Aquarium bounces back after pandemic closures

PLYMOUTH’S National Marine Aquarium has made a profit of more than £1 million, after bouncing back from pandemic lockdowns which stopped visits and cut off its main source of income.

- WILLIAM TELFORD

The Coxside attraction said more than 220,000 people visited it during 2021, despite the aquarium being shut for 104 days of the year because of the pandemic.

It meant that NMA Operations Ltd, the company which runs the visitor attraction, shop, and café, had an operating profit of £1,007,255 – up from just £2,814 in the previous year.

Newly published accounts for umbrella firm and charity Ocean Conservation Trust Ltd show that in the year to the end of January 2022 total income was £5,218,765, up from £3,190,963 in 2020. This included Gift Aid donations of £2,286,241, income from the café, shop, and events of £705,158, and other income from donations, consultancy, grants, projects, and third-party aquarium management of £824,188.

The NMA also manages the largest private aquarium in the UK at Salesforce Tower,