Image: An area of the Peak District cared for by the National Trust (NT Images & Andrew Butler)
Heritage charity proposes 6% workforce reduction following months of cost-saving measures, with union warning of institutional knowledge loss.
The National Trust is to make cuts to its workforce in order to offset costs which it said are ‘outstripping’ growth.
The trust said it needs to find savings of £26m, partly a result of the employer’s National Insurance increase and National Living Wage rise.
It is proposing to reduce its pay bill by cutting 6% of its workforce, which translates to approximately 660 of its 11,000 jobs.
It said the cost-cutting would allow it to continue with its 10-year strategy, revealed at the start of the year, which vowed to ‘end unequal access to nature’.
National Trust’s 10-year strategy vows to ‘end unequal access to nature’
The Trust is beginning a 45-day consultation period with its staff. It said it will work to minimise compulsory redundancies”, and is working with the union Prospect.
Prospect said in a statement on X: “Our members are custodians of the country’s cultural, historic and natural heritage – cuts of this scale risk losing institutional knowledge and skills which are vital to that mission.
“We understand the cost pressures, but management decisions and external factors have contributed to the financial situation — and now our members are paying the price.”
The cuts would save around £10m of its £26m shortfall. It said its plans follow “months”of other cost-saving measures. “We always want to avoid job losses,” it said.
“The National Trust has existed for so long because it keeps adapting and planning for the long term.”
