Shugborough Estate overhaul: National Trust vows to increase annual visitor numbers to 250k

It was yesterday revealed the estate will be offloaded by Staffordshire County Council, with £20.5 million due to be injected into the site over the next three years.

The National Trust also announced an ambitious ten-year plan hoping to increase the attraction's visitor numbers and extend its opening season to 364 days a year, rather than the current season of March to the end of October.

Yesterday, council leaders said 'the time was right' to relinquish its 99-year lease to focus its dwindling budgets on services for the most vulnerable residents of Staffordshire.

The council estimates the deal means they will save £35m over the next 49 years – the remainder of the current lease agreement.

The transfer from Staffordshire County Council will see the authority pay the trust £6.83m annually for the next three years, totalling £20.5million towards maintaining the 64-acre grounds, as well as carrying out the necessary repairs on the Grade One listed stately home Shugborough Hall.

Visitor numbers have steadily declined at the Georgian estate in recent years.

They peaked at 137,000 in 2011/2012 when the apartments of Patrick Lichfield, the Fifth Earl of Lichfield and former resident of Shugborough, were opened up to the public as a tourist attraction. But they have since plummeted to 84,000 in 2014/2015. As a result, the council has made annual losses in the region of £800,000 on the estate.

Andy Beer, director of the National Trust in the Midlands, said: "We have a 10-year plan which will be split into phases.

"The first phase will not be anything dramatic. It will be more about changing the operating model. You may not see a lot of big investment."

He added: "Shugborough will remain open for business as usual.

"By taking back the management of Shugborough we would be able to guarantee the future opening and upkeep of the estate, as well as attracting more visitors to what is one of the few remaining complete working estates in the country, and a jewel in Staffordshire's crown."

There are the equivalent of 35 full-time workers at Shugborough, as well as around 52 seasonal staff and an estimated 115 volunteers.

Mr Beer added: "A process of consultation will take place with the staff as our structures are not the same as the council's.

"In the long run we want this to be a successful place which employs lots of people.

"But there will be a period of transition.

"It is obviously an unsettling time for those people."

Speaking on the staffing issue, Councillor Winnington said: "The transfer of staff is being discussed between Staffordshire County Council and the National Trust's human resources departments."