Heritage-only firms must market
Its list time in Canada, when many of the provincial lists of qualified archaeological firms get updated. Recent articles in Heritage Business Journal have noted a shift in market share away from heritage-only firms. In the draft of the current list of qualified Alberta archaeological consultants there are 27 companies listed: 19 of these were heritage-only firms and 8 were multidisciplinary firms. This listing also suggests that multidisciplinary firms have more staff (average of 2.8 vs. 1.8 for the heritage-only firms). There are three caveats here. First, I sorted the firms on my knowledge of what they do–they are not listed that way. Second, while more heritage-only firms have a single archaeologist, the number of staff on the list is not very consistent. Third, it should be noted that not all the firms on the list are actually in Alberta, in case readers are wondering how a single province supports 27 archaeology firms.
Archaeology, like many environmental services, is a requirement for some development approvals. Developers who do not know how to find an archaeologist are given the list of qualified firms. My hunch is that lists such as the Alberta Consultant’s List form the entire marketing plan for many small heritage-only firms. This raises the question of whether the reported switch to multidisciplinary firms is due to a customer desire for one stop shopping, or whether it is because multidisciplinary firms out-market and out-brand heritage only firms. Read more…
UK tax code change could hurt historic preservation
The recently announced Chancellor’s Budget in the UK includes a proposal to increase the VAT from 0 to 20 percent for the alteration and maintenance of listed buildings. This will put a heavy financial burden on those that own or maintain historic listed buildings.
While not every building alteration on a listed building requires specialized historical preservation skills, many projects do for at least some aspects. An increase of 20 percent for project costs may cause some repair projects to be postponed or shelved. This in turn may have a knock-on effect for those employed in the historic preservation sector. It may also hurt other sectors such as heritage and museum management. Sites and museums would see their maintenance costs increase forcing them to reallocate funds from other areas of their budgets. Though these results are hypothetical, and it is unknown at the moment what problems the tax increase might bring, the Council for British Archaeology is “urging its members to make their views on this known and also to sign the online petition.”
Full details can be found at the HM Revenue & Customs website and consultation on the proposed changes has been put up by the CBA (p. 23), which is open until 4 May 2012.
Global contributors wanted!
In the short two months that Heritage Business Journal has been available, we have had readers from 23 countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Kenya, Macedonia, Moldova, Netherlands, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States. If you are a reader in one of these countries, thank you! We are pleased to be a center for information sharing and hope you found what you read valuable. However, we also want to know what is going on with the heritage industry in your country! If you have a passion for the business side of the heritage industry and don’t mind contributing a post at least once a month, we would love to have you join Heritage Business Journal as a correspondent or analyst. Share what you know with other readers in your country and around the globe. Interested? Just fill out our form, it’s at the bottom of the page, and I’ll personally get back to you.
Heritage Business Journal 