THE CITY AND GUILDS OF LONDON INSTITUTE

Registered charity 312832 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · Wikidata: Q4036240 · Wikipedia · also known as CITY & GUILDS, CITY AND GUILDS INTERNATIONAL, CITY AND GUILDS OF LONDON INSTITUTE, City & Guilds Foundation · also registered in Scotland as SC039576 (OSCR)

Providing internationally recognised qualifications, awards, assessments and support for individuals and organisations in the United Kingdom and overseas across a wide range of occupations in industry, commerce, the public services and elsewhere.

Objects

FOR THE PURPOSES OF ALL SUCH BRANCHES OF SCIENCE AND THE FINE ARTS AND FOR THE ADVANCEMENT, DISSEMINATION, PROPAGATION, PROMOTION, CULTURE AND APPLICATION OF ALL SUCH BRANCHES OF SCIENCE AND THE FINE ARTS AS BENEFIT OR ARE OF USE TO OR MAY BENEFIT OR BE OF USE TO PRODUCTIVE AND TECHNICAL INDUSTRIES ESPECIALLY AND TO COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY GENERALLY OR ANY BRANCH THEREOF.

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 · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Registered contact address: City of London, London, England (from the postcode on the register)

Latest income

£174.8m

Latest spending

£182.4m

Registered

1965

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the Group reported a net surplus of £0.6m for the year ended 31 August 2025, with total income of £174.8m and total expenditure of £182.4m. Per the trustees' report, the charity holds free reserves of £46.1m, which is slightly below the deemed appropriate level of £46.6m, and maintains a cash balance of £16.7m. The financial position was further secured by a post-balance sheet divestment of commercial operations to PeopleCert Group, which generated estimated net proceeds of £166m.

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

What the accounts disclose

Largest income source: Educational services (64% of income)

“Of total income, 64% (2023-24: 61%) is classed as educational in the Financial Statements.”

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Reserves position: below the charity's own stated reserves policy (held: £46.1m)

“The level of free reserves deemed appropriate for the Group at 31 August 2025 was £46.6m (2024: £34.3m). The value of the actual free reserves at 31 August 2025 was £46.1m”

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Guarantee for Intertrain UK Limited

“On 21 April 2022, the Institute signed a Deed of Guarantee to become primary obliger in guaranteeing the obligations and liabilities of its subsidiary Intertrain UK Limited” — page 38

“On 11 September 2023, the Institute provided a standby letter of credit for £350,000 in respect of card payment and banking facilities related to TradeSkills 4U Limited.” — page 38

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Standby letter of credit for TradeSkills 4U Limited

“On 21 April 2022, the Institute signed a Deed of Guarantee to become primary obliger in guaranteeing the obligations and liabilities of its subsidiary Intertrain UK Limited” — page 38

“On 11 September 2023, the Institute provided a standby letter of credit for £350,000 in respect of card payment and banking facilities related to TradeSkills 4U Limited.” — page 38

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Pension scheme deficit: £14.2m

“At 31 August 2025, the funding of the defined benefit City and Guilds (1966) Pension Scheme was in deficit by £14.2m (2024: £17.6m).”

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by BDO LLP. Discloses 3 of 6 completeness components.

Charity Commission inquiry

Per the Commission’s published report. Summary is automated; the official report is authoritative.

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
Investing charity funds policy and procedures
Investment
Paying staff
Risk management
Safeguarding policy and procedures
Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
Social media policy and procedures
Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
Trustee expenses policy and procedures

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 31/08/2025

Government income: £19,000,302 — contracts £18,918,600 (16), grants £81,702 (3); 11% of the £174,800,000 total gross income on the same return
Employees paid over £60,000: 319 (£60,001–£70,000: 106; £70,001–£80,000: 75; £80,001–£90,000: 60; £90,001–£100,000: 23; £100,001–£110,000: 13; £110,001–£120,000: 8; £120,001–£130,000: 9; £130,001–£140,000: 4; £140,001–£150,000: 3; £150,001–£200,000: 12; £200,001–£250,000: 1; £250,001–£300,000: 2; £400,001–£450,000: 1; £450,001–£500,000: 1; over £500,000: 1)
Has a trading subsidiary

