Flagship museum borrows £500k as funding fears grow
As leaked papers show uncertainty about finance could hit launch, MSP Marra urges First Minister to step in
SCOTLAND’S new flagship museum has borrowed £500,000 from the bank three months before it even opens, the Daily Record can reveal.
And accountants at V&A Dundee have warned “financial sustainability” remains a “key risk” to the successful launch of the £80million attraction.
The revelations are contained in secret papers drawn up for the museum’s board and leaked to Labour MSP Jenny Marra.
They show the museum was forced to approach Swedish bank Handelsbanken for an overdraft to cover costs in the run-up to the planned opening on September 15.
And they reveal the museum has approached the Scottish Government for help amid fears they could run out of cash and have to cancel planned events.
The papers – dated May 9 and marked private and confidential – say: “It is vital discussions with the Scottish Government are concluded as soon as practical.
“Unless there is certainty over funding, decisions around the operational delivery will be affected and the Board will need to urgently consider what activities could be cancelled.
“Without a funding solution for the short-term need, the adjusted business plan is not deliverable. Financial sustainability remains the key risk to the successful launch and opening of the museum.”
It’s not the first time there has been controversy over the finances of the project.
Japanese architect Kengo Kuma’s breathtaking building on the River Tay had an original price tag of £27million when he won an international contest to create Scotland’s first museum of design in 2010.
A damning report in 2015 into the soaring cost found there was “little prospect” of keeping to the original budget.
Marra, the Dundee-based MSP for North East Scotland, last night urged First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to secure the museum’s financial future.
She told the Record: “There has always been a question over funding to run the V&A once it was built but nobody expected the money to run out before it even opened. Everyone in
Dundee wants it to be a success.
“The First Minister owes it to the people of Dundee to step in and sort this out so we can enjoy the opening celebrations with confidence for the future.”
A spokesman for V&A Dundee insisted the overdraft was “normal practice for start-up organisations”.
He added: “We recently developed our business plan to better reflect the ambitions of V&A Dundee and make the most of launching the new museum, a huge moment for Dundee and Scotland.
“Thanks to the long-term support of our founding partners, private supporters and others, we are in a strong position to launch and run the new museum.”
The museum’s founding partnership includes the V&A, Dundee City Council, Dundee University, Abertay University and Scottish Enterprise.
V&A Dundee will draw on the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London but is to be run independently with its own director.
The project has already had support from the Scottish Government, Heritage Lottery Fund, Dundee City Council, UK Government, Creative Scotland, Scottish Enterprise, Dundee and Abertay universities and various trusts, companies and private donors.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We are one of a number of the museum’s funders and will continue to discuss future resourcing with the museum partners.”