Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Rolling Strategic Business Plan 2012-17 Executive Summary Note: Throughout the document we use the term 'Kew' to represent the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The term includes the Kew Gardens and Wakehurst Place sites.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY At the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew ('Kew'), we have reached a pivotal point in our 250-year history. The unfavourable global economy means that our traditional support from Government is under pressure while biodiversity is disappearing at an unprecedented rate. We must increasingly juggle our responsibilities on science and conservation with those as custodians of a World Heritage Site and a major visitor attraction that contributes to UK plc. The combination of increased demand for our global programmes and pressurised Grant-in- Aid leaves us with a stark choice: either we invest in generating more income so that we can, for example, increase our efforts to improve ecosystem functioning through biodiversity conservation; or accept that all forms of income will inevitably decline, and re-trench by cutting programmes which will, for example, decrease worldwide conservation activity at this most critical moment in the biodiversity crisis or prompt a decline in the status of our heritage and visitor assets. This five-year Strategic Business Plan a planning tool that is deliberately a blend of both strategy and business sets out both our decision and our direction: it is realistic, ambitious and forward-looking to enable us to survive and deliver our vision. Kew s mission 1. Kew s mission is: To inspire and deliver science-based plant conservation worldwide, enhancing the quality of life. Kew s business 2. Kew was founded as a botanic garden in 1759. Under the National Heritage Act 1983 we became an Executive Non Departmental Public Body (NDPB) and a corporate body with exempt charity status operating under a Board of Trustees and a Director. As an Executive NDPB, we operate at arm s length from our sponsor department, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), who also provide some funding as Grant-in-Aid (GIA). 3. Under the National Heritage Act 1983 Kew is obliged to deliver against a number of statutory duties. Kew utilises its Corporate Strategy the Breathing Planet Programme (BPP) to deliver its statutory duties in a way that reflects the needs of a rapidly changing world. 4. Kew s business is to produce basic and applied information about plant and fungal diversity, to manage and communicate this to all our stakeholders including the public who enjoy our two gardens for which we are considered a 'national treasure' and a World Heritage Site and to inspire and deliver science-based conservation worldwide. We achieve this through the seven corporate strategies embodied in the Breathing Planet Programme. These include several science programmes, sustainable uses of plants, mycology, conservation, restoration and horticulture. Our success is underpinned by extensive collections of living and preserved plants and fungi, associated artefacts, literature and archives, housed at Kew and Wakehurst Place. Kew s Breathing Planet Programme is perhaps the most exciting, urgent and necessary conservation and sustainability initiative of our time. I cannot think of a more important approach to conserving and sustainably using plant diversity at a time of unprecedented global change. Sir David Attenborough Page 1
What is Kew? 5. Kew: is an international hub producing high-quality science of global significance associated with plant and fungal biodiversity, utilising our unique collections and partnerships with over 1,000 collaborators in over 100 countries; is a conservation leader, both internationally (e.g. playing a key role in delivering the Global Plant Conservation Strategy) and nationally (e.g. running the UK Native Seed Hub and a Site of Special Scientific Interest); holds major, world-class scientific collections including the largest collection of living plants in the world (65,000 specimens of 30,000 taxa), the largest fungarium (with 1.2 million preserved fungi), and one of the largest herbaria (7 million dried plant specimens), collection of native seeds (more than 30,000 species stored) and botanical libraries (containing 300,000 volumes; 200,000 art works; 7 million archive records); has committed, high quality, skilled staff as evidenced by the quality and impact of our publications and science reviews; manages two major visitor attractions, including a World Heritage Site that is the UK s 7th most visited attraction, supported by a loyal customer base, and voted by British Airways as the top UK visitor attraction in 2011; is supported by an independent charity and company limited by guarantee with its own trustees and autonomy, the Kew Foundation, which has launched the five year Breathing Planet Campaign to raise 100 million and has already secured 37.4 million in gifts