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## **PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY**
Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements
Year Ended 31 March 2025
Company Number: 3166339 (England & Wales) Charity Number: 1059559 (England & Wales) Charity Number: SC038951 (Scotland)
Docusign Envelope ID: A0449DFE-424F-4978-8DEA-47502EF91A8C
**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **Contents**
- 3 Reference and Administrative Details 4 Trustees’ Report 23 Auditor’s Report 27 Consolidated Statement of Financial Activity 29 Consolidated Balance Sheet 30 Charitable Company Balance Sheet 31 Consolidated Cash Flow Statement 32 Principal Accounting Policies 36 Notes to the Financial Statements
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**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **Reference and Administrative Details**
|**President**
PhilipMould OBE|**Registered name**
Plantlife International – The Wild Plant
Conservation Charity|
|---|---|
|**Vice President**
Rachel de Thame||
||**Principal and Registered Office**
Brewery House, 36 Milford Street, Salisbury,
Wiltshire,SP1 2AP|
|**Chair**
David Daniels||
|**Vice Chair**
Hien Vi Luong|**Company Number**
3166339|
|**Treasurer**
PhilipWilson|**Charity Number (England & Wales)**
1059559|
|**Other Trustees**
Prof Sallie Bailey
Amy Hammond
resigned 16 October 2024
James Jansen
Timothy Jones
Dr Jill Kowal
Dr Julia Knights
Anthony Payne
Dr Rosetta
Plummer
resigned 16 October 2024
SallyThomas|**Charity Number (Scotland)**
SC038951|
||**Website**
www.plantlife.org.uk|
||**Twitter**
@Love_plants|
||**Facebook**
@LovePlantlife|
||**Instagram**
plantlife.loveplants|
|**Chief Executive**
Ian Dunn
resigned 30 September 2024
Nicola Hutchinson
interim from 30 September
2024
Jane Madgwick
appointed 1 July2025|**LinkedIn**
Plantlife International|
||**Auditors**
Saffery LLP, Midland House, 2 Poole Rd,
Bournemouth,BH2 5QY|
|**Company**
**Secretary**
Nicola Savage
resigned 15 November 2024
Nicola Hutchinson
appointed 15 November
2024|**Principal bankers**
Unity Trust Investment Bank, Nine Brindley Place,
4 Oozells Square, Birmingham, B1 2HB|
||**Investment managers**
Investec, Quayside House, Canal Wharf,
Leeds,LS11 5PU|
||**Solicitors**
CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP,
Cannon Place,78 Cannon Street,London,EC4N 6AF|
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**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **Trustees’ Report**
The trustees of Plantlife International present their Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2025 including the Directors’ and Strategic Reports, together with the audited financial statements for the year.
The financial statements set out on pages 29 to 31 have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out on pages 32 to 35 and comply with the charity's Articles of Association, the Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) and “Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)” (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2019).
## **Structure and charitable objects**
## **Constitution**
Plantlife International - The Wild Plant Conservation Charity (hereafter referred to as Plantlife) is constituted as a company limited by guarantee, registered in England number 3166339. It is a charity registered with the Charity Commission in England and Wales under charity number 1059559 and with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator under charity number SC038951.
The trustees have no interest in the shares or debentures of the company, nor any right to subscribe for such shares or debentures. Plantlife is governed by its Articles of Association.
Established in 1989, Plantlife is dedicated to conserving plants and fungi in their natural habitats and helping people to enjoy and learn about them.
## **Charitable Objects**
The objects of Plantlife are set out in its Articles of Association and are to:
- promote and undertake, for the public benefit, the conservation of plants
- educate the public so as to increase their knowledge, understanding and appreciation of plants and fungi, and their awareness of their value and the need for their conservation
- promote and undertake, for the public benefit, the establishment and maintenance of places of botanical interest for the cultivation and preservation of plants
- promote, organise and undertake study and research in the principles and practice of the conservation of plants and fungi and their uses, provided that all the useful results of such research shall be published
- promote such other charitable objects or charitable purposes which are conducive to the aforesaid objects, as the Board may from time to time in its discretion determine.
