Call for NTS to open up soon to save 430 jobs

Calls have been made for the National Trust of Scotland (NTS) to reopen its properties as soon as lockdown allows in a move to save more than 400 jobs.

Almost 40% of the redundancies the National Trust for Scotland fears it will have to make in the wake of coronavirus could come in the north-east and Highlands. Figures shown to this paper show 171 jobs are at risk in Fife, Tayside, Grampian and the Highlands and Islands, out of the estimated 429 expected to be lost.

The NTS said its income was forecast to drop by £28 million this year and said it had also made investment losses of £46m due to stock market conditions.

Earlier this month it warned up to 429 permanent jobs across Scotland could be lost.

North East MSP Lewis Macdonald is urging bosses to reconsider redundancies.

In a letter to chief executive Simon Skinner, he also calls for discussions on growth with the government and suggested NTS members should be given a final say.

“There is no excuse for mass redundancies at the National Trust of Scotland this summer, given the job retention scheme now extends into October,” Mr Macdonald said.

“I am calling for the extended furlough period to be used to protect jobs and plan for future growth.

It would seem far more sensible to plan for the new opportunities that will come after this crisis and senior management need to consult their staff and their members rather than embark on a downward spiral of cuts and closures”.

Mr Macdonald reminded the trust that if places like Castle Fraser, Haddo House and Fyvie Castle close for longer than the lockdown requires, then jobs will be lost and the local economy in rural areas will suffer.

Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie said: “The National Trust for Scotland draws visitors from across Scotland and the world.

“When the lockdown is eased we must be ready to support the local economic recovery and tourism, and visitors will be important in doing so.”