News / Royal Photographic Society
Royal Photographic Society to sell their Bristol headquarters
The Royal Photographic Society has blamed changing times for the decision to sell their unique headquarters building in Bristol.
When it opened in the Paintworks in 2019, it was hoped that RPS House – which contains an exhibition space and a 101-seat auditorium – would become “a bustling visitor destination and activity hub”.
But the RPS say that their operations “have increasingly moved online over the past five years, making a single, centralised physical location less necessary and less sustainable”.
The decision to sell RPS House “follows a thorough review of the RPS’s evolving operational needs and aims to unlock the property’s value to support the ongoing modernisation of the organisation”.
The RPS will now be looking for a smaller office in the Bristol area “to serve as an administrative centre” with a move anticipated during the summer of 2025 until when a full exhibitions programme will continue to be held at their current headquarters.
When it opened in 2019, it was hoped that RPS House would become “a bustling visitor destination and activity hub” – photo: Martin Booth
In a statement, RPS chief executive Dan Jones, said: “RPS House is a wonderful building, but times have changed.
“The decision to sell RPS House will help us achieve our strategy to ensure long-term financial sustainability, with the proceeds from the sale helping to fund investment in member services, support the Society’s public-benefit charitable objectives, and explore new initiatives to advance its mission of creating a more responsive and relevant organisation for existing and new members.
“In addition this move will enable us hold more of our activities at locations across the UK, allowing for more collaboration with our volunteer groups and better interaction with both members and the public.”
Main photo: Martin Booth
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