Board Member - Finance

Become Treasurer of Bristol Historic Buildings Trust - help put a Grade I landmark on a sustainable footing

Bristol Historic Buildings Trust (BHBT) is looking for a Treasurer to join our Board as we bring Ashton Court Mansion back into full public life.

Ashton Court Mansion is a Grade I listed manor house with origins in the 14th century, set within an 850-acre estate on the edge of Bristol. Around three quarters of the building remains derelict. We are working with Bristol City Council to take a 125-year lease and regenerate the Mansion as a living civic place where heritage, creativity and public life meet.

This is a real moment of transition. We are already in the building under a tenancy at will, have refurbished the first rooms and begun taking event bookings. We are converting to a Charitable Community Benefit Society and preparing to launch a Community Share Offer shortly, raising community investment towards the lease and the first phase of works. Restoration of the whole building is a multi-decade, grant-led programme of significant scale.

Our vision is a building that works as a place of celebration, incubation and education, programmed around five areas: food, culture and arts, skills, nature and outdoors, and heritage.

The Treasurer will be central to how credibly we make that case.

What we are looking for

•      A qualified accountant, or equivalent senior finance experience

•      Confidence with charity finance, or solid general finance experience and the appetite to pick up the charity-specific parts with us

•      Experience overseeing budgets, management accounts and cashflow in an organisation moving from small to substantially larger

•      Comfort scrutinising a multi-year financial model and its assumptions, and explaining the numbers plainly to fellow trustees, funders and the public

•      Ideally, exposure to community shares, social investment or capital fundraising - though this is not essential

What the role involves

•      Leading Board-level financial oversight: budget approval, management accounts, annual accounts, reserves and risk

•      Helping us stand behind the financial disclosures in our lease case and share offer documents

•      4 quarterly board meetings per year (March, June, September, December), approx. 2 hours each, plus Finance and Audit Committee meetings

•      An annual strategy day

•      Terms of up to 3 years (renewable)

•      The role is unremunerated; reasonable expenses are reimbursed

About us

We are committed to a Board that reflects the community we serve and the wider Bristol community, and we welcome applicants from all backgrounds.

Our mission: to restore and operate Ashton Court Mansion through a mixed-use model combining conservation, community programming and commercial activity, sustained by a diversified income base of earned income, grants, donations and community investment.

How to apply

If this sounds like you, we would love to hear from you. Informal conversations welcome before applying. 

Send a brief statement of suitability (up to 250 words) and your CV  by 31 August 2026.