English Heritage Strategic Report

This report examines the governance, purpose, and financial operations of English Heritage, a UK charity dedicated to preserving historical sites and monuments. It analyzes key stakeholders, their impact on the organization, and the challenges and opportunities facing English Heritage in achieving its mission of safeguarding England's cultural heritage. The report also includes a detailed analysis of English Heritage's sustainability goals and how they are working to achieve financial independence.

STRATEGIC REPORT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
Outline how English heritage are governed, establish their purpose, ethos and objectives with
how they operate business financially considering charity status...............................................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
Identify key stakeholders to English heritage and use relevant theory to evaluate the level of
impact of them on organization...................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Battle of Hastings battlefield............................................................................................3
Figure 2: Funding arrangement of New Model..............................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
English heritage is an autonomous charity organization which manages National Heritage
Collection and maintains more than 400 notable monuments, structures, places and locations
spanning more than 5,000 years of history. It safeguards and protects world famous prehistorical
sites and grand medieval castles including Roman forts, empires and Cold War Bunkers. English
Heritage has embarked the largest conservation programme in their history. It was formed in
1983, which consists of Historic England that inherits statutory protection and duties. New
English heritage is an aid assistance organization which operates on historic properties and
locations. This briefing document will discuss about the knowledge and understanding of how
English heritage is structured, governed and managed. It also convenes and identifies the main
stakeholders of New English heritage trust and uses relevant theory to evaluate level of their
impact on organization.
TASK 1
Outline how English heritage are governed, establish their purpose, ethos and objectives with
how they operate business financially considering charity status
Overview of the history of English heritage
Over the eras from small beginnings to end of 19th century, collection of historic places
managed by English heritage has grown to 400, inspired by a determination to put forward
England’s heritage ahead private interest. In1882, extraordinary buildings and monuments began
to accumulate which is now in the care of English heritage (Fulford, Champion and Long, 2013).
In 1913, Act of parliament was passed which provided new powers that were essentially to make
a collection of all greatest buildings that reveals stories of Britain. By 1933, there were 273
collections that counted in Stonehenge, Rievalux Abbey, Carisbrooke Castle and Richborough
Roman Fort. Its first industrial sites were acquired in 1949 and attained country house, Audley
End in Essex. By 1970, collection of English heritage’s historical sites counted 300 which was
visited by more than 5.5 million people that marked it England’s largest visitor attraction
business. In 2011, The national heritage collection generated an operational surplus where a
small additional was made rather costing money to open it for the public. In 2015, the old
heritage collection separated into two parts: a charity that looks after collections and Historic
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England that operates the nationwide heritage, listing system and dealing with planning matters
and grants giving.
Overview of how English heritage are improving their sustainability
English heritage safeguards of over 400 historic sites and monuments which are part of the
historical places across UK. Being the sentinel of these chronological it is a necessity that
sustainability goals are to be achieved for this English heritage considers refurbishment of
archaeological heritage monuments. With an independent government, English heritage is able to
engage with millions of people (Bryan and et.al., 2013). English heritage have four major
priorities; Inspiration, Conservation, Involvement and Financial Sustainability. They create
inspirational visitor experiences which brings the story of England to life by caring historic sites
and artefacts so that it can be enjoyed by future generations. To improve sustainability English
heritage focuses on their recognized priorities they are:
Inspiration
Create an inspiring and enjoyable experience for visitors in English heritage’s sites,
websites and through print media to enable people of all age to share and pass on story of
England to future generations.
Conservation
Safeguard and preserve historic sites and artefacts for the future generations with great
need, English heritage maintains a high standard ensuring continued importance. For the same,
capability of conservation is increased with outstanding research.
Involvement
New ways of involving people in work with involvement of diverse staff and volunteers
and supporters for the heritage preservation.
Financial sustainability
Increase fund raising to support the Capital Investment Programme and other activities
and become financially independent by 2022/23 (Heritage, 2015).
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Figure 1: Battle of Hastings battlefield
(Source: A New View of 1066, 2016)
Identify mission and strategic objectives of English heritage, including key points from the
latest annual reports, illustrating pertinent trends and developments linking to their mission
Mission and strategic objectives of English heritage
 Endure values of authenticity through research, separates facts from fiction for bringing
fascinating truth to light by being true to the story of places and artefacts without
exaggerating or making things up.
 Attain highest quality and standards in all work, from service rendered to people with
superior communications and from events conducted to conservation work.
