A London group of four maritime and astronomy sites at Greenwich: the National Maritime Museum, Royal Observatory, Queen's House and Cutty Sark.
Royal Museums Greenwich, often shortened to RMG, looks after a group of historic sites in Greenwich, south-east London, that tell the story of the sea, ships, exploration and astronomy. Its 2021-22 annual report lists the National Maritime Museum, the Royal Observatory Greenwich, the Queen's House and Cutty Sark, along with the Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre, the Brass Foundry and the Caird Library. Its programmes in that year included Astronomy Photographer of the Year, a Canaletto exhibition, an Ice Worlds Festival and an ice rink at the Queen's House.
The National Maritime Museum was set up by Act of Parliament in 1934 and opened to the public on 27 April 1937. The Royal Observatory was added to the group in 1953. The annual report does not contain a standalone mission statement. Instead it lists seven aims for the following four years, including the Royal Observatory's First Light project, giving people a reason to visit, responding to environmental challenges, keeping collections relevant, making use of digital opportunities, running a high-performing organisation and caring for collections and buildings. We have not invented a mission beyond those aims.
All of RMG's sites are in Greenwich in south-east London, close together beside the Thames. The report says the sites had about 920,000 visits in 2021-22, compared with a pre-pandemic peak of 2.76 million, and that its websites drew around 11.6 million unique visits. These figures reflect Covid-era disruption, so they are not a normal year. RMG is run by a Board of Trustees and is a statutory corporation and an exempt charity. Paddy Rodgers was named chief executive in that report, and the executive team also included an executive creative director and a business and operations director.
The report gives an average workforce of 527 employees in 2021-22 (426 full-time equivalent), down from 591 the year before. Volunteers numbered 379, an increase of 50%, and contributed 8,620 hours during the year, which shows how important volunteering is to the organisation. The report also mentions a People and Culture department, which replaced Human Resources, and a Sustainable Development Group with a new sustainability manager role. These figures are from 2021-22 and may have changed.
Behind the displays are many types of work: curators and librarians who look after maritime collections, astronomers and explainers at the Observatory, learning and events teams, exhibition producers, conservators, digital teams, visitor services, retail and catering, fundraising and finance. If you are interested in history, science, the sea or space, or in how a large heritage attraction is run, the RMG website is the best place to look at current roles.
Website: www.rmg.co.uk
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