Burning money? Troubled art school planned £ 370k PR offensive
Beleaguered board wanted blue-chip firm to improve battered image
Bosses at the crisis-hit Glasgow School of Art planned a £370,000 public relations offensive after bad publicity and an exodus of staff, secret papers reveal.
More than half the money would have come from an insurance payout from the second fire that destroyed the worldrenowned Charles Rennie Mackintosh building.
B o a rd papers seen by The Sunday Post said the cost of a “c o m m u n i c a t i o n s analysis, synthesis and s t ra t e g y ” w o u l d cost between £ 250,000 and £300,000 and hiring a fulltime press officer £70,000.
A follow- up report by director Irene McaraMcwi l l i a m said blue chip public relations company Hill + Knowlton started w o rk on a communication strategy in November and £215,000 of the cash re q u i re d would come from an insurance claim payo u t for business interruption after the 2018 fire. “Any further resource will be met through existing budget processes,” she said.
Last year, we revealed how a survey showed one in three staff felt “unduly stressed” at work and one in eight felt harassed or bullied. We also told how millions of pounds raised from the public to rebuild the famous Mackintosh building had been diverted into an expansion plan because insurance covered the repairs.
Subsequent reports to the board said: “The two main challenges for The Glasgow School of Art are: perception and staff wellbeing.
“A s the GSA continues to be the subject of negative attention in the press and social media, action is required to enhance perception through the development of a research and communication strategy which will be led by the Director of Strategy and Marketing, reporting to the Director. The outcomes of the staff survey serve to underl i n e the urgency of this action.”
The Glasgow School of Art yesterday said that the planned PR strategy had not been carried out. A spokeswoman said: “After some initial scoping work this wasn’t progressed and no money has been spent from the fire insurance.”
How e v e r, when contacted by The Sunday Post, a member of staff at Hill + Knowlton said he understood the company has been working with the art school.
A re c e n t G l a s g ow School of Art staff member said: “This shows a board prepared to act without any sense of propriety.
“They recognise they have a management crisis negatively impacting on staff welfare and the student experience and yet they have been willing to throw money at putting a gloss on the problem.
“I do not know how they could justify the use of insurance funding given for rebuilding to improve public perception of the board and management.”
The Mackintosh building was destroyed by f i re in Ju n e 2018 as a £ 35m restoration f o l l ow i n g a p re v i o u s fire four years earlier neared completion. An international appeal raised £ 20m after the first fire, even though insurance payouts covered the restoration work.
MSP Joan Mcalpine, who convenes the Ho l y r o o d committee that produced a highlycritical report about the ar t school’s response to the two fires, said: “Many people will feel it isn’t a communications strategy the art school board should have been consider ing but concrete action to actually fix the problems that exist within the management structure at the art school.
“The record shows the decision- making is the problem at the art school, not how those decisions are communicated.”
Last month architect Gordon Gibb was sacked for criticising the GSA board while giving evidence to MSPS and in hard- hitting columns for The Sunday Post.
But at First Minister’s Questions two weeks ago, Nicola Sturgeon stressed the importance of whistleb l ow i n g after being questioned by Glasgow MSP Pauline Mcneill.
A investigation into the fire’s cause is expected to take another six months.