Cathedrals finding creative ways to stay afloat

Cathedral bosses say they have been forced to find creative ways to raise money as financial pressures mount.

Ben Silvey, chief operating officer at Bristol Cathedral said they had began holding events including silent discos and street food markets to generate extra funds, as it posted a budget deficit for the last two years.

Meanwhile, Nerys Watts, chief operating officer at Wells Cathedral, which costs £9,000 a day to stay open, said they introduced charges for visitors outside of timetabled worship two years ago in a bid to preserve its income streams.

Describing it as "incredibly challenging", Watts said: "It's hard when you're caring for what are the nation's most important treasures."

Watts said while visitor numbers to the cathedral, which was recently named by writers of the magazine Time Out as the nation's most beautiful building, had held since charges were introduced, it had not stopped costs overtaking income this year.

"We're running a deficit budget this year for our core costs," said Watts.

She said the cathedral, which was built in the 1300s, was also in the process of restoring its organ and was looking at having to potentially replace its roof, which could cost close to £30m.

The cathedral is also redeveloping Vicars' Close, a medieval street that dates back to 1348.

The plan is to fund the projects through grants such as the National Lottery Heritage and fundraising.

"Every single penny we raise is about looking after this building, keeping it open as a church, and a place of worship, and caring for the fabric of the building."

Watts said staff salaries are their largest outgoing and the target for 2027 was to break even.

Elsewhere, Gloucester Cathedral is currently re-structuring with some staff possibly facing redundancy as they say operational costs add pressure.

In a letter to supporters The Revd Canon Andrew Zihni, Dean of Gloucester Cathedral, said: "Despite considerable efforts to increase that income and to manage our costs, we continue to face substantial financial pressures."

The Revd Canon Zihni added that the wish is to create a "resilient organisation" saying "no final decisions" have been made concerning staff.

For Bristol Cathedral, Silvey said while the budget deficit had fallen from £300,000 in 2024 to £120,000 in 2025, it was still projected to have a shortfall of £55,000 next year.

"We're moving in the right direction but we can only run a deficit for as long as we've got cash to cover it," he said.

"Our cash reserves will run out at some point if we carry on like this," he added.

Silvey said the cathedral had taken measures to try and recoup some of the money, including reducing staff.

"We've lost good people in that process," he said.

He said the cathedral had also shifted emphasis towards finding new income streams, hiring specialist events and venue hire manager Nat Gearing and putting on "a huge array of events".

Gearing said balancing the opportunity of using the cathedral as a commercial venue with its primary role as place of worship and celebration had meant they "often have to push boundaries a little bit and challenge perceptions".

"Cathedrals have for hundreds of years have been places not just for worship but for celebration. These are just updated ways of celebrating," she said.

Gearing said the events had helped to bring in a whole new group of people who have possibly never visited Bristol Cathedral before.

Silvey said the cathedral was following a progression that goes back since it was built.

"This cathedral has been here for 900 years and it's been all sorts of things to all sorts of people.

He said while the cathedral was very much still for worship, the shift in focus to commercial events was all about making the "building viable and sustainable" as well as "accessible to as many people as possible".

Watts said a similar approach was also taking shape at Wells Cathedral.

"We have to be very entrepreneurial and creative about how we bring in a wider range of people. To welcome them to the cathedral, to come and see all of the fantastic things that we have here."

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