Creating a sustainable future for the National Trust
- Published:
- 09 July 2025
The National Trust exists to protect and promote nature, beauty and history for everyone’s benefit. But our job is increasingly tough due to sustained cost pressures beyond our control. They are affecting many charities, and they are affecting the National Trust.
In January we launched a new 10-year strategy, shaped by almost 70,000 people including National Trust members. It commits us to three main aims: restoring nature, ending unequal access to nature and cultural heritage, and inspiring millions more people to care and take action to support our cause. It was warmly received by supporters, peers and the public alike, and we are determined to achieve it.
To meet our aims and create a sustainable future for the organisation in a tough financial environment, our first step must be to ensure we are financially strong and properly resourced for the future. Although demand and support for our work are growing with yearly increases in visitors and donations; increasing costs are outstripping this growth.
Responding to this situation means making some internal changes to the organisation. Pay is the biggest part of our costs, and the recent employer’s National Insurance increase and National Living Wage rise added more than £10m to our annual wage bill. We are proposing to reduce our pay bill and are beginning a 45-day consultation period with our staff in order to find savings of £26 million. The proposals would lead to an estimated 6% reduction in jobs. We will, of course, work to minimise compulsory redundancies.
We know how difficult this is for our people and are incredibly grateful for their skill and professionalism. We are working hard, with the union Prospect, to make the transition as painless as possible. This follows months of other cost-saving measures. We always want to avoid job losses.
In the proposed changes we are prioritising the things people told us are important for the new strategy while protecting the things people value most about what we do now. This means reaching more people where they live with the nature and culture that helps everyone thrive, while continuing to provide the brilliant experiences visitors and members love at our places. We’ll still be caring for nature and heritage every day, as we have done for the last 130 years. The National Trust has existed for so long because it keeps adapting and planning for the long term.
The proposed changes will allow us to keep on caring for and championing our shared historic and natural environment in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, long into the future.