National Trust Scotland head office sale sparks renewed concern

Finance | Gareth Jones | 19 Aug 2009

The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) is looking to sell its grade-A listed headquarters, angering once again those that believe it is not consulting its members on key decisions.

Campaigning group In Trust for Scotland (ITFS), which is calling for an EGM so recent decisions, including the closure of some historical properties, can be fully debated, said the news was another example of the executive board and management attempting to “circumvent the NTS Council in making major decisions”.

A spokesman for the group said: “Our grouping was formed to protest NTS management’s failure to consult the membership about major decisions affecting the Trust’s future. We and the trade union have asked for details of the board’s business plan and been refused.

“Now, it appears a major decision affecting the NTS’s image is being forced through without consultation. It underlines the apparent impotence of the non-voting NTS Council which has failed in its stewardship and fiduciary responsibility to the membership.”

A spokeswoman for the NTS confirmed that the building at Charlotte Square in Edinburgh is on the market, but refused to be drawn on ITFS’s claim that it was planning to move to “an industrial estate on Edinburgh’s fringes”, saying only that it was looking at “modern office facilities” across the city.

Directory: National Trust for Scotland
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