New Lanark ends four-year legal battle over charitable status of trading subsidiaries

Following a legal judgement from the Court of Session, the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) will now recognise New Lanark Trust’s trading subsidiaries, New Lanark Hotels and New Lanark Trading, as charities.

This ends a four-year legal battle by the Trust to establish that the sole purpose of its trading subsidiaries is to support its charitable aims.

New Lanark Trust will now reclaim non-domestic rates, paid since 2015 for both trading subsidiaries and seek confirmation that mandatory and discretionary rates relief will apply in the future.

Chair of New Lanark Trust, Bill Howat, said, “We knew we had a strong legal case given the unique setting of this historic village and its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This decision will help us to continue developing our plans for a sustainable future with our partners”.

Chief Executive, Scott McCauley, said, “This provides much-needed clarity to our legal and financial status. If and when the Trust is reimbursed it will provide a much-needed boost in difficult times. We are excited that all our visitors, whether they come to learn, stay, eat, or shop, will be directly supporting New Lanark and our charitable purposes”.

New Lanark Trust would like to thank its partners and funders for their support during this pandemic – The Scottish Government, Historic Environment Scotland, the National Heritage Lottery Fund, South Lanarkshire Council, RBS and Scottish Enterprise. We also thank all our visitors, who continue to support us through online sales and messages of support on social media. We look forward to welcoming you all back to New Lanark World Heritage Site soon. We also hope to launch our new Ambassador Programme, building on the work and experience of the Friends of New Lanark who have contributed so much over the years and are the foundation on which the new programme has been developed.

Find out more about New Lanark at www.newlanark.org