles “pivotal” to securing the charity’s financial stability and delivering its “core purpose”.
They added that the redundancies have meant that the charity can look to the future and is “now able to move forward from a stable and sustainable financial position”.
“As guardians of unique cultural heritage and collections that we hold in trust for the town, the nation and Shakespeare lovers across the globe, we remain committed both to their care and preservation but also to finding new and exciting ways to bring people together through exploring the life, work and legacy of William Shakespeare,” they told the newspaper.
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