Wellington Museums Trust Annual Report 2006

CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S
REPORT
This has been the 11 th
year of the trust’s
operation and I am
delighted to report
that we have gone
from strength to
strength. Some of our
key successes were:
• Record visitor numbers of over 236,000 at City Gallery
Wellington
• A major exhibition at the gallery celebrating the
work of internationally acclaimed Australian artist
Patricia Piccinini, which spearheaded the visual
arts component of the most recent New Zealand
International Festival of the Arts
• The Museum of Wellington City & Sea’s New Zealand
International Festival of the Arts exhibition, Innocents
Abroad – touring the Pacific through a colonial lens,
developed in partnership with the Museum of New
Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
• Completion of the extended Wellington Cable Car
Museum, opened on the museum’s fifth birthday
(December 5) by Mayor Kerry Prendergast and
supported by Minister of Tourism Hon Damien
O’Connor
• This museum was a winner in the prestigious New
Zealand Tourism Industry Awards (for visitor activities
and attractions: culture and heritage tourism) and
was a finalist in the Wellington Region Gold Awards
• New work Paper Shaper developed by Capital E
National Theatre for Children and premiered to local
audiences in March
• Confirmation of Capital E National Theatre for
Children’s tour to Australia this October of Hinepau,
for performances at the Arts Centre, Melbourne and
Sydney Opera House; and
• A highly successful combined free open day at the
Colonial Cottage Museum and New Zealand Cricket
Museum in February.
More details of our year’s achievements are given later in
this report.
Financial
The trust’s overall financial performance was generally in
line with budget. The trust made an overall deficit after
fully funding depreciation and an $86,000 loss on the
transfer of landlord improvements (WCC) relating to the
Wellington Cable Car Museum redevelopment.
Expenditure: Major capital expenditure this year related
to the redevelopment of the Wellington Cable Car Museum.
This included an extension to the building, restoration
and conservation of the historic Grip Car 3, upgrade of
the winding room experience, and interpretation and
installation of the museum’s two new galleries. The
building extension was primarily funded by the Wellington
City Council with a contribution from the trust. The
balance of the funding was from fundraising and from
the trust’s own capital expenditure budget. Other capital
expenditure related to asset replacement and the upgrade
of the Information Technology (IT) network.
Overall expenditure was in line with budget, but it should
be noted that personnel costs increased by $190,000 over
the previous year. Half of this increase relates to the
reallocation of most “front of house casual staff” costs at
City Gallery Wellington from security to personnel expenses.
There were also two adjustments in the hourly rate paid to
casual staff to reflect the upward movement in the minimum
wage and to ensure that the trust maintained a differential
between these rates. These adjustments brought the casual
rates more in line with the market. The balance was due
to the creation of a new position of IT manager to develop
and maintain the trust’s new IT network, and some small
adjustments to salaries.
The trust maintains only a small core team in its corporate
office, and contracts legal, HR and other specialist services
as needed. Professional fees this year were higher than
budgeted due to the full review of our HR policies and
procedures, legal costs related to the renewal of leases
and work being undertaken on strategic planning.
Income: Income was in line with budget. The Ministry
of Education income reflects changes to the level of
services contracted, which were reduced from previous
years. The reason for the reduction in income from
grants/sponsorships and donations relates to there being
no call on the City Gallery Wellington Foundation during
this financial year and it being a non-festival year at
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