The View from The Shard remains troubled despite ‘positive’ outlook
The company behind the viewing gallery at The Shard remained in the red for a fourth consecutive year despite it its revenue continuing to rise.
The London attraction has reported a pre-tax loss of £678,839 for 2023, according to newly-filed accounts with Companies House.
The total comes after the firm also posted a pre-tax loss of £622,359 for 2022.
The attraction at The Shard has not made a pre-tax profit since it reported a total of £2.3m in 2019.
Shard Viewing Gallery Management Limited said its increased loss was because the attraction was closed for ten weeks from 16 June, 2023, for essential maintenance works.
It also cited rising inflation, the cost-of-living crisis and other macroeconomic and geopolitical factors which negatively impacted its performance.
The newly-filed accounts also show its revenue increased from £14.7m to £15.2m in 2023.
However, the attraction generated a revenue of £8.9m through ticketing, down from £10.5m, while its sales through food and beverage also declined from £2.5m to £1.8m.
Retail revenue was cut from £512,835 to £469,832 while photography sales fell from £331,280 to £314,484.
The amount the firm behind the Shard viewing gallery made from events dipped from £752,141 to £512,274.
Outlook for The Shard’s viewing platform ‘more positive’
A statement signed off by the board said: “The viewing gallery maintains its competitiveness in a challenging market through high quality of finish and presentation, high levels of service delivery, professional well-trained staff and a focus on visitor experience.
“The company’s business plan includes both planned investment to refresh and attraction, enhancement of the avenue generating amenities and the regular review of pricing and marketing strategies.”
The business behind the viewing gallery at the Shard added: “Notwithstanding challenges outside of the company’s control, particularly wider macroeconomic challenges, the outlook for 2024 and beyond is more positive, in particular if the company’s planned investment to refresh and attraction, enhance revenue generating amenities and review the pricing and marketing strategies is adopted.”