V&A Dundee chief: ‘We’ve listened and we’re changing’

V&A Dundee is changing its approach to exhibitions and overhauling its catering operation in a bid to increase visitor numbers.

The design museum will move to holding just one exhibition with an admission fee each year.

However, in response to visitor feedback, it will increase its number of free, smaller exhibitions, which can be staged at a fraction of the cost.

The hope is this means more footfall and revenue, with an emphasis on increasing visitor spending on food and drink.

As part of the plan, the V&A’s Tatha restaurant will close for the whole of January to be reconfigured.

V&A Dundee changing strategy

Chair Tim Allan said: “We have recut the business plan and are changing the way we operate.

“One of the comments often directed at the museum is that it doesn’t change its content enough.

“We are responding by moving to one main exhibition each year and this will allow us to do more content of a smaller kind.

“Smaller exhibitions like Valentines and the Future of Ageing have been enormously popular.

The free exhibition on Valentines tells the story of Scotland’s most pioneering and successful commercial photographers best known for popularising the holiday postcard. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DCT Media

“We need to drive revenue, which means getting more visitors in. We need to refresh our content so people make more visits and when they come will get the catering they want.”

There is also an increased focus that the one blockbuster exhibition each year has broad appeal.

V&A Dundee feels it will achieve this with the upcoming Tartan exhibition, which opens in Spring.

It includes items such as Jackie Stewart’s racing helmet, Alexander McQueen dresses and kilts from the First World War, still covered in mud and blood from the trenches.

There is even the potential this exhibition, the first curated by V&A Dundee, will tour the world.

‘We have to adapt rapidly’

Meanwhile the Tatha restaurant will change to a focus on self service rather than table service.

Mr Allan said: “With the cost of living crisis, we are seeing an impact on people’s choices about how far they travel to come to the museum and what they do when they get there.

“We have to adapt rapidly.

“It’s a major overhaul of Tatha – more tables, a self-service element and a fast track. There will still be table service for people who require it.

Tim Allan hopes changing free exhibitions more often will increase visitor numbers to V&A Dundee. Image: Kim Cessford/DC Thomson.

“I think this will improve footfall and speed up the process. There will also be a coffee offering elsewhere in the museum in January.”

The investment in Tatha will be made by catering partner Heritage Portfolio, with no cost to the museum.

Newly filed accounts for Design Dundee Limited, which operates V&A Dundee, show a small surplus for the year ending March 31.

Revenue, including a £3.25 million grant from the Scottish Government, was £6.7m, while costs were £6.6m.

“Making a surplus is actually quite unusual for a lot of cultural bodies at the moment,” Mr Allan said.

“We are pleased but we’d like it to be more.

“The previous year we had a huge surplus (£1.7m) but we received additional grant funding due to Covid.”

Visitor numbers for the financial year were 196,892 compared to 41,445 in 2021-22 which was severely impacted by the pandemic.

Mr Allan said he hopes numbers this financial year would be at least 260,000 and in the future could reach 400,000 as a result of the V&A’s new exhibition strategy.