The National Trust enjoyed an above-target rise in visitor numbers and record levels of income in 2024/25 – but warns that rising labour and capital costs mean that challenges remain in the future.
The charity’s annual report, which was published at the weekend alongside its AGM, reports total income of £766.2m (including £5.1m from scones) during the financial year.
Direct property income remains its biggest source of funds with £321m raised in 2024/25, closely followed by membership which brought in £309.4m in the same period.
Total income of £766.2m in 2024/25 including:
- £123.2m in fundraising income
- £309.4m in membership income
- £321m in direct property income
- £12.6m in investment and other income
Speaking at the AGM, Hilary McGrady, director-general of the National Trust, said: “The National Trust has an important role to play as our nation faces major challenges – bringing people together through culture, heritage and nature, while taking practical steps to address climate change and the urgent need to restore nature.
“Despite the financial pressures affecting us and many other charities, our work to protect nature, beauty and history for future generations continues.”
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Changing audience behaviour
Visitor figures rose by more than 2% with 25.9m people visiting a National Trust property or site during the year – just exceeding its 25.8m target.
The accounts show the trust recruited 403,000 new members and saw membership retention increase to 83.3%, but overall membership did fall slightly (0.4%) to below-target with a total of 2.61m memberships across 5.35m individuals.
On the flipside, paying visitor figures increased by 5% – a trend that the trust says reflects ongoing cost of living pressures.
Speaking at the AGM, Sharon Pickford, director of experience and revenue at the National Trust, said it was largely young families that the trust was losing as members, with many preferring to “pay on the day” rather than making a commitment to annual subscriptions.
“We have seen a slight decline in our membership base and that is predominately because of the cost-of-living squeeze that has affected young families in particular,” she said. “And that's the audience segment that we've seen moving and making some tough choices about how they spend their money.”
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Referring to the trust's decision to increase membership fees by 5.6% last year, Pickford said “We review our membership prices every year and it's always a really careful balance between affordability versus how to offset rising costs.”
She added that this includes the trust's conservation costs, which rise on average as much as 4% higher than the general rate of inflation.
While the accounts do not directly refer to the recent restructure at the National Trust, which will see 500 roles cut through a mix of voluntary and compulsory redundancies in a bid to save £24m in workforce costs, they do show that regular (non-seasonal) wages and salaries were £275m in 2024/25, up from £249.5m the previous year.
The trust's 12-strong executive team were paid a total of £1,333,822 during the year.
Member concerns
During the AGM's Q&A, one trust member asked whether the job cuts would have a negative impact on day-to-day conservation efforts across properties. Another asked about the impact on staff morale and curatorial expertise.
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Andy Beer, director of strategy and places at the National Trust, said that fewer than 10% of roles across the total curatorial workforce were affected, and denied that staff morale was low as a result.
Elsewhere, members raised queries regarding the trust's ongoing relationship with Barclays Bank, overcrowding at some sites and plans for Clandon Park, which remains closed following a devastating fire in 2015.
One member also claimed that compulsory diversity training had resulted in staff and volunteers being “sacked”. Tina Lewis, the National Trust's director of people, denied this was the case and added that training was about reflecting the law and its organisational values.
Elsewhere, Restore Trust, a pressure group set up to oppose the current direction of the National Trust, put out a statement calling on the charity to ensure that all its historic buildings had sufficient levels of insurance to cover risks such as fires or floods.
“So that members and the public can feel confident that our heritage is robustly protected, we propose that the annual report on the National Trust’s insurance arrangements, levels of cover and renewal of insurance policies, which is reviewed annually by the Audit Committee, is made available to members,” it said.
A spokesperson for the National Trust referred to the accounts, which state that the total insurance reinstatement value of its historic buildings is approximately £12.5bn, but didn’t comment further.