Case Study: Royal Albert Hall proves archive value and drives organisation-wide engagement with Axiell Calm (Axiell)

Proving the Value of Archives Internally & Externally

The Royal Albert Hall’s Archive faced an existential challenge when a former CEO threatened to throw the collection away unless the team could prove its value. The Archive—custodian of over 40,000 records and a complete performance history since 1871—needed better intellectual control, visibility and cross‑departmental buy‑in. To do this the team implemented Axiell’s Calm CMS, structuring their Performance Database, Archive Catalogue and Authority Database to centralize and interlink their collections and research data.

Using Axiell Calm the Archive linked datasets to answer enquiries, generate insights (for example, Eric Clapton has performed 209 times at the Hall and the auditorium hosted 402 performances last year), and support digitisation and access projects (including 16 frieze drawings and 300 building plans). The result was measurable: improved internal and public access, broader use across programming, marketing, conservation and exhibitions, increased media engagement, and clear organisational recognition of the Archive’s value—evidenced by ongoing support and a new sign on the archive door.

Royal Albert Hall

Alicia Kirkbride

Assistant Archivist