BIRMINGHAM MUSEUMS TRUST

Registered charity 1147014 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as BIRMINGHAM MUSEUMS LTD

To provide access to museums for audiences and participants within Birmingham and the West Midlands region and beyond, through the operation of museums with exhibitions, education, engagement and participation activities.

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

Latest income

£12.6m

Latest spending

£11.9m

Registered

2012

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that total income decreased by 5.9% to £12.6m, while total expenditure was £11.9m, resulting in a net movement in funds of £698k. The charity holds unrestricted reserves of £4.3m, which the trustees confirm are in line with their stated policy target of approximately £1m, providing assurance of financial resilience.

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

What the accounts disclose

Largest income source: Grants receivable and other income (79% of income)

“Total Incoming Resources 12,643,248”

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Going concern: noted by the trustees or auditor

“The Trustees consider there is reasonable expectation the company has sufficient resources, (free reserves of £3.508m at March 2025 and £0.994m Museums Renewal Fund grant confirmed in September 2025), to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future, for this reason they have adopted the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements.” — page 12

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Birmingham City Council

“BCC receives contractual services from the Charitable Company and the total contractual payments received in the year ended 31 March 2025 by the Charitable Company for the services undertaken amount to a fixed fee of £3.546m (2024: £3.282m). During the year ended 31 March 2025, BCC also provided funding of £Nil (2024: £1,502k) for the rewiring project at the Museum, compensation of £420k (2024: £420k) for loss of earnings due the extended closure of certain Museum facilities, a Shared Prosperity Fund grant of 195k (2024: £Nil), other grants of £120k (2024: £81k) and other income and funding of £67k (2024: £28k). At 31 March 2025, an amount of £9k (2024: £12k) was owed to the Charitable Company from BCC. The Charitable Company also has outstanding loan arrangements with BCC at 31 March 2025 as disclosed in Notes 11 and 12 of the financial statements.” — page 40

“The Charitable Company levied a management charge on Birmingham Museums Trading Limited for the year ended 31 March 2025 amounting to £647k (2024: £591k). The management charge for both years includes the recharge of staff by the Charitable Company to Birmingham Museum Trading Limited as disclosed in Note 8(e) of the financial statements. At 31 March 2025, the Charitable Company was owed an amount of £203k (2024: £343k) from Birmingham Museums Trading Limited.”

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Birmingham Museums Trading Limited

“BCC receives contractual services from the Charitable Company and the total contractual payments received in the year ended 31 March 2025 by the Charitable Company for the services undertaken amount to a fixed fee of £3.546m (2024: £3.282m). During the year ended 31 March 2025, BCC also provided funding of £Nil (2024: £1,502k) for the rewiring project at the Museum, compensation of £420k (2024: £420k) for loss of earnings due the extended closure of certain Museum facilities, a Shared Prosperity Fund grant of 195k (2024: £Nil), other grants of £120k (2024: £81k) and other income and funding of £67k (2024: £28k). At 31 March 2025, an amount of £9k (2024: £12k) was owed to the Charitable Company from BCC. The Charitable Company also has outstanding loan arrangements with BCC at 31 March 2025 as disclosed in Notes 11 and 12 of the financial statements.” — page 40

“The Charitable Company levied a management charge on Birmingham Museums Trading Limited for the year ended 31 March 2025 amounting to £647k (2024: £591k). The management charge for both years includes the recharge of staff by the Charitable Company to Birmingham Museum Trading Limited as disclosed in Note 8(e) of the financial statements. At 31 March 2025, the Charitable Company was owed an amount of £203k (2024: £343k) from Birmingham Museums Trading Limited.”

