Redundancies devastating for National Trust workers but will hopefully safeguard the Trust’s future

National Trust has today confirmed the results of its redundancy consultation with around 700 voluntary redundancies and a further 500 compulsory redundancies.

Prospect has worked with the Trust to maximise the number of voluntary redundancies, but this is still a devastating number of people losing their jobs.

The redundancies are a direct result of the necessary pandemic response impacting visitor numbers, membership numbers and, therefore, income. It is Prospect’s understanding that for the time being no properties will be permanently closed.

General Secretary of Prospect Mike Clancy said:

“The unprecedented challenges of the pandemic continue to impact hugely on the income of heritage institutions and will continue to do so for some time to come. Prospect understand the pressures National Trust is under, but this is still a huge number of job losses and those redundancies will have a huge impact on the lives of all affected.

“Thanks to work from Prospect reps and officials the level of compulsory redundancies is lower than it might have been but is still high – with consultation we hope to reduce these still further through measures such as redeployment within the Trust. We are grateful for the level of consultation we have had so far from the employer.

“The long-term prospects for National Trust and access to its properties and lands are hugely important both to employees and to the cultural health of the nation.

“The current plan, while devastating for those who are losing jobs they love, is a reasonable way to move forward, minimising job losses while hopefully safeguarding the National Trust’s future.”

Paul Delaney, Prospect Rep and National Trust Branch President, said:

“We have had good engagement from National Trust on this but that will be scant consolation to those losing their jobs.

“What we need now from the Trust is a commitment to ensuring the pooling, selection and redeployment of roles is as far reaching and comprehensive as possible. We must try to mitigate as many of the 514 compulsory redundancies as we can.

“Prospect will be working closely with all members affected by this news.”