National Trust Annual Report 2012/13 Our Core Purpose Is to Look After Special Places for Ever for Everyone
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National Trust Annual Report 2012/13 Our core purpose is to look after special places for ever for everyone Registered charity no. 205846 Contents Message from the Chairman 2 Message from the Director-General 3 Board of Trustees’ report for 2012/13 4 Highlights of the year 8 Our strategy 10 Engaging our supporters 12 Improving conservation and environmental performance 14 Investing in our people 15 Major programmes 16 Bringing places to life 16 Getting outdoors and closer to nature 18 Our plans to 2013/14 21 Financial review 22 Administration and management 26 Structure and internal control 26 Thanks 29 Annual Report of the Council 2012/13 30 The Financial Statements 2012/13 33 Consolidated statement of financial activities 33 Balance sheets 34 Consolidated cash flow statement 35 Notes to the Financial Statements 36 Independent auditors’ report to the Trustees of the National Trust 61 The Trust’s advisers 61 Glossary of financial, property and fund terms 62 Net Gain 63 Governance of the National Trust 64 Membership of the Board of Trustees, Council, Committees and Executive Team 64 2012 Annual General Meeting 67 Year on record 69 Places, works of art and other objects acquired 69 Visiting figures 72 Retirements 73 Awards 74 Obituaries 75 The Royal Oak Foundation 75 Gifts and donations 76 Supporter groups 78 Legacies 80 Contact details 88 National Trust Annual Report 2012/13 Contents 1 Message from the Chairman In 2012/13, despite the bad weather and recession, the Trust continued to grow and prosper. Member numbers grew and legacies were stronger than last year. Volunteer numbers rose to 70,494. This is all support for which we are very grateful. Visitor numbers were marginally down at 19.2 million compared to 19.4 million in 2011/12. This is the second highest number in the Trust’s history. While we did not meet our ambitious financial Net Gain target1 we The Trust’s chief concern on a wider orbit has been the threat did better than might have been expected in a summer historically to Britain’s landscape. Town and country planning is currently wet and a recession historically deep. All in all we had a good year in turmoil following the introduction of the Government’s new in difficult circumstances. planning policy framework and its impact on unprotected rural land. The Trust has been dealing with a stream of development We must not be complacent. The conditions in 2013/14 look as pressures, including High Speed 2, wind turbines and a proposed challenging. The heritage and leisure sectors are expanding and golf complex within the setting of the Giant’s Causeway World becoming more competitive and the weather continues to drive Heritage Site. We are not against development and are ourselves people abroad. We need to keep spending on conservation and involved in a number of housing schemes. We recognise there are to convey the excitement and value of this work to our visitors. competing demands on the rural environment. But the National Trust was established to safeguard the beauty of the countryside. The Board and I were delighted to appoint Dame Helen Ghosh We will stay true to that mission. as our new Director-General last year. Helen’s credentials for the role are second to none and she has already grasped the It remains for me to acknowledge our debt to our members, donors, challenge. Bringing our properties to life, getting more out of volunteers and staff. The National Trust is an independent Charity. the countryside, developing events programmes at properties, It relies on your support. On behalf of the Board, I thank you. removing cumbersome processes – these must be our focus in the coming year. Recession has affected not only our own operations. An increasing number of local authorities and other owners of historic properties are under pressure. The Trust remains a custodian of last resort, but we can and do offer help in other ways, through advice and partnership. This year partnerships came into operation at Eyam Hall in Derbyshire and, under long-term leases, at Tredegar House and Dyffryn House and Gardens in Wales. We are also jointly marketing a number of London museums. John Millar © Photography 1 Please see page 22 for an explanation of Net Gain. Simon Jenkins Chairman 17 July 2013 2 Message from the Chairman Message from the Director-General Message from the Director-General I had long been an admirer of the National Trust before joining as Director-General in November 2012. As a historian who has made a career in public service, a great deal of which was spent focusing on environmental issues, joining an organisation that has all these concerns at its core has felt like coming home. I am delighted to have the opportunity to lead it. I have joined a thriving organisation in a strong