Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Wife’s £150k for ‘interior design’ work
‘The fees charged were subject to a rigorous benchmarking exercise to ensure that the foundation received value for money’
The charity which runs Howletts zoo paid the owner’s wife more than £150,000 last year for “interior design services”, accounts reveal.
Victoria Aspinall, who is married to park boss Damian, was handed the six-figure sum by the Aspinall Foundation - the equivalent of 10% of the charity’s annual donations.
The Foundation, which also runs Port Lympne animal park in Hythe, is already being investigated by The Charity Commission over “serious concerns” about its “governance and financial management”.
A probe was launched in March this year - alongside another into sister charity Howletts Wild Animal Trust and is looking at how potential conflicts of interests have been managed and whether trustees have received any “unauthorised” benefits.
Latest accounts show Mrs Aspinall - whose husband is the Foundation chairman - was paid £150,158 “at arm’s length” for interior design work in 2020 - up from £12,500 the year before, and £50,000 in 2018.
The 35-year-old, who married Mr Aspinall in 2016, was the creative director for Port Lympne’s new Leopard Creek accomodation and Garden Room bar and restaurant.
The charity says it received “value for money”, adding that the latest payment was “subject to a rigorous benchmarking exercise”.
A further £124,231 was paid to Foundation trustee Charles Filmer - a director of accountancy firm Alvarium.
On this payment, which was more than double that paid the previous year, the annual report states: “Fees are charged at a discounted rate and comprise a fixed element for day-to-day accounting and administrative work, and a time-based element for additional project-based work.
“All invoices are approved by the chairman and by one of the
independent trustees.”
The latest accounts have been published amid the ongoing investigations by The Charity Commission.
The regulator began examining both organisations in July 2020 over concerns about the management of conflicts of interest and related-party transactions.
Commission staff began engaging with trustees last
November, and then in March launched formal statutory inquiries - the watchdog’s most serious form of investigation after further questions about the charities’ governance were identified.
In cases where serious wrongdoing is proven, charities can be taken over or even forced to fold.
When the probes were launched,theregulatorsaidthe “opening of an inquiry is not a finding of wrongdoing”.
At the time, the Aspinall Foundation said: “We remain firmly committed to our ethical and legal duties as a charitable body.
“Our trustees will continue to work openly and transparently with the Charity Commission to ensure best practice governance and compliance.”
The Aspinall Foundation encourages donations directly from the public, and runs a number of fundraising initiatives headed up by a specialist team. The charity also has large reserves in cash, property and fine art.
It was approached for comment relating to the 2020 payments to Mrs Aspinall and Mr Filmer but did not respond.