"Five star" Great Tapestry venue still short of customers

by DOUG COLLIE

The number of visitors to the widely acclaimed Great Tapestry of Scotland gallery in Galashiels fell 47 per cent below target at 20,752 in financial year 2022/20 as the five star visitor attraction falls under scrutiny in a strategic review of cultural, sport and leisure services in the Scottish Borders.

A comprehensive report on attendances at local museums, libraries, swimming pools and galleries will be presented to members of Scottish Borders Council next week, demonstrating demand for leisure trust Live Borders' facilities pre-Covid and post-pandemic.

The decision to remove Jedburgh Library from its long-term home in a Carnegie building near the town centre to a hilltop site in the recently completed schools campus appears to have been catastrophic so far as visitor numbers are concerned. 

According to the tables of statistics, there were 12,939 recorded visits to the Castlegate library in 2019/20 compared to a meagre 693 visitors to the SBC-managed combined library/contact centre within the school in 2022/23.

Live Borders runs the sport, leisure and cultural services under a contract with the council after it was decided to form the separate charitable trust a number of years ago. But the autonomous organisation has recently struggled financially after councillors sanctioned cuts in the annual management fee. Supplementary payments have had to be approved to help out the trust.

The report on the Live Borders Contract Performance 2022/23 by James Lamb, Portfolio Manager is for a meeting of the council's External Services Providers Monitoring Group.

It says the full year 2022/23 is the first year of delivery of all services and activities following the lifting of all pandemic restrictions. Participation has not returned to pre-pandemic levels and the rate of return is slower than anticipated. 

"Live Borders, along with many other businesses, is facing significant challenges as a result of the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on customers and staff. The increase in energy costs has a significant impact on the running cost of facilities, in particular swimming pools. Actions have been taken to reduce energy consumption, but these are limited due to the age and condition of the sporting estate and plant."

 The current review will aim to strengthen and improving partnership and service delivery arrangements and ensuring that the services delivered by Live Borders, on behalf of SBC under the terms of the SPA [Service Provision Agreement], are sustainable in the long term and meet the current and future needs of Borders residents. 

It will consider the SPA and the performance management arrangements. Its scope includes: "Reviewing and developing our shared strategic vision. Reviewing the scope and range of services provided through the partnership. Reviewing how, and where, services are delivered. Reviewing our joint working arrangements. Updating the SPA – including performance management arrangements. Undertaking building energy surveys."

These are among the facts and figures included in Mr Lamb's report: Cultural Services 2022/23 - Library visitors actual 234,149 target 150,000 +56%; Coldstream Museum 3,373, 2,625 +28%; Peebles Museum & Gallery 5,001, 2,700 +85%; St. Ronan's Wells Visitor Centre 713, 2,300 -69%; Halliwell's House Museum 3,226, 2,625 +23%; Old Gala House 1,102' 2,625 -58%; Sir Walter Scott's Courtroom 3,940, 2,625 +50%; Hawick Museum 8,682, 5,100 +70%; Borders Textile Townhouse 7,270, 6,000 +21%; Jedburgh Castle Jail Museum 22,307, 10,325 +116%; Mary Queen of Scots' Visitor Centre 26,288, 9,500 +177%; Jim Clark Museum 8,860, 10,500 -16%; The Great Tapestry of Scotland 20,752, 38,955 -47%.

The report explains "In total, the full year cultural participation numbers were higher than target. This was driven by strong performance across several Museums including Mary Queen of Scots Visitor Centre, Jedburgh Castle Jail Museum, Peebles Museum & Gallery and Hawick Museum. All of these museums are free to enter, with visitors given an opportunity to make a donation should they wish to do so. Many did make a donation, which reflects positively on the visitor experience including the hard work of the front of house staff."

A section of the report devoted to The Great Tapestry of Scotlan (GTOS) shows visitor numbers were below the consultants' revised business case targets (revised in 2021). 

"The original Jura Consultants business case was developed pre-pandemic and the revised (post-pandemic) business case anticipated a return to pre-pandemic levels within 12 months of the pandemic restrictions ending. This has not been the case. 

"The bulk of National and international visitor attractions have experienced a slower increase in visitor numbers than planned. One focus of the joint SBC/Live Borders strategic review is GTOS. GTOS continues to develop as a key visitor attraction for the Borders."

Last month, VisitScotland advised that GTOS had retained its 5-star accreditation for a further two years. The VisitScotland rating narrative states that 5-star indicates “an exceptional standard – hard to fault quality, hospitality and service and consistently achieves the highest level of excellence”. 

During May, Channel 5 filmed for two days at the Tapestry and GTOS will feature in an upcoming episode of Susan Calman’s Great Days Out programme. 

The report adds: "GTOS is continuing to develop links with the travel trade and consumer market. During the last quarter, GTOS reps have attended three exhibition/networking events to develop business opportunities with tour group agencies, meeting 85 companies representing the UK, Europe, Asia and USA. Many of the larger companies plan 18+ months in advance, whilst smaller companies can react more quickly. All have been supplied with sales packs and brochure submissions and there is high level of confidence that this will result in additional bookings throughout 2023 and 2024."