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SCARBOROUGH THEATRE TRUST LIMITED

Registered charity 253606 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as STEPHEN JOSEPH THEATRE

To advance the education of the public in all aspects of dramatic art including , drama,opera,dance, music and film.The development of public appreciation of such art by the provision of a theatre and the presentation of public performancesTo further the social and cultural welfare of the community of scarborough , its neighbourhood and visitors.

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

Latest income
£3.1m
Latest spending
£2.9m
Registered
1967
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity made a surplus on unrestricted funds of £6,962 for the year ended 31 March 2025, with total reserves carried forward of £1,434,737. However, the trustees report that free reserves were only £16,017, which is significantly below their stated policy target of holding reserves equivalent to 3-6 months of operating costs. The financial health narrative is further qualified by the trustees' admission that the charity is dependent on grant funding and banker support for its continuing existence.

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: £16k; policy: 3-6 months operating costs)
“It is the policy of Scarborough Theatre Trust to hold reserves equivalent to 3-6 months operating costs. At 31 March 2025 free reserves were £16,017 (2024 £132,723).” — page 5
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Going concern: noted by the trustees or auditor
“Because of the nature of its activities the Trust, in common with similar organisations, is dependent on grants for its continuing existence and there is no guarantee that such aid will continue indefinitely. The company is also dependent on its bankers for working capital at certain times. These accounts have been drawn up on a going concern basis on the assumption that grant funding and support from the Trust's bankers will continue.” — page 18
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Rent paid to Scarborough Theatre Development Trust, a related party where one director also sits on the Board.
“One director also sits on the Board of Scarborough Theatre Development Trust, who own the freehold property from which the group operates. During the year, rent of £27,500 (2024: £27,500) was paid to Scarborough Theatre Development Trust under the terms of the lease. A loan exists between the two companies as shown in note 17 to the accounts.” — page 32
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Trading subsidiary: Stephen Joseph Theatre Enterprises Limited
“The trust's wholly owned subsidiary, Stephen Joseph Theatre Enterprises Limited (Company Number 02481307), benefits from the receipt of theatre tax credits which it receives in relation to productions that are closely linked to the theatre's objects and activities.” — page 16
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Fortus Audit LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

Year-over-year changes

Comparing this charity’s FY2024 and FY2025 accounts as analysed by this site.

Corporate structure

STEPHEN JOSEPH THEATRE ENTERPRISES LIMITED — per its own Companies House accounts
  • No specific intra-group transactions or balances are disclosed in the provided text; the accounts are prepared under the micro-entities regime with no audit required.

Leadership, per the charity’s website

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.

Official officers record.

Property (HM Land Registry)

1 registered title 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)

Total income
£3.1m
Total spending
£2.9m
Cost of raising funds
£101k
Reserves (reported)
£757k
Employees
77

Reported reserves equal ~3.1 months of spending — below the median for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (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: 3.3% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

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

Operates in: North Yorkshire

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/03/2025£3.1m£2.9m
31/03/2024£2.8m£2.7m
31/03/2023£2.3m£2.4m
31/03/2022£2.0m£2.3m
31/03/2021£2.1m£1.6m

Common questions

Is SCARBOROUGH THEATRE TRUST LIMITED financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity made a surplus on unrestricted funds of £6,962 for the year ended 31 March 2025, with total reserves carried forward of £1,434,737. However, the trustees report that free reserves were only £16,017, which is significantly below their stated policy target of holding reserves equivalent to 3-6 months of operating costs. The financial health narrative is further qualified by the trustees' admission that the charity is dependent on grant funding and banker support for its continuing existence. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Fortus Audit LLP.

Who funds SCARBOROUGH THEATRE TRUST LIMITED?

Funders whose own accounts filings name SCARBOROUGH THEATRE TRUST LIMITED as a grant recipient include SCARBOROUGH THEATRE DEVELOPMENT TRUST, THE SAMUEL STOREY FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST.

Known funders

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

FunderYearAmountPurpose (as stated by the funder)
SCARBOROUGH THEATRE DEVELOPMENT TRUSTFY2024£54kCharitable activities
THE SAMUEL STOREY FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2023£500
THE SAMUEL STOREY FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2022£180

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
JOHN LYON'S CHARITY1£135k
THE THEATRES TRUST CHARITABLE FUND1£16k
ENERGISE ME1£3k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with SCARBOROUGH THEATRE DEVELOPMENT TRUST.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
SCARBOROUGH THEATRE TRUST LIMITED£3.1m——below—noted
SCARBOROUGH THEATRE DEVELOPMENT TRUST FY2025£489k—0unclear—no doubt
SCARABEUS THEATRE FY2025£189k—0unclear—no doubt
HODDESDON (COMMUNITY) SOCIETY OF PERFORMING ARTS LTD. FY2025£319kUnder £60,0000above—no doubt
THE MAYFLOWER THEATRE TRUST FY2025£28.8m£190,001 - £200,000—above—no doubt
SOUTH LONDON THEATRE CENTRE LIMITED FY2025£183k—0below—no doubt

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