London's Natural History Museum Legal Head on Delayed Exhibitions and Reopening Challenges

In January this year, Will Parsloe was appointed as the Natural History Museum’s inaugural head of legal.

The museum is one of London’s most iconic landmarks and welcomes more than five million visitors a year, but the coronavirus pandemic has triggered major revenue drops for museums, theatres and galleries.

Here, Parsloe discusses how firms are advising him and the difficulties around reopening the museum. 

What are some of the biggest challenges for in-house teams at the moment and why?

Will Parsloe

The in-house teams I communicate with are those in the museums, theatres and galleries around the country. All of them have been closed by coronavirus and suffered massive drops in customer revenue. Exhibitions are largely being delayed, causing a lot of contract negotiation.

The major challenge is now how to reopen in a socially distant way that protects customers and staff but still ensures revenue. There is a lot to do but it is fascinating to watch it evolve.

What is the best and worst thing external advisers could do for you amid the pandemic? 

Farrer & Co have been very helpful compiling and circulating a COVID hub of know-how and advice to help in-house clients cope with key issues and changes. I’m not sure about ‘worst’ and I hope not to find out any time soon.

What excites you about being the head of legal for the Natural History Museum? This seems like a dream role with your degree in archaeology – is that the case?

Well it is certainly a dream role but I’m yet to dig anything up so I’m not sure the previous archaeology degree was essential.

The most exciting thing is the range of work that comes in day to day. As well as advising on the commercial operations, fundraising and upcoming exhibitions, I’ve really enjoyed getting involved in the museum’s scientific consultancy contracts.

The museum has over 300 scientists and provides services around the world. The projects can be fascinating and often result in new samples for the museum’s collection.

What are some of the challenges that come with being the first-ever head of legal for a business and how do you intend to tackle these?

The key challenge is getting sight of major risks. Where staff use external lawyers sparingly, they may not realise the value of having an in-house lawyer get involved on the project from the start.

As well as adapting the internal processes to ensure that visibility, a lot of it is about building relationships with key staff. Thankfully I managed to meet a lot of people before coronavirus closed the museum in March.

How has remote working been so far?   

It has been a great success. Everyone upped their video conferencing skills and I have been surprised how little I need to print. I think the hardest part for many people has been balancing their job with home-schooling for their children. I have been very lucky on that front and thankfully people are forgiving if a five-year-old invades a call.

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