MULTI-£M BOOST

But what do locals really think of the V&A?

NEW findings say Dundee has been given a £21 million economic boost thanks to the V&A – but what do the people living, visiting and working in the city think?

A study into the impact of the £88m museum has found it has pumped £75 min to Scottish coffers since it opened in September 2018, with almost a third of the money staying in Dundee.

It vastly exceeds the original projection of £10m for Dundee and £23m for Scotland and it has been in part down to an incredible 833,015 visitors thus far, dwarfing the initial predictions of 500,000.

The independent study, conducted by Ekosgen and Reference Economic Consultants, and commissioned by V&A Dundee, also estimated an additional 370 jobs have been created in the city by the museum opening.

This is backed up by the people living close to Kengo Kuma’s creation and those who travel see it, who by-and-large have positive views of the role it has had in the city.

But two business owners said the impact hasn’t been quite as big as they hoped. Scott Cannon, co-owner of the Flame Tree cafe, said: “I think that initially, the day the V&A opened was our busiest day ever at that point, but I don’t know if it’s continued to have that desired impact.

“Initially we did see a big turn up from the V&A, but you don’t get too much from it now.

“I think that Dundee has a lot to offer as a city, and if people were to utilise it more by staying the night that would be good for business.”

Luca Saputo, owner of Empire State Coffee, agrees that business has dwindled.

He said: “We opened the shop a year before the V&A opened.

“We expected a massive turnout and when it opened we were really busy for a few months but we soon started to see a decrease in the number of people coming in from the museum.

“We have seen a real decrease in Scottish people visiting, but we still see a lot from abroad.”

Yesterday afternoon outside the museum, passers-by and visitors were more buoyant about V&A Dundee and what it has done for the area.

Sonja McIsaac, 46, from St Mary’s, said: “It’s definitely an asset to the city, 110%.

“It’s been a lot busier in Dundee since it opened. My family came all the way from Edinburgh to see it.”

Mark Francis, a 20-year-old student from the city centre, said: “When my grandparents came to visit, they came to see the V&A, I know a lot of people whose relatives have come to visit it.”

Others in the city have also shown relatives the attraction. Silvia Crotti, 41, brought her sister Simona from Milan to see the gallery.

She said: “I think it’s been very exciting. I love coming to it with my kids.”

It has been leaving its mark on those who have been making up the miles to come to Scotland and Dundee.

One of those who travelled from far and wide was Phil Mark, 38, an architect visiting from New Zealand, who said: “It’s one of the reasons we came here.”

Jim Golder, a 56-year-old tourist from Suffolk, said: “It’s something to draw people in – an attraction.”