Cultural offerings deliver a wide range of benefits both to society and to the economy. How we measure these benefits is critical to ensuring continued investment. Simetrica-Jacobs was commissioned by Exeter City Council to estimate the value of these benefits, focusing on seven organisations with different cultural offerings within Exeter.
Using the latest developments in cultural economics, carefully adjusted to Exeter’s specific context, we valued the seven cultural organisations:
• Exeter Northcott Theatre,
• Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery (RAMM),
• Phoenix (multi-arts venue),
• Corn Exchange,
• UNESCO City of Literature,
• Libraries Unlimited, and
• Literature Works (Quay Words).
Cultural organisations can have a positive impact, that is deliver benefits, to the economy and to society. The benefits to the economy are measurable through market prices, such as salaries and money spent on goods and services in the local economy. To value the benefits to the economy we calculated the Gross Value Added (GVA).
On the other hand, the benefits to society are not captured fully by market prices (particularly when the cultural offering is free to access). A common approach for understanding this non-market value in the arts and cultural sector is through eliciting willingness to pay (WTP)values. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Culture and Heritage Capital research and guidance contains relevant WTP values for both visitors and non-visitors of associated cultural organisations. These values have been applied to estimate the Total Economic Value (TEV) of each of Exeter City Council’s organisations through benefit transfer. Additional wellbeing impacts (e.g., volunteering and community events) not captured in the WTP values were also included.
Our work estimated that between the 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024,the seven organisations generated a total aggregate value to society of approximately£11.8m. This consists of approximately £11.2m of combined non-market value and ticket revenue (where appropriate) and approximately £0.6m in additional wellbeing benefits. Within the same period, the seven organisations also contributed to the local economy by generating a local GVA of £5.2m.
Our work is consistent and compliant with current best-practice methodologies such as those set out in the UK HM Treasury Green Book (2022) and DCMS Culture and Heritage Capital Programme, both of which Simetrica-Jacobs contributed to.
This work was pivotal in providing robust evidence on the economic value of culture to the City of Exeter to support and inform decision-making around investment and priorities.
