Agenda item

To receive the report of the Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure which seeks approval for a number of recommendations that will ensure the Council is providing modern, cost effective and attractive catering services moving forward.

The Chair welcomed Councillor Noakes, Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure, and Mr Jon Topping, Head of Finance, to the meeting.

Members were presented with a report which requested approval for a number of measures to ensure that the Council provided modern, cost effective and attractive catering services in the future following a recent review of the catering service.  Councillor Noakes highlighted the key points in the report and acknowledged the comments made during Public Question Time.

Members discussed the following matters:-

1.       A Member queried the annual turnover figures for the Museum Café and the catering facility at Herbert Warehouse.  The Head of Finance agreed to supply this information to Committee Members.

2.       A Member referred to a café in his Ward which operated successfully as a social enterprise.  He speculated whether the reason the Museum Café was running at a loss was because of the quality of the food offer.  Turning to the Herbert Warehouse facility, he questioned whether bringing services together, rather than contracting them out, had been considered, along with catering for civic events.  The Member stated that the Herbert Warehouse facility was used by staff.  He referred to the lack of facilities for Councillors in the evenings and mentioned that in the past Councillors had been told that they would be provided with a vending machine for refreshments, but that this had never been the case.  Councillor Noakes responded that staff had access to a kitchen area on each floor and that this, combined with a reduction in staff numbers, had led to dwindling turnover at the facility.  She applauded the Member for mentioning the café in his Ward which was run as a social enterprise and commented that this was the way forward.  Councillor Noakes added that food production was not the core business of the Museum.

3.       A Member asked if costings had been made for a trolley service to replace the Herbert Warehouse facility.  The Head of Finance confirmed that there were no plans to introduce a trolley service.

4.       A Member refuted the comment that food provision was not the core function of the Museum and observed that this was part of the visitor attraction.

5.       A Member expressed concern over plans to close the Museum Café and queried why the MYA Consulting report had not been provided as an appendix as it was difficult to judge whether the interpretation of its conclusions in the Committee report matched the study’s findings.  Councillor Noakes responded that not all of the recommendations had been considered appropriate to the catering review, but that she was willing to share the report with Members.

6.       A Member asked if any attempts had been made to market the café at the Museum.  Councillor Noakes replied that the Museum itself had been recently rebranded and marketed. 

7.       A Member asked why it had taken so long to determine the feasibility of a shared entrance/café space within the City Library.  Councillor Noakes responded that the position was not clear on this a year ago and that joint working initiatives were being worked up with the City Library.

8.       A Member acknowledged the difficulties in getting the catering offer right at the Museum in the face of competition from other catering outlets and the Museum’s location.  He stated that as guardians of the public ‘purse’ the Council had an obligation to review the future of loss-making activities.

9.       Turning to paragraph 5.2 of the report, a Member asked whether outsourcing of catering services under one umbrella had been market tested.  Councillor Noakes replied that organisations were unlikely to take on loss making enterprises and said that it was important to look at alternative ways to operate in the future, citing the joint working with the City Library.  She added that the catering services which were performing well would continue to be developed. The Member replied that she did not believe that the report had demonstrated a case for closing the Museum Café and Herbert Warehouse facility.

10.     A Member observed that in his view there was insufficient information in the report to recommend closing the Museum Café and pointed out that most Museums boasted a café as part of the visitor experience and that the fact that it was under-performing was not enough justification to close it down.  In terms of its location, the Member stated that a catering facility in Parliament Street did extremely well and that the Museum Café had the potential to flourish with the right management and imagination.  He commented that any joint initiative with the City Library would take years to bring to fruition.  Councillor Noakes acknowledged the Member’s comments.

11.     A Member reflected that the position was not ideal and said the Museum Café should be closed down and revamped in partnership with the City Library. 

12.     A Member suggested that the Council could advertise to see if there was a local catering operator interested in taking over the business.  Councillor Noakes indicated that she was willing to take that option to Cabinet.  Another Member suggested that the Committee should accept Councillor Noakes’ offer and ask Cabinet to undertake a market testing exercise to gauge the interest of local operators in the business and that the Museums Café should remain open whilst this work was carried out.

13.     Members then had a debate regarding the catering facility at Herbert Warehouse with most Members agreeing that whilst closure was regrettable, that there was no possibility of increasing footfall to the facility and that losses would increase if it continued to operate in its current format.

The Chair drew the debate to a close by summarising the extra recommendation which Cabinet was being asked to consider.  He thanked Councillor Noakes and the Head of Finance for their presentations.

RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND TO CABINET – That the Museum of Gloucester Café continues to function in the short term pending the results of a market testing exercise which will be undertaken to gauge the interest of potential local catering operators in the business.