Annual surveys

The survey this year shows London to be the first area achieving pre-pandemic levels of audience activity. Opening hours at non-national museums in the capital are back to 2019-20 levels and visitor numbers are now 2% higher, compared to 8% lower in the rest of the country.

However, as last year and in common with the rest of the country, rising staff, materials and energy costs mean that the financial recovery remains slow. While 58% of London museums reported an increase in income on 2023, 67% also reported an increase in expenditure.

There are spots of brighter news. Driven particularly by independent museums, volunteer numbers seem to have had a dramatic recovery. The correlates with other intelligence we are gathering, particularly a resurgence in the demand for training from volunteer managers.

The ratio of volunteers to paid staff in London increased over the year from 2:1 to 4:1 and the median number of volunteers per museum increased from 22 to 30. Although, with the number of volunteer hours contributed staying the same, it would seem this greater number of volunteers is contributing fewer hours each.

The post-pandemic digital momentum is still stronger in London’s museum sector than any other, with all digital audience engagement and e-commerce indicators still being higher across the board than any other region. Instagram has now overtaken X (formerly Twitter) as the social media platform most used by London museums.

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The survey results show that post-pandemic recovery continues in London, with visitor numbers up 87% during 2022–2023 compared to 52% nationally. Visitor numbers are now just 11% short of pre-pandemic levels, compared to 18% nationally.

However, rising energy, materials and staff costs mean financial recovery remains slow. While 54% of London’s museums reported an increase in income on last year, 64% also reported an increase in expenditure.

The slow recovery in volunteer numbers is another cause for concern. Volunteer numbers are still 10% down on pre-pandemic levels compared to 5% nationally.

There are some spots of brighter news. The digital momentum brought about by lockdown is still strong in London, with digital audience engagement and e-commerce indicators being higher across the board in London than any other region.

There may be lots of reasons why, such as faster internet speeds, the higher proportion of large museums and possibly the dividends of our intensive digital skills programme.

The 2022 survey results show that museums in London continued to face significant challenges in their recovery from the pandemic. In 2021–2022, visitor numbers in London were still 51% down on the pre-pandemic levels of 2019–2020, compared to 45% nationally.

Moreover, some 12% of London museums did not re-open at all, a higher proportion than anywhere else in England. As elsewhere, many of those not re-opening were ‘micro’ museums, those who in normal times receive under 10,000 visitors per annum.

Overall, there was a very mixed post-pandemic picture, with larger museums recovering better. The one consistent and worrying message from the survey was the sustained damage to volunteer capacity, particularly in the capital.

The London report reveals the far reaching impact that the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic had on museums in the capital. In line with the national report, which shows the greatest impact to be on museums in urban areas, London was severely hit, given its reliance on tourism and public transport.

London museums’ 93% fall in visitor numbers was among the highest anywhere. With such a drop-off in demand, 45% of museums in London did not re-open at all during 2020-2021 and opening hours overall were less than any other region. Even where London museums did re-open, 91% reported occupancy to be below 40%, compared to 57% nationally.

The effect on museum finances was severe. Because of higher rateable values in the capital, fewer London museums met the eligibility conditions applying at that time to the local authority Covid grants. Despite other government financial support schemes, 78% of London museums reported a fall in income.