The National Trust has frozen all but essential recruitment and is pausing some projects as it faces a £10m jump in labour costs this year as a result of higher employment costs stemming from last autumn’s budget.
The conservation charity, which looks after 500 historic houses, castles, parks and gardens, as well as 780 miles of coastline and 250,000 hectares of land, said the extra costs were the result of changes to employers’ national insurance contributions and an increase in the legal minimum wage, which both come into force next month.
The trust said it did not expect visitors to be affected or opening hours to change as a result of the budget constraints, which have been exacerbated by broader inflationary pressures and a squeeze on household spending.
It will still be recruiting for “business critical” roles and was reviewing projects in its pipeline with the intention of pausing some where there would be no adverse impact on public benefit or urgent conservation.
The issues come after a tough few years for the charity, which found itself in the midst of a culture war over its perceived “wokeness” with threats of interference by the Conservative government.
“While we firmly support fair pay for our staff, the changes to the ‘national living wage’ and national insurance employer’s contributions are a significant increase for us to absorb. And that’s not all. A combination of the cost of living crisis, high inflation rates and a lack of wider economic growth in the past few years have also created pressures for our operating and conservation costs,” a spokesperson for the National Trust said.
“The National Trust is not alone in having to make tough financial choices, these are challenges the whole sector is facing. People’s support – including membership and donations – has never mattered more. We are committed to continuing our vital charitable work and creating the maximum possible public benefit in everything we do.”
The National Trust’s cost cutting plan emerged as the body which represents the UK’s top visitor attractions – the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA) – said it expected more members to cut jobs and reduce investment despite stronger trading last year as they battle higher employment costs introduced by the government.
The Tate, which has four galleries across London, Liverpool and Cornwall, has already said it is cutting 7% of its workforce as the British arts institution seeks to address a funding deficit left over from the pandemic.
English Heritage is meanwhile planning up to 200 redundancies and the winter closure of various castles, abbeys and other historic sites in its care.
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Announcing a 3.4% increase in visitors to its members’ 400 sites last year, Bernard Donoghue, the director of the ALVA, said the budget changes had “effectively wiped out planned surpluses for many attractions or derailed their investment plans, and for some, these unbudgeted, unanticipated costs will result in cuts and job losses”.
He added: “For most visitor attractions, 2024 was a year of steady but not significant growth. The long economic recovery from lockdown during Covid, the effects of the cost of living crisis on consumer spending, increasing business costs and modest inbound visitor numbers to the UK mean that 2024 was a financially changing year for visitor attractions.”
Donoghue said overseas visitor numbers were on the rise but were not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels for another year, adding that domestic visitors were being “more tactical” about their leisure spending as a result of the cost of living crisis – visiting attractions less often and spending less money while there.
Last year the most visited attraction was the British Museum and the fastest growing included the Young V&A and Buckingham Palace, which saw a record number of visitors.
