THE NORTH OF ENGLAND ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY
Registered charity 306077 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as ACT FOR WILDLIFE, CHESTER ZOO
To develop a substantial, expanding role in the conservation of global biodiversity and habitat enrichments and to support this through sustainable commercial activities, including managing Chester Zoo as a world class visitor attraction.Further details can be obtained via our Annual Report for 2021.
Causes: Education/training · Animals · Environment/conservation/heritage · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts
Financial health, per its FY2024 accounts
The accounts state that total income grew by 10% to £63.1m, while total expenditure increased to £60.9m, resulting in a net surplus for the year. The charity maintains a minimum free cash reserve of £4.4m and holds £5.1m in total cash reserves, supported by significant undrawn borrowing facilities to ensure financial resilience. The trustees confirm that the organization has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future.
Automated summary of the FY2024 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.
What the accounts disclose
Accounts audited by Grant Thornton UK LLP. Discloses 3 of 6 completeness components.
Funders the charity credits
Named as funders/supporters on the charity’s own website (the charity’s claim, distinct from accounts-verified grants).
- Nuii — “Afterglow (proudly sponsored by Nuii) returns for unmissable evenings of colour, music, dancing and wonder.” (source page)
- 1% for the Planet — “We're proud to be an environmental partner of 1% for the Planet , a global movement which inspires members of the business community to cont…” (source page)
Property (HM Land Registry)
16 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (14 freehold); recorded price paid £975k. All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.
Trustpilot: Chester Zoo scores 2.4/5 from 220 reviews (source) — reviews usually concern the charity’s shops or services, not its charitable performance.
Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook (1,460,948 likes) · instagram (478K followers)
Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/12/2024)
Cost of raising funds
£34.4m
Reported reserves equal ~0.9 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.6 months; benchmarks).
Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (61% 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: 54.5% of total income — above the 90th percentile for charities its size (median 3.8%) (benchmarks).
- MALCOLM ARDRONchair
- David Wootton CBE · trustee of 1 other charity
- Dr Gareth Edward Thomas
- Dr Romain Pizzi · trustee of 1 other charity
- Dr Simon Cripps
- Dr Stephanie Wray · trustee of 2 other charities
- Dr Vikas Shah
- Emma Jane Degg · trustee of 1 other charity
- Jacob Samuel Thompson
- Lee Rawlinson
- Neill Jonathan Skinner
- PROFESSOR RICHARD GRIFFITHS · trustee of 2 other charities
- Professor Rhys Edward Green
- Simon Venables
- Tina Elizabeth Mitchell
- Yvonne Emmett Cannell
Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).
Operates in: Cheshire West & Chester
Income and spending
Common questions
Is THE NORTH OF ENGLAND ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY financially healthy?
Per its FY2024 accounts: The accounts state that total income grew by 10% to £63.1m, while total expenditure increased to £60.9m, resulting in a net surplus for the year. The charity maintains a minimum free cash reserve of £4.4m and holds £5.1m in total cash reserves, supported by significant undrawn borrowing facilities to ensure financial resilience. The trustees confirm that the organization has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Its FY2024 accounts were audited by Grant Thornton UK LLP.
Who funds THE NORTH OF ENGLAND ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY?
Funders whose own accounts filings name THE NORTH OF ENGLAND ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY as a grant recipient include THE WESTMINSTER FOUNDATION, LORD LEVERHULME'S CHARITABLE TRUST, THE BANISTER CHARITABLE TRUST, THE JOHNSON FOUNDATION, Boodles Charitable 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 THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.
Side by side with its peers
Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.