 Safeguard and conserve the National Heritage Collection of 400 unique sites and
monuments with high standards thereby keep status of England’s national heritage (Parry,
2012).
 Increase public appreciation of the history of buildings and landmarks in London through
blue plaques scheme.
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On 31 march 2015, English heritage with a developed Model Framework generated a grant
of £80 million from historic England which was since then called as New Model Grant. This
grand is being used subsequently over an eight-year period up to 2022/23 for addressing urgent
conservation defects and investments in new commercial programs. This Fund will complement
tapering of annual subsidies until 2021/22 that might support English Heritage in a transition to
become independent and self-sufficient.
Acknowledgement of how the charity status operates
Charitable purposes of English heritage are demonstrated in its constitution which for
public benefit (Talboys, 2016). Trustees of English heritage consider Charity Commission’s
guidance on public benefit issues and charges fees for complying their duty to shape objectives
for year planning and charity activities under section 4 of Charities Act 2011. Careful
considerations to accessibility are given by trustees to all members of the public in setting
concessions and fees or charges. Access to majority of sites are free such as Kenwood and also
offers free entry to pre booked learning groups. Entrance to major sites like; Stonehenge and
Dover Castle are chargeable activities. Membership scheme of English heritage offers a
substantial discount for regular visitors which is a competitive advantage over similar
organizations. The charitable purposes of English heritage can be expressed as:
 Securing conservation of National Heritage Collection
 Increasing public knowledge and fun of National Heritage Collection
 Providing educational facilities and services, information to public in relation to
National Heritage Collection.
Overview of corporate governance, with an evaluation of how English heritage are governed
and how they adhere to the standards of good corporate practice
Corporate governance is the structure and processes of governing body, choosing of
members, assign accountability and functions which senior managers and others must perform to
support it. Here, as being a public sector organization ultimate accountability is to Ministers and
parliament, and the commission and Historic England would remain liable to the same (Sherlock,
2016). The board of trustees will be the governing body of charity and they are legally
responsible for directing affairs of charity and ensures it is solvent. They will appoint
management, set policy and strategy and approve strategic plans. Trustees are appointed by the
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Commission ad a minority will be commissioners on the Historic Building and Monuments
Commission. The transition to new model marks a beginning and identity for National Collection
as a charity and for historic England. Direct staff moving across and extended support
arrangements, prohibitive cost and disruptive impact of faster move to separation are avoided to
adhere practices of good corporate governance. The committed workforce of 1,850 with range of
skills, expertise and knowledge are playing an important role in English heritage’s governance.
English heritage Staff working on National Heritage Collection will remain employees of
Commission. Employees in corporate services functions like HR, IT and Finance will also
remain Commission’s workforce with services providing to charity under shared service
agreement (Earl, and Saint, 2015).
Implications of having to observe these standards
There is various impact of these standards and changes on particular groups and other
policy areas.
Impact on visitors: Number of sites opened will remain same including 300 which are open to
the public free of charge.
Impact on members: Capital investment programme will be improved, more varied visitor
experience and conservation work will ensure open accessible collection which will benefit
members as lifelong membership is honored by charity.
Impact on other occupiers on sites: No direct impact will be caused to other occupiers due to
changes proposed by commission.
Impact on volunteers and local communities: English heritage has developed volunteering
programme in recent years and charity will work with local communities and volunteers. Status
make it easier to engage them and number of diverse volunteers will increase.
Impact on businesses: Proposed establishment of charity and associated funding will provide
opportunities for business that renders historic environment and visitor services.
Impact on Equality: English heritage and Historic England will continue to work and develop
English heritage’s current equality policies (Ogley and et.al., 2010).
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Impact on local heritage attractions: English heritage already seeks to work in cooperation with
other local heritage bodies to promote each other’s properties.
Impact on national growth: Delivering the proposed business plan will generate economic
activity increase equivalent to £35.9m of Gross Value Added
Impact on environment: English heritage would continue to produce sustainability reports as
part of their annual reports and accounts to protect and enhance natural and historic environment
of England.
Impact on other heritage organizations: National Heritage Collection’s practice of working
closely with partners such as National trust and members of the Historic Houses Association will
be followed by English heritage (Parker Pearson and et.al., 2012).
