CLARE MATTERSON

The director general of the RHS on a childhood spent among nature, her impulse to engage and educate, and the strategy for the future

- WORDS JODIE JONES PORTRAIT JULIE SKELTON

I'love a challenge,” says Clare Matterson, which is lucky. Since she took over as director general of the RHS in 2022, times have been tough. Roadworks have cost an estimated £11 million in lost revenue at the RHS flagship Wisley garden, and The Newt's headline sponsorship of the Chelsea Flower Show has come to a (scheduled) end before a new sponsor has been announced- although, at time of going to press, there were reports of 'exciting and unexpected' conversations taking place - while opposing factions mutter variously about both elitism and wokeism. Add to that the existential question of how to run a nonprofit organisation in the modern world, and she's had an interesting time.

"Finances have been a particular challenge, and I won't apologise for our commercial activities. We have to charge for things like the RHS Chelsea Flower Show because otherwise we wouldn't have the money to do everything else, including our outreach programmes, educational offering and science research, but it is about finding the balance," she says. "You need clarity on what you are as an organisation so that everyone understands their part. I am quite good at taking all that messiness and giving it some shape."

It's a skillset she's been building over the past 40 years, working in complex organisations such as the Wellcome Trust and the Natural History Museum (NHM), but it began in 1960s Surrey.