In ‘The Herald’ letters page (12 December) Kate Mavor writes:
Sale of national Trust HQ has been taken for sound financial reasons
I am writing to reassure members of the National Trust for Scotland that the recent decision to sell its administrative offices in Charlotte Square in Edinburgh was taken in the best financial interests of the charity. (‘Anger as National Trust loses £3m on sale of HQ’, The Herald, December 7)
The Trust has been living beyond its means for some time. Measures have been taken to boost income and reduce expenditure, , and one was to relocate administrative functions to more efficient premises.
The sale of Wemyss House in Charlotte Square and the relocation to Hermiston Quay in Edinburgh is estimated to save the Trust over £6m over the next 5-10 years. This is because its running costs will reduce and repair and upgrading work will be avoided.
Considerable sums of money were indeed invested when the Trust moved into its current offices 10 years ago. Much of that was targeted at restoration work which has not translated into market value. This was recognized some time ago, such that the property was valued at £8.7m on completion of the five-year refurbishment in 2001. This figure did not reflect an investment of £7m in a building purchased in 1996 for £5m – that is what the “loss” relates to, not the current situation.
The property was valued this year at £6.4m by the District Valuer. The sale price was £8.75m. The Trust will make a gain of £1.1m on the sale which will cover the costs of relocating to more cost-effective premises. Ongoing savings thereafter will allow the Trust to invest more in its core conservation work.

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 12th, 2009 at 09:59 and is filed under Latest News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.