BIRMINGHAM OPERA COMPANY

Registered charity 291130 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as CITY OF BIRMINGHAM TOURING OPERA

With no opera house, all our work lives in the peoples and places of the city- a unique fusion of local volunteers and international artists delivering artistic, personal and social change.

Objects

TO ENCOURAGE AND PROMOTE THE ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING AND IN PARTICULAR THE ART AND SCIENCE OF MUSIC BY THE PRODUCTION ARRANGEMENT, PROMOTION AND COMMISSIONING OF OPERA AND OTHER MUSICAL PERFORMANCES AND CONCERTS AND TO FOSTER INTEREST IN SUCH OPERAS CONCERTS AND MUSICAL PERFORMANCES BY SUCH MEANS AS MAY FROM TIME TO TIME BE CONSIDERED APPROPRIATE BY THE COMPANY.

Area of benefit: NOT DEFINED

The charity’s charitable objects and area of benefit, quoted from its governing document as held on the Charity Commission register.

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

Registered contact address: Birmingham, West Midlands, England (from the postcode on the register)

Latest income

£824k

Latest spending

£750k

Registered

1985

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity generated incoming resources of £823,886 and reported a net movement in funds of £83,778 for the year ended 30 June 2025. Per the trustees' report, unrestricted reserves stood at £558,631, which is significantly above the stated ideal level of £150,000. The auditor confirmed that the financial statements give a true and fair view and that the going concern basis of accounting is appropriate with no material uncertainties identified.

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

What the accounts disclose

Highest-paid employee band: £65,000 - £70,000 — above the median for charities its size (£60k)

“One Trustee, R Willacy, was employed by the charity during the year and has been paid remuneration in the banding of £65,000 - £70,000 (2024 - £65,000 - £70,000) in their capacity as an employee” — page 41

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Employees paid over £60,000: 1

“There was one employee (2024: one) with emoluments in excess of £60,000 per annum in the current year, within the bracket of £60,000 to £70,000.” — page 41

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Reserves policy: the ideal minimum level of unrestricted reserves is £75,000, and the ideal level is £150,000 (held: £559k)

“The Trustees consider that the ideal minimum level of unrestricted reserves is £75,000, and the ideal level is £150,000 with additional reserves designated as explained overleaf.” — page 26

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Payments to trustees: R Willacy received remuneration of £65,000 - £70,000 and pension contributions of £0 - £5,000.

“One Trustee, R Willacy, was employed by the charity during the year and has been paid remuneration in the banding of £65,000 - £70,000 (2024 - £65,000 - £70,000) in their capacity as an employee, with pension contributions paid by the charity in the banding of £0 - £5,000” — page 41

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Grant from Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation UK, a registered charity with a common Trustee.

“During the year, the charity received a grant of £10,350 (2024: £Nil) from Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation UK, a registered charity with a common Trustee, and accordingly the transaction is considered a related party transaction.” — page 45

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Forvis Mazars LLP. Discloses 6 of 6 completeness components.

Policies the charity declares

In its annual return the charity told the Commission that it has the policies listed below. This is self-declared: it is not verified by the Commission or by this site, and it is not evidence of how a policy works in practice.

Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
Complaints handling
Complaints policy and procedures
Conflicting interests
Financial reserves policy and procedures
Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
Internal risk management policy and procedures
Paying staff
Risk management
Safeguarding policy and procedures
Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
Trustee expenses policy and procedures
Volunteer management

From the charity’s annual return (Part A, self-declared)

Answers and figures the charity gave in Part A of its annual return to the Charity Commission. They are self-declared: not verified by the Commission or by this site. Only positive answers and figures are listed; items not listed are simply not shown.

