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ROYAL PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY

Registered charity 213693 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as THE ROYAL PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY, THE ROYAL PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY PRIZE FUND, THE ROYAL PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY PRIZES FUND

The RPS seeks to create a future for music through the encouragement of creativity, the recognition of excellence and the promotion of understanding. Artistic activities focus on composers and young musicians and through a series of awards and discussion it seeks to raise the public consciousness of the finest music making today and create a forum for debate about the direction of classical music.

Causes: Arts/culture/heritage/science · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£539k
Latest spending
£514k
Registered
1964
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity achieved a small surplus on unrestricted funds, increasing its unrestricted reserves to £160,780. This figure is noted as being close to the trustees' target of six months' operating costs, which they measure at just over £170,000 for the 2025-26 financial year.

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

What the accounts disclose

Highest-paid employee band: £80,001 - £90,000 — in the top quarter for charities its size (median £60k)
“The number of staff whose annualised employment benefits (excluding employer pension costs and national insurance costs) exceed £60,000 was: 2025 Number £80,001 - £90,000 1” — page 51
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Employees paid over £60,000: 1
“The number of staff whose annualised employment benefits (excluding employer pension costs and national insurance costs) exceed £60,000 was: 2025 Number £80,001 - £90,000 1” — page 51
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Reserves policy: six months of operating costs (held: £161k)
“Currently, Trustees seek to hold unrestricted reserves sufficient to cover six months of operating costs which for the 2025-26 financial year they measure as just over £170,000.”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts independently examined (not a full audit). Discloses 6 of 6 completeness components.

Corporate structure

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.

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

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/08/2025)

Total income
£539k
Total spending
£514k
Cost of raising funds
£38k
Reserves (reported)
£161k
Employees
4

Reported reserves equal ~3.8 months of spending — below the median for charities its size (median 5.2 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 7.1% of total income — above the median for charities its size (4.9%) (benchmarks).

Register events

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
31/08/2025£539k£514k
31/08/2024£294k£459k
31/08/2023£841k£525k
31/08/2022£392k£537k
31/08/2021£775k£615k

Common questions

Is ROYAL PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity achieved a small surplus on unrestricted funds, increasing its unrestricted reserves to £160,780. This figure is noted as being close to the trustees' target of six months' operating costs, which they measure at just over £170,000 for the 2025-26 financial year. Its FY2025 accounts were independently examined.

What does the highest-paid employee of ROYAL PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY earn?

Per its FY2025 accounts, the highest-paid employee was in the £80,001 - £90,000 band, and 1 employees earned over £60,000.

Who funds ROYAL PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY?

Funders whose own accounts filings name ROYAL PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY as a grant recipient include JOHN ELLERMAN FOUNDATION, THE ADRIAN SWIRE CHARITABLE TRUST, THE BOLTINI TRUST, DR RADCLIFFE'S TRUST, THE MARCHUS TRUST.

Known funders

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

FunderYearAmountPurpose (as stated by the funder)
JOHN ELLERMAN FOUNDATIONFY2024£75kTowards core costs including salaries
THE ADRIAN SWIRE CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2022£10k
THE BOLTINI TRUSTFY2025£10k
THE BOLTINI TRUSTFY2024£10k
DR RADCLIFFE'S TRUSTFY2024£5kRPS Composers Programme 2024 and 2025
THE MARCHUS TRUSTFY2025£5k
THE IDLEWILD TRUSTFY2023£4k
DR RADCLIFFE'S TRUSTFY2023£3kLondon Sinfonietta Academy 2022/23
COLWINSTON CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2023£3kA grant of £3,000 was offered to support their women conductors course in Wales.
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS FOUNDATIONFY2023£3kPublic Performance
THE ADRIAN SWIRE CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2021£3k
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS FOUNDATIONFY2024£2kPublic Performance
THE HAROLD HYAM WINGATE FOUNDATIONFY2025£2k
THE VERNON ELLIS FOUNDATIONFY2022£2k
THE ASSOCIATED BOARD OF THE ROYAL SCHOOLS OF MUSICFY2025£10Music Education / Sponsorship

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 FOYLE FOUNDATION2£225k
THE HEADLEY TRUST2£183k
KATHLEEN BERYL SLEIGH CHARITABLE TRUST2£70k
THE KIRBY LAING FOUNDATION2£43k
MARIA BJORNSON MEMORIAL FUND2£30k
THE HOBSON CHARITY LIMITED2£19k
THE AUSTIN AND HOPE PILKINGTON TRUST2£10k
THE ASTOR FOUNDATION2£7k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA LIMITED.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
ROYAL PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY£539k£80,001 - £90,0001unclear—no doubt
ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA LIMITED FY2025£11.8m——unclear5.0%no doubt
THE ROYAL LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY FY2025£12.6m——above—no doubt
BRIGHTON AND HOVE PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY LIMITED FY2025£505k—0unclear—no doubt
ROYAL CHORAL SOCIETY LIMITED FY2025£285k—0unclear—no doubt
OXFORD PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA TRUST FY2025£3.1m£80,001 - £90,0001within—no doubt

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