Plantlife is increasingly aware of the importance of fungi in the delivery of its objects and has therefore included mention of fungi in the above.
## **Subsidiary Companies**
At 31 March 2025 the Charity had one active trading subsidiary company – Plantlife Trading Limited
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**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
(PTL), company number 02742265. Plantlife Trading Limited delivers a range of chargeable services and non-core activities, always with the furtherance of Plantlife's mission at its heart. On 3[rd] April 2024, the charity registered a second subsidiary company – Plantlife Biodiversity Enhancements Limited (PBEL), to further our biodiversity enhancement certification and accreditation business. Both businesses are wholly owned subsidiaries of Plantlife and abide by Plantlife’s policies and procedures. The work of each subsidiary is overseen by separate boards of directors which are accountable to their shareholder – Plantlife - with day-to-day management delegated to the managing director of each business. PBEL did not undertake trading during the year ended 31[st] March 2025 and are exempt from preparing and filing accounts under sections 398A and 448A of the Companies Act 2006.
## **Public Benefit**
The trustees confirm that they have given due regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit and have considered how our aims and activities demonstrate this, in fulfilling our charitable objects. Plantlife provides multiple benefits for the public which are wide-ranging and long-lasting, including:
- Free access to all of our nature reserves across the UK
- Influencing policy and politicians for the benefit of a healthier natural world
- Campaigning for positive change: No Mow May, road verge management, removing peat from commercial use, reducing nitrogen pollution in our rivers and on land
- Botanical training courses and engagement opportunities
- Public speaking and lecture series
- Broad communications on plants and fungi across many media platforms
- Enabling partner organisations to be as effective as possible in plant and fungi conservation
- Speaking up for plants and fungi
## **Grant making**
Grants may be awarded as part of larger partnership projects where Plantlife is the catalyst and enabler, bringing together parties to provide a greater positive impact on nature than could be achieved independently.
## **Custodian Trusteeship**
No assets were held as custodian trustee during this reporting period or any other.
## **Governance and management**
The directors of the company, who are the charity trustees, form the Board of Plantlife which is the governing body for the organisation.
## **Appointment and Induction of Trustees**
The directors (who are also referred to as board members and trustees) are elected for a maximum seven-year term, with an initial period of four years followed by a possible reappointment for a further three years. Board members who stand down after their initial period of appointment ends are eligible for re-election unless they have served two successive periods, in which case they can only be re-elected as a trustee in exceptional circumstances. They may be re-elected as Chair, Vice Chair
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**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
or Treasurer. Board members elect the Chair, Vice-Chair and Treasurer, at their next meeting following the AGM.
New trustees are recruited in accordance with the board member recruitment policy, which aims to promote open and inclusive recruitment and identifies the attributes, skills and expertise looked for in potential trustees. The policy works in tandem with the procedure for nomination of new members to the Board. Trustee vacancies are advertised widely in public environmental and charitable arenas. Applicants are shortlisted for interview by the Chair and two other trustees, and those chosen as a result of the interview process are appointed after receipt of satisfactory references. This enables the suitability of potential trustees to be assessed with reference to the particular skills needed at that point in time and ensures that they understand the role of board members before final confirmation of their nomination is made.
Once elected, new trustees follow a formal induction programme, including meeting the members of the staff team. New trustees also receive an introduction on becoming a charity trustee and company director. Trustees are provided regularly with internal and external information relevant to charity law and governance. In addition, the Board aims to identify knowledge gaps through a regular skills audit alongside its annual performance review process.
## **The Working of the Board and its Committees**
Trustees are responsible for the proper governance of the Charity and determine the strategy and policy to be undertaken in accordance with the objectives as stated in the Articles of Association. They seek to achieve the objectives whilst at the same time ensuring that the Charity is not exposed to undue risk. The Charity's risk management strategy includes the procedures and actions required to mitigate the risks identified. The risk management strategy is reviewed regularly by the Board. Our trustees all give their time voluntarily.
