ROYAL NORFOLK AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION
Registered charity 289581 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register
TO PROMOTE, THROUGH THE ROYAL NORFOLK SHOW AND OTHER EVENTS, THE IMAGE, UNDERSTANDING AND PROSPERITY OF AGRICULTURE AND THE COUNTRYSIDE. TO BRING PEOPLE AND BUSINESSES TOGETHER THROUGH A RANGE OF INSPIRING EVENTS PROMOTING FOOD, FARMING AND THE COUNTRYSIDE.
Causes: General Charitable Purposes · Education/training · Animals · Environment/conservation/heritage · Other Charitable Purposes · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts
Financial health, per its FY2023 accounts
The accounts state that the charity reported a net surplus before investment gains of £36,511 for the year ended 31 December 2023, with total unrestricted funds standing at £6,924,372. Per the trustees' report, free reserves of £2,527,695 exceeded the stated policy target of £1,000,000, and the trustees confirmed sufficient funds exist to continue as a going concern through 2025.
Automated summary of the FY2023 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.
What the accounts disclose
Reserves policy: £1,000,000 (held: £2.5m)
“The Trustees have assessed that free reserves of £1,000,000 should be maintained to cover the full overheads of the business for 12 months” — page 10
Per its FY2023 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: The Charity purchased flowers from Crown House Flowers.
“During the year purchases were made from Crown House Flowers of £Nil (2022: £113).”
Per its FY2023 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Accounts audited by MA Partners Audit LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.
Corporate structure
NORFOLK SHOWGROUND LIMITED — per its own Companies House accounts
- Debtors include £143,373 owed by group undertakings (2024: £28,135).
NORFOLK SHOWGROUND DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED — per its own Companies House accounts
- Outstanding balance owed to group undertakings is being cleared.
Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association UK (matched by registered charity number).
Leadership, per the charity’s website
- Robert Alston — Chairman (source)
- Mark Nicholas — Chief Executive Officer (source)
- Simon Hickling MVO — Vice Chairman (source)
- Laurie Hill — Finance Director (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.
Funders the charity credits
Named as funders/supporters on the charity’s own website (the charity’s claim, distinct from accounts-verified grants).
- The Royal Norfolk Show — “Enabled By Helping to fund the charitable objectives of the RNAA The Royal Norfolk Show” (source page)
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.
- HARROWVEN, Michael Alfred — director, appointed 02/01/2025on trustee list
- NORTON, Emily Marianna — director, appointed 20/04/2023on trustee list
- HILL, Laurie Angus James Paterson — director, appointed 20/04/2023on trustee list
- SPINKS, Andrew James — director, appointed 21/04/2022on trustee list
- CLARKE, Jonathan Howard, Dr — director, appointed 23/09/2021on trustee list
- RICHARDS, Catherine Mary, Dr — director, appointed 23/09/2021on trustee list
- HICKLING, Simon James — director, appointed 24/09/2020on trustee list
- ALSTON, Robert Collison — director, appointed 21/04/2016on trustee list
- BETTS, Jonathan David — secretary, appointed 01/01/2021
Official officers record.
Property (HM Land Registry)
2 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (2 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
Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/12/2024)
Cost of raising funds
£177k
Reported reserves equal ~7.1 months of spending — above the median for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).
Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (53% 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: 4.4% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).
- Robert Collison Alstonchair
- Andrew Spinks
- Christopher Nix · trustee of 1 other charity
- Dr Catherine Richards · trustee of 1 other charity
- Dr Jonathan Howard Clarke
- Emily Norton
- LAURIE ANGUS JAMES PATERSON HILL
- Michael Alfred Harrowven
- Simon James Hickling
Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).
Operates in: Cambridgeshire · Norfolk · Suffolk
Income and spending
Common questions
Is ROYAL NORFOLK AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION financially healthy?
Per its FY2023 accounts: The accounts state that the charity reported a net surplus before investment gains of £36,511 for the year ended 31 December 2023, with total unrestricted funds standing at £6,924,372. Per the trustees' report, free reserves of £2,527,695 exceeded the stated policy target of £1,000,000, and the trustees confirmed sufficient funds exist to continue as a going concern through 2025. Its FY2023 accounts were audited by MA Partners Audit LLP.
Who funds ROYAL NORFOLK AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION?
Funders whose own accounts filings name ROYAL NORFOLK AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION as a grant recipient include ALAN BOSWELL GROUP CHARITABLE TRUST, LILIAN FRANCES HIND BEQUEST (TRUSTEES OF LADY HIND), Norwich Freemen's Charity, THE RED SOCKS CHARITABLE TRUST, THE CHARLES LITTLEWOOD HILL TRUST.
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 NORTH SOMERSET AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.
Side by side with its peers
Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.