Perfect 10 for Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery

Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery has been awarded VisitEngland’s ‘Quality Assured Visitor Attraction’ accreditation for the 10th year in a row.

The inspector from the Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Scheme (VAQAS) said he was extremely pleased with the standard of the Museum’s pre-visit and marketing materials, signage, facilities, displays, exhibitions and customer service.

VisitEngland is the national tourist board for England and manages the VAQAS scheme through a network of regional assessors, all of whom are recruited from industry. The scheme aims to shape the customer experience at visitor attractions across the country and puts each one through an annual assessment.

The Museum and Art Gallery’s front of house staff were praised for their proactive and efficient service and the current ‘Modern Masters in Print: Matisse, Picasso, Dali and Warhol’ and ‘Plymouth’s Great War: Three Towns United in Conflict’ exhibitions were given the thumbs-up. The inspector also commented on the interesting information displayed throughout the building about the permanent collections.

The Museum and Art Gallery has also received a Certificate of Excellence from travel website TripAdvisor for the second year running. The accolade is awarded to businesses that make the top 10 per cent for consistently achieving outstanding traveller reviews on the website. Recent reviewers have described the Museum and Art Gallery as ‘a place to enjoy’, ‘bright, open and welcoming’ and ‘well worth a look’.

“We’re very pleased to have been given such a positive report by the VAQAS accreditation scheme yet again,” said Deputy Council Leader, Peter Smith. “It’s also great to have been recognised by TripAdvisor for the second time. Both awards are a fitting tribute to the staff at the City Museum and Art Gallery, who work very hard throughout the year. It’s also a great endorsement for the high quality of the collections and exhibitions that are on display.”

The Museum and Art Gallery’s permanent galleries feature thousands of objects dating back centuries, including paintings, porcelain and artefacts of maritime heritage, natural history, world cultures and Ancient Egypt.

They are complemented by a varied events programme that caters for a wide range of ages and interests as well as a series of temporary exhibitions, many of which tour from national galleries in London and beyond.

In the latter part of 2014 these will include contemporary art and archaeology and in the early part of 2015 they will showcase fine art and photography.

Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery is open from 10am to 5.30pm Tuesday to Friday and from 10am to 5pm on Saturdays. Admission is free.

For more information call 01752 304774 or visit www.plymouthmuseum.gov.uk.