Minutes of a meeting of the Board held on Thursday 13 July 2023
Present
John Booth (Chair)
Diana Berry
Katrin Henkel
Sir John Kingman KCB FRS
James Lambert OBE
David Marks
Dounia Nadar
Tonya Nelson
Stuart Roden
Professor Molly Stevens FRS
Apologies
Catherine Goodman LVO
Rosemary Leith
Rosalind Nashashibi
In attendance
Dr Gabriele Finaldi - Director
Paul Gray - Chief Operating Officer
Matthew Fowler - Head of Finance
Victoria Hayes - Secretary to the Board and Head of Governance (Minutes)
Jane Knowles - Interim Director of Public Engagement
Baylee McKeel - Governance Coordinator
Anh Nguyen - Director of Development
Susan Noonan - Incoming Chief Commercial Officer
Christine Riding - Director of Collections and Research
The Chair welcomed the Incoming Chief Commercial Officer to the meeting and explained that she was attending as a guest prior to joining the Gallery at the beginning of September. He also welcomed the Head of Finance who was attending in place of the Director of Finance and Resources and the Governance Coordinator.
1. Declarations of interest:
1.1. None
2. Minutes of the meeting held on 25 May 2023 and matters arising:
2.1. The Minutes were approved.
2.2. Information has been excluded under s.43 FOI 2000
2.3. The actions are complete or ongoing.
3. Loans out paper
3.2-3.3. Information has been excluded under s.22 and s.43 FOI 2000
4. Director's report
4.1. The Director gave his presentation.
4.2. He highlighted two loans that had recently come into the Gallery; 'Valencian Fisherman' by Joaquín Sorolla and 'In the Bibémus Quarry' by Paul Cézanne.
4.3. He said that the refurbishment of Room 29, now called The Wolfson Gallery, was complete and looked spectacular.
4.4. He said that the third iteration of the National Gallery Visits tour had taken John Constable’s 'The Cornfield' to venues around England and had been extremely well received.
4.5. He reported on a very well attended 'Breaking Ground' event in the Learning Centre which was now closed for refurbishment.
4.6. A Trustee asked if a prototype of the Digital Dossier Project could be shared with the Board.
5. Information has been excluded under s.22, s.36 and s.43 FOI 2000
5.1. Information has been excluded under s.22, s.36 and s.43 FOI 2000
6. Committees of the Board and others reporting since the last Board meeting
6.1. The Board noted the Minutes of the Finance and Audit Committees held on 22 June. The Chair of the Committees said that a paper had been tabled providing the curriculum vitae of a proposed new member of the Committees. The Board approved the appointment of a new member to Finance and Audit Committees.
6.2. The Board noted the Minutes of the Masterplan Committee held on 27 June. The Chair of the Masterplan Committee updated the Board on progress in the NG200 Welcome projects.
6.3. The Chairman of the National Gallery Global Ltd reported on trading results since the previous Board meeting and said that since refurbishment the Portico shop was continuing to experience strong sales.
6.4. He said that he was looking forward to working with the Incoming Chief Commercial Officer.
7. Annual Report and Accounts, Report from the Audit Committee and Risk Register
7.1. The Head of Finance presented the Annual Report and Accounts, which had been approved by the Audit Committee. The Board noted the Annual Report and Accounts, the Report from the Audit Committee and the Risk Register.
8. Management Accounts and Development Report
8.1. The Head of Finance presented the Accounts.
8.2. The Director of Development presented the Development Report.
9. Presentation on the forthcoming Acquisitions and Collections development strategy
9.1-9.2. Information has been excluded under s.22 and s.36 FOI 2000.
9.3. Following discussion, the Board endorsed the paper.
10. Presentation to update on the NG200 Bicentenary Programme
10.1. The Chief Operating Officer, the interim Director of Public Engagement and the Director of Collections and Research each gave a presentation which were well received. The interim Director of Public Engagement confirmed that a strategy for the NG200 communication campaign was being prepared and that momentum was already building.
10.2. A Trustee asked that regular updates be given to the Board.