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The Royal Academy has announced that 94 of its employees are at risk of redundancy – a figure that equates to nearly a third of its workforce.
The prestigious art institution in central London is getting rid of staff in a bid to secure its future amid plummeting visitor numbers and a lack of revenue.
The RA confirmed up to 60 people are expected to lose their jobs – almost 20 per cent of current employees – by the time the redundancy period is complete.
According to documents seen exclusively by MailOnline, attendance figures have dropped by 40 per cent from 1 million visitors before covid to 600,000 visitors post pandemic.
The documents also reveal that one fifth of older people that culturally engaged pre covid failed to return post covid. The age range of ‘older people’ is not defined.
Staff were outraged at the announcement which comes after a redundancy round at the height of the pandemic.
A source said: ‘People are angry because they said four years ago this wouldn’t happen again because those redundancies were just to survive covid.
‘People just aren’t coming to visit the RA anymore.’
In September 2020, the RA consulted on making 150 people redundant to cope with the dramatic loss of visitors during lockdown.
The Mail understands that senior management planned to make cuts months ago and only shared the full extent of their plans with staff in January.
The Royal Academy has announced that 94 of its employees are at risk of redundancy
According to documents seen exclusively by MailOnline, attendance figures have dropped by 40 per cent from 1 million visitors before covid to 600,000 visitors post pandemic (stock image)
A source said that people ‘aren’t coming to the RA’ following covid lockdowns
‘No one knew it was in financial difficulty until six months ago,’ the source added. ‘It was kept very secret for a very long time.’
The RA has struggled to stay out of the red since 2018, when it had made a loss of £2.74m and a loss of £2m the following year.
The gallery was saved by cash injections amounting to almost £5m over three consecutive years after 2020 as part of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
‘The RA has been losing money consecutively for three years at least, maybe five, as a result of many things – covid, rising costs, and exhibitions that are falling flat’, the source said.
‘Apart from Marina Abramovic, no exhibitions have made much money’.
To solve the crisis, a ‘Steering Committee’ made up of artists, Royal Academicians and entrepreneurs has been set up to propose a plan
‘They’re deciding if they’re going to start making more money through the Summer Exhibition, selling art, whether they’re going to push memberships more,’ the source added.
‘The RA may even take a bigger percentage of artists sales to boost revenue – and definitely the Creative Direction behind exhibitions is all going to change.’
The committee includes academicians Natasha Mitchell, Peter St John, Anneli Desmet, and Sally Tennant, the Vice Chair of the RA Charitable Trust, and Alistair Summers, a director of the RA and The Princes Trust.
The Mail understands the new strategy – including cuts – is to increase revenue everywhere, especially art sales, memberships and exhibition attendance.
A spokesperson for the Royal Academy said: ‘Financial challenges are affecting every organisation across the cultural sector at the moment.
‘This is particularly true for the Royal Academy which is an independent organisation that does not receive any public funding.
‘Increasing costs and changing visitor behaviours have put pressure on the RA’s financial position and cost savings are required to sustain its position in the future.
‘All levels of the organisation will be affected with different impacts on different departments. No decisions have been taken, and this is subject to consultation’.
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