and commitments, 26% ahead of forecasts with a record-breaking year of fundraising in FY 2011-12; is a world-renowned and highly respected centre for education and capacity-building in plant and fungal systematics; benefits from a strong brand with a global and national reputation that places it alongside the great cultural institutions and universities in Britain and major international scientific and conservation organisations; has a wealth of assets, from our intellectual property and collections to our heritage buildings and innovative technological products, from which we generate income to complement public funding; and is commercially minded: more than 30% of FTSE100 companies currently work with Kew, and the Kew Innovation Unit is on target to double its commercially earned income in just two years through work that simultaneously contributes to our Mission. 6. These strengths and successes provide us with a robust platform from which to address current and future pressures and to move forward ambitiously and confidently. Page 2
Resources 7. In reviewing how we will deliver our Vision for 2017, we completed scenario and sensitivity analyses and developed forecast models to assess the impact of a reduced, flat or increased budget. We are clear that we must aim for an increased budget an uplift of c.15% above 2011-12 budget levels by 2016-17. The Strategic Business Plan is prepared on this basis (and thus all tables and figures relate to this trajectory). 8. Through our analysis, forecasts and business development, we are confident that this realistic managed growth is achievable, largely through an increase in self-generated income. Furthermore, we are clear that only this level of financial ambition will enable us to deliver the desired increase in public benefit as articulated in our Vision for 2017, and deliver against our statutory duties. We believe that a flat or declining budget would reduce public benefit. This would have a serious effect on the communities that depend on Kew s national and global activity to preserve biodiversity and enhance ecosystem functioning, providing critical public benefit and food security. Direction and Vision 9. We are at a watershed in Kew s history at a time of both unprecedented global change and loss of biodiversity and real financial uncertainty. The choices we make in the next five years and our ability to deliver those outcomes will frame how much public benefit we produce. If we do nothing and fail to be ambitious, our stakeholders will suffer. Only if we are bold and invest appropriately will we deliver the Vision we set out here for 2017. We make no apologies for being ambitious: what we do matters to the world. 10. The strategic direction and financial forecasts articulated in this plan are Kew s response to the challenge of delivering against our corporate strategy the Breathing Planet Programme whilst facing an environment of increasing pressures on central government funding, an unstable economic climate and the need to improve our effectiveness and efficiency. 11. The five-year lifetime of this strategic plan will be a period of increased self-generated income. We will enhance partnerships nationally and globally by forging strategic alliances and strengthening our leadership role in the conservation of plant and fungal diversity, all of which will deliver what our stakeholders need from Kew. 12. With this new perspective on our mission, understanding the challenges Kew faces and the environment in which it operates, Kew will pursue the following strategic direction: world-class public engagement and learning about plant and fungal diversity on site and online, enhancing the quality of people s lives; global leadership of plant and fungal diversity science; increased gross income to enable Kew to deliver increased conservation, heritage and educational activity; increased self-generated income, through delivery modules; addressing our responsibilities for heritage infrastructure by reducing the maintenance backlog; maximisation of our national and global partnerships in a strategic alliance for public benefit; increased use of the facilities at Kew Gardens and Wakehurst Place to inform the public about the importance of plants and fungi in the environmental and human wellbeing and further modernisation of operations, reducing unit-costs and implementing best practice approaches. Page 3
How we will achieve this 13. To achieve this strategic direction Kew will: produce a revised science strategy that is fit for purpose (section 4.2); further develop public engagement and learning projects, reaching out to the wider UK and international public; produce implementation strategies for the Breathing Planet Programme that make clear the link between income and activities (4.1.3); review our commercial structures to ensure that resource and governance are adequate for delivering our income ambition (5.1); invest in infrastructure that saves money or earns income (5.1.12); develop business cases for high-priority delivery modules (4.4); regularly monitor and assess our performance and keep our performance indicators under review (2.4); review our corporate structures to ensure they are fit to deliver the BPP; design and implement a change programme (4.5); and keep the Strategic Business Plan relevant (a rolling plan ) by updating it annually. Page 4
