Trustee

Recruitment of a Trustee from a property background

Bishopsgate Institute is looking for a Trustee with a background in property management to join the Board immediately. We are particularly interested to hear from Black and Asian candidates, and candidates from other minority ethnic backgrounds.

Bishopsgate Institute is a cultural venue within the heart of London. Fiercely independent since 1895, Bishopsgate Institute attracts a vibrant, curious community and is a home for ideas and debate, learning and enquiry. Its motto is ‘I never stop learning’, and it has been a place for people to connect over a joint love of learning and shared experiences through two World Wars and six global pandemics.

In addition to its programme of adult courses and cultural events (currently largely online), Bishopsgate Institute houses an important and unique archive, documenting the experiences of everyday people, and the extraordinary individuals and organisations who have strived for social, political and cultural change. Its Special Collections and Archives celebrate the lives and communities often neglected by the mainstream – across areas as varied as London history, socialism, activism, feminism, freethought and humanism – and include one of the UK’s biggest collections of LGBTQ+ history and culture. Further details can be found on our website: www.bishopsgate.org.uk

The successful applicant will be the Bishopsgate Institute’s Trustee with most experience of property matters, and a key member of the newly established Asset Management Committee of the Board which oversees the charity's property and investment portfolio.  They will therefore need to be able to bring to discussions with Trustees and the executive team an understanding of most or all of the following:

• trends and opportunities within the commercial property markets in London;
• the role of professional property managers and letting agents; 
• negotiations on leasing of commercial properties;
• overage and other components of sales of freehold interests to existing leaseholders;
• investment vs operational property holding strategies; and
• the requirements of Charities Act Reports from an independent surveyor for proposed new leases or sales. 

The successful candidate is likely to have practised as a surveyor, or to have gained similar experience through property management in a major organisation.

Trustees serve for an initial term of three years and a maximum term of five years and are legally accountable for the responsible governance of the Institute. Trustees are not remunerated.

The property portfolio

Bishopsgate Institute opened in a magnificent Grade II* listed building opposite Liverpool Street Station in 1895, and has been operating its charitable activities from this building’s extraordinary (and sometimes challenging) spaces ever since. The Institute is fortunate also to have an endowment that comprises principally commercial office and retail premises in the Spitalfields and Old Street areas.

Commitment

There are normally four Board meetings a year held on Monday evenings, and in some years an away day for the full Board. There are likely to up to four meetings of the Asset Management Committee each year, and Trustees are expected to be available for informal consultation by phone and e-mail from time to time between meetings. Trustees may be invited to serve on more than one Board committee.

We are keen to make this trustee appointment quickly. The successful candidate will be invited to attend the 19 July 2021 Board meeting and a Board strategy meeting on the afternoon of 18 October 2021.

Your application

Please email us at trusteerecruitment@bishopsgate.org.uk with your CV and a one-page letter outlining the reasons for your interest in Bishopsgate Institute and your relevant property management experience by 0900 on Monday 14 June 2021.

We anticipate inviting shortlisted candidates to interview on 23 June 2021.  Candidates invited to interview will be asked to provide their referees’ details at that stage: these would be taken up only if necessary.