BRISTOL AERO COLLECTION TRUST

Registered charity 1010632 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as BRISTOL AERO COLLECTION

Operation of a Museum available to the public for the acquisition, preservation, restoration and display of the products of the Bristol aviation manufacturing organisations and their related artefacts.Provision of a research facility of exhibits and related documentation available to the public.Operation of the Concorde at Filton public attraction for hosting visitors to Concorde 216.

Objects

1) TO ADVANCE PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ALL MATTERS CONCERNING AIRCRAFT AND THE AIRCRAFT AND AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES, IN PARTICULAR BY THE PROVISION OF A MUSEUM FOR THE PUBLIC DISPLAY, RESTORATION AND CONSERVATION OF AIRCRAFT, FLYING BOATS, MISSLES, ROCKETS, SATELLITES, OTHER FLYING AERIAL OR SPACE DEVICES OR MACHINES AND THE COMPONENT PARTS OF THEM AND DRAWINGS OR PICTURES AND OTHER PRODUCTS OF, OR RELATING TO THE AIRCRAFT AND AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES; AND 2) TO PROMOTE OR UNDERTAKE RESEARCH INTO THE HISTORY OF AIRCRAFT DESIGN MANUFACTURE AND OPERATION INCLUDING THE HISTORY OF THE PERSONS AND COMPANIES INVOLVED IN THESE ACTIVITIES AND TO PUBLISH AND DISSEMINATE THE USEFUL ACTIVITIES AND TO PUBLISH AND DISSEMINATE THE USEFUL RESULTS OF THAT RESEARCH.

Area of benefit: NOT DEFINED

The charity’s charitable objects and area of benefit, quoted from its governing document as held on the Charity Commission register.

Causes: Education/training · Arts/culture/heritage/science · Environment/conservation/heritage · website · Get email alerts

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a deficit of £414,174 for the year ended 31 March 2025, resulting in negative unrestricted reserves of £2,068,121. The trustees acknowledge a material uncertainty regarding going concern due to reliance on continued funding from South Gloucestershire Council and an overdraft facility guaranteed by BAE Systems. Despite these risks, the trustees remain confident in the charity's ability to continue operating.

Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Accounts audited by Randall & Payne LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

Year-over-year changes

• Going concern: material uncertainty (FY2024) → no going-concern doubt (FY2025).

Comparing this charity’s FY2024 and FY2025 accounts as analysed by this site.

Policies the charity declares

In its annual return the charity told the Commission that it has the policies listed below. This is self-declared: it is not verified by the Commission or by this site, and it is not evidence of how a policy works in practice.

• Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
• Campaigns and political activity policy and procedures
• Complaints handling
• Complaints policy and procedures
• Conflicting interests
• Engaging external speakers at charity events policy and procedures
• Financial reserves policy and procedures
• Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
• Internal risk management policy and procedures
• Investing charity funds policy and procedures
• Investment
• Paying staff
• Risk management
• Safeguarding policy and procedures
• Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
• Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
• Social media policy and procedures
• Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
• Trustee expenses policy and procedures
• Volunteer management

Corporate structure

• Registered company of the charity Companies House 02689238

Company officers (Companies House)

Current officers of the charity’s own company per the Companies House register, cross-checked against the Charity Commission trustee list by name. A director not on the trustee list is usually a timing or naming difference between the two registers — check both records before drawing conclusions.

• HENSEY, Joe — director, appointed 06/12/2024on trustee list
• GIBBS, Deborah Jane — director, appointed 19/07/2024on trustee list
• CORVER, Rachael Jayne — director, appointed 18/12/2023on trustee list
• WILLIAMS, Jack Leonard — director, appointed 18/12/2023on trustee list
• CHIVERS, Peter John — director, appointed 18/12/2023on trustee list
• YEANDLE, Robert James David — director, appointed 18/12/2023on trustee list
• CORDWELL, Sally Louise — director, appointed 13/05/2022on trustee list
• SMITH, Sian Louise Maclean — director, appointed 21/12/2020on trustee list
• PETTIT, Richard Charles — director, appointed 21/12/2020on trustee list
• SANDERS, Matthew Christopher — director, appointed 16/12/2019on trustee list
• CRAIG, Paul Anthony — director, appointed 21/03/2013on trustee list
• GRAY, Iain Gilmour — director, appointed 14/09/2012not on trustee list
• PETTIT, Richard Charles — secretary, appointed 21/12/2020

Official officers record.

Property (HM Land Registry)

2 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (0 freehold). All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.

Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook · instagram

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2025)

Reported reserves equal ~0.0 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (43% of income) — components as reported reconcile to the return’s total income; not from the accounts narrative.

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 25.1% of total income — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 5.2%) (benchmarks).

Register events

• Received assets from another charity (01/10/2013) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees · trustee networks

• Sir IAIN GILMOUR GRAY CBEchair
• Deborah Jane Gibbs
• Jack Leonard Williams
• Joe Hensey
• Matthew Christopher Sanders
• PAUL CRAIG
• Peter John Chivers
• Rachael Jayne Corver
• Richard Charles PETTIT
• Robert James Yeandle · trustee of 1 other charity
• Sally Cordwell · trustee of 2 other charities
• Sian Louise Maclean SMITH

Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).

Operates in: Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Common questions

Known funders

Grants to this charity found in funders’ own accounts filings.

Government & lottery funding

Grants to this charity published as open data by government and lottery funders (360Giving).

Funders of similar charities

Funders whose accounts show grants to charities similar to this one (and no recorded grant to this charity) — a starting list for fundraisers.

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with GLOUCESTERSHIRE AVIATION COLLECTION.

• GLOUCESTERSHIRE AVIATION COLLECTION income £130k
• BRISTOL MUSEUMS DEVELOPMENT TRUST income £276k
• THE FARNBOROUGH AIR SCIENCES TRUST income £126k
• VULCAN RESTORATION TRUST income £217k
• FRIENDS OF BRISTOL MUSEUMS, GALLERIES & ARCHIVES income £165k
• DE HAVILLAND AIRCRAFT MUSEUM TRUST LIMITED income £314k

Side by side with its peers

Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.