The Charity has a Finance and General Purposes Committee (F&GP), chaired by the Treasurer with three other Board members, and attended by the Chief Executive and other key members of staff. Committee members are appointed by the Board. The Committee meets quarterly to monitor and provide advice on financial and operational issues, to monitor the internal controls of the Charity and to ensure regular reporting to the Board. The Committee also fulfils some of the functions required under the procedure for the nomination of new members of the Board.
The Board delegates the day-to-day running of the Charity to the Chief Executive, who is supported by the staff team and the volunteers. The Chief Executive provides the Board with an operational report four times a year and between Board meetings works closely with the Chair and Officers on matters of governance and strategic issues. The Chief Executive works with the members of the Senior Management Team (SMT) and other members of staff to oversee the implementation of Plantlife's strategies and policies. The members of the SMT during the year were:
|Ian Dunn|Chief Executive (resigned 30 September 2024)|
|---|---|
|Nicola Hutchinson|Deputy Chief Executive/Director of Conservation|
|Nicola Savage|Director of Finance & Operations (resigned 27 June 2024)|
|Vickie Wood|Director of Fundraising & Marketing|
|Peter Dorans|Director of Business Development|
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**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
The directors consider that the key management personnel of the Charity include the Board of directors, who are also the charity trustees. No director received any remuneration in the year. Details of directors’ expenses are disclosed in note 32 to the accounts. The other key management personnel are the SMT. The pay of the SMT is determined according to the pay and remuneration policy, which aims to provide appropriate incentives to encourage enhanced performance and to reward staff fairly and responsibly for their individual contributions to Plantlife’s success. Pay reviews aim to match increases in the cost of living and to keep step with others in the sector by benchmarking against pay levels in similar conservation organisations. Any pay increases are agreed by the Chief Executive and the directors.
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**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **Mission and strategy**
## **Mission Statement**
Our mission is to secure a world rich in plants and fungi. Underpinning the health of our environment, wild plants and fungi are the foundations upon which we can help resolve the climate, ecological and societal challenges we face.
## **Strategy to 2030**
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Plantlife is a cutting-edge, innovative conservation charity with a track record of success. Across temperate rainforest, grasslands, green spaces and wider landscapes, we are driving great gains for nature. From the open spaces of our nature reserves to the corridors of governments, Plantlife works nationally and globally to raise the profile of wild plants and fungi, to celebrate their beauty and to protect their future.
Plants are now showing us the impact of a warming world and they are a warning that all is not well. Plants and fungi can also help us to put this right and we can help them by restoring the habitats that were commonplace for generations before us.
Plantlife has a unique opportunity to encourage people everywhere to be part of the solution. We know how to protect, restore and strengthen species and habitats. By working in partnership with those who care for our countryside and green spaces, those who farm the land, those who are protecting our wonderful landscapes, building and designing new communities, we can help to rebalance our world. We can help us all be part of the solution and we all need to be so.
Together we can re-build a healthy natural world, and our relationship within it, to underpin the future of our economy and society. This will be the focus of Plantlife’s work in the coming decade - plants and fungi are central to doing so.
In this strategy period Plantlife will:
1. Protect and restore the diversity of wild plants and fungi to enhance our countryside, towns and cities.
2. Connect people with nature to improve wellbeing and inspire action to save species and their habitats.
3. Work in partnerships so that all people and all sectors of society can contribute to tackling the climate and nature crisis we face.
4. Collaborate and influence on the world stage to empower societies across the globe to help protect plants and fungi.
Successful delivery of this strategy will lead to a world full of nature, beauty and life – from inner cities to our wildest places. Plants, fungi and the animals that depend on them, will thrive and be connected in every way possible.
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**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **Achievements and performance**
2024/25 was another exceptional year for Plantlife, with our staff, volunteers and partners delivering conservation outcomes ranging from protecting individual species at risk, landscape scale conservation and green finance developments through to advocacy on the world stage. Progress continues to be made under each of our strategic priority areas.
## **1. Protect and restore**
Plantlife have established 5 year plans to deliver our ambitions to 2030: for grasslands, temperate rainforest, and species recovery. In Wales the Glaswelltiroedd Gwydn – Resilient Grasslands Project is supporting sustainable agriculture, and in England a NEIRF funded project is enabling us to develop a grassland-specific ecosystem services toolkit to help farmers access alternative forms of finance. Across our nature reserve network, Munsary Peatlands in Scotland was granted UNESCO World Heritage status as part of The Flow Country, land purchase for an extension at Ryewater Farm was completed, and at Ranscombe Farm rare species such as Meadow Clary and Rough Mallow bloomed in record numbers.
