Finance

The closing date for a government scheme allowing museums and galleries to claim a VAT refund has been extended by two months.

The scheme, which has been running since 2001, is open to any museum or gallery that provides free access to the public for at least 30 hours a week. It last accepted new applicants in 2018/19.

Institutions eligible for the scheme are entitled to a refund on VAT incurred on goods and services purchased in order to facilitate free admission. The scheme reopened for applications in October, with an original deadline of 3 January 2023.

The closing date has now been extended by two months to 5pm Wednesday 1 March 2023.

English Heritage recorded a 16% increase in income in the past year, according to the conservation charity’s annual report for 2021/22.

Its total income increased from £99.8m to £116m, while total expenditure was up from £37.4m to £42.4m.

The charity’s membership base reached almost 1.2m, including 422,000 new sign ups in 2021/22, which saw membership income rise from £37.4m to £42.4m.

English Heritage says some of its 400-plus sites posted record visitor numbers too, which has been attributed to an increase in staycations following the peak of the pandemic.

But the charity is aware financial challenges could be ahead. It says a £80m grant from Historic England – presented when English Heritage became a charity in 2015 – is almost spent, alongside a series of Covid recovery grants.

Chair Sir Tim Laurence said 2021/22 was a “year of learning to live with Covid-19”.

“We and the rest of the world will be dealing with the financial impacts of the pandemic and of the war in Ukraine for some time to come,” he added.

“But I have every confidence in our ability to rise to the challenge.”

English Heritage’s annual report also confirmed staff numbers dropped from 2,245 to 2,117, while its gender pay gap narrowed from 10.3% to 7.8%.

The National Trust's commercial arm has posted strong financial results in its latest annual report following a string of staff cuts and shop closures.

The National Trust (Enterprises) Ltd, responsible for carrying out commercial trading to generate income for the National Trust, saw its turnover more than double from £26.2m in 2020/21 to £55.4m for the year ending 28 February 2022.

Its net profit was £11.7m, up from a £3.8m loss in 2020/21.

The results follow a restructure in its retail operations during the height of the pandemic in 2020/21, which saw staff numbers cut by 20% (equating to a £5.4m saving in staff costs) and the closure of 70 shops to "focus on a core retail estate of more profitable stores".

Sharon Pickford, National Trust Director of Support and Revenue and a Director for National Trust (Enterprises) Ltd, said the charity "had to make some tough choices to reduce [the] cost base to ensure we were able to weather the storms ahead".

"In 2021/22 we made a good recovery as our places started to reopen, however, we remain under our 2019/20 income by around £23m due to the current external climate."

The company’s annual report says visitor numbers increased by around seven million in 2021/22 compared with the previous year, with spend per visitor also recovering.

Spend per visitor rose from £1.06 to £1.45, while retail turnover increased by £17.3m, resulting in a £2.1m retail profit.

The Association of British Orchestras (ABO) has called on Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to put in place measures to support the UK’s orchestral sector in this week's Autumn Statement in the wake of cus to funding from Arts Council England (ACE).

Judith Webster, Chief Executive of ABO, said she is “deeply concerned” by the impact of the removal of some organisations from the ACE's National Portfolio and “significantly reduced” funding for others.

“We are particularly concerned with our members working in opera and contemporary music, where the biggest funding reductions have fallen,” she said. 

“Continued support for our sector is particularly needed at a time when orchestras are still in the early stages of recovery, rebuilding the confidence of live audiences and dealing with the headwinds from the cost-of-living crisis and Brexit.”

The ABO has urged the Chancellor to use Thursday's Autumn Statement to extend the temporary 50% uplifted Orchestra Tax Relief, which is currently due to reduce to 35% from April 1 next year and return to 25% on April 1, 2024.

“An extension to the 50% rate is the critical measure which will allow UK orchestras to rebuild income streams and plan confidently for the future,” Webster said."

A survey on mortgages has found arts and culture employees are the least likely to be able to switch their current mortgage deal.

Price comparison service Uswitch.com conducted a mortgage statistics report in light of rising interest rates in the UK, surveying adults with mortgages working across 12 industries.

Arts and culture workers were the least likely to be able to change their current deal, with 91% saying they were unable to do so, despite being up-to-date with their mortgage payments.

In comparison, almost half (49%) of those working in the legal sector were able to switch deals.

According to mortgage expert at Uswitch.com Claire Flynn, anyone nearing the end of a current mortgage deal could consider looking at remortgaging options in order to pay lower rates of interest.

“If you’re on a variable-rate at the moment, switching to a fixed-rate deal means your repayments will remain the same for the duration of the deal and won’t be affected by interest rate changes,” she added.

Almost three-quarters (74%) of arts workers said they were unable to switch because their current deal hadn’t ended, which would mean larger repayments for the 24% who said they were not on a fixed-rate deal if interest rates rise. Low wages were found to be preventing a further 17% of arts and culture workers from remortgaging.

USwitch’s research also found mortgage holders working in arts and culture spend on average 35% of their monthly wage on mortgage payments, which ranked sixth out of the twelve sectors studied.

But arts and culture employees were one of the least likely to say they find it difficult to pay their mortgage, with 38% saying they somewhat struggle to afford their payments. Only workers in the manufacturing and utilities and education industries reported a lower percentage, at 36%.

The HR sector reported the highest percentage, with 76% of workers struggling with their payments.

The Edinburgh International Film Festival has been shut down with immediate effect after the charity that runs it, the Centre for the Moving Image (CMI), announced it had ceased trading and called in administrators.

In a statement CMI said the decision was taken as a result of the "perfect storm" of sharply rising costs, in particular energy costs, alongside reduced trade due to the ongoing impacts of the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis. 

CMI said that even with the recently announced energy price cap for businesses, its energy costs were likely to rise by approximately £200,000 over the next 12 months, and with the price cap only in place for six months, planning beyond March 2023 was "highly uncertain".

"The combination, and scale, of these challenges is unprecedented and means that there was no option but to take immediate action," the statement said.

As a result, Filmhouse Cinema and Café Bar in Edinburgh, Edinburgh International Film Festival and Belmont Filmhouse have all ceased trading immediately with administrators appointed for all entities.