Evaluation / Conclusion
The above part discussed How English heritage are governed, establish their purpose,
vision, mission, values and objectives with how they operate business financially considering
charity status. Mission and strategic objectives of English heritage with recent trends and
developments relating to their vision and values are also explained. English heritage follows a
good corporate governance practice with talented and skilled staff and volunteers who are keen
to work with the charity organization to protect and preserve the historical monuments and
places for future generations.
TASK 2
Identify key stakeholders to English heritage and use relevant theory to evaluate the level of
impact of them on organization
Stakeholder definition
Stakeholder is a person, independent party, group, organization, member or system with
an interest in a project who is affected by outcome of the same. It can be a person who holds
money or property temporarily by sponsoring project from within or outside the organization.
They can have negative or positive influence on the project therefore has responsibilities towards
organization’s success (Plevoets and Van Cleempoel, 2011). People who depend on
organizations to fulfill goals and on whom the establishment depends for its existence is called as
a stakeholder.
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Classification and mapping of English heritage’s stakeholders
Fundamental part to conservation of heritage and business existence of English heritage
is understanding the roles and responsibilities of their stakeholders. A stakeholder analysis is
carried out by the charity to capture, position and compare stakeholders in the network of other
participants for effective decision making by identifying groups to which they belong (Waterton
and Smith, 2010). English heritage classifies and represents professional practioners, non-
governmental organizations, academic institutions, volunteers, media, local and national general
public that contains mixture of interests that helps for the wellbeing of their business and charity.
Figure 2: Funding arrangement of New Model
(Source: Financial Review, 2016)
Heritage practioners
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These individuals with their respective professional organizations play a vital role in
conservation of decision making processes. They evaluate perceptions about heritage aspects and
establishes policies for management system of government, industry and communities.
Non-governmental Organizations
Promote cultural heritage assessment and render funds to conduct programs, events or
campaigns of public, private sector and; local communities at both national and international
level.
Volunteers
For conservation practices and educating visitors and team members of English heritage
regarding the historical places, monuments and purpose of preserving them these trainees applies
their skills and act as advocates to cultural heritage (Graham, Ashworth and Tunbridge, 2016).
Media
They support English heritage in campaigning activities or events of conserving historic
places, sites, monuments by covering documentaries and exhibitions about heritage locations on
TV, Radio and Internet.
Users
Residents, occupants, retailers, visitors and other public interested in heritage or historic
built facilities directly or indirectly affect level of conservation of England’s culture.
Synthesis of theory and practice to demonstrate degree of interest a stakeholder possesses and
how they pursue them
Stakeholder management’s purpose is to create methods to manage different groups and
relationships which results in strategic changes. The main task is to integrate and manage
relationships and interests of shareholders, employees, visitors, suppliers, communities and other
stakeholders of English heritage in a way that guarantees long term success. It is concerned about
the active management of heritage conservation and to gain a better overview some theories are
applied and formulated to demonstrate the degree of interest a stakeholder possesses in English
heritage.
Descriptive theory
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Purpose of this theory is to recognize how managers deal with stakeholders of English
heritage and how they represent interests and plans of charity. Organization is viewed as an
interest area, competitive and cooperative. Analytic theory aims at dealing with these divergent
interests of stakeholders (Cleere, 2012). This theory is used to describe specific characteristics,
behaviors and allows exploratory propositions.
Instrumental Approach
This studies the organizational consequences of considering stakeholder’s management in
examining connections between practices of stakeholders and achievement of several corporate
governance goals. It is a contingent theory which involves reliance on several types of behavior
that is focused on relationship between social and financial performance.
Normative approach
This model identifies moral or philosophical guidelines connected to activities or
management of corporations. The objective of this study is to answer why English heritage’s
responsibilities are linked to stakeholders? And why they should take care of other interests? It is
related to moral, values and philosophies (Walqui and Heritage, 2012). It proposes two
principles; Principle of corporate legitimacy and Stakeholder fiduciary principle.
Synthesis theory and practice to demonstrate degree of power a stakeholder possesses and how
they pursue them with potential consequences of power being exercised
Proposed changes to management of National Heritage Collection does not require direct
alterations to rest of the services that it currently renders. There will be no change in duties and
responsibilities to the commission that relates to England’s heritage. The splitting of
organizations provides opportunity to reassess priorities and improve heritage protection services
managing and delivering. The stakeholder behavior is investigated from past actions along with
their cooperative potential and competitive threats. Power is then exercised to them after
determining optimal strategy i.e., relative power of stakeholders and their potential to cooperate
or threaten policy developed. According to this concept English heritage distinguishes
shareholders as: Supportive, Marginal, Non-supportive and Mixed.
