Find out how we’re managed and access key reports, policies and procedures.

The Museum is managed by the Museum Director and the Executive Board.

The Board of Trustees is responsible for overseeing the management of the Museum.

The Museum Director, Dr Doug Gurr, reports to the Board of Trustees.

The Executive Board is responsible for running the Museum under the leadership of the Museum Director.

Legal status

The Natural History Museum is operated by the Trustees of the Natural History Museum, a corporation established by section 8 of the British Museum Act 1963.

The Trustees of the Natural History Museum is an exempt charity under Schedule 3 to the Charities Act 2011.

The Trustees of the Natural History Museum is also a non-departmental public body (NDPB), operating at arm’s length from government. Its sponsor and principal regulator is the Department for Culture, Media & Sport with whom it has a management agreement (PDF, 608KB).

The Board of Trustees

The board is composed of 12 members: eight are selected by the Prime Minister, one (Royal Society Trustee) is nominated by the DCMS and three are chosen by the board itself.

Trustees are appointed for four years, and may serve a second consecutive four-year term before standing down.

The Board of Trustees meets four times a year.

The members of the Board of Trustees are:

• Chair – Lord Hall of Birkenhead
• Prof Dame Jane Francis DCMG FRS
• Prof Yadvinder Malhi CBE FRS
• Dr Sarah Thomas (co-opted)
• Shahpur Kabraji
• David Craig
• Tanuja Randery CBE
• Professor Kate Robson Brown
• Sally MacGregor
• Viktor Prokopenya

The Executive Board

The Executive Board is the Museum’s primary decision making body and is responsible for reporting upwards to the chief governing body, The Board of Trustees.

The Executive Board approves the Natural History Museum’s policies, procedures, programmes and projects. It formulates and monitors our corporate plan, and has collective responsibility for the organisation as a whole.

The attendees of Executive Board are:

• Dr Doug Gurr – Museum Director
• Helen Whitehouse – Chief Operating Officer
• Siobhán Tighe – Chief Financial Officer
• Dr Tim Littlewood – Executive Director of Science
• Keith Jennings – Director of Estates, Projects and Masterplanning
• Alison Lodge – Director of HR
• Dr Sandra Knapp – Director of Research
• Dan Phelan – Director of Communications, Digital and Marketing
• Rich Hinton – Chief Information Officer
• Dr Alex Burch – Director of Public Programmes
• Adam Farrar – Director of Commercial and Visitor Experience
• Emma Woods – Director of Policy
• Beth Parry – Director of Strategy and Innovation
• Jessica Bradford – Director of Collections

The expenses and hospitality information for the Executive Board of Directors at the Museum is published annually, following the publication of our annual reports and accounts. Read it on the UK Government website.

The Director

Dr Doug Gurr is Director of The Natural History Museum and Chair of the Competition and Markets Authority.

Previously, Doug was Country Manager of Amazon UK and President of Amazon China. Earlier roles included the civil service, partner at McKinsey and Company, Director at Asda-Walmart, founder CEO of internet start-up Blueheath, Chair of The Alan Turing Institute, Chair of the British Heart Foundation and Chair the Science Museum Group.

He has degrees in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge and a PhD in Computing from the University of Edinburgh and previously taught mathematics and computing at the University of Aarhus in Denmark.

He is a former Scottish international triathlete, 13 times Ironman, keen ski mountaineer with over 20 first ascents and an enthusiastic mountain runner.

The Audit and Risk Committee

The Audit and Risk Committee is a committee of the Board of Trustees.

It provides the board with assurance that adequate corporate governance, risk management and internal control processes are in place and working effectively. It also reviews the board’s code of practice, register of interests and code of conduct for staff.

The current members of the Audit and Risk Committee are:

• Chair – Shahpur Kabraji
• David Craig
• Professor Kate Robson Brown
• Luke Fairless (independent member)
• David Snell (independent member)

Those who attend the committee’s meetings include:

• Lord Hall of Birkenhead – Chair of Trustees
• Dr Doug Gurr – Museum Director
• Helen Whitehouse – Chief Operating Officer
• Siobhán Tighe – Chief Financial Officer
• Internal and external audit representatives

Read the Audit and Risk Committee’s terms of reference PDF.

Read the Audit and Risk Committee register of interests PDF.

The Museum maintains a register of gifts and hospitality which is reviewed by the Audit and Risk Committee. This is posted annually on data.gov.uk and can be made available upon request.

The Committee also reviews information on Trustees’ and Directors’ allowances and expenses each April / May. These are posted annually on data.gov.uk and can be made available upon request.

A list of transactions worth over £25k, published monthly, can also be found on data.gov.uk.

Policies and procedures

The Museum operates according to a series of policies and procedures that are regularly reviewed.

• Code of ethics
• Principles for understanding and sharing the Museum collection.
• Intellectual property policy (PDF)
• Data protection policy
• Privacy notice
• Health and safety policy
• Counter Fraud Policy (PDF)
• Governance principles and procedures (PDF)
• Horizon Europe Gender Equality Plan (PDF)

Finance and procurement policies

• Procurement policy
• Responsible procurement policy
• Gifts and hospitality policy
• Business expense policy (PDF)
• Standard conditions for the purchase of goods and services (PDF)

Collections policies

• Conservation and collections care (PDF)
• Collections and collections information management (PDF)
• Collections governance (PDF)
• Collections loans and physical access (PDF)
• Collections development (PDF)
• Human remains policy
• Immunity from seizure

Sustainability policies

• Environmental policy
• Benugo (catering provider) sustainable sourcing statement

Modern slavery statement

• Modern slavery statement (PDF)

Research

• Nazi spoilation and provenance research