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Thinktank Trust

“BCC receives contractual services from the Charitable Company and the total contractual payments received in the year ended 31 March 2025 by the Charitable Company for the services undertaken amount to a fixed fee of £3.546m (2024: £3.282m). During the year ended 31 March 2025, BCC also provided funding of £Nil (2024: £1,502k) for the rewiring project at the Museum, compensation of £420k (2024: £420k) for loss of earnings due the extended closure of certain Museum facilities, a Shared Prosperity Fund grant of 195k (2024: £Nil), other grants of £120k (2024: £81k) and other income and funding of £67k (2024: £28k). At 31 March 2025, an amount of £9k (2024: £12k) was owed to the Charitable Company from BCC. The Charitable Company also has outstanding loan arrangements with BCC at 31 March 2025 as disclosed in Notes 11 and 12 of the financial statements.” — page 40

“The Charitable Company levied a management charge on Birmingham Museums Trading Limited for the year ended 31 March 2025 amounting to £647k (2024: £591k). The management charge for both years includes the recharge of staff by the Charitable Company to Birmingham Museum Trading Limited as disclosed in Note 8(e) of the financial statements. At 31 March 2025, the Charitable Company was owed an amount of £203k (2024: £343k) from Birmingham Museums Trading Limited.”

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Board Secure Limited

“BCC receives contractual services from the Charitable Company and the total contractual payments received in the year ended 31 March 2025 by the Charitable Company for the services undertaken amount to a fixed fee of £3.546m (2024: £3.282m). During the year ended 31 March 2025, BCC also provided funding of £Nil (2024: £1,502k) for the rewiring project at the Museum, compensation of £420k (2024: £420k) for loss of earnings due the extended closure of certain Museum facilities, a Shared Prosperity Fund grant of 195k (2024: £Nil), other grants of £120k (2024: £81k) and other income and funding of £67k (2024: £28k). At 31 March 2025, an amount of £9k (2024: £12k) was owed to the Charitable Company from BCC. The Charitable Company also has outstanding loan arrangements with BCC at 31 March 2025 as disclosed in Notes 11 and 12 of the financial statements.” — page 40

“The Charitable Company levied a management charge on Birmingham Museums Trading Limited for the year ended 31 March 2025 amounting to £647k (2024: £591k). The management charge for both years includes the recharge of staff by the Charitable Company to Birmingham Museum Trading Limited as disclosed in Note 8(e) of the financial statements. At 31 March 2025, the Charitable Company was owed an amount of £203k (2024: £343k) from Birmingham Museums Trading Limited.”

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Trading subsidiary: Birmingham Museums Trading Limited, Thinktank Trust

“In addition, the charity has two subsidiary companies. It is the sole shareholder of Birmingham Museums Trading Limited and the sole member of Thinktank Trust.” — page 4

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Cooper Parry Group Limited. Discloses 3 of 6 completeness components.

Property (HM Land Registry)

7 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.

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

Total income

£12.6m

Total spending

£11.9m

Cost of raising funds

£170k

Reserves (reported)

£4.0m

Employees

161

Reported reserves equal ~4.0 months of spending — below the median for charities its size (median 4.6 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (88% 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: 1.3% of total income — below the median for charities its size (3.8%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Received assets from another charity (18/08/2025) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees · trustee networks

Anthony Simpson
Deborah Spence
Dr Louise Brooke-Smith
Jane Richardson
Robert James Cambray Alden
Stephen Hughes

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

Operates in: Birmingham City

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/03/2025	£12.6m	£11.9m
31/03/2024	£13.5m	£11.8m
31/03/2023	£11.3m	£12.8m
31/03/2022	£12.3m	£12.2m
31/03/2021	£10.5m	£11.2m

Common questions

Is BIRMINGHAM MUSEUMS TRUST financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that total income decreased by 5.9% to £12.6m, while total expenditure was £11.9m, resulting in a net movement in funds of £698k. The charity holds unrestricted reserves of £4.3m, which the trustees confirm are in line with their stated policy target of approximately £1m, providing assurance of financial resilience. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Cooper Parry Group Limited.

Who funds BIRMINGHAM MUSEUMS TRUST?

Funders whose own accounts filings name BIRMINGHAM MUSEUMS TRUST as a grant recipient include THE FIDELITY UK FOUNDATION, JOHN ELLERMAN FOUNDATION, THE HEADLEY TRUST, THE PAUL MELLON CENTRE FOR STUDIES IN BRITISH ART.

