UK Storyhouse Limited

Registered charity 1121007 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as CHESTER PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE LIMITED, UK Storyhouse Ltd

UK Storyhouse Limited (trades as Storyhouse) is an educational arts based charity promoting the development of the performing arts in and around Chester.

Causes: Education/training · Arts/culture/heritage/science · Economic/community Development/employment · website · Get email alerts

Latest income

£7.6m

Latest spending

£7.5m

Registered

2007

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a surplus of £64k for the year ended March 2025, a significant improvement from the previous year's deficit. The trustees confirm that the charity has adequate financial resources and will continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future, with secured income and funding confirmed until at least March 2028.

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)

“£60,000 - £70,000 3 2” — page 24

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Largest income source: Other trading activities (55% of income)

“Other trading activities 5 4,171,787 - 4,171,787 4,536,112” — page 14

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Fundraising cost ratio: 46.6% of fundraised income, as disclosed

“Raising funds 8 3,517,844 - 3,517,844 4,015,081” — page 14

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Trading subsidiary: Storyhouse Catering Company Limited, Storyhouse Production Company Limited

“Storyhouse runs two wholly owned commercial trading subsidiaries, Storyhouse Production Company Limited and Storyhouse Catering Company Limited.” — page 5

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Champion Accountants LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — UK Storyhouse Limited (matched by registered charity number).

Leadership, per the charity’s website

Annabel Turpin — Chief Executive (source)
David Watson — Chair (source)

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).

Film Hub North — “Find out more about Film Hub North” (source page)

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

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

Total income

£7.6m

Total spending

£7.5m

Cost of raising funds

£3.5m

Reserves (reported)

£695k

Employees

147

Reported reserves equal ~1.1 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Other trading activities (55% 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: 46.6% of total income — above the 90th percentile for charities its size (median 5.2%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

David Jnr Watsonchair
Jack Thomas Mitchell
John William Grout Gr
Kirsty Lowe
Lauren Faith Green
Maria Perny
Mark David Roughley
Paul Michael Davies
Richard Watts
Ryan Guest
Sioned Mererid Jones · trustee of 1 other charity
Vidya Venugopal

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

Operates in: Cheshire East · Cheshire West & Chester

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/03/2025	£7.6m	£7.5m
31/03/2024	£7.1m	£7.5m
31/03/2023	£6.9m	£7.5m
31/03/2022	£6.4m	£5.7m
31/03/2021	£4.4m	£3.5m

Common questions

Is UK Storyhouse Limited financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity reported a surplus of £64k for the year ended March 2025, a significant improvement from the previous year's deficit. The trustees confirm that the charity has adequate financial resources and will continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future, with secured income and funding confirmed until at least March 2028. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Champion Accountants LLP.

What does the highest-paid employee of UK Storyhouse Limited earn?

Per its FY2025 accounts, the highest-paid employee was in the £60,001 - £70,000 band.

Who funds UK Storyhouse Limited?

Funders whose own accounts filings name UK Storyhouse Limited as a grant recipient include THE WESTMINSTER FOUNDATION, THE THEATRES TRUST CHARITABLE FUND.

Known funders

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

Funder	Year	Amount	Purpose (as stated by the funder)
THE WESTMINSTER FOUNDATION	FY2025	£100k	Funding to support various employability programmes, including the salary of the Skills and Training Manager ensuring continuation of key activity with young pe
THE WESTMINSTER FOUNDATION	FY2025	£55k	Storyhouse are working towards a new permanent dedicated space for young people in Chester. Grant towards achieving RIBA stages 2 & 3 for the project.
THE THEATRES TRUST CHARITABLE FUND	FY2024	£20k	Theatre Improvement Scheme with the Wolfson Foundation
THE THEATRES TRUST CHARITABLE FUND	FY2025	£5k

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.

Funder	Similar charities funded	Amount to them
THE FIDELITY UK FOUNDATION	2	£446k
THE JOHN THAW FOUNDATION	2	£4k
DENISE COATES FOUNDATION	1	£5.7m
THE CHARTLEY FOUNDATION	1	£121k
THE MARCELA TRUST	1	£100k
BACKSTAGE TRUST	1	£67k
THE MACKINTOSH FOUNDATION	1	£57k
Community Foundation for Staffordshire and Shropshire	1	£40k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with THE STORY MUSEUM.

THE STORY MUSEUM income £2.3m
STORYHOUSE PROJECT income £277k
TALL STORIES THEATRE COMPANY LIMITED income £2.9m
SEVEN STORIES, THE NATIONAL CENTRE FOR CHILDREN'S BOOKS income £1.6m
COLCHESTER MERCURY THEATRE LIMITED income £5.8m
STOKE-ON-TRENT AND NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE THEATRE TRUST LIMITED income £6.1m

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
UK Storyhouse Limited	£7.6m	£60,001 - £70,000	—	unclear	46.6%	no doubt
THE STORY MUSEUM FY2025	£2.3m	—	0	unclear	—	material uncertainty
STORYHOUSE PROJECT FY2025	£277k	Under £60,000	0	unclear	—	no doubt
TALL STORIES THEATRE COMPANY LIMITED FY2025	£2.9m	—	0	above	—	no doubt
SEVEN STORIES, THE NATIONAL CENTRE FOR CHILDREN'S BOOKS FY2025	£1.6m	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
COLCHESTER MERCURY THEATRE LIMITED FY2025	£5.8m	—	4	unclear	—	no doubt

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