Minutes of a meeting of the Board held on Thursday 29 January 2026 in the sixth floor meeting room, Hub
Present
John Booth CVO FSA (Chair)
Catherine Goodman CBE LVO
Sir John Kingman KCB FRS
James Lambert OBE
David Marks
Andrew Marr
Tonya Nelson
Stuart Roden
Professor Patricia Rubin
Professor Dame Molly Stevens DBE FRS FREng
Apologies
Rosalind Nashashibi
In attendance
Erica Boyer - Interim Director of Development
Sir Gabriele Finaldi - Director
Paul Gray - Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer
Victoria Hayes - Secretary to the Board and Head of Governance (Minutes)
Andy Hibbert - Chief Financial Officer
Jane Knowles - Director of Public Engagement
Susan Noonan - Chief Commercial Officer, National Gallery Global Ltd
Christine Riding - Director of Collections and Research
John Stack - Director of Digital Innovation and Technology
Larry Keith - Keeper and Head of Conservation for item 1
Per Rumberg - The Jacob Rothschild Head of the Curatorial Department for items 1–5
Sarah Herring - Associate Curator for post-1800 paintings, for item 1
Kristina Mandy - Assistant Conservator, for item 1
Valeriia Kravchenko - Patrick Lindsay Conservation Fellow, for item 1
Hayley Tomlinson - Conservator, for item 1
Dr Jack Hartnell - Head of Research, for item 2
Alan Crookham - Chief Librarian and Archivist, for item 2
Heidi Weeks - Head of Masterplan Projects for item 8
1. Pictures for treatment:
1.1. In the conservation studio, the Head of Conservation and Keeper showed the Board, following treatment, Catherina van Hemessen’s, Portrait of a Man (NG1042), The Virgin and Child with a Pomegranate from the Workshop of Botticelli, (NG2906) and Joshua Reynolds’s 'Lord and Lady Ely' (M1670|).
1.2. The Board approved the paintings as being ready to go back on display.
1.3. Trustees were shown The Madonna and Child with the Infant Baptist by a follower of Pontormo (M6374) for which they had an examination report. The Board approved the treatment proposed.
1.4. Information has been excluded under s.22, FOI 2000
2. Tour of the Library:
2.1. Trustees and the Executive Committee were taken to view the library and the spaces allocated for the Research Centre project. The Head of Research outlined the refurbishment proposals.
3. Declarations of Interest:
3.1. None
4. Minutes from the meeting held on 20 November and matters arising:
4.1. The Minutes from the meeting held on 20 November were approved.
4.2. Information has been excluded under s.22, s.36 and s.43 FOI 2000.
5. Loans Out:
5.1. The Jacob Rothschild Head of the Curatorial Department presented the Loans Out paper, which was approved.
6. Information has been excluded under s.22 FOI 2000.
6.1. Information has been excluded under s.22 FOI 2000.
7. Director’s Report, including a report on the year ahead.
7.1. The Director gave his presentation, highlighting that visitor numbers since the re-opening of the entire Gallery in May 2025 had been steadily rising, largely owing to the redisplay of the collection.
7.2-7.6. Information has been excluded under s.22, and s.36 FOI 2000.
7.7. The Director’s presentation on the year ahead was noted.
8. Update on Research Centre Project and Project Domani:
8.1. The Head of Masterplan Projects joined the meeting and gave a presentation which outlined progress in the Research Centre Project.
8.2. In relation to Project Domani, she said that six architectural firms had been shortlisted, with interviews taking place in March.
9. Management Accounts and Development Report:
9.1. The Chief Financial Officer presented the Management Accounts which were noted.
9.2. The Director of Development presented the Development Report which was noted.
10. Report from the Chief Commercial Officer of NGG Ltd:
10.1. The Chief Commercial Officer presented her report which was noted.
11. Committees of the Board and others, reporting since the last Board meeting:
11.1. The Minutes of the Scientific Consultative Group held on 13 November were noted. The Chair of the meeting reported on some good discussion and feedback. She said that we were early to adopt much of our equipment to make us a world leader in the scientific field, but some of it is now in need of repair. She said she was willing to assist with finding funding.
11.2. The Minutes of the Digital Advisory Board held on 27 November were noted. The interim Chair said that it had been an excellent meeting, with some interesting insight from the Board on the use of AI. The Chairman asked that Trustees be included in any training given to staff.
11.3. The Minutes of the Corporate & Donations Review Committee held on 8 December were noted, along with an annual review of the Committee’s activity.
11.4. The Minutes of the Development Committee held on 6 November were noted.
11.5. The Minutes of the Research Advisory Committee held on 10 December were noted.
11.6. The Minutes of the Nominations Committee held on 11 November were noted. The Chair of the Committee updated the Board on the current campaign to recruit three Trustees.
11.7. The Minutes of the Masterplan Committees held on 11 November, 25 November and 12 January were noted. The Chair thanked the Chair of the Masterplan Committee for the amount of time he was devoting to Gallery business.
11.8. The Minutes of the Finance Committee held on 8 December were noted.
Information has been excluded under s.22, s.36 and s.43 FOI 2000.
11.9. The Minutes of the Audit Committee held on 8 December were noted.
12. AOB: None
John Booth
Chair