Beamish Museum eliminates more than 50 jobs as proceeds from Coronavirus hit

One of the Northeast’s leading tourist attractions is likely to be lost more than 50 jobs.

The Engager Social Museum in Beamish is the Living Museum of the North in County Durham, which will reopen this week for the first time since it closed in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Beamish Museum has announced plans to lay off 59 employees, which will amount to nearly 15% of the workforce, after a four-month lockdown and continued declining visitor numbers, which has drastically affected the center’s finances.

The museum, which has won many awards in recent years and works to expand its tourist attractions, gets most of its income from visitors, but the tourism sector has been among the worst affected by the coronavirus closure.

Beamish reopened in July with visitors having to reserve time in advance, with added sanitation, hygiene and social distancing measures.

“We are deeply saddened that Covid-19 has had a devastating effect on the museum, and we have had to take a step to put a number of roles at risk of repetition, subject to group counseling,” said Rhiannon Hels, Deputy Director of Beamish.

“As a charity, 95% of our income comes from our visitors. The four-month mandatory lockdown due to Covid-19, and recent reopening with limited capacity, has had a major impact on our visitor numbers and our money.”

Full Story.