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INDEPENDENT CINEMA OFFICE

Registered charity 1109053 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as ICO

Film programming advice and bookings for non profit cinemas; training programmes of non-commercial cinemas; training for the independent exhibition sector; distribution of films; consultancy; organising events for film societies and independent cinemas; advocacy for the sector and grant giving.

Causes: General Charitable Purposes · Education/training · Arts/culture/heritage/science · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£1.7m
Latest spending
£1.7m
Registered
2005
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity generated a net income surplus of £48,795 for the year ended 31 March 2025. Per the trustees' report, free reserves were £229,026, which is below the stated policy target of three months' running costs (£266,519). The charity remains a going concern with three-year funding secured from the BFI until April 2026.

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

What the accounts disclose

Highest-paid employee band: £60,001 - £70,000 — below the median for charities its size (£70k)
“The number of employees whose employee benefits (excluding employer pension costs) exceeded £60,000 was: 31.3.25 1 £60,001 - £70,000” — page 29
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Employees paid over £60,000: 1
“The number of employees whose employee benefits (excluding employer pension costs) exceeded £60,000 was: 31.3.25 1 £60,001 - £70,000” — page 29
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Reserves position: below the charity's own stated reserves policy (held: £229k; policy: three months running costs)
“At 31 March 2025 free reserves were £229,026. The finance committee will continue to focus on improving income streams and ensuring efficient cost management to raise the free reserves to be in line with our stated target.”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Dorothy Wilson, Chair, received £1,350 for consultancy services relating to the Revisiting Your Cinema Business Model course (2024: £nil).
“Dorothy Wilson, Chair, received £1,350 for consultancy services relating to the Revisiting Your Cinema Business Model course (2024: £nil).” — page 37
“Sudha Bhuchar, trustee, was paid £300 during the year for consultancy services in relation to recruitment (2024: £200).” — page 37
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Sudha Bhuchar, trustee, was paid £300 during the year for consultancy services in relation to recruitment (2024: £200).
“Dorothy Wilson, Chair, received £1,350 for consultancy services relating to the Revisiting Your Cinema Business Model course (2024: £nil).” — page 37
“Sudha Bhuchar, trustee, was paid £300 during the year for consultancy services in relation to recruitment (2024: £200).” — page 37
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Vision Box, co-directed/owned by Simon Ward, an ICO trustee, and his wife Corrina Ward, was awarded £1000 for the National Lottery Cinema Thank You event "Lights, Camera, Thanet" (2024: £500 for the Cinema Unbound Powell & Pressburger season).
“Dorothy Wilson, Chair, received £1,350 for consultancy services relating to the Revisiting Your Cinema Business Model course (2024: £nil).” — page 37
“Sudha Bhuchar, trustee, was paid £300 during the year for consultancy services in relation to recruitment (2024: £200).” — page 37
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Simon Ward, trustee, was paid £175 speaker fees for the FAN programming course (2024: £nil).
“Dorothy Wilson, Chair, received £1,350 for consultancy services relating to the Revisiting Your Cinema Business Model course (2024: £nil).” — page 37
“Sudha Bhuchar, trustee, was paid £300 during the year for consultancy services in relation to recruitment (2024: £200).” — page 37
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Yi Wang, trustee, received £553 (2024: £nil) for his services as a speaker at events held by the ICO.
“Dorothy Wilson, Chair, received £1,350 for consultancy services relating to the Revisiting Your Cinema Business Model course (2024: £nil).” — page 37
“Sudha Bhuchar, trustee, was paid £300 during the year for consultancy services in relation to recruitment (2024: £200).” — page 37
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Locke Williams Associates LLP. Discloses 6 of 6 completeness components.

Corporate structure

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.

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)

1 registered title in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (0 freehold); recorded price paid £1.3m. 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 · linkedin

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

Total income
£1.7m
Total spending
£1.7m
Reserves (reported)
£229k
Employees
20

Reported reserves equal ~1.6 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 (100% 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: 0.0% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

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

Operates in: Northern Ireland · Scotland · Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/03/2025£1.7m£1.7m
31/03/2024£1.7m£1.6m
31/03/2023£1.9m£2.1m
31/03/2022£1.7m£1.7m
31/03/2021£1.5m£1.4m

Common questions

Is INDEPENDENT CINEMA OFFICE financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity generated a net income surplus of £48,795 for the year ended 31 March 2025. Per the trustees' report, free reserves were £229,026, which is below the stated policy target of three months' running costs (£266,519). The charity remains a going concern with three-year funding secured from the BFI until April 2026. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Locke Williams Associates LLP.

What does the highest-paid employee of INDEPENDENT CINEMA OFFICE earn?

Per its FY2025 accounts, the highest-paid employee was in the £60,001 - £70,000 band, and 1 employees earned over £60,000.

Who funds INDEPENDENT CINEMA OFFICE?

Funders whose own accounts filings name INDEPENDENT CINEMA OFFICE as a grant recipient include SCREENSKILLS LIMITED.

Known funders

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

FunderYearAmountPurpose (as stated by the funder)
SCREENSKILLS LIMITEDFY2022£20kTraining / CPD

Government & lottery funding

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

FunderDateAmountPurpose
The National Lottery Heritage Fund21/08/2018£66k"New Towns, Our Town - Stories on Screen"

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 JULIA RAUSING TRUST1£4.9m
CWPLUS1£2.3m
THE MASTER CHARITABLE TRUST1£473k
THE KENTOWN WIZARD FOUNDATION1£200k
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE HOSPITALS NHS CHARITY1£129k
AKO FOUNDATION1£100k
BLACK HEART FOUNDATION (UK) LIMITED1£100k
THE UNDERWOOD TRUST1£25k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with CHICHESTER CINEMA AT NEW PARK LIMITED.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
INDEPENDENT CINEMA OFFICE£1.7m£60,001 - £70,0001below—no doubt
CHICHESTER CINEMA AT NEW PARK LIMITED FY2025£802k—0unclear—no doubt
MEDICINEMA FY2025£2.1m——above—no doubt
PHOENIX CINEMA TRUST LIMITED FY2025£573k—0unclear—noted
THE RIO CENTRE (DALSTON) LIMITED FY2025£1.0m—0below—no doubt
FILM NATION UK FY2025£6.5m——above—no doubt

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