Self-declared on the annual return for the financial year ending 30/06/2025

Volunteers: 126
Government income: £598,272 — grants £598,272 (2); 73% of the £823,886 total gross income on the same return
Employees paid over £60,000: 1 (£60,001–£70,000: 1)
Trustee benefits, answered Yes to: any trustee benefit; payments to trustees for services to the charity

Self-declared on the annual return for the financial year ending 30/06/2024

Volunteers: 109
Government income: £614,057 — grants £614,057 (2); 71% of the £870,288 total gross income on the same return
Employees paid over £60,000: 1 (£60,001–£70,000: 1)
Trustee benefits, answered Yes to: any trustee benefit; payments to trustees for services to the charity

Self-declared on the annual return for the financial year ending 30/06/2023

Volunteers: 98
Government income: £543,003 — grants £543,003 (2); 65% of the £839,555 total gross income on the same return
Trustee benefits, answered Yes to: any trustee benefit; payments to trustees for services to the charity

Source: this charity’s annual returns on the Charity Commission register.

Funders the charity credits

Named as funders/supporters on the charity’s own website (the charity’s claim, distinct from accounts-verified grants).

Arts Council England — “We are extremely grateful to the Arts Council England, Birmingham City Council, the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and to the many Trusts, Found…” (source page)
Birmingham City Council — “We are extremely grateful to the Arts Council England, Birmingham City Council, the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and to the many Trusts, Found…” (source page)
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation — “We are extremely grateful to the Arts Council England, Birmingham City Council, the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and to the many Trusts, Found…” (source page)
George Cadbury Fund — “Supporting this venture is a direct investment in the Birmingham community, which is why the George Cadbury Fund is enthusiastically continu…” (source page)
The Laidlaw Opera Trust — “Trusts & Foundation Supporters The Laidlaw Opera Trust” (source page)

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

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 30/06/2025)

Total income

£824k

Total spending

£750k

Cost of raising funds

£29k

Reserves (reported)

£559k

Employees

3

Reported reserves equal ~8.9 months of spending — above the median for charities its size (median 5.2 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Donations and legacies (81% 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: 3.6% of total income — below the median for charities its size (4.9%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Received assets from another charity (14/04/2025) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees · trustee networks

Geoffrey John Nicholas Payne · trustee of 1 other charity
Hannah Griffiths
Joelle Ikwa
Justine Themen
Katie Fulcher
Lauren Williams
Richard Willacy
Stephen Maddock

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

Operates in: Birmingham City · Coventry City · Czech Republic · Dudley · Italy · Poland · Sandwell · Solihull · Spain · Walsall · Wolverhampton

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
30/06/2025	£824k	£750k
30/06/2024	£870k	£1.3m
30/06/2023	£840k	£693k
30/06/2022	£642k	£447k
30/06/2021	£710k	£769k

Common questions

Is BIRMINGHAM OPERA COMPANY financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity generated incoming resources of £823,886 and reported a net movement in funds of £83,778 for the year ended 30 June 2025. Per the trustees' report, unrestricted reserves stood at £558,631, which is significantly above the stated ideal level of £150,000. The auditor confirmed that the financial statements give a true and fair view and that the going concern basis of accounting is appropriate with no material uncertainties identified. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Forvis Mazars LLP.

What does the highest-paid employee of BIRMINGHAM OPERA COMPANY earn?

Per its FY2025 accounts, the highest-paid employee was in the £65,000 - £70,000 band, and 1 employees earned over £60,000.

Who funds BIRMINGHAM OPERA COMPANY?

Funders whose own accounts filings name BIRMINGHAM OPERA COMPANY as a grant recipient include THE EDWARD CADBURY CHARITABLE TRUST, WILLIAM ADLINGTON CADBURY CHARITABLE TRUST, C B AND H H TAYLOR 1984 TRUST, Laidlaw Opera Trust, THE GEORGE CADBURY TRUST (GEORGE HENRY T AND LAURENCE J CADBURY SECTIONS).

