A 'Royal Pavilion Estate' Trust.

A report to the Policy, Resources & Growth Committee this Thursday (25 January) recommends the decisions necessary to establish the city’s long-anticipated trust, bringing together the entire historic Royal Pavilion Estate. Previously the council had proposed a two stage process, creating an interim trust and then merging this with Brighton Dome & Festival. The new proposal recommends moving to a single charity in one stage to enable the benefits of joint working and the generation of additional income to support the service, to be felt sooner.

Under the proposal, the RPM would be led by the existing management team, supported by a new board consisting of the shadow board and the current trustees of Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival Ltd. This would maintain the focus on providing professional standards of museum management in the service while allowing for innovation in working across the Royal Pavilion Estate and the city’s other museum sites. The trust would also build on the successful Royal Pavilion Estate project which is bringing together the city’s cultural heart by reconnecting the historic Grade 1 and Grade 2 listed buildings and landscape to create a reunified estate.

The new trust, yet to be named, will have a 25- year- contract which will secure the future of the RPM for the long term. Able to take full advantage of charitable giving, tax and rate relief benefits and access a range of fundraising and commercial development opportunities. Other trusts across the country have been very successful in increasing attendances and raising their own income.

Brighton & Hove is a leading tourist destination with the Royal Pavilion, museums, Brighton Dome venues and Brighton Festival among the most popular visitor attractions. More than 11 million people visited the city in 2016, and the Royal Pavilion Estate’s economic impact is around £62 million a year.

Update 29th Jan 2018

Plans to move the Royal Pavilion & Museums to a single new cultural Trust with Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival have been  agreed by the Policy, Resources & Growth Committee. The move will take place on 1st July 2018.