Chairman's address

The major issues that were considered by the Board in 2004-2005 were;

• Planning for the second stage of the redevelopment of the London Wall site, which formed the basis of a successful submission to the Heritage Lottery Fund for financial support;
• The Regulatory Reform Order, permitting Museum of London to operate outside the City of London, and thus take over operation of Museum of London Docklands, gained parliamentary approval. A due diligence process relating to a possible merger between Museum of London and Museum of London Docklands was completed;
• The initiative to relocate the Sainsbury Archive to Museum of London Docklands made substantial progress and the Sainsbury Study Centre is scheduled to open in October 2005. Funded by the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts and J Sainsbury plc, the Sainsbury Study Centre will provide access to the Sainsbury Archive, Museum of London Docklands archive and the Port of London Authority Archive, and these resources will be progressively accessible online;
• A major strategic review commenced that involved several functions across the Museum group. These included efficiency reviews of facilities and security arrangements as well as business development reviews of Museum of London Archaeology and Museum of London Docklands. In addition, a new risk management infrastructure was implemented.

These developments and many others are described in more detail in our annual report.

Museum of London, Museum of London Archaeology and Museum of London Docklands have made a considerable effort to heighten community awareness of their collections, services and programmes. Media coverage has increased significantly and there has been a corresponding rise in the visits to exhibitions, events, schools programmes and websites.

I thank all Governors for their many and varied contributions and support throughout the year. I also thank Governors for electing me their Chairman for a four-year term as from May 2005.

I welcome Mrs Denise Jones and Mr Jeremy Willoughby OBE who have joined the Board and bring considerable expertise to our deliberations. I also thank Mr Tony Moss who resigned in November 2004 and Mr Adam Afriyie who resigned in May 2005 following his election as a Member of Parliament. The Board also notes with sadness the passing of Dr Alan Clinton in late 2004.

The Governors are most grateful for the support of the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, the Minister of State for the Arts, and the Corporation of London for their interest in the Museum’s activities.

Finally, the Governors join me in thanking the Director, Professor Jack Lohman, and staff for their enthusiasm, hard work and commitment to realising the Museum’s strategic directions. The Museum continues to be assisted by the contributions of many friends and supporters. Our thanks go to the Museum’s numerous sponsors, donors, clients, friends and supporters, without whom we could never realise our vision.

Michael Cassidy CBE
Chairman