Self-declared on the annual return for the financial year ending 31/08/2024

Government income: £10,088,256 — contracts £10,051,952 (17), grants £36,304 (3); 6% of the £174,100,000 total gross income on the same return
Employees paid over £60,000: 354 (£60,001–£70,000: 138; £70,001–£80,000: 76; £80,001–£90,000: 46; £90,001–£100,000: 32; £100,001–£110,000: 20; £110,001–£120,000: 12; £120,001–£130,000: 4; £130,001–£140,000: 7; £140,001–£150,000: 3; £150,001–£200,000: 10; £200,001–£250,000: 2; £250,001–£300,000: 3; £400,001–£450,000: 1)
Has a trading subsidiary

Self-declared on the annual return for the financial year ending 31/08/2023

Government income: £10,764,287 — contracts £10,751,462 (17), grants £12,825 (1); 7% of the £159,000,000 total gross income on the same return
Employees paid over £60,000: 309 (£60,001–£70,000: 106; £70,001–£80,000: 70; £80,001–£90,000: 40; £90,001–£100,000: 31; £100,001–£110,000: 17; £110,001–£120,000: 10; £120,001–£130,000: 4; £130,001–£140,000: 6; £140,001–£150,000: 5; £150,001–£200,000: 13; £200,001–£250,000: 3; £250,001–£300,000: 2; £300,001–£350,000: 1; £450,001–£500,000: 1)
Has a trading subsidiary

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

In the news

Recent coverage mentioning this charity by name (automated match; headlines belong to their publishers).

City & Guilds Foundation pulls plug on Blackledge CEO hire feweek.co.uk · 09/10/2026
WorldSkills UK boss to lead City & Guilds Foundation feweek.co.uk · 12/05/2026
“Culinary father figure” Michael Kitts awarded Fellowship of The City and Guilds of London Institute caterermiddleeast.com · 08/04/2021
“Culinary father figure” Michael Kitts awarded Fellowship of The City and Guilds of London Institute hoteliermiddleeast.com · 08/04/2021
MP John Hayes granted Fellowship of the City and Guilds of London Institute fenews.co.uk · 06/06/2018

Leadership, per the charity’s website

Interim CEO — Interim CEO (source)
Polly Rowe — Senior Impact, Programme and Engagement Manager (source)
Lan Che — Awards Manager (source)
Lauren Roberts — Advocacy Lead (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.

Property (HM Land Registry)

4 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (1 freehold); recorded price paid £16.0m. All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.

Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook (3,538 likes) · instagram (682 followers)

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

Total income

£174.8m

Total spending

£182.4m

Cost of raising funds

£61.2m

Reserves (reported)

£46.1m

Employees

1,506

Reported reserves equal ~3.0 months of spending — above the median for charities its size (median 2.6 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (64% 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: 35.0% of total income — above the 90th percentile for charities its size (median 3.2%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

Andy Marchant
DICK PALMER
FRANK LANZA DOUGLAS
Ian Ailles · trustee of 2 other charities
JANE ELIZABETH GIBBON
Jessica Leigh Jones · trustee of 1 other charity
John Bearman · trustee of 2 other charities
Malachi Bakas · trustee of 1 other charity
PETER CHEESE

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

Operates in: Afghanistan · Australia · Azerbaijan · Bahrain · Bangladesh · Barbados · Belgium · Bermuda · Botswana · British Virgin Islands · Brunei · Bulgaria

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/08/2025	£174.8m	£182.4m
31/08/2024	£174.1m	£174.6m
31/08/2023	£159.0m	£167.9m
31/08/2022	£142.5m	£146.9m
31/08/2021	£129.9m	£137.4m

Common questions

Is THE CITY AND GUILDS OF LONDON INSTITUTE financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the Group reported a net surplus of £0.6m for the year ended 31 August 2025, with total income of £174.8m and total expenditure of £182.4m. Per the trustees' report, the charity holds free reserves of £46.1m, which is slightly below the deemed appropriate level of £46.6m, and maintains a cash balance of £16.7m. The financial position was further secured by a post-balance sheet divestment of commercial operations to PeopleCert Group, which generated estimated net proceeds of £166m. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by BDO LLP.

