National Trust to cut 112 Wales jobs amid Covid crisis
THE National Trust is cutting more than 100 jobs across its sites in Wales as part of a UK-wide plan to save up to £100m.
The organisation, which manages heritage sites across Wales, England and Northern Ireland, blamed the knock-on effects of the coronavirus crisis.
A total of 112 jobs across National Trust sites in Wales are set to go – 56 voluntary and 56 compulsory – while 1,112 redundancies will be made in England and 72 in Northern Ireland.
The National Trust originally announced back in July that it would be making up to 1,200 compulsory redundancies, but it now appears to have come to a final number of 1,296 with a mix of compulsory and voluntary redundancies following a consultation period.
“After considering more than 14,500 pieces of feedback from staff and volunteers during the 45-day consultation, we’re making 514 compulsory redundancies as a result of the impact of the coronavirus crisis,” a statement said.
“We’ve also accepted 782 voluntary redundancies. These will help us to save about £100m to support our conservation work each year.”
The National Trust manages a host of historic sites across Wales including Tredegar House in Newport, Powis Castle and Penrhyn Castle.
The organisation said it would be retaining roles focused on “learning and curation specialists” across Wales, England and Northern Ireland.
Director-general Hilary McGrady said: “It’s with deep sadness that we have to make redundancies. I certainly don’t want to stop any of the extraordinary work done by the people of the National Trust. But our consultation has provided proposals to reach our savings target, and sparked such thorough feedback and collective intelligence that we’ve been able to adapt our plans while still making the savings we needed. It’s been difficult.”
Ms McGrady added that it was a “very painful time for so many organisations”.
“No leader wants to be forced into announcing any redundancies, but coronavirus means we simply have no other choice if we want to give the charity a sustainable future,” she said.
“We have exhausted every other avenue to find savings, but sadly we now have to come to terms with the fact that we will lose some colleagues. We will do all we can to support those who are leaving.”