Case Study: National Trust achieves 84,000+ hours saved and a data-driven culture with Tableau Software

Sowing seeds of change Instilling data culture at the National Trust

The National Trust, the UK charity that cares for historic places and natural landscapes, faced a growing challenge as digitisation made data part of everyday roles: many staff, including frontline rangers, spent excessive time wresting with reports and lacked the tools to make evidence‑based decisions. Leadership set out to build a data culture so employees at all levels could access and act on timely insights.

Over an 18‑month rollout the Trust deployed a visual analytics platform and a change‑management approach centered on “change champions” and cross‑functional teams, enabling widespread self‑service analytics. The shift saved more than 84,000 hours in the first year, boosted job satisfaction, and gave the organisation the agility to respond to COVID‑era disruption—eg, standing up a new booking system in two weeks—and make faster, data‑driven decisions.

National Trust

Christina Finlay

Director of Data and Insight