The Eden Project says that they remain committed to delivering their new attraction in Morecambe as the charity revealed plans to cut a fifth of its workforce.
Payroll at the Eden Project is being cut by 20 per cent, equivalent to around 80 redundancies including 19 who have decided to leave the charity through voluntary redundancy or retirement.
This was due to "considerable economic challenges", said an Eden spokesperson.
The environment-focussed charity plans to build a new facility on Morecambe Promenade, to go alongside its flagship attraction in Cornwall which marks its 25th anniversary this year.
The £100m Eden Project Morecambe is expected to open in 2028.
A spokesperson said: “The Eden Project is initiating proactive measures to ensure the long term economic stability of the organisation.
"We have explored every option and will create a new structure as a result of considerable economic challenges.
"This will involve reducing our payroll by an estimated 20 per cent, equivalent to around 80 redundancies, including 19 who have elected to leave voluntarily (through voluntary redundancy or retirement).
“A number of factors including the contraction of the visitor economy across the south west as well as significantly increased costs to businesses have made this process necessary.
“This process will set us on a path to continue our vital work as an environmental charity and a thriving visitor destination for our second quarter century and beyond.
“The Eden Project will now begin a consultation period lasting at least 45 days. Affected team members will be supported by the Members Assembly, the Eden Project's staff representative body, and every effort will be made to minimise the number of job losses, with alternative roles or retraining offered where possible.
“The Eden Project remains committed to delivering Eden Project Morecambe.”
The Eden Project recently posted a pre-tax loss of £1.5m in its latest accounts, for the 2023/4 financial year, up from £868,000.
This is despite the Cornwall attraction pulling in 604,000 visitors during the year, up from around 551,000, and a rise in turnover from £23.2m to £24.2m.
In December 2024, Eden advertised for a new project director to lead on the Morecambe scheme, as well as a proposed new Eden Project in Dundee.
The Eden Project Morecambe is earmarked for 4.8 hectares of land on the central promenade in Morecambe, near the Midland hotel.
Further ground investigation work on-site is expected to start in 2025, following on from initial checks in 2023, and the Eden team is also due to open an office at the Winter Gardens theatre, just across the road.
The mixed-use complex will be housed in shell-like domes and will combine indoor and outdoor attractions, themed around Morecambe Bay.
Eden Project Morecambe is expected to pull 740,000 visitors annually, as well as providing around 300 high-quality green jobs, plus more than 1,000 additional new jobs supported in the region.
Behind-the-scenes work on the Eden Project Morecambe has been ongoing ahead of construction beginning on the former Dome/Bubbles swimming pool site.
In November, Lancaster City Council announced they had received a full agreement from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government enabling them to accept £50m of government funds towards the planned Eden Project Morecambe, as the accountable body.
This followed an announcement in the October budget that the Labour government would honour the £50m Levelling Up funding pledged towards the project by the previous Conservative government in January 2023.
So far £5m of this has been released by the government.
The Eden team has also been working on appointing a team of architects to develop the design of the new attraction.
The Eden website says:
"This strategic partnership and collaboration resulted in the confirmation of £50m of Government grant funding for the project as part of a £100m overall capital cost to make the project a reality.
"Fundraising to meet the full project outturn cost is in the final stages and will be augmented throughout construction to opening."
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