V&A Dundee director quits to become new National Trust chief

The figurehead of Dundee’s V&A museum has announced he is to leave the job to take over the running of Scotland’s biggest conservation charity – a year and a half after the attraction opened its doors.

Philip Long, who has been at the helm of Dundee’s £80 million project from for nearly nine years, will succeed Simon Skinner as the National Trust for Scotland’s chief executive.

The departure of Mr Long, who will take up his new post injuly,hasemergedjustweeks after he saw visitor numbers at V&A Dundee reach their first million and new research revealed that the attraction had generated £75m for the economy in its first year.

The board of the museum, which was forced to close temporarily as part of Ukwide measures to help curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, said it would begin the recruitment process for a new director “immediately”.

Chair Tim Allan said the role was “an exceptional opportunity to shape the next exciting chapter for the museum and its continuing impact in Dundee and Scotland”.

Mr Long will lead efforts to protect some of Scotland’s best-known attractions and landscapes, including Culzean Castle and the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, the isolated archipelago of St Kilda, the sites of the battles of Culloden and Bannockburn, Glencoe and Ben Lomond.

NTS, which relies on its 365,000 members and around three million visitors a year to help support much of its conservation work, is currently responsible for 88 different visitor attractions, more than 300,000 artefacts and more than 76,000 hectares of countryside and gardens.

Designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, V&A Dundee attracted 830,000 in the 12 months following its opening in September 2018. Mr Long’s appointment was unveiled by Sir Mark Jones, chairman of NTS, who spearheaded the creation of the extension to the National Museum Scotland, before leaving in 2001 to take over the running of the V&A in London.

Mr Long said: “Leading the team which opened V&A Dundee has been a real privilege. Scotland’s design museum has a remarkable, passionate team driving it forward and I wish them all the very best for its continued success and for the vital role it is playing in that city and nationally.

“It’s a great honour to be appointed as the new chief executive of the National Trust for Scotland, an organisation I greatly admire, and whose properties I’ve enjoyed for many years. The trust is invaluable to our nation. The buildings and landscape in its care, which it makes accessible to millions of visitors every year, are truly world-class, defining our heritage, culture and identity at its most outstanding.”