Responding to the announcement, Tim Eyles said, "I'm genuinely thrilled to take on this role. It is a great privilege and a real honour. I'm also energised about working with such an excellent group of trustees who serve the Trust with such dedication and creativity. The Theatres Trust fulfils an important national purpose and I will give my best efforts to lead the Trust through the next exciting chapter of its evolution."
Tim Eyles is managing partner UK and international board member of leading international law firm Taylor Wessing, chair of The Jerwood Charitable Foundation, one of the UK's leading arts charities, and a director of the Jerwood Space. Taylor Wessing has strong cultural connections with the arts which include a relationship with the National Portrait Gallery and a seven-year sponsorship of the NPG's Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize. In his early career Tim Eyles was a lawyer, then partner, with the law firm, Goodman Derrick, where the senior partner was Lord Goodman CH, the founding chairman of The Theatres Trust.
The Theatres Trust is the National Advisory Public Body for Theatres. Tim Eyles takes up his appointment from 1 February 2015 and succeeds outgoing chairman Rob Dickins CBE.
Director, Mhora Samuel, commented, "This is a very welcome appointment. It marks an exciting phase in the Trust's development. I'm really looking forward to working with Tim on raising new funds for our Theatres Protection Fund. Under the guidance of Rob Dickins we attracted our first donations to the Theatres Protection Fund which enabled us to initiate the Small Grants Scheme for theatres. Tim will now lead our campaign to enable the Trust to provide even more financial support and investment for theatre buildings."
(Jim Evans)
