‘Prince of Darkness’ of turning around a
Question: You have been chairing the National Trust for a few years. How does this role fit with your previous roles? Tim Parker: “I have been a chief executive for almost 40 years and in 2014 I stepped down from being CEO of Samsonite and decided then to spend the rest of my career working for different organisations.
“I wanted to become involved with a charity and the Trust was looking for a new chairman, which was a fantastic opportunity for me. Essentially, I have moved from being fulltime CEO to having what many call a portfolio career.”
Question: You took over from the former Times and Evening Standard editor Simon Jenkins, whose background is vastly different to your own – his being newspapers, yours being strong on the corporate side. Do you think the Trust was looking for a different style of chair? TP: “I don’t think it was a conscious choice but I do believe that most organisations can benefit from having a different style of leadership from time to time. Hopefully I bring things that are slightly different to the Trust from what Simon was able to bring. That is a healthy thing to do.”
Question: Having around 20 million visitors a year and a workforce of over 10,000 must bring with it certain challenges. What are the biggest that you face? TP: “The Trust itself is a very large charity and a complex one at that. On the one hand, we are looking after some incredibly important his-