position. We have The National Trust’s core purpose is simple: to look after special more members than any other comparable organisation. We have places for ever, for everyone. It is a virtuous circle: the money we a knowledgeable and committed staff, working with 70,494 skilled receive from our generous supporters allows us to look after our volunteers. Our finances, despite the recession, are sound. properties so that visitors can enjoy them now and in the future. The Trust was born and grew because people from a range of In my first nine months, I have visited many of our properties backgrounds cared strongly about historic and beautiful places. around the country – from hard-hatted walks on scaffolding We can never take that support for granted, so I would like to at Knole to viewing the peat restoration work of the Eastern echo Simon’s words and say thank you to all of you who have Moors Partnership in the Peak District. I have talked to partners, helped us through a difficult year. journalists and ministers on topics ranging from World Heritage Site legislation to marine protection. The breadth of what the Trust does and the enthusiasm of our staff and volunteers have struck me. evenson L But I have noticed that this enthusiasm is not well served by our vid Da overly complex systems and processes. These absorb people’s © time and attention and hold back our potential. So one of my first priorities will be building the organisation’s capability: simplifying and improving our systems and processes to provide our property Photography teams with the tools they need to look after our properties and serve supporters well. Another priority is achieving everywhere the good management, good presentation and good interpretation that our members Dame Helen Ghosh expect from the National Trust. I have seen some remarkable Director-General examples of conservation and some innovative approaches 17 July 2013 to interpreting our properties for visitors. But I have also seen some areas where we could improve both. We should talk more about the successes, and use the experience to raise the standard elsewhere. National Trust Annual Report 2012/13 3 Board of Trustees’ report for 2012/13 In this section, the Board of Trustees gives an overview of the National Trust’s activities and performance in 2012/13. These are explored in more detail, with case studies, in the subsequent sections. Core purpose Looking after more than 350 historic buildings, over Many of our acquisitions are incremental, adding to our existing 1,141 kilometres (713 miles) of coastline and 247,180 hectares holdings. This was the case with the major fundraising appeal for of countryside for ever, while maintaining the financial strength an area of the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Over 16,000 people of the Trust, is a serious responsibility. helped us exceed our £1.2 million target in 133 days, allowing us to save this portion of the Cliffs for the nation. In 2012/13 we spent £51.8 million on property conservation projects. This was lower than the £67.7 million we spent in Occasionally, the Board acquires a significant new addition to 2011/12 because we delayed some projects to meet our annual the portfolio. This year we were pleased to acquire Stoneywell, budget constraints. a beautiful Arts and Crafts cottage in Leicestershire, designed and built by Ernest Gimson. We measure how effectively we carry out our conservation work through the Conservation Performance Indicator (CPI). Our managers are increasingly exploring arrangements other than Last year, 100% of properties reviewed their CPI objectives acquisition. Most strikingly, this has included a new partnership at and 78% reported an improving score. Eyam Hall in Derbyshire, where we are leasing management of the property from the owners. Our largest property conservation project is taking place at Knole in Kent, a sprawling and striking Tudor home with a fine New properties opening their doors this year included Nuffield collection and among the most important historic houses in Place in Oxfordshire, home to William Morris the car manufacturer, the country. Both the house and the collection are in a very poor and 575 Wandsworth Road in London, home to Kenyan-born poet state of repair. We have begun an £18 million project to restore Khadambi Asalache who created its unique interiors. the property, using pioneering conservation techniques. Other major projects include the re-roofing of Castle Drogo in Devon, work to save and restore the Red Wing at Croome Park in Worcestershire, and investment to transform the estate surrounding Quarry Bank Mill in Cheshire. 4 Board of Trustees’ report for 2012/13 70,494 volunteers, 3.93 million members, 19.2 million visitors. Visitors and staff The Trust delivers its obligation to provide public benefit through Overall staff satisfaction continued its upward trend but we are access to our properties.