Trust is facing a 'serious' financial battle

Published on Saturday 8 September 2007 00:43

THE National Trust for Scotland has transformed a £1.2 million loss into a £3.6 million profit but could still face "serious financial trouble" in the next three years, its chief executive said yesterday.

Mark Adderley proposed that a complete overhaul of the trust's structure was necessary to slash a further 3million from operating costs.

The 75-year-old conservation charity attracted 9,000 new members last year, boosted to a record 300,000. Many joined up through a new website, launched in April.

The web page, which cost 70,000 has already generated an income of 100,000. But with admissions to its 129 properties dwindling, an ageing membership, and competition from other visitor attractions, it has seen a decline in its working capital, known as the general income fund (GIF).

Mr Adderley said: "A lot of people looking at the accounts would say that membership is up and your numbers look much better, and you are sitting on funds worth 157 million, what's the problem?

"But the fact is we are severely restricted in what we can use these funds for, due to complicated reasons to do with the terms of bequests.

"Legacies declined last year, contributing to a 1 million decline in the GIF, while the salary bill has risen by about 300,000.

"At this rate in a couple of years we will have no working capital left. We are facing serious financial trouble, which is why we have to make some big changes now."

The trust claims that it will be out of danger only when the GIF fund has reached 16million, which equates to a year's worth of operating and project expenditure. It currently has only 4.8million. "We still have a long way to go" said Adderley. "We know that for many of our people the National Trust for Scotland is not a job but a way of life.

"They will find the idea of modernising a conservation charity quite difficult. We stress that this is not about changing our ethos but making sure that we are financially sustainable for the future."

As part of a bid to slash 3 million out of costs, the trust is to merge the functions of four regional offices into a central office, resulting in the loss of 11 jobs.

The plan, which was opposed by the professionals' union Prospect, will also involve the "reconfiguring" of 58 other staff jobs. The National Trust for Scotland is the country's fourth biggest landowner. As well as some of Scotland's most famous castles and houses, it owns 760,000 hectares of Scottish countryside, including 250 miles of coastline and one in six Munros.

In November, the trust will open its new 9.2 million visitor centre on Culloden Moor, the first UK visitor attraction to feature US-style "immersion theatre", using electronic devices to allow visitors to assume the characters of participants in the 1746 battle.

NTS RADICAL OVERHAUL

THE comforting image of NTS shops, best known for bird tables, tea towels and chutney, is in line for a radical overhaul.

Commercial manager Henk Berits, a Dutch marketing expert, has brought in Kevin McElroy, an experienced manager from the John Lewis chain, to help spearhead the transformation.

Last year, the charity's 44 outlets took in around 3m. Mr Berits intends to increase that by ten per cent a year.

"Right now, people only stumble into our shops by accident," said Mr Berits. "We want our shops to become destination shops. This means having a far better idea of what our market is and what these people want to buy."

Mr Berits added: "Our strategy is to get in a lot more families with kids, and a lot more 'empty nesters' - people with disposable income. They want quality products rather than tourist tat."