UBS Pulls Tate Modern Sponsorship

Tate Modern announced at their annual press conference, that they had lost the backing of UBS the largest Swiss Bank. The extension building program is nearly at a halfway point in raising funds. UBS posted a first-quarter loss in April 2008 of 12 billion Swiss francs (then $11.9 billion). The bank has since turned around: In July 2010, it reported its third consecutive quarterly profit of 2.01 billion Swiss francs.Tate Director Nicholas Serota stated that sponsors come and others go. Oliver Gadney, spokesman for UBS London stressed,“We have enjoyed our association with Tate, a fantastic, world class organization and We will continue to support Tate Modern as corporate members.” USB gave Tate an undisclosed amount of money to hang its world class collection, and the partnership has been beneficial to USB in terms of the public relations opportunities.
The new ‘Olympic Extension’, designed by architects Herzog & de Meuron is unlikely to be ready for the 2012 Olympics and unless another cooperate sponsor or sponsors are found may be shelved.Work has begun on the oil tanks area underneath the building, and on converting this space. It seems relatively certain that this element of the extension will go ahead, but the greater part of the new building – a large pyramid-like extension, will perhaps be put off for a few years yet. “I am absolutely certain that you will have something to see” in 2012, said Serota. “There are undoubtedly people who have the resources to help us at the level required.

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