Who funds THE CITY AND GUILDS OF LONDON INSTITUTE?

Funders whose own accounts filings name THE CITY AND GUILDS OF LONDON INSTITUTE as a grant recipient include NESTA, THE FEDERATION OF GROUNDWORK TRUSTS, THE DE LASZLO FOUNDATION, THE VANDERVELL FOUNDATION, THE CARPENTERS COMPANY CHARITABLE TRUST.

Known funders

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

Funder	Year	Amount	Purpose (as stated by the funder)
NESTA	FY2021	£125k	Rapid Recovery Challenge
THE FEDERATION OF GROUNDWORK TRUSTS	FY2022	£66k	Grant from list of funders thanked
THE DE LASZLO FOUNDATION	FY2024	£35k	Student support
THE VANDERVELL FOUNDATION	FY2022	£18k	Advancement of education
THE CARPENTERS COMPANY CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2024	£10k	Education/Training
THE CARPENTERS COMPANY CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2023	£10k	Other education
THE CARPENTERS COMPANY CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2025	£10k	Grants to institutions
TALLOW CHANDLERS BENEVOLENT FUND NO 2	FY2024	£10k
THE CARPENTERS COMPANY CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2022	£10k	Miscellaneous / City & Guilds
SALTERS' CHARITABLE FOUNDATION	FY2023	£5k	Relief of Need - Bursaries and education
THE VANDERVELL FOUNDATION	FY2024	£5k	Advancement of education
THE VANDERVELL FOUNDATION	FY2025	£5k	Advancement of education
THE VANDERVELL FOUNDATION	FY2021	£5k	Advancement of education
THE DYERS' COMPANY CHARITABLE TRUST	FY2024	£5k	Education and the Young
The Merchant Taylors' Foundation	FY2022	£5k	Education (from unrestricted funds)
SALTERS' CHARITABLE FOUNDATION	FY2024	£2k	Relief of Need - Bursaries and education
SALTERS' CHARITABLE FOUNDATION	FY2022	£2k	Relief of Need - Bursaries and education
SALTERS' CHARITABLE FOUNDATION	FY2025	£2k	Relief of Need - Bursaries and education
THE GOLSONCOTT FOUNDATION	FY2024	£1k
THE WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF CUTLERS GENERAL CHARITABLE FUND	FY2022	£500	City and Guilds of London Institute prize and The Fox Medal
THE PAVIORS' CHARITY	FY2026	£500	City of London
THE WEAVERS' COMPANY BENEVOLENT FUND	FY2023	£500	Grant from unrestricted funds

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 HEADLEY TRUST	1	£30k
THE EVAN CORNISH FOUNDATION	1	£15k
THE AUSTIN AND HOPE PILKINGTON TRUST	1	£5k
THE MICHAEL MARKS CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£5k
MANCHESTER AIRPORT COMMUNITY TRUST FUND	1	£3k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with MANCHESTER CITY GALLERIES TRUST.

MANCHESTER CITY GALLERIES TRUST income £1.6m
CITY AND GUILDS OF LONDON ART SCHOOL LIMITED income £4.1m
LONDON COLLEGE OF BUSINESS STUDIES income £1.9m
GUILDHE LIMITED income £1.1m
The Guild for Lifelong Learning Limited income £599k
QUALITY STUDIES income £303k

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
THE CITY AND GUILDS OF LONDON INSTITUTE	£174.8m	—	—	below	—	no doubt
MANCHESTER CITY GALLERIES TRUST FY2025	£1.6m	—	0	above	—	no doubt
CITY AND GUILDS OF LONDON ART SCHOOL LIMITED FY2025	£4.1m	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
LONDON COLLEGE OF BUSINESS STUDIES FY2025	£1.9m	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
GUILDHE LIMITED FY2025	£1.1m	—	—	above	—	no doubt
The Guild for Lifelong Learning Limited FY2025	£599k	£90,001 to £100,000	1	unclear	—	no doubt

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