Jemima Laing (Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children’ Social Care, Culture and Communications) introduced the item and highlighted:

a)    Importance of demonstrating the positive impact and return on investment of the cultural sector;

b)    In 2023, The Box welcomed 272,000 visitors, which was a 10% increase on the previous year, and three times the number that had visited the former Plymouth Museum and Art Gallery;

c)    The Box was developing a national and international reputation by working with some of the very best artists and institutions in the UK and beyond;

d)    Exhibitions such as planet ocean attracted school visits and there was a family programme with over 50 free family events for 2024, and The Box Café was a firmly established community hub;

e)    The Box had been successful in generating over £2m in earned and grant income in 2023/24;

f)     78% of Plymouth schools had formally visited The Box, with 27,000 family visits and 87,000 community participants;

g)    Positive Google and Trip Advisor reviews.

Kate Farmery (Head of Business at The Box) and Victoria Pomery (CEO of the Box) added:

h)    The Box had opened in September 2020 amidst the COVID19 pandemic, and expected to welcome it’s 1 millionth visitor in 2025;

i)     The Box had had a positive £13 million tourism impact on Plymouth and a more comprehensive social and economic impact was being embarked upon;

j)     In 2023/24 56% of The Box’s budget was generated from sources other than the Council;

k)    In reviews people had spoken of real joy at having real life issues contextualised at The Box and it being world class as a result;

l)     The Box contributed to the city’s national and international profiles and reputation and had been featured in iNews, ITV News and Artists and Illustrators Magazine;

m)  The Box had a dynamic and connected programme, the likes of which would be hard to find in any other British venue;

n)    The number of visits was increasing year on year, and a third of visits were first-time visits, and 8% of visits were from people who had never been to any kind of cultural venue before;

o)    Unusually high number of under 25s for a cultural venue;

p)    Visitors mostly gave their reasons for visiting as wanting to spend time with family and friends, and being keen to learn;

q)    78% of Plymouth schools had visited The Box and the team were always striving to engage with those who had not yet visited;

r)    42% of school visits were from schools outside of the city boundary;

s)     27,000 family visits in 2023/24;

t)     87,000 community participants;

u)    Important to interpret the city’s amazing collections in new ways that were appropriate and current, and introducing visitors to a world view;

v)    The monthly Saturday market on Tavistock Place was very popular and worked with diverse businesses to celebrate some of Plymouth’s fantastic artists, musicians and food producers;

w)   The Box had received a TripAdvisor Traveller’s Choice Award for 2024;

x)    They were developing a new marketing and audience strategy for the next three years;

y)    The team had been working collaboratively with local, regional, national and international organisations;

z)    It was important to The Box that it worked to enhance the city’s green credentials, including working on improving biodiversity on Tavistock Place;

aa)  Important for The Box to have a clear vision of its future and important to be able to demonstrate the impact for future funding opportunities;

bb)Keen to expand revenue and diversify income, included the recent taking of catering in-house;

cc)  2025 would mark 5 years of The Box opening and celebrations were being planned.

In response to questions, it was further explained:

dd)The new marketing and audience strategy would aim to gain understanding about the barriers that stopped people from visiting The Box, and would work on ways to get them to visit, such as taster sessions, which had already been trialled;

ee)Increased advertising of the most recent exhibition on Tavistock Place had increased visitor numbers;

ff)    Funding from Plymouth City Council and Arts Council allowed them to leverage funds from other places such as foundations, because they want to fund projects that are proven to be viable;

gg)  The core budget from the Council was the same as the previous Plymouth Museum, but it was now three times as big;

hh)Taking catering in-house allowed them to have more control over being able to work with local suppliers; and they were excited about the long-term opportunities;

ii)    The Box would ask suppliers to not use single use plastic, and if they couldn’t change the product, they would change supplier in the shop;

jj)    Volunteers were vital for The Box and gave every visitor a warm welcome;

kk)To encourage engagement, opportunities such as competitions for children with their entries shown at The Box, would be developed to further engagement with children, young people and families;

ll)    Request for statistics on the number of archive requests at The Box;

mm)  There had been a soft relaunch of the membership scheme for The Box, but the team admitted it needed more attention, and it would be considered in the new marketing and audience strategy;

nn) Important that Councillors supported The Box by championing it in their wards.

The Panel agreed to note the report.

(Councillor Ricketts left the meeting during this item at 4:40pm)