Treasurer

We are seeking a Treasurer/Trustee for The Historic Towns Trust, an educational charity that focuses on inspiring future generations to understand, appreciate and preserve their urban heritage. The Trust works in partnership with local historians, geographers and archaeologists to publish historical maps and atlases that give everyone a sense of belonging and custodianship.  Our unique multi-layer mapping techniques reveal a new way to visualise the complex development of Britain’s towns, enabling us to better analyse the impact of events and communities over time. We use our research to develop teaching materials for schools and to engage the public with free talks, empowering them with the knowledge and confidence to influence future decisions about their built environments.

Among our Trustees we have some of the leading academics in the fields of urban history and archaeology, architects, and business people, who share a passion for maps and history.  While the organisation has no central office and Trustees are spread across Britain, we meet frequently, usually but not exclusively in London.

The Trust has expanded significantly in recent years, increasing the number of maps and atlases we produce and developing educational and community outreach programmes to increase the impact of each map for the town it serves. The number and value of transactions we undertake (raising funds for projects, selling maps, taking on our first employee) has grown considerably and we are seeking a new Trustee to fill the role of Treasurer, helping us to re-shape the organisation for the future.

The Role

The Historic Towns Trust has the following financial activities

1.     Income from our endowment

2.     Income from sale of maps and atlases directly, through our website and through third party distributors

3.     Income from grants and donations to HTT towards core activities

4.     Holding of money raised for individual atlas and map projects

5.     Expenditure on administration

6.     Quarterly VAT filing

7.     GiftAid collection and accounting

8.     Annual audit

Currently three sub-committees (Projects, Communications and Resources) report to an Executive Sub-Committee (“ESC”) that reports to the Board of Trustees.  Each of these meets quarterly, with two Board meeting held in person in June and December, usually in London.

In the light of the recent growth in activities we are reviewing our operating structure.  This may include

·       A new Educational sub-committee

·       Splitting Resources between Administration and Sales/Marketing

·       Recruitment of a paid part-time book-keeper

·       Recruitment of an office administrator

The Treasurer will sit on ESC and will be responsible for the financial administration of the Trust and its reporting obligations to HMRC and the Charities Commission.  They will report to the Board on the financial position of the Trust on a quarterly basis, and lead deliberations on major investments. They will lead the audit.

As a Trustee they will have the opportunity to be engaged in our atlas and map activities, attending events and launches and contributing in any other way to the development of the Trust.

The Candidate

We are looking for an experienced, preferably qualified, accountant who has a passion for cartography, for urban history and for education.