CONSERVATION charity the National Trust has confirmed that its new central office will be in Swindon.

The establishment of a single central office will bring Trust experts together under one roof.

Experts who provide professional guidance on everything from furniture and farming to fundraising are currently based in four offices in London, Cirencester, Westbury and Melksham.

The move to the new HQ is set to take place during 2003/4 and the search for a permanent site or building in the town is underway. In the meantime, a temporary office in Swindon will be established.

The Trust's director general Fiona Reynolds says that the new HQ will be a "building that the Trust can be proud of" which meets the needs of staff, uses the charity's resources most effectively, while demonstrating good environmental principles in the way it operates. The decision has been made as part of a wider organisational review of the charity's management structure the first major change for 33 years.

Staff in the four national offices were told earlier this month that the likely location for the new HQ would be Swindon following initial announcements about the review in March 2001.

The Evening Advertiser sent an open letter to the staff earlier this year after reports that staff were reluctant to relocate to the town. The charity employs 120 in London, but only a small proportion are likely to want to move to Swindon.

Coun Mike Bawden, leader of Swindon Council, said today: "We are pleased to welcome another nationally, and indeed internationally, known organisation to Swindon.

"We look forward to working with the National Trust and welcoming all those who will be joining us."

The Trust will also retain its warehouse in Melksham and maintain a small London base for staff needing to visit the capital for meetings and events. In a linked move, part of the Trust's finance department, currently based at Heywood House in Westbury, is moving to nearby Trowbridge.

The 53-strong Transaction Processing Unit brings together posts from national and regional finance operations on one site. Internal and external recruitment is underway. The main body of the Trust's finance department is set to move to Swindon in 2003/4.