Known funders

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

Funder	Year	Amount	Purpose (as stated by the funder)
THE EDWARD CADBURY CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2022	£25k	Arts and Culture
WILLIAM ADLINGTON CADBURY CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2022	£20k	The Arts
C B AND H H TAYLOR 1984 TRUST	FY2023	£10k
Laidlaw Opera Trust	FY2025	£10k	Unrestricted grant
THE GEORGE CADBURY TRUST (GEORGE HENRY T AND LAURENCE J CADBURY SECTIONS)	FY2024	£10k
THE GEORGE CADBURY TRUST (GEORGE HENRY T AND LAURENCE J CADBURY SECTIONS)	FY2025	Unverified read£10k
WILLIAM ADLINGTON CADBURY CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2024	£10k
THE EDWARD CADBURY CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2023	£5k	Arts and Culture
THE SAINTBURY TRUST	FY2025	£5k	Advancement of Arts, Culture, Heritage or Science
THE SAINTBURY TRUST	FY2023	£5k	The Advancement of Arts, Culture, Heritage or Science
THE FENTON ARTS TRUST	FY2022	£4k
THE SAINTBURY TRUST	FY2022	£4k	The Advancement of Arts, Culture, Heritage or Science
THE FENTON ARTS TRUST	FY2023	£3k
THE EDWARD CADBURY CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2024	£3k	Arts and Culture
THE EDWARD AND DOROTHY CADBURY TRUST	FY2025	£3k	Arts and Culture
THE SHELDON TRUST	FY2022	£2k	Youth Development
THE EDGAR E LAWLEY FOUNDATION	FY2025	£2k
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS FOUNDATION	FY2024	£2k	Public Performance
THE EDWARD AND DOROTHY CADBURY TRUST	FY2021	£2k	Arts and Culture
THE EDGAR E LAWLEY FOUNDATION	FY2023	£2k
THE COLE CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2024	£1k	Arts and Culture
THE COLE CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2023	£1k	Arts and Culture
THE COLE CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2022	£1k	Arts and Culture
THE AUSTIN AND HOPE PILKINGTON TRUST	FY2022	£1k	Quarterly Grants for Institutions - Round Three - The Arts - BAME Communities
THE EDWARD AND DOROTHY CADBURY TRUST	FY2022	£1k	Arts and Culture
THE ROUGHLEY CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2022	£1k

Grants marked “Unverified read” were flagged by automated checks as possibly misread from the funder’s filed accounts. They are listed, but left out of the totals, counts and funder relationships this site computes.

Government & lottery funding

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

Funder	Date	Amount	Purpose
The National Lottery Community Fund	01/03/2006	£5k	Don Giovanni

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 IDLEWILD TRUST	2	£31k
THE GOLSONCOTT FOUNDATION	2	£2k
PURPOSEFUL VENTURES	1	£250k
THE RIGBY FOUNDATION	1	£80k
THE 29TH MAY 1961 CHARITY	1	£60k
THE CLIVE RICHARDS FOUNDATION	1	£60k
THE ROGER & DOUGLAS TURNER CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£50k
THE ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER FOUNDATION	1	£29k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with THE BIRMINGHAM AND MIDLAND OPERATIC SOCIETY.

THE BIRMINGHAM AND MIDLAND OPERATIC SOCIETY income £242k
BRIDGWATER OPERATIC SOCIETY income £91k
GUILDFORD OPERA COMPANY income £46k
CITY OF BIRMINGHAM SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA income £8.6m
THE BIRMINGHAM PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA income £37k
CITY OF BIRMINGHAM CHOIR income £72k

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
BIRMINGHAM OPERA COMPANY	£824k	£65,000 - £70,000	1	above	—	no doubt
THE BIRMINGHAM AND MIDLAND OPERATIC SOCIETY FY2025	£242k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
BRIDGWATER OPERATIC SOCIETY FY2025	£91k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
GUILDFORD OPERA COMPANY FY2025	£46k	—	0	above	—	no doubt
CITY OF BIRMINGHAM SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA FY2025	£8.6m	—	—	above	—	no doubt
THE BIRMINGHAM PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA FY2025	£37k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt

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