Café Critique and Options Appraisal – The World of Glass (St Helens)

Montfort Catering Consultants are delighted to be working with The World of Glass (St Helens), undertaking a critique of their visitor centre Café, along with identifying options for its future development, to enhance the visitor experience and commercial return.

The World of Glass is a local museum and visitor centre is St Helens, dedicated to the local history of the town and borough, primarily through the lens of the glass industry. The museum includes a Victorian street; explores the science of glass as well as hosting changing exhibitions.

Key to any visit is a walk across the glass bridge to visit Tank House 9, Grade II listed, a scheduled monument and archaeological site, which is where continuous glass production began.

As part of the experience visitors can watch traditional live glass blowing in the huge hot glass studio. The Museum also has a Café and gardens along with artisan shop selling beautiful and unique pieces of glass made on the premises.

With support through the Art’s Council England’s Museum Renewal Fund released from The Department for Culture, Media and Sport as well as a recent successful Crowdfunder, The World of Glass is now looking at plans to:

• Bring exhibitions to life.
• Provide better care for the collections.
• Empower young people, supporting more opportunities and develop new skills on the arts and heritage sector.
• Keep glassmaking live.
• Ensure the museum is never at risk again

Further, in August 2026, The International Festival of Glass will take place in St Helens, attracting 10,000 visitors and providing a significant opportunity to promote The World of Glass to local, regional and national audiences.

The Café at The World of Glass has an important part to play in these plans by embracing the organisational objectives and aspirations for the Café and supporting the financial resilience of the museum.

Watch this space for further information.

If you’re looking for support to develop your museum café or event catering operations, or would like to discuss how we could support you improve the potential of your existing food and beverage operations, financial return and visitor experience, do get in touch for an informal talk with a qualified catering consultant.

Posted on October 31st, 2025