The British Council is planning is sell almost half of its collection of 9000 artworks to repay a loan of £197 million.?
The British Council is a part of the UK government, representing British cultural relations on an international level. In 2020, during the pandemic, it took out a loan of £250 million to stay afloat. As of now, it still owes £197 million. This is because a major chunk – £14 million – was going as interest payment on the loan itself each year.
The British Council earns a major chunk of its revenues from educational streams like teaching and exams. The rest (15 percent) of its revenues come from funding from FDCO. To deal with the loan repayment, Scott McDonald (CEO, British Council) announced that it would be slashing the budget by £250 million, closing offices in 40 countries, and laying off hundreds of employees. He has also requested the UK government to raise the allocated funds in next year’s budget (the organization received £163 million in 2024).
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However, the organization has decided to go one step further and announced its intentions to sell artworks from its collection. Their collection has some 9000 artworks from 20th and 21st-century artists like David Hockney and Lucian Freud. About half of them cannot be sold due to legal restrictions. However, the council is willing to sell the other half of the UK government if their outstanding loan could be quashed. The British Council has no permanent display, so most of its works are often on loan within and outside the UK. The British government has not yet responded to the council’s offer.
