Member Article

HURST on to a winner with National Football Museum

The National Football Museum has appointed accounting and business advisory firm HURST to provide audit and tax services following a competitive tender.

The museum is the latest addition to a growing roster of sports, leisure and not-for-profit sector clients for HURST.

It already counts Lancashire County Cricket Club, Super League Europe, Chill Factore, the Royal Exchange Theatre Company, Manchester Art Gallery and Life Leisure among its client base in these sectors.

The HURST specialists acting for the museum include Helen Besant-Roberts and Greg Wilson of the firm’s business services team.

The National Football Museum spans seven floors of the Urbis building in Manchester city centre and includes a number of event spaces to hire.

It attracts nearly 200,000 visitors a year from around the UK and overseas, and its highlights include a Hall of Fame, trophies, exhibitions, artefacts, interactive games and an educational space for schools and other groups.

Housing the largest accredited collection of football memorabilia in the world, it holds 140,000 items, with 2,500 on display at any one time.

Its collection includes both of the balls used in the first World Cup Final in 1930, the ball from the 1966 World Cup Final and the replica of the Jules Rimet Trophy, which was made in secret by the Football Association after the original was stolen and was paraded by the England players after their victory over West Germany.

There is also a range of memorabilia from footballing legends such as George Best, Diego Maradona and Pelé, including international caps and medals, as well as the original rules of Association Football written when the FA was formed in 1863.

The Hall of Fame is supported by the Professional Footballers’ Association and celebrates the achievements of those who have made an outstanding contribution to the game, on and off the pitch. Recent inductees include Terry Butcher, Paul Ince, Justin Fashanu, Carol Thomas and Walter Tull.

Helen Besant-Roberts said: “We are delighted to be teaming up with the National Football Museum. Football is of immense national cultural and historical significance and we are excited to be able to play a part in helping the museum to share everything that is great about the sport.

“Using our experience, we will support the museum in the next phase of its development, through deployment of our specialist charity accounting and tax team and our digital enablement service.”

Tim Desmond, chief executive of the National Football Museum, said: “We’re excited to move into 2022 with HURST, who align perfectly with our aims for the museum.

“They have shown a real passion for what we do, and we look forward to working together to engage an increased and wider diversity of visitors to our exhibitions and online.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by HURST .