Bosses thinking outside The Box on new growth

CENTRE HAS BROUGHT IN £1M COMMERCIALLY OVER THE PAST YEAR

- By ALISON STEPHENSON Local Democracy Reporter

THE Box in Plymouth is setting its sights on new heights after bringing in almost £1 million of commercial income this year and 1.1 million visitors during its first five years.

It’s been a phenomenal success since opening its doors during the Covid lockdown but bosses of the £47-million museum, art gallery and archive say the attraction, which has got great reviews on Tripadvisor and Google Reviews for its world-class cultural programming, needs to “stay ahead of the game’ if it wants to maximise its potential for the future and keep its entry and exhibitions free to the public.

After silent discos and pop up shops the Plymouth City Council run arts venue is looking at what it can do next to bring in cash and it wants to “embrace digital” and potentially make money from its vast collections.

Head of collections and programme Rebecca Bridgeman said The Box had two million objects, artefacts and artworks, twice as much as the Birmingham Museums Trust which was one of the biggest museum organisations in the country. Collections cover archaeology, natural history, fine and decorative arts, world cultures, photography, moving image, social and maritime history.