Bath Preservation Trust has begun the search for a new chief executive following the decision by Caroline Kay to step down at the end of this month.
Caroline, pictured, who has been in the role for 13 years, was originally due to leave last July 2020 but agreed to stay on for another 10 months to lead the BTP through the Covid-19 pandemic.
During her time in charge Caroline has overseen a £5m redevelopment and expansion of No. 1 Royal Crescent museum, which has led to a 22% increase in visitor numbers, and also undertaken the incorporation of Herschel Museum of Astronomy into the Trust’s portfolio of four museums.
She has also managed the production of two nationally-awarded planning guidance manuals, Warmer Bath and Making Changes, and examined more than 1,500 planning and listed building applications in Bath.
BTP was set up in 1934 to encourage and support the conservation, evolution and enhancement of Bath and to provide educational resources, including museums, which focus on the architectural and historic importance of the city.
It receives no statutory funding and is supported by visitor income, grants, legacies, donations and around 1,400 members who share a passion for the city and its environs.
It runs four accredited museums in Bath – No. 1 Royal Crescent, the Museum of Bath Architecture, the Herschel Museum of Astronomy and Beckford’s Tower, where it has just acquired the historic paddocks that surround the famous landmark and will now restore them to enable visitors to experience a glimpse of William Beckford’s gardens and grotto as they were almost 200 years ago.
BPT chair of trustees Thomas Sheppard said: “Caroline has worked tirelessly for the Trust to lead it through a period of considerable change and for many she is its public face.
“We want to celebrate Caroline’s significant contribution to making the Trust the respected and well-run organisation it is today and also to thank her for her hard work and commitment in leaving the Trust in good, if reduced, shape to face an exciting and challenging post-pandemic world.
“In recruiting Caroline’s successor, we will be casting our net wide to find the right person to lead the Trust.”
He said while BTP looked for a new chief executive, it would remain very much business as usual in the day-to-day running of the Trust and its various projects.
Caroline added: “Bath Preservation Trust has meant a great deal to me over the last thirteen-and-a-half years and it was for that reason I stayed on to help weather the storm of 2020.
“While there are still challenges ahead, thanks to the efforts we put in and the encouraging support we have received from external funders including the National Lottery Heritage Fund and DCMS, I am confident the trustees and the dedicated and hardworking staff team, present and future, will be able to take the Trust to an even better place going forward.
“For myself I now feel able to move on and consider other ways of exercising my professional and personal interests. I’d like to thank all the colleagues I’ve worked with over all those years inside and outside the organisation for their dedicated service and the fun and privilege of their company.”
The BTP chief executive job is being advertised with a salary of £60,000.
Photo of Caroline Kay (c) Tim Beale Photography
