Dominic Hare has been with Blenheim Palace since 2003, initially serving as its Finance Director, before moving into the role of CEO in 2017.
When he arrived at Blenheim Palace, many of the estate houses were boarded up, needing work, as he explained to blooloop in an interview in July 2020:
“The belief was that there wasn’t the money to do it,” he says. “Yet a house that needed £50,000 spending on it would bring in rent of £20,000 a year. Professionals would look at that and see a 40% return. That’s a 2.5-year payback – you don’t normally get that kind of opportunity. So, money started to be invested.
“I was lucky to arrive at that point, and that we were able to grow very quickly. There is a very supportive family and trustees here. And there were so many opportunities. Real low-hanging fruit, in many cases.”
Blenheim Palace is one of England’s biggest houses and the principal residence of the Dukes of Marlborough. It was constructed between 1705 and 1722 and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
During his time at the iconic attraction, Hare has been instrumental in pushing forward a series of goals that will see the site become carbon negative by 2025. It also aims to have 50% of visitors arriving in a carbon-friendly way by 2025, to double its current energy production, and to reduce the carbon footprint of its current buildings by 25%.
Speaking of why he feels this sustainability mission is important, Hare said: “We know [this land] will be here in 300 years. We can look at it and say, in 60 years, my successors will be the people standing on farmland that will no longer be capable of a harvest. So, we start from the point that this problem is personal to us. We can point to the people who will be affected if we don’t look after things properly.”