a question of trust: the best business archive for … conference...…delivering the postal museum...
TRANSCRIPT
…delivering The Postal Museum
Adrian Steel and Vicky Parkinson
A Question of Trust: The Best Business Archive for the British
Postal Service
…delivering The Postal Museum
UK Postal Service
…delivering The Postal Museum
Need For Change PLC = no protection for the
museum collection = unlikely to receive external funding
Poor business performance = constraints – budget, people
Archive and museum management very different needs to managing mail
…delivering The Postal Museum
Risks /Opportunities
• Loss of parent support net• ‘Out of sight, out of mind’?• Risk to continuity of the
archive• Loss of funder of last resort• Freedom to spend and act
in best interests of archive• Freedom to staff• Freedom to raise funds
…delivering The Postal Museum
Trading Company
• Trust sets up company to earn commercial revenue; profits given to charity
• Risk of trading activities safely in different vehicle to collections
• Add appropriate expertise to board• Opportunity to exploit potential of collections &
staff knowledge• Dependent upon
use of IP in collections
…delivering The Postal Museum
Advocacy
• Internal: • first task is not to make a
mess of it!• Make sure everyone knows
of your successes• Link success to business
benefit very clearly• Don’t miss chance to
explain charitable status• Become a service provider
of choice• Involve wider internal
stakeholders e.g. government
• External: • External profile helps with
internal profile• exploit freedoms to fullest
advantage• Opportunity to partner for
greater benefit• Able to join in with media
zeitgeist / all sector-wide campaigns
• Direct access to media
…delivering The Postal Museum
Service Level Agreement
• Archive service provided back to Royal Mail and Post Office Ltd via service contract
• Annual targets and ongoing service levels
• Performance measured in regular meetings
• We relieve their legal obligation
• Records management & info governance as well as archival service
…delivering The Postal Museum
Board of Trustees
• Ensure protection of the archive as a national treasure
• Encourage wider access beyond that required simply by terms of contracts
• Ensure archive and museum collections joined up to exploit as fully as possible
…delivering The Postal Museum
Capital project
• Current archive home has many problems!• Royal Mail / Post Office put up finance and donate building
for new home• BPMA raises funds and designs/delivers wider facility• Independent view ensures what is best for collections and
access
…delivering The Postal Museum
Funding contract
• Long term archive service agreement supports trust and fundraising
• Index linked funding to 2040
• Have to ensure long term agreement does not lead to complacency
• Ensure funding goes where it is supposed to go!
…delivering The Postal Museum
Hindsight
• Type and quality of board / board members is crucial
• Maintain good relations with parent – don’t go all out to stand alone
• It has taken longer than we originally hoped – be prepared for setbacks
• Maintaining your own good staff is crucial