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MARINE STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL

Registered charity 1066806 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as MSC

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Latest income
£33.7m
Latest spending
£34.8m
Registered
1997
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity ended the year with unrestricted reserves of £39.55 million, which equates to 12.15 months of the Board approved unrestricted expenditure budget, exceeding its stated policy target of 9 to 12 months. Per the trustees' report, the charity incurred an overall deficit of £0.7 million, resulting in a decrease in total reserves, but maintains a sound financial position with significant cash balances and investment assets.

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: 9 to 12 months of the following year’s budgeted expenditure (held: £39.5m)
“The Board has quantified the makeup of reserves against each of the above-named risks and concluded, in total, the unrestricted “free” reserve should be set between a minimum of 9 months and a maximum of 12 months of the following year’s budgeted expenditure.” — page 15
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Payments to trustees: Giles Bolton received £25,000 for professional services. Kevin Stokes received £37,493 for consultancy services. Darian McBain received £6,750 for consultancy services.
“The chair of the charitable company, Giles Bolton, who is also a Trustee under Charity law, received or was entitled to receive emoluments of £25,000 during the year for professional services rendered (2023/24: £4,167). Kevin Stokes, a board member of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), provided consultancy services amounting to £37,493 during the year (2023/24: £8,068). Darian McBain, a board member of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), provided consultancy services amounting to £6,750 during the year (2023/24: £0).” — page 31
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: MSC charged MSCI 15% of its office, premises and HR costs, 50% of its IT costs, and an allocation of salary of the MSC's Finance Director and Governance Secretary totalling £1,766,908. Allocations of key management salaries totalled £311,212. Gift aid payable amounted to £17,308,184 and royalty payable by MSCI to MSC amounted to £8,475,612.
“During the financial year MSC charged MSCI 15% of its office, premises and HR costs, 50% of its IT costs, and an allocation of salary of the MSC's Finance Director and Governance Secretary totalling £1,766,908 (2024: £1,831,228). Allocations of key management salaries totalled £311,212 (2024: £299,247). Gift aid payable for the year amounted to £17,308,184 (2024: £16,721,390) and the royalty payable by MSCI to MSC for the right to exploit MSC’s ecolabel amounted to £8,475,612 (2024: £8,202,635). At 31st March 2025, MSCI owed £11,982,622 in total to the parent charity (2024: £8,202,635). This amount includes the amount payable by MSCI to MSC as royalty for the right to exploit the Charities intellectual property (i.e. the MSC ecolabel) and the gift aid due to the Charity of MSCI’s accounting surplus for the year.” — page 39
“The chair of the charitable company, Giles Bolton, who is also a Trustee under Charity law, received or was entitled to receive emoluments of £25,000 during the year for professional services rendered (2023/24: £4,167). Kevin Stokes, a board member of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), provided consultancy services amounting to £37,493 during the year (2023/24: £8,068). Darian McBain, a board member of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), provided consultancy services amounting to £6,750 during the year (2023/24: £0).” — page 31
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Giles Bolton received £25,000 for professional services. Kevin Stokes provided consultancy services amounting to £37,493. Darian McBain provided consultancy services amounting to £6,750.
“During the financial year MSC charged MSCI 15% of its office, premises and HR costs, 50% of its IT costs, and an allocation of salary of the MSC's Finance Director and Governance Secretary totalling £1,766,908 (2024: £1,831,228). Allocations of key management salaries totalled £311,212 (2024: £299,247). Gift aid payable for the year amounted to £17,308,184 (2024: £16,721,390) and the royalty payable by MSCI to MSC for the right to exploit MSC’s ecolabel amounted to £8,475,612 (2024: £8,202,635). At 31st March 2025, MSCI owed £11,982,622 in total to the parent charity (2024: £8,202,635). This amount includes the amount payable by MSCI to MSC as royalty for the right to exploit the Charities intellectual property (i.e. the MSC ecolabel) and the gift aid due to the Charity of MSCI’s accounting surplus for the year.” — page 39
“The chair of the charitable company, Giles Bolton, who is also a Trustee under Charity law, received or was entitled to receive emoluments of £25,000 during the year for professional services rendered (2023/24: £4,167). Kevin Stokes, a board member of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), provided consultancy services amounting to £37,493 during the year (2023/24: £8,068). Darian McBain, a board member of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), provided consultancy services amounting to £6,750 during the year (2023/24: £0).” — page 31
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Crowe U.K. LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

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

Total income
£33.7m
Total spending
£34.8m
Cost of raising funds
£796k
Reserves (reported)
£39.6m
Employees
267

Reported reserves equal ~13.6 months of spending — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 4.6 months; benchmarks).

Trustees

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

Operates in: Australia · Belgium · Canada · Chile · China · City Of London · Denmark · Finland · France · Germany · Hong Kong · Iceland

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/03/2025£33.7m£34.8m
31/03/2024£33.1m£31.4m
31/03/2023£32.7m£30.6m
31/03/2022£29.8m£28.7m
31/03/2021£30.1m£27.2m

Common questions

Is MARINE STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL financially healthy?

The accounts state that the charity ended the year with unrestricted reserves of £39.55 million, which equates to 12.15 months of the Board approved unrestricted expenditure budget, exceeding its stated policy target of 9 to 12 months. Per the trustees' report, the charity incurred an overall deficit of £0.7 million, resulting in a decrease in total reserves, but maintains a sound financial position with significant cash balances and investment assets. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Crowe U.K. LLP.