MUSEUM OF LONDON ARCHAEOLOGY
Registered charity 1143574 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register
The object of the Charity are for the benefit of the public in the advancement of education in the subjects of archaeology and the historic environment.Our aim is to stimulate enquiry and promote active discovery through partnership and participation, widening access to and appreciation of the value of heritage.
Causes: Environment/conservation/heritage · website · Get email alerts
Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts
The accounts state that the charity returned to a surplus of £636,001 for the year ended 31 March 2025, following a deficit in the prior year. However, the trustees note that the current unrestricted reserves of £706,753 remain below the stated reserves policy target of £4mn to £6mn. The trustees express confidence in generating further surpluses to rebuild reserves, citing a strong order book and secured working capital funding.
Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.
What the accounts disclose
Reserves position: below the charity's own stated reserves policy (held: £707k; policy: between £4mn and £6mn)
“This level remains (as anticipated) below the level required in our Reserves Policy”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: MOLA carries out archaeological work on a commercial basis for the City of London Corporation, for which Trustee Alderman Alison Gowman is an Alderman.
“Alderman Alison Gowman is an Alderman of the City of London Corporation for which MOLA carry out Archaeological work on a commercial basis from time to time, and is also a Trustee of the Museum of London who is the licensor of Mortimer Wheeler House, the registered office. Alison has no direct involvement in any of the transactions concerned.” — page 51
“As part of an infrastructure project, the charity entered into a joint venture with Wessex Archaeology Limited. This is an unincorporated entity. During the year there were sales of £640,717 to this entity, and the amount owing from them at the year end was £768,861.” — page 51
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Sales of £640,717 to Wessex Archaeology Limited, an unincorporated joint venture partner, with £768,861 owing at year end.
“Alderman Alison Gowman is an Alderman of the City of London Corporation for which MOLA carry out Archaeological work on a commercial basis from time to time, and is also a Trustee of the Museum of London who is the licensor of Mortimer Wheeler House, the registered office. Alison has no direct involvement in any of the transactions concerned.” — page 51
“As part of an infrastructure project, the charity entered into a joint venture with Wessex Archaeology Limited. This is an unincorporated entity. During the year there were sales of £640,717 to this entity, and the amount owing from them at the year end was £768,861.” — page 51
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Trading subsidiary: MOLA Northampton Limited
“MOLA has a subsidiary company limited by guarantee, MOLA Northampton Limited, in which it is the sole shareholder.” — page 6
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Accounts audited by Shaw Gibbs (Audit) Limited. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.
In the news
Recent coverage mentioning this charity by name (automated match; headlines belong to their publishers).
Leadership, per the charity’s website
- Chris Henry — Chief People and Resources Officer (source)
- Andrew Henderson-Schwartz — Director of Public Impact and Communications (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.
Property (HM Land Registry)
3 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (0 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 31/03/2025)
Cost of raising funds
£22k
Reported reserves equal ~0.5 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.6 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: 0.1% of total income — below the median for charities its size (3.8%) (benchmarks).
Register events
- Received assets from another charity (09/04/2026) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
- Paul David Rodgerschair
- Alison Jennifer Jones
- Dominic Adrian Hopkins · trustee of 1 other charity
- Dr Victoria McGuinness
- Keith Durward
- Michael Coplowe
- Paul Jonathan Coby
- SHARON ANN AMENT
- Shahina Farid · trustee of 1 other charity
Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).
Operates in: Throughout England And Wales
Income and spending
Common questions
Is MUSEUM OF LONDON ARCHAEOLOGY financially healthy?
Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity returned to a surplus of £636,001 for the year ended 31 March 2025, following a deficit in the prior year. However, the trustees note that the current unrestricted reserves of £706,753 remain below the stated reserves policy target of £4mn to £6mn. The trustees express confidence in generating further surpluses to rebuild reserves, citing a strong order book and secured working capital funding. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Shaw Gibbs (Audit) Limited.
Who funds MUSEUM OF LONDON ARCHAEOLOGY?
Funders whose own accounts filings name MUSEUM OF LONDON ARCHAEOLOGY as a grant recipient include LLOYD'S REGISTER FOUNDATION.
Known funders
Grants to this charity found in funders’ own accounts filings.
Government & lottery funding
Grants to this charity published as open data by government and lottery funders (360Giving).
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.
Charities like this
Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with LONDON TRANSPORT MUSEUM LIMITED.
Side by side with its peers
Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.