Joint press statement
The SS Great Britain Trust, the multi-award winning museum, archive, and leading visitor attraction based upon and around Brunel’s great steamship – the SS Great Britain – has announced that its long standing Chief Executive is to step down on 30 September 2023. Dr Matthew Tanner MBE has served this education and museum charity well for more than 26 years, and with the Board has led the organisation through significant transformation and innovation, notably the long-term preservation strategy for the ship itself, the achievement of Museum of the Year in 2006, the Future Brunels programme inspiring STEM and engineering careers, the opening of the Being Brunel Museum in 2018, the European Most Welcoming Museum Portimao Prize in 2019 and the current vision for the Albion Dock project. He has recently concluded with some regret that the time has come to leave the Dockyard to take on new life challenges and pass on the baton to a worthy successor.
The Trust thanks Matthew warmly for the significant contribution he has made to the growth, operation, development and transformation of the SS Great Britain Trust over his many years of service making it what it is today – a world class maritime museum, visitor attraction and research/education centre and wishes him every success for the future.
Matthew Tanner says:
‘It has been my great privilege to work for the SS Great Britain Trust and with outstanding staff and volunteer teams to achieve such extraordinary things together, inspiring and changing the lives of young people and preserving Brunel’s masterpiece – the magnificent SS Great Britain. In my time the Trust has grown through many significant transformations and together we have won many national and international prizes. I am proud to have played a part in the ship’s history. The time has now come for me to leave the Great Western Dockyard and to take on some new challenges. I know the great ship and the two historic dockyards are in the good care of the trustees and a first-rate staff group , embraced and treasured by the people of Bristol, and many more people can and will be inspired by her and all that the Trust does in the future. I’ve always believed that we can all make a difference, and change the world a little bit at a time. So we have.’
