The National Trust axing its beloved scones shows just how hard the Government's plans have hit the heritage sector

According to Historic England, it contributed an estimated £44.9 billion in Gross Value Added to the UK economy in 2022 and supported the employment of over 523,000 workers.

However, the recent increases to the National Living Wage (NLW) and employer’s National Insurance contributions (NICs) – which both came into effect in early April 2025 – have undoubtedly hit the sector hard.

Most notably, the National Trust has recently announced plans to cut around 550 jobs (6% of its workforce), citing “increased costs” which are outstripping its growth.

The announcement highlighted that the recent NLW and NIC increases have added more than £10 million to its annual wage bill and that it now needs to find savings of £26 million to remain sustainable.

Perhaps just as concerning for some visitors, reports suggest that these job cuts will impact chefs and cooks at certain sites, meaning that food items – including renowned National Trust scones – will be shipped in as opposed to baked on site.

As freshly baked scones and cakes have traditionally played a significant role in attracting guests to National Trust venues, it remains to be seen how this will impact customer satisfaction and visitor numbers, which will in turn impact financial performance.

But it is not just the National Trust which is struggling. Many charities in the heritage sector, both large and small, are facing similar difficulties.

This leaves large-scale, cost-driven redundancy exercises on the horizon for many more workers. And for some of them, it could have been avoided.

As the NIC increases, which were first presented in the Autumn Budget 2024, were debated in Parliament, the House of Lords proposed an amendment to exempt small charities and other specific businesses.

This amendment, if accepted, would have protected charities with an annual income of less than £1 million from being affected by the NIC hikes. However, the proposal was rejected by the House of Commons on the basis that a broad tax base was essential for fiscal sustainability.

Nevertheless, with jobs at heritage and other charities already being cut – and many more at risk – perhaps it is now time for the government to rethink.

As the Shadow Financial Secretary, Gareth Davies, warned at the time, an exemption for small charities would prevent many of these third sector services from being reduced, or removed altogether, which is fast becoming a reality.

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Ethan Diver is a Solicitor at Taylor Walton Solicitors

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