English Heritage has appointed Tony Hales CBE as Chair of its Board of Trustees.

Tony brings to the charity more than two decades of senior leadership experience across the heritage and culture sectors. He was Chair of British Waterways and the founding Chair of its successor charity, the Canal and River Trust, before going on to serve as Chair of the Greenwich Foundation for the Old Royal Naval College.

Across all three organisations, Tony led major regeneration and conservation programmes, including the creation of a new entrance to the Lowland Canals in Scotland – featuring the landmark Kelpies sculptures – and the £8.5m conservation of the Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich.
“English Heritage is one of this country’s great national institutions,” Tony said, “one that looks after and shares with us all a remarkable collection of historic sites.

“I grew up visiting the castles, abbeys, and houses in its care and I am both honoured and excited to take on the role of Chair.”

“We are very pleased to welcome Tony to English Heritage,” added Dr Chris Michaels, English Heritage’s Deputy Chair. “He has a wealth of experience which will serve the charity extremely well.”

Lord Mendoza, Chairman of Historic England, remarked, "Tony is a deeply experienced leader across the corporate, cultural and heritage sectors. He is well placed for such an exciting role and responsibility to care for the National Heritage Collection that has been carefully assembled over time and is loved by many.

"I really welcome Tony’s appointment which is the result of a thorough search process with many excellent candidates, and I’m thrilled that Historic England’s Commission has approved his appointment.

Tony is currently Chair of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music and he has previously served as a non-executive director of Welsh National Opera, HSBC Bank and his beloved Aston Villa. Prior to those roles, Tony was Chief Executive of the global food and drink company Allied Domecq.

In 2008, he was awarded a CBE for services to the armed forces. Tony studied chemistry at the University of Bristol and received an honorary Doctor of Arts from the University of Greenwich in 2025. He lives in Stratford-Upon-Avon and counts Kenilworth Castle among his local English Heritage sites.

Tony succeeds Lord Lemos CMG CBE, who stepped down last July following his appointment as Lord in Waiting (Government Whip).

This year is an exciting one for English Heritage. At Stonehenge, we will open our new Learning Centre, which has been supported by a number of generous donors, and the Kusuma Neolithic Hall – a unique classroom built by volunteers using traditional tools and materials. As the Bayeux Tapestry arrives in London, we will refresh our presentation at the East Sussex battlefield where history was made in 1066. Conservation work continues across our sites, including repairing and reopening Sibsey Trader Windmill in Lincolnshire. And in London, our blue plaques scheme will celebrate more remarkable people from the past and the buildings they called home.

English Heritage became an independent charity in 2015 and cares for – under licence from Historic England and on behalf of the nation – the National Heritage Collection of over 400 unique sites and monuments and over a million artefacts. English Heritage invests approximately £30m a year in the ongoing conservation and care of this collection. The charity is supported by its visitors, donors and almost 1.2 million members. Last financial year, 2024/25, English Heritage welcomed more than 5.5m visitors to our manned sites while more than 190,000 school children experienced history where it happened as part of 4,800 plus school visits.