THE SHAKESPEARE Birthplace Trust has had to axe around a quarter of its staff in a bid to cut costs.
The charity, which looks after the Shakespeare family homes in Stratford, confirmed that a total of 29 out of 122 members of staff had been made redundant due to pressures on the tourism industry, saving a total of £1.9million in annual salary costs.
The staff members are from junior, middle management and senior positions.
An SBT spokesperson told the Observer: “We have not made these decisions lightly. We know that our staff and volunteers are our greatest advocates and most talented assets, and we are continuing to support everyone affected by this process. We needed to focus on and support the roles that are pivotal to securing our financial stability and delivering our core purpose.
“As a trust, we are now working extremely hard to deliver the three pillars of our financial recovery plan. These pillars investing in our core activities, growing and diversifying our income and funding ourselves differently – will continue to inform our work because we still need to weather rising costs and the challenges of conserving our historic estate.
“However, we are now able to move forward from a stable and sustainable financial position and are looking to the future. As guardians of unique cultural heritage and collections that we hold in trust for the town, the nation and Shakespeare lovers across the globe, we remain committed both to their care and preservation but also to finding new and exciting ways to bring people together through exploring the life, work and legacy of William Shakespeare.”
The spokesperson added: “Again, we would like to reassure our local, national and international visitors and supporters that our doors are very much open as usual. We are so grateful for their loyalty, appreciation and generosity, and we hope they will continue to support the many exciting activities and events we have planned this year.”
