We were having a coffee in Kew Gardens Orangery cafe the other week, when we were asked if we would fill in a questionnaire. The questions included one that asked if we would mind if the entrance fee rose to £17.00. It was clear that the thrust and tenor of the questions were testing reaction for Kew Gardens to ramp up even more their commercial side of the business.
I am concerned that the money-making activities, based upon Kew Gardens being a venue for events and consumer attraction activities, is disturbing its reputation and attraction as a peaceful and beautiful botanical garden.
We can hear on Brentford Dock the drone of music from events coming across the River Thames and now Kew Gardens have been given agreement to double the number of such live music concerts and extend their length of time into the night.
The cafe/restaurants have been outsourced to Peyton and Byrne which seem to be targetting the consumers attracted by events, with for instance a 330ml bottle of London Pride for £4.50 and having tickets for a champagne tent for £170!
There is a veritable children's play and fairground growing besides Brentford Gate.
I do understand that the grant from the government has been reduced over the years, but I would have preferred that their business looked for lines of income, based more upon their fantastic research work, experience and brand, to be used to generate income from organisations and companies around the world.
From the ‘Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2011‘ Kew’s mission is: “to inspire and deliver science-based plant conservation worldwide, enhancing the quality of life.”
In 2010/11 Income was substantially below the target of £52m. This was a result of a combination of factors, the most notable being the reduction in Grant-in-aid from (Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and reduced income from admissions and other visitor related sources as a result of lower visitor numbers.
RBG Kew Enterprises Limited is a subsidiary of Kew Gardens. This company carries out the following activities of Kew: retailing, concerts, licensing and venue hire. Its results have been fully consolidated into the accounts of Kew and in 2010 contributed 24% of Non-Defra gross income of £5.1m (£0.9m Net profit).
Residents of Kew protested at the doubling of night-time music events at Kew Gardens. They held up banners saying “Enough is enough! World heritage site or theme park?”
They have lost their campaign and Kew Gardens will now have:
Let us hope that all of this commercial activity does not change the atmosphere of Kew Gardens, which for me is about the quiet enjoyment of the wonderful trees and flowers.
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