Dundee Museum of Transport has today announced the joint appointment of a former Chair and CEO of Dundee Science Centre to drive forward its planned relocation project.
Professor David Sigsworth OBE* will be the incoming Chair and Dr Paul Jennings will assume executive control of the museum’s organisation. They worked together for almost ten years at the Science Centre, building its reputation to become highly rated in UK terms.
Before stepping down from the Chair role in 2019, David oversaw the funding, development and opening of extensions to the Science Centre including the very successful Medical Marvels galleries. His business career includes extensive executive and non-executive experience including a main board directorship at SSE plc and as Chair of SEPA.
Dr Jennings left Dundee in 2009 to lead a large museum in the United States, returning several years later to establish a successful visitor attraction consultancy. His most recent project in the city was to prepare Dundee Heritage Trust for the opening of V&A Dundee in late 2018. He also founded Visit Dundee, a destination marketing organisation that is currently working to support over 200 businesses across the city.
Outgoing Chair, Peter Webber, said of the announcement: “The museum has been fortunate to secure the services of David as incoming Chair given his personal passion for transport heritage and its future. He comes to us with wide experience of running major organisations, he is active in the environmental energy sector and importantly understands the challenges facing cultural organisations like ours. We are encouraged by the opportunity to have David and Paul working together again, given all they have accomplished together previously, and they will be an important part of the mix required to see the Museum re-launch in a new home by 2024”.
Expected to cost in the region of £2.5m, the new Museum project proposals include several site options and will create further employment opportunities, add to the developing visitor offer of the city in advance of other planned major tourism projects, and better connect the organisation to the community through its own activities and through collaboration and planned partnerships with a range of other bodies.
*David Sigsworth is an honorary professor in the School of Science & Engineering at the University of Dundee
Dundee Museum of Transport
Dundee Museum of Transport was established in 2010 with the aim of saving and re-developing the site of the former Maryfield Tram Depot. The Museum, currently situated on Market Street in Dundee, opened in 2014 and has become a popular attraction among the City's thriving heritage scene.
