Arts & Culture

Bringing together data and insights from more than 260 cultural and heritage sites,  A Seat at the Table: Embedding Commercial Thinking in the Cultural Sector  is a new report from the Association for Cultural Enterprises looking at the factors driving financial resilience across the sector. A crucial insight within the report is that having commercial teams involved in programming decisions incre...

Bringing together data and insights from more than 260 sites, A Seat at the Table: Embedding Commercial Thinking in the Cultural Sector is a new report - from the Association for Cultural Enterprises - looking at the factors driving financial resilience across the sector. It has generated a very positive response. This episode builds on the themes of the report. Host Tom gathers an expert panel to...

How much does the weather really impact cultural attractions, and how much of that is down to perception? In this episode of The Arts & Culture Podcast, host Tom Dawson explores the growing influence of weather on visitor behaviour, and the increasing role that weather apps play in shaping decision-making across the cultural sector. Tom is joined by: Rob Comley, Policy and Advocacy Manager at Ches...

The V&A is a stellar brand in the UK cultural sector. So when it opens two new sites in a matter of months in a new part of the capital city, it's a big deal. V&A Storehouse launched last year. On April 18th V&A East Museum will welcome its first visitors. So, what can those first visitors expect? And what major innovations - that have worked well in the first few months of V&A Storehouse -  might...

Judith Owens MBE is Chief Executive of TBL International and one of UK’s the most experienced and established cultural sector professionals. In this special interview recorded at The Cultural Enterprises Conference, she talks to host Tom Dawson about both her personal career story and how she has led Titanic Belfast to become one of of the world's most famous, successful and loved cultural attract...

Tony Butler OBE is Executive Director of Derby Museums and a leading figure in the UK museums sector. In this wide-ranging interview he shares valuable insights on the topics such as: The recent DCMS funding announcement and the opportunities (and questions) it raises His verdict on the Hodge report How civic museums have had to adapt business models and what the future might hold The draw of loca...

Wentworth Woodhouse is a vast heritage site in South Yorkshire. It requires restoration that could cost hundreds of millions of pounds and take decades. Located in an economically challenged part of the UK, it receives no public funding... and yet manages to survive and thrive. CEO Sarah McLeod - who grew up in a low income household and firmly believes arts and culture are for everyone - skilfull...

Expert Panel: Catherine Pinkerton, Group Retail Manager, Amgueddfa Cymru | Museums Wales Sonia Solicari, Director & CEO, Museum of the Home Erin Thompson, Retail Manager, V&A Dundee The podcast for the Cultural Sector. The Arts & Culture podcast delivers best-in-class thought leadership, with industry heavy hitters and crucial sector-defining topics, going behind the scenes at the UK's museums...

Couple Alex and Oli fell in love with a 600 year old (and famously wonky) house in Lavenham, Suffolk. They bought it, they live in it... and they've transformed this former tea-room into a commercially-successful and ground-breaking heritage venue harnessing the power of story-telling and immersive experiences. In this episode, host Tom Dawson speaks to Alex and Oli about their story, the lessons...

Expert panel of guests: Jocelyn Burnham - Founder, AI for Culture Owen Hopkin - Director of New Technologies and Innovation, Arts Council England Duncan Mann - Founder and CEO, HoxtonAI Sean Waterman - Head of Intellectual Property, Naomi Korn Associates Key links: Art Council England's Responsible AI Practical Toolkit AI for Culture website HoxtonAI website Naomi Korn Associates website The podca...

Joining host Tom Dawson are: Lizzie Dunford, Director, Jane Austen's House Museum Susan Rayner, Head of Commercial & Visitor Experience, Jane Austen's House Museum Director Lizzie Dunford and Head of Commercial & Visitor Experience Susan Rayner share how Jane Austen’s House, a small but world-famous museum in rural Hampshire, thrives as a self-funded organisation. They discuss the impact of the 25...

Richard Morsley is the CEO of Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust. It's a vast site with a unique history. Although no longer in active service, this heritage site has managed to embrace its challenges (a vast footprint containing many unique buildings in need of preservation) and turned them into commercial opportunities.  For example, its iconic rope-making facility, which not only keeps a local cra...

