The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) has confirmed that it ran a voluntary redundancy scheme recently following cuts to its funding and rising staff costs.
ZSL, which operates London Zoo and Bedfordshire’s Whipsnade Zoo, said that after a “challenging year” for UK tourism and the global conservation sector, it decided to open a voluntary redundancy scheme, which closed to applicants on 26 September.
The wildlife conservation charity cited an “abrupt cut to USAID funding and the increase in employer national insurance contributions”, as well as recent UK government cuts to overseas aid, as additional reasons behind its decision.
Some of the charity’s more than 100 global scientific research and conservation projects, which it runs in addition to the two zoos, had previously received USAID and UK foreign aid funding.
In an email to all employees, seen by BBC News, ZSL’s chief executive Matthew Gould said he was unable to rule out future compulsory redundancies but was doing “everything possible” to avoid them.
Gould added that ZSL had already taken measures such as tightening budgets, freezing non-essential recruitment and reducing spending but that it had needed to “go further”.
ZSL recorded an annual income of £83.2m and expenditure of £80.6m according to its most recently filed accounts.
Declining consumer confidence also affecting charity
A spokesperson for ZSL also said that the charity was suffering as a result of “decreased consumer confidence”.
As a charity whose income is partially generated by visitors to London and Whipsnade Zoos, ZSL had observed its guests “spending less this summer”, the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added: “Just this month VisitBritain published results from the most recent Great Britain Tourism Survey showing domestic tourism is down by 8% year-on-year, following a 16% decline reported in the previous quarter.
“This decline is attributed to ‘increased cost-of-living and weaker consumer confidence’ in the UK economy.”
