Nottingham-based Focus Consultants has been instrumental in helping to deliver the upcoming Wedding Dresses 1775-2014 exhibition at the prestigious Victoria and Albert Museum in London (V&A).
Focus was appointed project manager, cost consultant and CDM co-ordinator for the temporary exhibition which will explore the changes in wedding fashions over the past 200 years. The exhibition will open from May 3rd 2014 until March 15th 2015.
The contract marked the first commission for Focus since the company won a place on a framework agreement to help deliver temporary exhibitions at the V&A.
The commission has been handled by Focus London office in Holborn. Focus has its head office base at Phoenix Business Park, Nottingham, and also has offices in Leicester, Boston, and at Aubourn near Lincoln.
Senior consultant Eleanor Clarke said: “It was a high profile appointment for Focus to be on the framework for temporary exhibition work at the V&A – one which reflected our expertise in working with some of the largest museums around the country. We are very proud that the exhibition that marked our first commission is soon to be opened.”
Wedding Dresses 1775-2014 will feature more than 80 of the most romantic, glamorous and extravagant wedding outfits from the V&A’s collection. It will also include important new acquisitions as well as loans such as the embroidered silk coat design by Anna Valentine and worn by The Duchess of Cornwall for the blessing after her marriage to HRH The Prince of Wales (2005), the purple Vivienne Westwood dress chosen by Dita Von Teese (2005) and the Dior outfits worn by Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale on their wedding day (2002).
Focus Consultants previously worked for the V&A on a multi-million pound redevelopment of the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green, which houses the V&A’s national collection of childhood-related objects, including dolls’ houses, toys and games, furniture and clothing. As well as overseeing the redevelopment, Focus also helped secure funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), which both made significant contributions to the successful opening of the project in late 2006.
Focus Consultants specialises in creative approaches to securing funding packages and delivering high quality projects across the UK. Since its creation in 1994, Focus has helped to secure more than £925m of grant assistance for a range of projects and businesses across the UK and delivered more than £1 billion of projects and programmes.
The firm works across a range of sectors including heritage, museums, arts and culture, education and tourism.
