In the decade to 2002 our overriding aim was to develop our galleries in London and the regions. This priority enabled us to display more of the national collection to ever broader audiences, and to facilitate a wider range of exhibitions and activities. Over the last biennium, the number of visitors to all our galleries has remained at the very high levels experienced following the opening of Tate Modern, and to this we should add visits to our website and to Tate exhibitions travelling to other venues in Britain and overseas. In 2003, for example, our exhibition of twentieth-century British art, A Bigger Splash, was seen by over 250,000 visitors in Brazil. Appreciation of the Tate Collection and of our programmes has grown significantly, as has our standing both in Europe and around the world.

However, access is about more than numbers, and over the last two years we have made a concerted effort to innovate and share, so that we can enrich the experience we offer, serve our visitors better and enable more people to enjoy art and benefit from our programmes. To achieve this we have been developing our relationships with universities, museums and other institutions at home and abroad; with schools, social services, local organisations and charities; with our technology and media associates, our corporate sponsors and many others, including our individual supporters. Numerous research projects, partnerships and collaborations have helped us to build knowledge, improve audience experience and extend our reach to a wider public.

Our exhibition programme has again produced major popular and critical successes. Matisse Picasso at Tate Modern combined scholarly research with sensitive presentation and was the most visited exhibition in Tate's history. At Tate Britain, Turner and Venice drew on our special knowledge of Turner, as well as the rich holdings of the Turner Bequest, while at the same time we celebrated the twentieth year of the Turner Prize. Shopping, the most ambitious exhibition ever mounted at Tate Liverpool, was a major public success and affirmed Tate Liverpool's status as an international gallery. Tate St Ives celebrated its tenth birthday with steadily increasing visitor numbers and its most popular exhibition to date, a centenary display of the work of Barbara Hepworth.

Over the past two years we have sought to add variety to our programmes and to explore fusions between different art forms. Tate & Egg Live was an innovative series of live performances which invited artists from different disciplines to work together. The results were remarkable, and it has given us the knowledge and confidence to continue to explore new areas of artistic practice. At Tate St Ives we are running a flourishing artist residency scheme, and Tate Liverpool plays a major role in the Liverpool Biennial.

The Collection is the centre of Tate and belongs to everyone - a universal asset that has unique meaning to each person who discovers it. A first encounter with a work of art can be a revelation, but being able to return to it can lead to a profound relationship over a lifetime. When visitors describe what favourite works mean to them, it is a reminder of the true value of a living, growing museum collection. Developing the Tate Collection is one of our most important responsibilities and over the last two years we have, thanks to our supporters, made some outstanding acquisitions.

However, we need to do much more if we are to ensure that the Tate Collection continues to develop for future generations. Recently we have been focusing on new geographical areas, beginning to acquire contemporary and modern art from Latin America. We have also been adapting to developments in art and a new commitment to collecting photography, as well as video and film, has been underpinned with major exhibitions and displays. As artists continue to work on a large scale, we are responding to the challenges of buying, showing, transporting and storing such pieces.

Tate is thriving, but of course success creates its own challenges. Tate St Ives was designed to accommodate 70,000 visitors. Last year the figure was 268,000. Similarly, Tate Modern's visitor figures continue to be double the anticipated number, which inevitably causes congestion in certain areas, as well as wear and tear on the building. So now we do need to look again at how to develop and improve our galleries.

We have enjoyed two years of progress that have been rich in ideas and detail. The next two promise further developments and exciting new departures.

Nicholas Serota
Director, Tate

'we have made a concerted effort to innovate and share'