New chairman for the National Trust

A successor to Simon Jenkins has been appointed at the National Trust

v9D8TfN4UnRsjCbpCvwzXT.jpg
national trust logo thumb.jpg

The National Trust has a new chairman. Tim Parker, a former Treasury economist, will succeed Simon Jenkins, who steps down after six years in the post, after the Trust's AGM on November 8. Mr Parker, 58, has been a member of the Trust for 30 years and is chairman of its Commercial Panel.

An experienced businessman, he is chief executive of the luggage firm Samsonite and has been involved with such well-known names as Kwik-Fit, the AA, Legal & General and Alliance Boots. He owns the British Pathé Film Archive and is a patron of the National Theatre and a friend of the Royal Opera.

The National Trust has expressed disappointment that it has been unsuccessful in its bid to buy Bantham Beach and the Avon Estuary in Dorset.

It was sold, for in excess of its £11 million asking price, to a ‘family who will continue to manage and conserve the estate,' said James Baker of selling agents Strutt and Parker.

* Follow Country Life magazine on Twitter

* Subscribe to Country Life and save

Country Life

Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by HRH The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.