This year saw increased success with translocation activity for species recovery. Scrambled egg lichen was reintroduced to the East of England, the first trial translocation study for the rare oak polypore fungus was undertaken, Pasqueflower seedlings established at all eight sites where seeds were translocated, and Rosy Saxifrage - not been seen in the wild since 1962 - was brought back from extinction in Eryri.
## **2. Connect people with nature**
Plantlife’s membership grew with 6,000 new members choosing to join us including 2,000 family members. In-person events, digital talks and the online annual members day saw people connecting with our work whether that was seeing translocations of Twinflower in the Cairngorms, enjoying our Caeau Tan y Bwlch nature reserve in North Wales, getting familiar with botanical skills or even learning about forensic botany’s use in solving crimes.
No Mow May continued to be a key moment where people across the UK and internationally took part in creating space for nature by letting the grass grow. The reach of the campaign has extended beyond the garden lawn with councils and others managing green spaces and road verges actively registering to take part and extending this simple way to support nature into local communities.
This year also saw new collaborations such as jointly promoting the British Ecological Society Photographic competition and working with some of our Corporate partners to provide their customers with ways to support biodiversity. Equally our Citizen science opportunities such as Waxcap Watch and National Plant Monitoring Scheme enabled people to volunteer time and skills to supporting our Conservation outcomes.
## **3. Work in partnerships**
We deliver much of our impact through our partnership and enabling work. Our existing partnerships include all the main environmental and conservation NGOs in the UK and in this financial year we have continued to strengthen our relationships with the corporate sector and private landowners.
This year, we deepened our collaboration with Bellway Homes, focusing on showcasing the value of nature within new communities. Together, we developed practical guidance to help project managers embed nature into the heart of their designs. As more sectors recognise their reliance on and impact upon the natural world, building meaningful partnerships has become central to our strategy for diversifying income and broadening our influence.
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**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
A team of experts from a leading Real Estate company worked with us to help us refine how we communicate our approach and demonstrate our impact, ensuring our message resonates across the finance sector. We created two new roles dedicated to expanding our capacity and capability to forge high-integrity, high-impact partnerships that accelerate nature restoration at scale.
Alongside this, our consultancy, Plantlife Biodiversity Consultants, continued to grow a pipeline of engaged, informed, and motivated landowners—laying the groundwork for long-term, landscapescale restoration.
## **4. Collaborate and influence**
Plantlife increased its direct influence this year with parliamentary events and attendance at global conferences. A reception was held at Westminster on the value of grasslands, attended by many MPs and Peers as well as a wide range of representatives from statutory agencies, partners and funders, and at Holyrood, a reception was held to celebrating the Alliance for Scotland's Rainforest. The Common Ground Forum, initiated by our Saving Scotland’s Rainforest project in response to the challenges of deer management in the rainforest, won the prestigious Nature of Scotland award for innovation in November. The State of Wales’ Rainforest report was published at a successful event in the Senedd organised by the Alliance for Wales’ Rainforest.
Members of the Global Team and the Deputy Chief Executive attended CBD CoP 16, 19[th] - 27[th] October, in Cali, Colombia. Plantlife shared an exhibition booth with Botanical Garden Conservation International (BGCI) to discuss our global Important Plant Area programme and the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC. Plantlife also supported the Fungi Pledge - to better prioritise fungi in global conservation strategies - alongside the UK and Chilean Governments.
## **Carbon, climate-related issues and sustainability**
This year we appointed a new post with specific responsibility for the sustainability of our operations. We established an internal working group to support our efforts in this area. A materiality analysis, undertaken in January 2025 identified the following as priority focus areas:
- Reducing our Carbon emissions as far as possible and offsetting any residual emissions
- Embedding strict sustainability criteria into our purchase of goods and services
- The sustainability standards we require of partner organisations
In response, Plantlife’s Board has approved a new sustainability policy to put these priorities into action. Crucially, the policy commits to additionality, this means that we will not use the environmental benefit of our day to day work to offset our impact elsewhere. Residual emissions will be offset through investment or by undertaking additional work.
