CHURCH OF ENGLAND CENTRAL SERVICES

Registered charity 1155158 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

The Charity's objects are to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the National Church Institutions (NCIs), dioceses and other charities with a Church ethos by providing cost-effective shared financial, legal and other support services including payroll and also to promote the charitable purposes of the NCIs.

Causes: Religious Activities · Economic/community Development/employment · website · Get email alerts

Latest income

£130.7m

Latest spending

£127.7m

Registered

2013

Accounts read

FY2024

Financial health, per its FY2024 accounts

The accounts state that the charity group recorded an annual income of £130.7m and annual expenditure of £127.7m for the year ended 31 December 2024, resulting in a net movement in funds of £2.97m. The trustees confirm that the group has adequate resources to meet spending commitments for at least twelve months, with no material uncertainties identified regarding going concern.

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

What the accounts disclose

Highest-paid employee band: £152,670 — below the median for charities its size (£180k)

“The highest paid member of staff was the Chief Operating Officer who earned £152,670 (2023: Chief Operating Officer £141,814)” — page 27

Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Reserves policy: three months of operating costs (£200k) (held: £129k)

“Trustees of PGS have agreed that free unrestricted fund reserves should be maintained to meet unforeseen operational costs equivalent to a minimum of 3 months of operating costs (£200k).”

Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Crowe U.K. LLP. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

Year-over-year changes

Top pay band moved from £141,814 (FY2023) to £152,670 (FY2024).

Comparing this charity’s FY2023 and FY2024 accounts as analysed by this site.

Corporate structure

Registered company of the charity Companies House 08776679
Trading subsidiary: CHURCH OF ENGLAND CENTRAL SERVICES TRADING LIMITED Companies House 08940330

CHURCH OF ENGLAND CENTRAL SERVICES TRADING LIMITED — per its own Companies House accounts

Turnover: £1.0m
Profit before tax: £37k
Donated/gift-aided to the charity: £37k
Loan balance of £212,000 due after one year to parent undertaking (Church of England Central Services).

“Charitable donation to the Archbishops’ Council (37,388)”

Leadership, per the charity’s website

The Most Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally — Joint President (Archbishop of Canterbury) (source)
William Nye — Secretary-General (source)
Simon Gallagher — Administrative Secretary (source)
Debbie Clinton — Director: Vision & Strategy (source)
Emily Gee — Director: Cathedral & Church Buildings (source)
Alexander Kubeyinje — Director: National Safeguarding Team (source)
Guy Hewitt — Director: Racial Justice Unit (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.

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.

ZAMPETTI, Robert David — director, appointed 28/11/2024on trustee list
HUGHES, Carl David — director, appointed 01/10/2023on trustee list
RODGER, Margaret Alexandra — director, appointed 17/10/2022on trustee list
SMITH, Alan Nigel — director, appointed 01/10/2021on trustee list
RUSHTON, Samantha Jayne, The Venerable — director, appointed 13/02/2020on trustee list
MATHER, Harold Clive — director, appointed 01/05/2019on trustee list

Official officers record.

Trustpilot: Church of England scores 1.8/5 from 18 reviews (source) — reviews usually concern the charity’s shops or services, not its charitable performance.

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

Total income

£129.6m

Total spending

£127.7m

Reserves (reported)

£3.0m

Employees

211

Reported reserves equal ~0.3 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 2.7 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Donations and legacies (77% 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 (2.9%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

Alan Nigel Smith · trustee of 1 other charity
Carl David Hughes · trustee of 3 other charities
HAROLD CLIVE MATHER · trustee of 2 other charities
Robert David Zampetti · trustee of 2 other charities
The Venerable Samantha Jayne Rushton
Wendy Annabel Davis · trustee of 1 other charity

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

Operates in: Throughout England

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/12/2024	£130.7m	£127.7m
31/12/2023	£23.4m	£23.4m
31/12/2022	£18.5m	£18.5m
31/12/2021	£16.9m	£16.9m
31/12/2020	£17.0m	£17.0m

Common questions

Is CHURCH OF ENGLAND CENTRAL SERVICES financially healthy?

Per its FY2024 accounts: The accounts state that the charity group recorded an annual income of £130.7m and annual expenditure of £127.7m for the year ended 31 December 2024, resulting in a net movement in funds of £2.97m. The trustees confirm that the group has adequate resources to meet spending commitments for at least twelve months, with no material uncertainties identified regarding going concern. Its FY2024 accounts were audited by Crowe U.K. LLP.

What does the highest-paid employee of CHURCH OF ENGLAND CENTRAL SERVICES earn?

Per its FY2024 accounts, the highest-paid employee was in the £152,670 band.

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	14/05/2026	£250k	"Saving St Mary’s Church"
UK government	31/07/2023	£75k	St Mary's Church, Leake
Somerset Community Foundation	24/07/2023	£2k	Purchasing equipment for hosting art exhibitions in a church-based community hub
The National Lottery Community Fund	16/12/2022	£10k	Over 25's Wellbeing & Healthy Lifestyle

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 DULVERTON TRUST	1	£450k
THE HEADLEY TRUST	1	£200k
THE CECIL KING MEMORIAL FOUNDATION	1	£135k
THE BEATRICE LAING TRUST	1	£100k
CHARITY OF SIR RICHARD WHITTINGTON	1	£100k
PAUL AND LOUISE COOKE ENDOWMENT	1	£99k
The Goldsmiths' Foundation	1	£50k
HOPE CHURCH HARROGATE	1	£47k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with CHRIST CENTRAL CHURCHES WORLDWIDE.

CHRIST CENTRAL CHURCHES WORLDWIDE income £736k
KINGS CHURCH CENTRE NORWICH income £1.2m
CENTRE CHURCH income £145k
KEC CHURCH CENTRE income £209k
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST PETER, FULHAM income £420k
THE NATIONAL CHURCHES TRUST income £5.2m

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
CHURCH OF ENGLAND CENTRAL SERVICES	£130.7m	£152,670	—	unclear	—	no doubt
CHRIST CENTRAL CHURCHES WORLDWIDE FY2025	£736k	more than £60,000	1	above	—	no doubt
KINGS CHURCH CENTRE NORWICH FY2024	£1.2m	—	0	above	—	no doubt
CENTRE CHURCH FY2024	£145k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
KEC CHURCH CENTRE FY2025	£209k	—	0	above	—	no doubt
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST PETER, FULHAM FY2025	£420k	—	—	below	—	no doubt

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