The National Trust has reported a £56.5m rise in its annual costs as the charity undergoes a staff restructure.
Recently published accounts for the year ending 28 February 2025 show that the charity’s income rose by £41.6m year-on-year to £805m in 2024-25, including increases in assets value, while its total expenditure rose by £56.5m to £811m.
This comes after the National Trust announced in July that it was planning on cutting 6% of jobs to save £26m due to increasing costs, after announcing a freeze on recruitment earlier in the year.
The charity told Civil Society that the job cuts had not yet taken place but it has finished consulting staff on its proposals and is now reviewing the plans “in light of the feedback submitted by staff and volunteers”.
In its accounts, the charity said: “Costs continue to increase for many, and like other charities and our peers in the conservation sector, we are facing these pressures.
“The financial margin we are able to generate from our membership, commercial, visitor and let estate businesses, which is so vital in underpinning our project investment, was over 20% prior to the pandemic.
“Since then, that margin has tightened, and looking forward to 2025–26, further cost pressure is yet to come.”
Legacies decline offset by ‘best year ever’ for project grants
The charity attributed its rise in income to its operating activities, including opening its properties to visitors; from tenants, gifts and donations to appeals, and from members.
Donations from appeals and gifts increased by around £5m to £18.6m in 2024-25 while the charity recorded an income rise of £16.2m from project grants to total £36m, its “best year ever”.
Income from legacies and grants remained level in 2024-25 with a £16m reduction in legacies following the previous year’s record levels being offset by the record year in project grants.
The charity’s membership income grew, from £288m in 2023-24 to £309m in 2024-25 as it raised membership fees by an average of 69p per month.
It recorded an increase in new members (403,000 versus 398,000 the previous year) but its overall membership base dropped by 0.4% to 2.61 million memberships, covering 5.35 million individuals.
Costs on the rise
Meanwhile, the charity recorded a £56.5m growth in costs, which it attributed to “growth in our trading activities, and the impact of inflation on our wage costs”.
The charity’s operating costs increased by £26.4m due to growing visitor numbers, which resulted in increased activity through its commercial outlets.
It invested an overall pay award of 6% – a total investment of over £17m in staff pay – to staff in recognition of the national minimum wage increase.
The charity’s property projects and acquisitions costs increased by £26.7m to £248m, with expenditure increasing in all areas of conservation, including core maintenance work, while £10.5m was spent on acquiring heritage assets.
Wages and salaries increased by £28m to £307m, while the charity’s redundancy costs totalled £800,000, a decrease on the previous year’s total of £1m.
The charity experienced a reduction of £15.6m in its unrestricted reserves during the 2024-25 financial year, from £354m in 2023-24 to £338m in 2024-25.
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