Tim Reeve, the deputy director of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London (V&A), has been appointed chief executive of the UK conservation charity English Heritage. English Heritage looks after more than 400 historic monuments, buildings and sites, including Stonehenge in Wiltshire.
Reeve, who will take up his new post in November, wrote on LinkedIn: “This is one of the most important roles in UK cultural life, leading an organisation that means so much to so many people, in every corner of England, through a period of transition to a place of stability and sustainability.”
He started his career at English Heritage in 1996 as a registry assistant before progressing to the role of director of historic properties, a post he held from 2005 to 2013.
“In that last role, [Reeve] was responsible for all aspects of the management of the collection of historic sites in English Heritage’s care, including the annual conservation maintenance programme and the capital development programme,” an English Heritage statement says.
At the V&A, where he was also chief operating officer, he was a driving force behind the creation of the V&A East Museum and Storehouse, which both opened recently in Stratford, east London, as well as V&A Dundee, which launched in 2018.
This week, members of staff at the V&A East Storehouse and across the V&A's three other London sites voted to strike in a dispute over concerns about working conditions.
Tristram Hunt, the V&A’s director, said in a statement: “Tim has been a truly transformative deputy director of the V&A [since 2013]. So much of the last decade’s creative confidence and institutional expansion is down to his far-sighted leadership, energetic culture of challenge, and strong ethos of public service.”
Reeve takes over at English Heritage from the interim chief executive, Geoff Parkin, who has been in post since July 2025 following the resignation of Nick Merriman. Merriman, who stepped down for personal reasons, oversaw a controversial restructure of the charity, reducing English Heritage’s 2,535-strong workforce by 7% or around 180 posts.
According to the organisation’s annual report, visitor numbers to English Heritage’s pay-to-enter sites fell to 5.75 million from 6.1 million in 2023-24. There was also a slight fall in its membership numbers to 1.19 million (1.22 million in 2023/24). Conserving all of the properties cost £50m, adds the report.
The charity, which became self-financing by 2023, has stressed that it no longer receives regular funding from the UK Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to care for the National Heritage Collection of state-owned historic sites and monuments.