Roz, as someone who has worked in the subsidised cultural sector, I can tell you that the decision about when to carry out capital improvements is a complicated one. It depends on when the funding bodies and sponsors release grants for capital improvements. It is not one the Horniman would have taken alone. And many publicly funded organisations chose a recession to do capital improvements as they can often negotiate better terms with building contractors and suppliers.

I would suspect that the licence application is about increasing revenue for day-to-day running. That is where the real cuts have fallen.