Forecast figures 14. Tables 1 and 2 contain our calculations of income and expenditure forecasts for each main business area. The specific rates of increase over 2012-17 are based on careful analysis. In summary: for some revenue streams (e.g. visitor admissions), current financial realities mean that even maintaining flat income will be difficult and will require investment above current levels; Kew Foundation will be responsible for delivering the largest share of income from philanthropic sources but income levels are dependent on many factors other than our investment levels; the Kew Innovation Unit has considerable potential to deliver more income and contribute more to our Mission, particularly from expanding its consultancy business and research and development projects; with suitable investment, there is considerable potential for further expansion of income generated by Kew Enterprises Ltd, through product licensing, stronger marketing of venues for hire, and expansion of events. Table 1 Forecast of self-generated revenue (i.e. not Defra Grant-in-Aid) ( million) Baseline 2011/12 FY 12/13 FY 13/14 FY 14/15 FY 15/16 FY 16/17 Overall increase, 2012-17 (%) Foundation - Net 6.4 10.4 14.3 17.1 19.7 19.5 300 Admissions - Gross 4.8 6.3 5.6 6.7 6.6 7.1 147 Enterprises - Net 0.8 1.3 1.5 1.6 1.9 1.9 238 Catering - Net 0.8 0.9 1.0 0.9 0.9 1.0 25 KIU - Gross 1.5 1.3 1.8 2.5 3.0 4.0 267 Research & Project Grants - Gross 3.4 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 38 Other - Gross 3.6 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 31 Total Income 21.3 28.8 33.0 37.8 41.3 42.9 201 15. In total, we aim to double the income we generate over the next five years. This is clearly ambitious in the current economic climate. External factors may prevent success. But we are clear that many of the enablers for success lie within our hands and those of Defra. We will make bold decisions that drive our ability to raise revenue. And our ability to do so is very largely dependent on our partnership with Defra: recent evidence suggests that Defra is receptive to well-justified capital bids. Table 2 Forecasts of income and expenditure from all sources 1 m 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 Expenditure Capital 22.5 24.5 29.2 31.3 29.9 Externally-funded non-capital projects 9.0 10.5 11.6 12.1 13.2 Operating 27.5 28.0 29.3 31.1 32.7 59.0 63.0 70.1 74.5 75.8 Income Capital Breathing Planet Campaign (BPC) 4.1 6.2 11.3 10.1 7.7 Capital other 2 18.4 18.3 17.9 21.3 22.2 Projects - BPC 5.3 6.8 7.9 8.4 9.5 Projects - other 3.7 3.7 3.7 3.7 3.7 Operating - Defra 15.3 14.8 14.3 14.3 14.3 Operating - other 12.2 13.2 15.1 16.8 18.4 59.0 63.0 70.1 74.5 75.8 1 Apparent differences in linked tables are due to minor accounting adjustments and roundings. 2 This line contains the outstanding capital need after income from the BPC. Potential sources include commercial sponsorship, joint ventures and Defra Page 5
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, is the premiere botanic garden in the world, and the premiere centre in the world for the basic and applied study of plants. Professor Lord May of Oxford, former Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government Overall conclusion 16. The strategic direction and financial plans as set out are the result of an intensive planning exercise building on the 2011-12 Business Plan agreed as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review 2010 and taking into account the current economic environment. 17. This Plan has benefitted from the advice and guidance of the Trustees of Kew, Ministers and senior staff in Defra and Kew s wide-ranging network of external stakeholders. It is realistic and well-founded but will provide a major challenge, especially in growing the self-generated income, if it is to be delivered in the current environment. It will, therefore, be subject to close monitoring, annual review and adjusted accordingly before the start of each financial year. It will deliver substantial public benefit, provide good value for money, protect our assets and contribute widely to Defra s objectives. By 2017 Kew will be a 21st century organisation, fit-for-purpose, supported by Defra but with significant partnerships that allow it to have established a secure financial base from which to support its mission and vision. 18. We will deliver our Vision for the future to be a world-class scientific and botanical centre for information, a premier international conservation organisation and a leading botanic garden that is valued as a national and global resource as delivered through our corporate strategy, the Breathing Planet Programme. Page 6