Charity Accounts Intelreading the accounts so you don’t have to

THE NATIONAL MOTOR MUSEUM TRUST LIMITED

Registered charity 1107656 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

The National Motor Museum Trust is dedicated to preserving and promoting motoring history. It has a world famous collection of vehicles and associated motoring items, many of which are on display at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu. The Trust has an educational mission and cares for very large collections of objects, images, documents and books in its Collections Centre.

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

Latest income
£3.6m
Latest spending
£3.6m
Registered
2005
Accounts read
FY2024

Financial health, per its FY2024 accounts

The accounts state that free reserves amounted to £218,065, which is below the trustees' stated policy target of at least £840,000 (representing three months of operating costs). The charity reported a net loss of £46,317 for the year, with unrestricted funds decreasing from £8,278,316 to £7,822,490.

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

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: three months of operating costs (£840,000 in 2023) (held: £218k)
“It is the aim of the charity to work towards a position where free reserves represent at least 3 months of operating costs (£840,000 in 2023).” — page 28
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Trustee donations
“During the year trustees donated funds of £19,626 to the charity (2023; £28,862).” — page 61
“The group leased all the leasehold properties from the private estate of Lord Montagu of Beaulieu. The rentals payable on these properties under the lease agreement are peppercorn, and therefore negligible.” — page 61
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Lease from Lord Montagu of Beaulieu
“During the year trustees donated funds of £19,626 to the charity (2023; £28,862).” — page 61
“The group leased all the leasehold properties from the private estate of Lord Montagu of Beaulieu. The rentals payable on these properties under the lease agreement are peppercorn, and therefore negligible.” — page 61
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Trading subsidiary: National Motor Museum Trading Limited
“The National Motor Museum Trust has a wholly owned trading subsidiary called National Motor Museum Trading Limited” — page 27
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Saffery LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

Corporate structure

NATIONAL MOTOR MUSEUM TRADING LIMITED — per its own Companies House accounts
  • Turnover: £155k
  • Profit before tax: £39k
  • Donated/gift-aided to the charity: £55k
  • Amounts owed by group undertakings: £23,249 (2024)
“Distributions to parent charity under gift aid”

Leadership, per the charity’s website

Listed on the charity’s own website when we last crawled it; roles may have changed. Pay-band disclosures above are anonymous statutory disclosures and are not attributed to any named individual.

Funders the charity credits

Named as funders/supporters on the charity’s own website (the charity’s claim, distinct from accounts-verified grants).

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.

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

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

Total income
£3.6m
Total spending
£3.6m
Cost of raising funds
£396k
Reserves (reported)
£16k
Employees
23

Reported reserves equal ~0.1 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 (73% 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: 11.0% of total income — above the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).

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
31/12/2024£3.6m£3.6m
31/12/2023£3.7m£3.4m
31/12/2022£3.3m£3.1m
31/12/2021£2.9m£3.0m
31/12/2020£2.0m£2.1m

Common questions

Is THE NATIONAL MOTOR MUSEUM TRUST LIMITED financially healthy?

Per its FY2024 accounts: The accounts state that free reserves amounted to £218,065, which is below the trustees' stated policy target of at least £840,000 (representing three months of operating costs). The charity reported a net loss of £46,317 for the year, with unrestricted funds decreasing from £8,278,316 to £7,822,490. Its FY2024 accounts were audited by Saffery LLP.

Government & lottery funding

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

FunderDateAmountPurpose
The National Lottery Heritage Fund19/01/2024£227k"The Ages of Motoring"
UK government31/03/2023£230kMotoring into the Future - Phase 1
The National Lottery Heritage Fund23/05/2014£97k"Caravans and Charabancs: Leisure motoring after the First World War"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund21/07/2003£36k"National Motor Museum Development Project"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund28/11/2002£48k"The Wakefield Trophy - Acquisition"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund08/07/1996£249k"Beaulieu Motor Works -Centenary Garage"
UK government—£50kDCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund

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
LONDON TRANSPORT MUSEUM FRIENDS1£822k
KUSUMA TRUST UK1£130k
ASSOCIATION OF INDEPENDENT MUSEUMS1£5k
THE FINNIS SCOTT FOUNDATION1£750

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with BRITISH MOTOR INDUSTRY HERITAGE TRUST.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
THE NATIONAL MOTOR MUSEUM TRUST LIMITED£3.6m——unclear—no doubt
BRITISH MOTOR INDUSTRY HERITAGE TRUST FY2024£6.3m——above—no doubt
HAYNES MOTOR MUSEUM LTD FY2025£3.1m——unclear—no doubt
LONDON TRANSPORT MUSEUM LIMITED FY2025£19.9m——unclear—no doubt
COUNTY CLASSICS MOTOR MUSEUM FY2025£381k—0unclear—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.