Current issues / viewpoints of significant stakeholders
English heritage is on a positive track and expecting to become financially independent
by 2022/23 and for this they stress on new sources and growing existing ones. Effective
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management of risk is charity’s strategy to develop sustainability that includes review of
corporate risk develop procedures and systems for alleviating identified threats and potential
impact. The main issues faced by English heritage are:
Financial sustainability: UK’ s exit from European Union is a main risk as well as opportunity.
Another issue inability to fulfill charitable objectives by continuing going concern which is
controlled by ensuring balanced budgets.
Organizational stretch: Overstretched resources affects adversely on visitor’s experience and
employee relations.
Employee relations: Through a people plan English heritage is aiming to retain and attract
diverse and highly motivated workforce and maintain good relations with them (Yung and Chan,
2012).
Technology and digital: Scarce digital or advance technologies and expertize is causing
organization in attaining growth and competency.
Health and safety: To prevent harm to society, staff and volunteers, English heritage takes
consideration to care members of public and its employees.
External perils: English heritage is conscious about impact of external factors like bad weather
and public health incidents that would affect organization and its operations.
Evaluation / Conclusion
English heritage are dependent on the goodwill of general public to get involved with
them in preserving historical monuments and sites. They are focused on safeguarding collection
of buildings across England which is expensive for which they need support of stakeholders. The
above part discussed the stakeholder’s who supports or are interested in English heritage and its
activities.
CONCLUSION
Report on English heritage have discussed the governance of English heritage, their
purpose, ethos and objectives by considering charity status of organization. The study also
explained several theories to evaluate impact of stakeholders on English heritage. It assessed
knowledge and understanding of stakeholders in heritage tourism or events in English heritage
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and their current issues and viewpoints are also being discussed. The suggestions to organization
regarding corporate governance and how English heritage adhere to standards of such practices
are explained with suitable implications.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Fulford, M., Champion, T. and Long, A. eds., 2013. England's coastal heritage: a survey for
English Heritage and the RCHME. English Heritage.
Bryan and et.al., 2013. Metric survey specifications for cultural heritage. English Heritage.
Heritage, E., 2015. English Heritage Annual Report and Accounts 2014 2015. Stationery Office.
Parry, B., 2012. Contribution to the National Heritage List for England [regarding the Charles
Melly Memorial Fountain, Southampton, and theMelly drinking fountain', St Mary's
Church, Walton village, Liverpool].
Talboys, G.K., 2016. Museum educator's handbook. Routledge.
Sherlock, P., 2016. Monuments and memory in early modern England. Routledge.
Earl, J. and Saint, A., 2015. Building conservation philosophy. Routledge.
Ogley and et.al., 2010. ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN HISTORIC BUILDINGS-Insulating dormer
windows.
Parker Pearson and et.al., 2012. Stonehenge, Amesbury, Wiltshire: chronological modelling.
Plevoets, B. and Van Cleempoel, K., 2011. Adaptive reuse as a strategy towards conservation of
cultural heritage: a literature review. Structural Studies, Repairs and Maintenance of
Heritage Architecture XII, 118, pp.155-163.
Waterton, E. and Smith, L., 2010. The recognition and misrecognition of community
heritage. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 16(1-2), pp.4-15.
Graham, B., Ashworth, G. and Tunbridge, J., 2016. A geography of heritage: Power, culture and
economy. Routledge.
Cleere, H., 2012. Introduction: the rationale of archaeological heritage management.
In Archaeological heritage management in the modern world (pp. 27-46). Routledge.
Walqui, A. and Heritage, M., 2012. Instruction for diverse groups of English language
learners. Commissioned papers on language and literacy issues in the common core state
standards and next generation science standards, 94, p.94.
Yung, E.H. and Chan, E.H., 2012. Implementation challenges to the adaptive reuse of heritage
buildings: Towards the goals of sustainable, low carbon cities. Habitat
International, 36(3), pp.352-361.
Online
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A New View of 1066. 2016. [Online]. Available through:
<http://www.karlquinney.co.uk/uncategorized/a-new-view-of-1066/>
Financial Review. 2016. [Online]. Available
through:<https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/siteassets/home/about-us/annual-reports/
eh_annual_report___accounts_1516.pdf>
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