Nickc, there have been a few strange purchasing decisons that seemed, from the outside at least, to have been made for reasons that don’t necessarily fit the Trust’s stated aims, to be more on personal whims. Sorry, can’t be more specific than that. Also the relationship between some members of the SVAS, which historically provides a substantial portion of the operational and spares cost and the Trust,which actually owns and operate the aircraft and the Swiss Gardens etc. is a tad strained at the moment as a result.
They are currently advertising for a chief executive to run the trust , at a £90,000 salary which has also raised a few eyebrows, but their argument this is the going rate to attract a suitably experienced person.
In the perhaps understandable aim to make the Trust financially secure, the concessions for SVAS members and volunteers are less generous, and the rules underwhich the volunteers work are less flexible. This is what I am refering to.
As a visitor to the collection, none of the above is likely to be apparent, and indeed the Trust does need to be run on a more professional basis to survive, and many of the changes are likely to improve the visitor experience, but inevitably it will be more expensive.