Major Scottish arts venues report large deficits

Two major Scottish arts venues have reported large deficits for the last financial year amid uncertainty over their future level of funding from Creative Scotland.

Dundee Contemporary Arts ran at a loss of £381,225 in 2023/24, spending £3m in total with income of £2.6m.

Meanwhile, Aberdeen Performing Arts had a deficit of £354,546, with income of £12.3m and expenditure of £12.6m. It is the second year in a row that APA has run at a loss, following a deficit of £360,063 in 2022/23.

The news coincides with National Galleries of Scotland warning it may need to close one of the four venues it runs in Edinburgh if it does not receive more funding to maintain its historic buildings.

In its accounts, Dundee Contemporary Art’s (DCA) trustees expressed concern over the organisation’s future levels of funding. The venue has applied for a “significant uplift” in funding from Creative Scotland over the next three years, and awaits a decision this month. Its current level of annual funding is £666,667.

Scenario planning

While the trustees say an uplift is “crucial for the planning and delivery of the current activities at DCA”, executives have planned for scenarios involving “significantly less” than the request.

The board is confident the organisation can continue as a going concern for “at least the next 12 months” under these plans.

DCA’s application to Creative Scotland factors in an expected drop in its annual funding from Dundee City Council – currently £232,000 – by between 6% and 7%.

DCA’s reserves fell from £1.3m in 2022/23 to below £900,000 as it dipped into the money to stem its losses.

While revenue from the venue’s cinema increased from £337,688 to £514,770, its grant income fell from £1.4m to £1.1m. And staff costs increased from £1.5m to £1.7m, despite the employee headcount falling from 76 to 71.

The venue’s director Beth Bate told The Courier this week: “It was agreed that, in the circumstances, it made sense to use reserves to help us meet the rising costs and the funding issues that we face.”

Fall in audience levels and donations

Aberdeen Performing Arts (APA) income has dropped by £0.8m from its level of £13.1m in 2023/24. The organisation’s audience numbers were 356,408 – 2% below the previous year’s level.

Its income from donations and legacies was £1.5m in 2023/24, compared with £2m the previous year. Funding from both Creative Scotland (£333,333) and Aberdeen City Council (£1.1m) was lower than the previous year.

APA’s director of finance and commercial Matt Godfrey said the organisation is “facing the same challenges as every other charitable organisation, such as inflationary increases and rising utility and staffing costs”.

He said APA had a strong programme, staging more than 700 performances in the year, and that it was continuing to develop its commercial offer, including a restaurant that has now been open for a year.

“For us our key priorities are that we remain committed to making a creative contribution to the arts, the visitor economy and city centre regeneration, and making arts accessible for all,” Godfrey said.

National Galleries of Scotland warning

Elsewhere, National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) – which runs four major venues in Edinburgh – has said that the 9% increase in grant-in-aid it is set to receive in 2025/26 is “not enough”.

In written evidence submitted to Scottish Parliament’s Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee, NGS said that the increase will be “almost entirely absorbed by our staffing costs”, once plans for a shorter working week, public sector pay policy and national insurance increases have been accounted for.

The galleries also say they will need £40m over the next 10 years – including £17.4m over the next five years – to maintain its historic buildings.

The organisation says the “potential for a catastrophic incident at one of our buildings is at a critical level never before seen”.

The evidence adds that “if there is no significant change in the near future we will be forced to make seismic changes, such as closing one of our buildings”.

NGS director Anne Lyden told the committee the organisation was facing “very unpalatable options”.

She said: “Is it a change in our operating hours or opening hours for the public? Is it a day closure? Is it closures around our multiple sites? Is it even going to the far extreme of a complete permanent closure of one of our buildings?”

“Because, again, if we cannot afford to upkeep the fabric of these listed buildings, then we are at risk. We’re risking colleagues, we’re risking the collection, we’re risking the public, and we, I, cannot take that risk.”

Last year, an investigation by ArtsProfessional and MyCake found that the finances of UK arts and culture organisations were worse than at any time in the past five years.

A sample of 2,800 organisations posted a combined deficit of £117.8m in 2023 – a huge decline since 2022 when they were collectively £152.4m in profit.