WMC’s sustainable business model has prompted the award, which goes only to organisations recognised as having achieved the very highest levels of excellence.
Glenn Edwards
Wales’ number one visitor attraction, the Wales Millennium Centre (WMC), has been awarded a Queen’s Award for Enterprise. The award is in recognition of its business success, achieved in line with the principles of sustainable development – “balancing the social, economic, and environmental aspects of the business so as to enable a sustainable approach to the delivery of culture in Wales”.
Estimated to be contributing around £50m a year to the local economy and supporting 1,000 jobs on site, WMC is home to eight arts charities: Welsh National Opera, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, National Dance Company Wales, Urdd Cymru, Ty Cerdd, Hinjinx, Literature Wales and Touch Trust. It has seen 13.5 million people come through its doors since it opened in 2004. The venue made reducing its environmental impact a priority, and in 2012 also won the award for Sustainability and Environmental Impact from the British Institute of Facilities Management.
Mathew Milsom, Managing Director of Wales Millennium Centre said: “This accolade recognises our ambitions of inspiring the nation by providing opportunities for all to engage with culture and the arts, showcasing Wales to the World by creating work within Wales and excelling in everything that we do. Not only this, it recognises our operational team’s commitment to the highest standards of customer service and the maintenance of the iconic building itself.”
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