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**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
We have appointed a new supplier to undertake our carbon accounting, which uses a different methodology to our previous supplier. We are therefore treating 24-25 as our baseline year from which we seek to reduce our emissions and a comparison to previous years is not displayed.
## **Income Generation**
At the halfway point of our current strategic period we have continued to see significant growth in our fundraising income as a result of investments we have made in this area of our activity. Looking ahead the challenge is to sustain that growth.
The sources from which we have historically fundraised are responding to the climate and ecological crises. Trusts and Foundations have tripled their giving to environmental causes to £606m in 2021/2022 whilst the National Lottery provides £80.6m annually. However, these institutions are changing the way that they give, increasingly shifting from open application processes to a relationship-based invite only approach and often with a climate focus.
The UK is well positioned to be a leader in attracting private finance into nature restoration. Early adoption of nature related financial disclosure by UK businesses, combined with a tried and tested biodiversity metric, a functioning Biodiversity Net Gain Market and strong governance establishes a strong potential funding environment.
Societal concern for the environment is growing. It was the fifth most important issue to voters in the 2024 general election and of significantly greater concern than housing, crime and defence. Conversely there is greater pressure than ever on public finances and government focus on environmental de-regulation and economic growth. Consumer confidence is growing slowly but remains well below the long term average. Combined, these factors will influence how we access funding from Government and individuals.
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**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
In response to these evolutions in the fundraising environment our income generation will be centred on four objectives:
- Establishing a fundraising culture within the organisation, maintaining disciplined fundraising focused on our core competencies
- Diversification of our funding base to build long term financial resilience and respond to emerging opportunities
- Inspiring our supporters with stories of our work and impact
- • Building long-term sustainable partnerships with our supporters
## **Our People**
None of this work would be possible without our dedicated staff, volunteers and trustees. The variety of skills and expertise they possess is amazing – we have botanical experts across a raft of specialisms, professionals in finance, HR, communications and advocacy and expert administrators, all meaning we can make the best possible use of our funding and resources. Plantlife is extremely proud of all its people.
Staff operate within a departmental structure, comprising Conservation; Marketing and Communications, Business Development, and Finance and Resources. The majority of our staff are out-posted in various locations around the UK, with the remainder operating with hybrid working arrangements through our premises in Salisbury and Retford, and our workspaces in Stirling, Cumbria, Staffordshire, and North Yorkshire.
2024/25 was a year of minimal growth and some turnover in staff numbers – with a total headcount of 100 at March 2025 compared to 95 in March 2024 and 31 new starters during the year. We were pleased to receive a high volume of quality applications for the majority of our posts and have successfully inducted those selected to become members of staff into the team.
The generous contribution of volunteers supporting our conservation, plant surveys, awareness raising, and business activities is instrumental in enabling the achievement of our conservation targets. This year our volunteers provided 2,142 days of support; when costed (at £450 per day for professional level support, £250 per day for skilled and £100 per day for unskilled) this is the equivalent of £587,000 worth of contributions.
Plantlife is committed to delivering inclusive approaches and equality in our work so that a greater diversity of people can play a role in the conservation of wild plants and fungi and this is outlined in our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy Statement. This year we have committed to becoming a Disability Confident employer, providing staff with disability awareness training and setting up a working group. We have continued to make improvements to recruitment practices, support menopause awareness and understanding and built up data analysis both internally for recruitment and employees and externally for engagement to guide EDI priorities. We have continued to focus on wellbeing, providing all staff with training in mental health in the workplace.
Plantlife operates a Health & Safety (H&S) Committee, comprising 7 representatives from across the organisation and chaired by a member of SMT. The committee meets formally on a quarterly basis and has a remit to produce and maintain policies and codes of practice, address any matters that arise in day-to-day H&S working practices, raise issues and concerns on behalf of all staff and promote a positive health, safety and welfare culture throughout Plantlife. The committee report regularly to the SMT and board of trustees, one of whom is assigned special responsibility for H&S matters.