Known funders

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

Funder	Year	Amount	Purpose (as stated by the funder)
THE FIDELITY UK FOUNDATION	FY2022	£125k	Dynamic Collections: Towards a community participation project to improve digital records and access to museum collections
JOHN ELLERMAN FOUNDATION	FY2025	£97k	Towards core costs including the salary and support costs of a Senior Curator of Global Majority collections
THE HEADLEY TRUST	FY2025	£94k	Towards the salary and set up costs of the Collections Information Assistant for the Dynamics Collections project.
THE PAUL MELLON CENTRE FOR STUDIES IN BRITISH ART	FY2022	£30k	Curatorial Research Grants

Government & lottery funding

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

Funder	Date	Amount	Purpose
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	28/09/2023	£250k	"Laying the foundations for the transformation of Birmingham Museums Trust"
UK government	31/03/2023	£173k	Redisplay of Birmingham Museum and Art Gallerys (BMAG) Ancient Civilizations Galleries
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	03/08/2020	£250k	"COVID19: Birmingham Museums Trust"
Birmingham City Council	01/01/2020	£2k	The Lavender Club
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	30/09/2015	£100k	"Customer relationship management: understanding our data, engaging audiences, sustaining our heritage"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	30/09/2014	£389k	"Representing Birmingham"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	19/12/2013	£95k	"The Spitfire Project"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	28/10/2013	£10k	"Blakesley Hall & Museum of the Jewellery Quarter: First World War projects"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	30/08/2013	£97k	"Acquisition of portrait of Erasmus Darwin by Joseph Wright of Derby"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	26/03/2013	£50k	"Building the Trust: a Framework for Transformation"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	07/06/2012	£675k	"Portrait of Dr John Ash by Sir Joshua Reynolds"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	27/03/2012	£40k	"Soho House Visitor Centre redevelopment project"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	21/06/2011	£725k	"The Staffordshire Hoard Gallery"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	17/05/2011	£50k	"Children's Lives"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	25/05/2010	£398k	"Natural history knowledge, social history skills and other curatorial trainees"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	16/12/2008	£4.9m	"Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery 20 Year Plan Phase 2 - BIRMINGHAM - A City in the Making"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	17/11/2008	£50k	"Matthew Boulton Bicentenary 2009"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	14/01/2008	£37k	"Home : A portrait of Birmingham - Vibrant Urban Villages"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	18/09/2007	£500k	"Weoley Castle Ruins"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	13/06/2006	£225k	"Portrait of James Watt by Thomas Lawrence"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	06/12/2005	£653k	"The Equiano Project"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	14/09/2004	£822k	"Connecting Histories"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	04/03/2004	£202k	"Ask the Audience"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	22/09/2003	£100k	"The Acquisition of a painting Desk Murder by R.B. Kitaj (b1932)"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund	19/09/2003	£49k	"VIBES! A History of Urban Music"

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 EDWARD AND DOROTHY CADBURY TRUST	1	£3k
United by 2022 Charity	1	£1k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with BIRMINGHAM EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP LIMITED.

BIRMINGHAM EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP LIMITED income £2.3m
BRISTOL MUSEUMS DEVELOPMENT TRUST income £276k
SANDWELL AND WEST BIRMINGHAM HEALTHCARE AND HOSPITALS CHARITY income £1.1m
ST. MARGARET'S COMMUNITY TRUST income £243k
THE STAFFORDSHIRE REGIMENT MUSEUM TRUST income £133k
FRIENDS OF BIRMINGHAM CHILDREN'S TRUST income £271k

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
BIRMINGHAM MUSEUMS TRUST	£12.6m	—	—	above	—	noted
BIRMINGHAM EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP LIMITED FY2025	£2.3m	—	—	above	—	no doubt
BRISTOL MUSEUMS DEVELOPMENT TRUST FY2025	£276k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
SANDWELL AND WEST BIRMINGHAM HEALTHCARE AND HOSPITALS CHARITY FY2025	£1.1m	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
ST. MARGARET'S COMMUNITY TRUST FY2025	£243k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
THE STAFFORDSHIRE REGIMENT MUSEUM TRUST FY2025	£133k	—	0	above	—	no doubt

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