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THE BRISTOL CLIFTON AND WEST OF ENGLAND ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY LIMITED

Registered charity 1104986 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as BRISTOL ZOO GARDENS

Operation of Bristol Zoo Project. Field conservation and research projects.

Causes: Education/training · Animals · Environment/conservation/heritage · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£7.6m
Latest spending
£9.9m
Registered
2004
Accounts read
FY2024

Financial health, per its FY2024 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a net deficit of £2.1m for the year, with total reserves decreasing to £43.7m. The Trustees have identified a material uncertainty regarding the charity's ability to continue as a going concern, primarily due to the dependency on the completion of the sale of Bristol Zoo Gardens to repay its revolving credit facility. Despite this uncertainty, the accounts are prepared on a going concern basis, supported by a waived covenant breach and expected future funding.

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

What the accounts disclose

Highest-paid employee band: £130,001 - £140,000 — above the 90th percentile for charities its size (median £70k)
“£130,001 - £140,000 1” — page 29
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Going concern: material uncertainty disclosed
“The Trustees recognise that this, alongside the unknown completion date of the sale of the Bristol Zoo Gardens site, constitutes a material uncertainty.”
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Payment to Bristol Natural History Consortium
“During the year, the Society paid contributions to the Bristol Natural History Consortium of £5,000 (2023; £5,000). The Chief Executive is a director of this organisation and the Society holds one third of the membership.” — page 40
“During the year, the Society paid £5,100 (2023: £4,050) to Business West Ltd West of England Initiative, where the Chief Executive is the President of the Bristol Chamber of Commerce & Initiative, part of Business West.” — page 40
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Payment to Business West Ltd
“During the year, the Society paid contributions to the Bristol Natural History Consortium of £5,000 (2023; £5,000). The Chief Executive is a director of this organisation and the Society holds one third of the membership.” — page 40
“During the year, the Society paid £5,100 (2023: £4,050) to Business West Ltd West of England Initiative, where the Chief Executive is the President of the Bristol Chamber of Commerce & Initiative, part of Business West.” — page 40
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Trading subsidiary: Bristol Zoo Enterprises Limited
“The Society has one wholly-owned subsidiary company, Bristol Zoo Enterprises Limited (company number 1750167), established to operate the retail, catering and conferencing facilities of the Society.” — page 9
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Sumer Auditco Limited. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

Year-over-year changes

Comparing this charity’s FY2023 and FY2024 accounts as analysed by this site.

Corporate structure

BRISTOL ZOO ENTERPRISES LIMITED — per its own Companies House accounts
  • Turnover: £675k
  • Profit before tax: £267k
  • Donated/gift-aided to the charity: £190k
  • Debtors include £133,669 owed by group undertakings (2023: £115,403).
“During the year, the company distributed retained earnings of £190,166 (2023: £309,215) to the parent charity under gift aid.”

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)

3 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (3 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 31/12/2024)

Total income
£7.6m
Total spending
£9.9m
Cost of raising funds
£731k
Reserves (reported)
£241k
Employees
136

Reported reserves equal ~0.3 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 (86% 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: 9.6% of total income — above the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Trustees · trustee networks

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

Operates in: Bristol City · Cameroon · Comoros · Costa Rica · Equatorial Guinea · French Polynesia · Madagascar · Philippines · Portugal · Somerset · South Africa · South Gloucestershire

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/12/2024£7.6m£9.9m
31/12/2023£7.7m£10.2m
31/12/2022£10.7m£14.3m
31/12/2021£9.8m£11.3m
31/12/2020£10.5m£10.7m

Common questions

Is THE BRISTOL CLIFTON AND WEST OF ENGLAND ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY LIMITED financially healthy?

Per its FY2024 accounts: The accounts state that the charity reported a net deficit of £2.1m for the year, with total reserves decreasing to £43.7m. The Trustees have identified a material uncertainty regarding the charity's ability to continue as a going concern, primarily due to the dependency on the completion of the sale of Bristol Zoo Gardens to repay its revolving credit facility. Despite this uncertainty, the accounts are prepared on a going concern basis, supported by a waived covenant breach and expected future funding. Its FY2024 accounts were audited by Sumer Auditco Limited.

What does the highest-paid employee of THE BRISTOL CLIFTON AND WEST OF ENGLAND ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY LIMITED earn?

Per its FY2024 accounts, the highest-paid employee was in the £130,001 - £140,000 band.

Who funds THE BRISTOL CLIFTON AND WEST OF ENGLAND ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY LIMITED?

Funders whose own accounts filings name THE BRISTOL CLIFTON AND WEST OF ENGLAND ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY LIMITED as a grant recipient include THE FRAXINUS CHARITABLE TRUST, THE HOBSON CHARITY LIMITED, The Patricia Routledge Foundation.

Shared trustees with funders

Register facts shown side by side: a person serves as trustee of both this charity and a funder whose accounts record grants to it. Shared trusteeship is lawful and common; well-run charities manage it through declared-interest procedures.

Known funders

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

FunderYearAmountPurpose (as stated by the funder)
THE FRAXINUS CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2024£100kfor the construction of the new learning space in the African Forest area at Bristol Zoo Project.
THE FRAXINUS CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2024£50kfor the continuation of the conservation programme in Equatorial Guinea between 2024 and 2026.
THE HOBSON CHARITY LIMITEDFY2025£25kAnimals
The Patricia Routledge FoundationFY2025£5k

Government & lottery funding

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

FunderDateAmountPurpose
UK government01/08/2023£22kLower Severn Vale in South Gloucestershire County Council
UK government01/08/2023£8kLower Severn Vale in South Gloucestershire County Council
UK government01/06/2022£115k29-024 Investigating hunting causes and implementing community-led mitigations in the Philippines
UK government01/06/2022£112k29-024 Investigating hunting causes and implementing community-led mitigations in the Philippines
UK government01/06/2022£93k29-024 Investigating hunting causes and implementing community-led mitigations in the Philippines
The National Lottery Community Fund27/05/2015£5kZOO PRIDE - Celebrating Families
The National Lottery Heritage Fund05/10/2011£47k"Crayfish in Crisis"

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
THE STEVEN BLOCH IMAGE OF DISABILITY CHARITABLE TRUST1£181k
THE PENNIES FOUNDATION1£75k
MOONDANCE FOUNDATION1£50k
THE NISBET TRUST1£45k
THE JOHN R. MURRAY CHARITABLE TRUST1£43k
JOHN JAMES BRISTOL FOUNDATION1£25k
THE NANI HUYU CHARITABLE TRUST1£25k
THE PIERREPONT TRUST1£15k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS BRISTOL AND DISTRICT BRANCH.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
THE BRISTOL CLIFTON AND WEST OF ENGLAND ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY LIMITED£7.6m£130,001 - £140,000—unclear—material uncertainty
ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS BRISTOL AND DISTRICT BRANCH FY2025£2.0m—0above—no doubt
BRISTOL AND WALES CAT RESCUE FY2025£157k—0unclear—no doubt
TWYCROSS ZOO-EAST MIDLAND ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY LIMITED FY2024£15.4m——unclear—material uncertainty
HOLLY HEDGE ANIMAL SANCTUARY FY2025£1.2m—0unclear—no doubt
THE BRISTOL CHILDREN'S HELP SOCIETY FY2024£280k—0unclear—no doubt

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