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THE LONDON BUS PRESERVATION TRUST LIMITED

Registered charity 1053383 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

Study, compile records on and restore, preserve and maintain buses, carriages and other items of road transport.

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

Latest income
£398k
Latest spending
£354k
Registered
1996
Accounts read
FY2024

Financial health, per its FY2024 accounts

The accounts state that the Trust achieved a surplus of £370,786 for the year ended 31 December 2024, driven largely by legacy income. Per the trustees' report, unrestricted reserves stood at £3,578,850, significantly exceeding the stated policy target of covering one year's expenses. The Trustees confirmed adequate financial reserves and a reasonable expectation of continuing in operation for the foreseeable future.

Automated summary of the FY2024 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: one year's expenses (held: £3.6m)
“The Trust aims to maintain a minimum level of Reserves as recommended by the Charity Commissioners. This is equivalent to the level of General Reserves covering at least one year’s expenses in the event of a serious downturn/failure in fund raising.” — page 7
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Trading subsidiary: London Bus Museum Limited, London Bus Preservation and Repair Limited
“The Trust has two subsidiary companies, London Bus Museum Limited (company number 5903873), which operates the shop at the museum, and London Bus Preservation and Repair Limited (company number 7147492), a dormant asset holding company.” — page 4
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by John D Kilby & Co. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

Corporate structure

LONDON BUS MUSEUM LTD — latest Companies House iXBRL filing (balance sheet 31 December 2025)
  • Equity: £11k
LONDON BUS MUSEUM LTD — per its own Companies House accounts

    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.

    Official officers record.

    Property (HM Land Registry)

    2 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (1 freehold); recorded price paid £280k. All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.

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

    Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/12/2024)

    Total income
    £661k
    Total spending
    £303k
    Reserves (reported)
    £3.6m
    Employees
    0

    Reported reserves equal ~141.9 months of spending — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 7.0 months; benchmarks).

    Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 0.0% of total income — below the median for charities its size (2.9%) (benchmarks).

    Register events

    Trustees · trustee networks

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

    Operates in: Throughout England And Wales

    Income and spending

    Financial year endIncomeSpending
    31/12/2025£398k£354k
    31/12/2024£661k£303k
    31/12/2023£457k£303k
    31/12/2022£309k£316k
    31/12/2021£243k£264k

    Common questions

    Is THE LONDON BUS PRESERVATION TRUST LIMITED financially healthy?

    Per its FY2024 accounts: The accounts state that the Trust achieved a surplus of £370,786 for the year ended 31 December 2024, driven largely by legacy income. Per the trustees' report, unrestricted reserves stood at £3,578,850, significantly exceeding the stated policy target of covering one year's expenses. The Trustees confirmed adequate financial reserves and a reasonable expectation of continuing in operation for the foreseeable future. Its FY2024 accounts were audited by John D Kilby & Co.

    Who funds THE LONDON BUS PRESERVATION TRUST LIMITED?

    Funders whose own accounts filings name THE LONDON BUS PRESERVATION TRUST LIMITED as a grant recipient include LONDON TRANSPORT MUSEUM FRIENDS.

    Known funders

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

    FunderYearAmountPurpose (as stated by the funder)
    LONDON TRANSPORT MUSEUM FRIENDSFY2025£6kGrant

    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.

    FunderSimilar charities fundedAmount to them
    KUSUMA TRUST UK1£130k
    THE FINNIS SCOTT FOUNDATION1£750

    Charities like this

    Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with THE THAMES VALLEY AND GREAT WESTERN OMNIBUS TRUST.

    Side by side with its peers

    CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
    THE LONDON BUS PRESERVATION TRUST LIMITED£398k—0unclear—no doubt
    THE THAMES VALLEY AND GREAT WESTERN OMNIBUS TRUST FY2025£171k—0above—no doubt
    LONDON TRANSPORT MUSEUM LIMITED FY2025£19.9m——unclear—no doubt
    LONDON TRANSPORT MUSEUM FRIENDS FY2025£427k—0unclear—no doubt
    BRESSINGHAM STEAM PRESERVATION COMPANY LIMITED FY2025£1.0m—0above—no doubt
    WESTERN LOCOMOTIVE ASSOCIATION LIMITED FY2025£191k—0unclear—no doubt

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