Philippa Neal

Philippa is deeply fascinated by what makes people tick.

As a Consultant, Philippa leads research and consultancy projects to make a real difference in cultural organisations; empowering cross-disciplinary teams to connect more people, more deeply, with their causes. She provides pragmatic, insight-let support and confidence to those she works with, specialising in museums and performing arts organisations. She is fuelled by her desire to understand what makes audiences tick and ultimately to help enrich people’s experiences with cultural engagement.

Philippa loves to solve problems and get to the heart of thorny issues. She is a skilled researcher in negotiating sensitive issues, particularly those relating to the legacies of colonialism. In recent years, projects such as the renaming of Colston Hall to Bristol Beacon and the installation of Physical Energy at Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village have challenged Philippa’s navigation skills.

Scandinavia is an increasingly important territory for MHM. Nurturing a client base of museums and performing arts organisations throughout Sweden, Norway and Denmark is one of Philippa’s key responsibilities as market lead. She recently managed Audience Atlas Sweden: a nationally representative cultural census and one of the largest quantitative studies MHM has run to date, commissioned by Riksteatern. This provided us with a full picture of the Swedish culture market which included unparalleled amounts of data on organisation awareness and engagement, diversity measures and Culture Segments insights.

Philippa has also conducted such broader sector research here in the UK, including projects for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on museums at risk and museum visit trends.

Clients working with Philippa have the benefit of her home-working colleague, Dylan, a Labrador puppy, whose responsibilities include snoring through Zoom meetings and delivering half-eaten mail.

Outside of work Philippa spends her time performing Renaissance vocal music. Purely as a passion project, not being too concerned about who else is interested in listening to the masses of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, this pastime offers a counterpoint to the relentless focus on audiences at work.

Philippa honed her skills and passion for the cultural sector during her undergraduate years reading Music at the University of Birmingham and later at Goldsmiths College, London, studying for a Masters in Cultural Policy, Diplomacy and Arts Administration.