With the school summer holidays just weeks away, parts of the country where visitor numbers are massively seasonal are preparing themselves for the most important time of their commercial year. Cornwall is remote and experiences vast seasonality in visitor numbers... yet it has a vibrant cultural enterprise scene and boasts some of the UK's most iconic attractions. Two Cornwall experts join host T...

How can cultural venues best serve the increasingly important families market? What are examples of current best practice? Where are the challenges and opportunities? What trends are emerging that organisations should be aware of and adapt to? Host Tom Dawson gathers an expert panel to address all these questions and more: Amy Akino-Wittering, Head of Operations & Commercial, Young V&A Alison Bowy...

Many cultural organisations and venues still need to improve how different parts of the organisations understand each other and work together. When collaboration happens well, stories from all teams can be harnessed by Marketing to bring both commercial benefits and progress on overall purpose and mission. This episode's expert panel explains how to break down silos and do collaboration well - esp...

This episode features an expert panel discussing the issue of corporate partnerships. With state funding decreasing, could partnering with big commercial organisations be a timely opportunity? What happens in other countries and are there lessons that can be learned? Things like naming rights can cause concern in the sector, but done properly could they unlock mutually beneficial relationships? Ho...

Joe Hill is the Director and CEO of Towner Eastbourne, a museum, gallery and community venue which hosted the Turner Prize in 2023. Gyr King is a Trustee of Towner and also the CEO and Founder of King & McGaw, the state-of-the-art printing and framing company (which also supports this podcast). In this wide-ranging conversation, Joe, Gyr and host Tom Dawson explore the current complex landscape in...

The Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich has a rich history, serving many vital purposes over the centuries. Now it is a large multi-use site and attraction that has to harness the opportunities of today (like being a very in-demand filming location) to maintain and tell the story of buildings steeped in heritage. Host Tom speaks to Kate Miners (Director of Public Engagement & Commercial) about th...

St. Paul's Cathedral is one of the most well-known buildings in the world. It has a rich history and serves many varied purposes, from Royal services to a place of sanctuary and a highly prioritised destination for international tourists. In this episode, host Tom Dawson speaks to St. Paul's Director of Visitor Experience, Sandra Lynes Timbrell. After a tour of the building, Tom and Sandra settle...

Introduction Article: Trapped in Survival Mode: Can we imagine it different? By Moira Sinclair, Chair of Clore Leadership Clore Leadership's World of Work website Imagine it Different report Reframing the World of Work report The podcast for the Cultural Sector. The Arts & Culture podcast delivers best-in-class thought leadership, with industry heavy hitters and crucial sector-defining topics,...

Dynamic pricing has been making headlines for the wrong reasons with the recent release of Oasis tickets. Before that, Taylor Swift was breaking records in terms of ticket prices. It's a good time to talk ticketing. In this episode we discuss everything from what dynamic pricing actually is (and isn't)... to upselling, audience perception, value-adding, demand management, potential new legislation...

Head of Commercial Development Conall Borowski introduces host Tom Dawson to Little Angel's resourceful and strategic way of operating commercially and creatively. From a unique birthday party product developed during the pandemic, to insightful thoughts on how best to use staff and freelancers, this conversation is full of considered strategy and useful approaches honed through the need to be cre...

In this episode, Tom Dawson, Director of Digital at the Association for Cultural Enterprises, interviews Stephen Preston, Deputy Head of Heritage and Culture at St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh. Celebrating the cathedral's 900th anniversary, they discuss the cathedral's importance to the city, and how it manages challenges both ancient and modern. They explore various topics including the cathedral's...

This episode features highlights from: Maximising Visitor Experience (with Rachel Mackay at Hampton Court Palace) Small Museum Big Impact (with Steve Gardam at the Roald Dahl Museum) Starting From Scratch (with Amy Akino-Wittering at Young V&A) Preserving A National Treasure (with Rebecca Hossain at Sir John Soane's Museum) Local Government Arts Funding Crisis (with Stephanie Sirr, Zak Mensah and...

The National Gallery is one of the highest profile cultural venues in the UK, with a commanding location in London's Trafalgar Square. It's just turned 200 years old, a sign of its importance to national heritage and identity... and a chance for it to celebrate with a national on-the-road outreach programme and a series of capital works that will update and improve key parts of its offer to the pu...