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**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
The trustees would like to thank all staff and volunteers for their hard work and dedication throughout the year.
## **Plantlife Trading Limited (PTL)**
Our consultancy services are provided through Plantlife Biodiversity Consultants, which is a trading name of Plantlife Trading Ltd. Through our consultancy we support, on commercial terms, landowners and land managers to deliver high quality habitat restoration which places an abundance and diversity of plants and fungi at its heart.
All PTL work is mission led - working to enable others to deliver on Plantlife’s mission and providing services which are always complementary to our core charitable work. This extension to the Plantlife portfolio helps us address the scale and speed at which improvements to biodiversity need to be made. During 24/25 we supported landowners across 600ha.
## **Plantlife Biodiversity Enhancements Limited (PBEL)**
PBEL operates validation and certification of biodiversity restoration plans to assure that they are high quality and high integrity. During the year Plantlife was successfully designated as a Responsible Body, meaning that we are legally entitled to enter Conservation Covenants. The validation and assurance services provided by PBEL enable us to underpin covenants with robust ecological due diligence. PBEL did not trade during 24/25, it began trading after year end.
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**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **Financial review**
## **Results for the Year**
Plantlife maintained a steady level of income throughout the year. In response to a challenging external funding environment and uncertainty across the sector, the organisation prioritised financial sustainability over continued growth, focusing on careful resource management and ensuring the continuation of core services. This prudent approach allowed us to remain resilient, uphold our mission, and continue supporting those we partner with, without compromising our long-term stability.
## **Income**
Total income in 2425 was £8.17m (2023/24 £11.3m).
The biodiversity enhancement programme funded by National Highways contributed £1.9m of restricted income this year. We are particularly pleased that the long-term nature of this funding will enable us to maintain our involvement with the landowners undertaking biodiversity enhancement programmes over the next 15 years.
Other “conservation project” income increased to £1,815k (2023/24: £1,687k).
Total income from donations and legacies was £2,538k (2023/24 £2,362k). Legacies, individual donations and new corporate partnerships all contributed to this increase.
The growth in our membership base continues, with a year on year increase to nearly 24,000 members. Income from memberships stands at £1,310k (2023/24
£1,187k), and our growing supporter base augments our mission in a variety of ways beyond financial contributions, including taking part in learning opportunities and undertaking practical conservation action at a local level.
Funding received in advance in respect of the biodiversity enhancement programme has been invested in interest bearing deposit accounts increasing our interest earnings in the year, whilst income earned from our listed investments remained steady at £91k (2023/24 £89k)
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**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **Expenditure**
The majority of our expenditure was once again targeted directly to our conservation work. This year we spent £5,387k on our various conservation projects, down from £6,859k. Progress continued in our work with our priority habitats of grasslands and species, and new funding has enabled us to begin more comprehensive work in temperate rainforests.
Expenditure on engagement and education has remained steady at £1,134k (2023/24 £1,118k). Our ongoing campaigns in relation to the promotion of grassland and temperate rainforests continue alongside that against the use of peat in horticulture.
The cost of raising donations and legacies has decreased to £971k (2023/24 £1,041k) due to lower levels of membership sign ups through a professional fundraising agency.
Expenditure on support and governance costs is £1,211k an increase of £127k since last year. As the charity grows, the costs incurred in maintaining a robust support system and ensuring all administrative and governance requirements are met increases, a responsibility the trustees are mindful that they must assume whilst striving to maximise the amount available for expenditure directly on the furtherance of the charity’s objectives.
## **Investments**
Improvements in the health of the investment markets has resulted in a net gain in the value of our investments when measured on 31 March 2025 compared to their value on 31 March 2024. The total value of our portfolio stood at £4,116k on 31 March 2025.
## **Financial Reserves**
In addition to our endowment funds, our total charitable funds comprise both restricted and unrestricted reserves.
