2024 signalled the end of an era for The Deep. It was with great sadness that we lost our Chairman and founder.
Honorary Alderman David Gemmell OBE (1940-2024) was Chairman of The Deep from its inception to the time of his passing in March 2024. Alongside an esteemed career dedicated to the City of Hull, David was the inspiration behind The Deep.
David would often reflect on his earliest memories of developing the concept of The Deep whilst working on the tourism strategy for the City of Hull, as the Councillor with the portfolio for leisure services, culture, media and sport. He and Colin Brown (the then Director of Leisure Services at Hull City Council, who became the Chief Executive of The Deep until 2017) recognised that Hull was a great city for tourists but that it lacked an iconic visitor attraction to draw people from outside the region. Inspired by a visit to the Natural History Museum in London in 1995, the concept of a ‘natural history museum of the sea’ was born on the train journey home and, from there, developed The Deep.
Over the course of the next seven years David led the project team which raised £45.5 million in funding to realise the dream of building this Millennium Project. The Deep opened in 2002 by which time its charity was formed and David was at the helm as its Chairman. The Deep was an immediate success and work started straight away to increase its size, with a further £6.8 million of funding secured to add an extension which opened in 2005.
David was dedicated to The Deep’s commitment to marine conservation and education. He loved the exhibits, and seeing the impact they had on visitors. He was always very proud and supportive of The Deep’s Crew and the positive contribution everyone in the organisation was making towards The Deep’s mission.
Almost 30 years on, The Deep has been steered by David to become a world-class aquarium and charity, employing 150 people, welcoming nearly 10 million visitors to date and worth over £18.5 million to the local economy every year. David led the Board throughout this time, absent for only three meetings in almost thirty years.
This year also saw great change on The Deep’s Board with many Trustees coming to the end of their terms of office. We thank our outgoing Trustees immensely for their service, hard work and commitment over the years and welcome our new Trustees to join and guide us on this next chapter.
Whilst we have missed David’s counsel immensely, we are proud that in 2024 The Deep achieved many things in support of its conservation and education mission. We are delighted to share those with you here in our Year in Review for 2024.
-Katy Duke, Chief Executive Officer at The Deep.
