Fears for jobs at troubled science centre as visitor numbers struggle

Published on Saturday 11 May 2002 01:00

STAFF fear up to 30 jobs will go at the Glasgow Science Centre after officials announced they are seeking £250,000 of savings due to poor visitor figures.

The jobs threat comes as yet another setback to hit the showpiece Pacific Quay attraction since it opened last year, and whose sinking tower has remained closed for months.

Managers at the 75 million complex are consulting their 160 staff over potential savings, such as reduced working hours and shift changes.

Despite attracting more than 420,000 people since opening last June, visitors have not been sufficient to cover costs.

The target of 600,000 visitors in the first year of operation is likely, but observers close to the centre believe it is over-staffed.

MSF Amicus, the union representing centre staff, said it feared between ten and 30 redundancies.

Gordon Casey, its Scottish regional officer, said: "Staff are concerned and worried, and they fear the worst."

Mr Casey called for the centre’s backers, which include Scottish Enterprise Glasgow (SEG), to provide extra funding to stave off redundancies.

He said: "The centre is the only project on the site, and it will take a bit longer for it to find its feet and survive."

David Grimmer, a spokesman for the centre, said: "It is very unfortunate, but we are looking at a cut of 10 per cent in costs across the board, which could include reducing hours and changing work patterns."

He said the cost problems had been caused by the problem-plagued tower being out of action for half the time the centre has been in operation.

He added that the poor overall tourism market over the last year, especially in the wake of the 11 September terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre, had also played a significant part.

Mr Grimmer said it had also originally been assumed that other developments at Pacific Quay would have been completed by the time the centre opened, to boost passing trade.

He said a two-week consultation with staff would run until the end of next week, when he expected plans for savings would become clearer.

A spokesman for SEG said: "We are working with the centre management to get through these short-term difficulties."

Stephen Page, professor of tourism at Stirling University, said he was not surprised by the centre’s predicament.

"There is no critical cluster of activity on the site - the centre was the nucleus to kick start the development process. The common problem is that feasibility studies assume greater growth than actually occurs," he said.

ROCKY START PLAGUED BY FAULTS

THE news that staff could be laid off is the latest crisis to hit Glasgow’s Science Centre.

The complex’s 423ft observation tower has been shut for about a third of the time since it was built.

The repeated closures have been due to a series of technical problems, the most recent being impacted bearings in its base, causing the tower to sink.

However, it is not just the troubled titanium-clad tower which has been hit by problems. The attraction has also suffered a series of organisational setbacks.

When the centre opened on 21 June last year, staff were unable to charge visitors because of problems with the entertainment licence. Days later, the council ordered the Science Centre to close completely until the problems were ironed out.

The following week, the licence was expected to be approved during a meeting of councillors, but the issue descended into farce when members refused to ratify the certificate because of concerns over the safety of surround rails on upper floors .

Two days later, after the problem was rectified, the licence was finally granted, but the following week, hours after a visit by the Queen, the tower was closed because of a glitch.