Built by social reformer Robert Owen on solid foundations of workers’ rights and mutual respect, New Lanark’s rebirth as a World Heritage Site was the result of a mammoth community effort and spirit of co-operation.
Now, however, the group which has supported New Lanark Trust for four decades and helped raise the mill village from dilapidated buildings at risk of demolition to one of Scotland’s major visitor attractions, is rethinking its links amid concerns over how it is being run.
The Friends of New Lanark say they have been “frozen out” of the prestigious World Heritage Site over recent years by successive managements.
They say it has affected their ability to have an “effective working relationship” with the charitable Trust that oversees the Site.
READ MORE | 250 years of spinning history ends at New Lanark World Heritage Site
Relations between The Friends of New Lanark and New Lanark’s management have been strained since 2018, soon after Lorna Davidson, a former director of the New Lanark Trust and a key figure at the mill site for more than three decades, retired.
A passionate advocate for its industrial heritage and social history, she was part of the movement led by Dr Jim Arnold that saved it from the risk of demolition to protect it for future generations.
Her retirement, however, saw a string of changes within the charity’s Board of Trustees, whose numbers have now been whittled down from 12 to just four people.
Senior management responsible for day to day operations at the site, currently led by CEO Iain MacKenzie whose previous business interests include running a car park business, have changed, with some said to have little connection to its complex history.
There have also been questions over focus on the Site's hotel and hydro power interests, at the expense of its heritage offering.
Despite New Lanark Trust receiving in the region of £6.5 million in grants and funding since 2020, its hotel business had to be rescued from the brink of insolvency and its debts recently merged with other elements of its operation including the once highly profitable spinning mill.
A tipping point for The Friends of New Lanark came with the surprise announcement that the spinning mill, which has supplied high quality yarn destined for the likes of Chanel and with low overheads thanks to being based in the mill buildings and using on-site hydro power, is to close due to financial difficulties.
New Lanark Trust says it racked up losses in the region of £100,000 over the past five years.
However, New Lanark Trading accounts, which cover the mill, show that in 2023 it achieved an income of £183,202 against expenditure of £178,781 – suggesting a profit of almost £4,500.
While figures for 2024 showed a loss in the region of just £8650.
The Trust has refused to disclose additional financial detail to explain the £100,000 losses.
The mill’s imminent closure has shocked wool producers who relied on it for spinning their yarn, and been criticised over its timing, as Scotland enjoys a significant revival in interest in its wool sector and demand is increasing for sustainable and traceable yarn.
A spokesperson for the Friends group said its function for four decades has been to support the New Lanark Trust in its work to preserve and promote the village.
They added: “Some of its members were leading members on the Trust board and staff in earlier days which saw the successful restoration of the village and the establishment of some exceptional heritage-based businesses, including the wool spinning.
“Unfortunately, since 2018, the Friends organisation has found it impossible to continue an effective working relationship with the Trust and has been frozen out by successive managements.
“It is currently considering its future.”
New Lanark World Heritage Site spans the visitor centre, a hotel and gym, and woollen mill, retail and café. The Trust is also responsible for 45 affordable rent houses on the site.
The Herald revealed last week how the Site’s New Lanark Mill Hotel had been slipping into insolvency before its accounts and debts were moved to become part of New Lanark Trading, the charity which oversees the wool production, visitor centre and café.
The spinning operation gave visitors a rare chance to see a working mill – regarded by many as a fundamental part of the World Heritage Site experience.
Bill Jackson, who served as a trustee of New Lanark Trust from 2003 to 2016, latterly as vice-chair who is now a member of the Friends organisation said: “I am distressed to hear that the wool operation at New Lanark is under threat of closure.
“Historically the reconstruction of the fully operational wool processing was a great achievement by Jim Arnold and an enthusiastic team of helpers.
“Visitors can now see and hear exactly what it must have been like within the mills 200 years ago. Closure will mean that those skills and operational equipment will be lost and almost certainly never resurrected.”
He said the Trust should have freedom to make operational and financial decisions for the site's sustainable future, he added: “However, I seriously question whether the wool operation is truly loss-making.
“The 2024 accounts show that it made a loss of £8631 however the Trust made inter-company charges for rent, light and power, insurance and marketing that were a multiple of this ‘loss’.
“Should the operation close, the Trust will lose income. Closure will not reduce these costs, as the space will still need to be accessible and costs will still accrue.”
He adds that wool production helped to raise the profile of the World Heritage Site.
“The free, very positive marketing that came from being involved with Harry Potter and high end fashion houses as well as small Scottish firms must equate to many tens of thousands in free advertising for the site as a whole.
“The current saga will have the opposite impact."
He questioned why the mill should close when the Site’s shop and catering elements – which do not relate directly to New Lanark’s story - made more than £90,000 losses in the last financial year.
“Remembering that this is the only proper representation of the working mills in the visitor attraction, why has the decision been made to shut the one making the smallest ‘losses’?
“I would really like to understand in detail how they came to that decision."
He added: "I know that once these decisions are made nobody within the organisation will want to reconsider. They will retreat behind the ramparts and refuse to comment.
"More shame on them if they do not comment.”
According to New Lanark World Heritage Site, the Scottish Government and Historic Environment Scotland (HES), who are partners in the World Heritage Steering Group, were consulted over the woollen mill’s closure.
However, HES say there was no formal consultation on the closure of the spinning mill.
South Lanarkshire Council, who are also partners in the management of New Lanark, also indicated it has not been involved in the closure decision.
According to New Lanark World Heritage Site's website, the Board of Trustees currently consists of just four men.
However, it's understood there should be up to 12 members, with New Lanark Trust’s governing document stating they should “at all times use their best endeavours to ensure that the number of Trustees is maintained at not fewer than five”.
It also requires the Board to include “so far as reasonably possible” a representative who has been nominated by South Lanarkshire Council.
That has not been the case since 2022, when Councillor Catherine McClymont resigned after ten years with the Trust.
She has told how she expected her place to be taken by another councillor. “This did not happen and New Lanark Trust decided they no longer wished a local councillor as a trustee which was extremely worrying for me.
“I have raised this with the council as an issue for locals, as there is no local trustee serving on the board as far as I can see.”
Questions over the mill closure and management are against a background of millions of pounds of public funds to help support the World Heritage Site.
The Scottish Government say New Lanark Trust received grant funding of £2.4m in 2020/2021 for the repair of hydro turbines and the fabric of the Site, along with a further £435,000 of capital funding for maintenance in February 2023.
In addition, in June 2023, the Trust was awarded £2.3m from the National Heritage Memorial Fund’s COVID-19 Response Fund.
Meanwhile, HES has handed the Site almost £1.3m of funding to support building maintenance, learning and outreach since 2021, along with annual support funds of £20,000.
It brings to a total the amount of funding since 2020 to £6.5 million.
A spokesperson for HES said: “Management and decisions around the operation of commercial enterprises within New Lanark Trust are the responsibility of their Trustees.
“We were aware of an ongoing review of their various enterprises as part of their wider vision to create long term sustainability for the site.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here