CEO departs as National Trust Scotland turmoil continues

Finance | Gareth Jones | 16 Sep 2008

Mark Adderley has left his role as chief executive of the National Trust for Scotland having been unable to reach agreement on the organisation’s forward strategy.

He leaves after just 17 months at the helm, and one year into a three-year strategy to stabilise the Trust’s precarious financial situation.

In 2007 he oversaw a restructuring process which resulted in 19 redundancies and a further 10 staff opting to leave voluntarily.

Adderley’s departure last week came just days after a union official revealed that staff were unhappy with big increases in senior management pay having previously agreed a reduction to their own terms.

Adderley himself received a pay rise of at least £30,000.

In a statement, the Trust’s chair Shonaig Macpherson thanked Adderley for his contribution, adding: “Having put the foundations in place, the board and chief executive have collectively identified the leadership skills now required to take the Trust forward in its next phase of development.

“This is therefore an appropriate time to seek new leadership for the organisation.”

Deficit of £800,000

A spokeswoman confirmed that the Trust (pictured) was operating at a deficit of £800,000.

“The issue with the Trust is that a lot of its fee income is tied up for specific purposes. Where it is more challenging is our general income fund, which sits around £4m.

“In the past not all our properties have been acquired with the financial endowment required to run them, indeed only eight out of 129 have been.”

The spokeswoman was unable to confirm or deny rumours that a motion has been tabled to discuss the removal of Macpherson from her position as chair of both the board and council at a meeting on Friday.

Directory: National Trust for Scotland
Who's Who: Gareth Jones

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