National Museums Liverpool’s events team has secured more than £1m in annual revenues for the first time in its history.
Its 7 venues have hosted 453 events and more than 28k guests over the last 12 months, including location bookings from Sky Arts, Prime, BBC, ITV and Paramount+.
The most high profile was Eurovision, with NML facilitating the “turquoise carpet” launch at the Walker Art Gallery and spinoff events over several venues. Plus it provided catering for crew and artists over 10 days and hosted the BBC’s media hub at the Museum of Liverpool.
“It’s been a record year for our talented events team, with significant growth from our pre-pandemic levels and our biggest run of high-profile events to date,” said Karen O’Connor, Director of Commercial Enterprises at National Museums Liverpool.
“Our stunning venues are used creatively for corporate and private events – from a small boardroom with a history dating back to 1901, to a 1,000-capacity gallery in a museum that is home to incredible artefacts. We’ve refined the way we deliver event services for our customers and have big plans for the year ahead.”
The £1.3m revenue was a 38% growth on events income – compared to pre-pandemic levels (2018/19).
Part of the growth is attributed to the Hosted by NML team recreating spaces within the Museum of Liverpool to provide a ‘blank canvas’ for clients to brand and visually customise events. This led to a 15% increase in event bookings at the venue.
It has also launched an external catering service, using its in-house chefs for other venues and events in the region, which do not sit within National Museums Liverpool’s own portfolio.
“The reputation of our chefs is highly regarded, and external catering is one aspect we’re now expanding,” added Gareth Nuttall, Head of Sales for Hosted by NML.
“While corporate events at our venues remain our biggest growth area, we’ve had an uplift in activity across the entire events business – including filming, weddings and our own ticketed hospitality events.”
Income generated from NML’s events business goes back into supporting the work of the museums and galleries.
