Audience analysis for Otford Palace

The Archbishop’s Palace Conservation Trust is restoring the remains of Otford Palace, once one of the largest palaces in England. It aims to develop a self-sustaining complex with visitors’ centre and educational space. They sought support in understanding the potential audience within travelling distance of Otford and their likely needs.  

The approach

Elaine McCauley was matched to this project. The Trust was aware of audience insight available through the charity The Audience Agency and were also open to data from other sources. They were particularly interested in attracting visitors from a range of backgrounds and in encouraging active travel.

Elaine produced a short report and a set of charts and tables. The release part way through the project of an Office for National Statistics tool summarising census data by distance from a point of interest was particularly helpful.  

The result

Over 30% of the population of England lives within 50 miles of the Palace and could be in range of a day visit to the site and the surrounding attractions, and 600,000 live within 10 miles.  As you would expect, there is much variation, with the larger area covering London as well as much of the South East region.

The charity will use the analysis to formulate their audience engagement plan and their site development, and to support grant applications
 
Impact and benefits

Some years ago, the Trust developed an audience development plan but some of the data was out of date, and it lacked the demographic and audience breakdown that was needed for our forthcoming bid to the National Lottery Heritage Fund.  The data is also enabling us to tailor our visitor experience to different audience segments.  Elaine was able to undertake the background research and fill in the gaps.  We are not statisticians and we could not have done it without her help.  This was a very successful project and it was a pleasure to work with her.