At 31 March 2025 our restricted funds totalled £6,489k (2024: £5,772k). These funds include the £1.43m purchase price of our heritage assets (nature reserves), a restricted reserve which represents income already received and used to purchase assets which are shown on the balance sheet, together with any other restricted funds in hand at the year-end such as those for projects, appeals and legacies which are legally restricted to certain projects or activities.
The unrestricted funds of the Plantlife Group amount to £2,288k (2024: £2,554k) Some of these funds have been set aside by the trustees for specific purposes to help Plantlife increase its resilience and lay the foundations for future growth. This includes a fund of £326k for the development of organisational support systems. A revaluation reserve of £118k is retained in relation to listed investments. The general reserve is being utilised in a controlled manner in furtherance of our strategic objectives and will continue to do so over the upcoming years – enabling the achievement of conservation targets, whilst ensuring we retain the levels of free cash reserves required by our reserve holding policy. We aim to hold 6 months of core operating costs as free reserves. This was £1,819k,
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**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
calculated as 6 months of unrestricted expenditure. As of 31[st] March, free reserves for the Plantlife Group were £1,618k, representing 89% of the target or 5.33 months operating costs.
## **Fundraising and our commitment to supporters**
The Board of Trustees ensures that our fundraising complies with legal and regulatory requirements and is guided by our core values and mission.
Fundraising - or any fundraising undertaken on our behalf - is monitored to ensure it is honest, transparent, and respectful. We are members of the Fundraising Regulator and ensure all our activity is carried out in line with the Code of Fundraising Practice, charity law, and all relevant legislation including Data Protection Act 2018 and Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations. All those undertaking fundraising for Plantlife receive training and support to ensure we have the correct processes and procedures in place.
We rely on generous donations from all our supporters and funders and undertake a range of fundraising activities to support our work in securing a world rich in plants and fungi. This includes building our membership base through regular and one-off donations, appeals, events, legacy giving and challenges in support of Plantlife alongside the sale of merchandise. We also make applications to trusts, foundations and statutory donors for funds for specific projects. We receive ongoing support from 21 corporate partnerships, including commercial partners that generate donations from the sale of their products.
In 2024/25 we used a professional fundraising agency to undertake membership recruitment on our behalf by attending events with Plantlife stands across the country and talking to the public about membership. We carry out regular training with these fundraisers and undertake close reviews and mystery shopping of this activity to ensure compliance. The agency is also a member of the Fundraising Regulator and the Chartered Institute of Fundraising.
We take any complaint about fundraising and supporter feedback very seriously and make sure we record this and feed it into ways to improve our work. During 24/25 we received 8 complaints from our direct and agency led fundraising activity which were investigated and resolved, and no removal requests from the Fundraising Preference Service from thousands of fundraising communications across a range of channels.
We periodically review our policies, procedures and guidance in line with the Supporter Promise. Our Vulnerable Persons policy and process directs our approach to people who maybe in vulnerable circumstances, need additional support to make an informed decision or might not have the capacity to make the decision to donate. Read more about our approach at www.plantlife.org.uk
Whenever we undertake new fundraising activity, we consider any risks and put in place mitigation measures. We really appreciate the support we receive and are committed to maintaining high standards of fundraising and supporter care.
## **Investment policy**
The charity’s governing document enables it to invest monies not immediately required for its purposes in or upon such investments, securities or property as may be thought fit. Any such investments are governed by Plantlife’s investment policy, which takes into account income requirements, the risk profile and the fund manager's view of the market prospects in the medium term. Plantlife is also committed to incorporating social, environmental and ethical considerations into
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**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
its investment decisions. The trustees are therefore mindful of the need to balance investment performance with our social and environmental responsibilities.
We encourage our investment managers to:
- seek to understand the ESG and ethical policies of the companies in which investments are made;
- consider ESG and ethical policies, particularly in relation to climate change and biodiversity loss, when evaluating companies for investment;
- encourage the organisations in which they invest to adopt and pursue socially and environmentally responsible business practices and good governance; and
- exercise the right to vote in respect of their holdings, taking ESG and ethical considerations into account as appropriate.
We will not invest in companies whose activities have a detrimental impact on the environment and our policy is to invest only in companies with an “above average” environmental rating. This means we will not invest in fossil fuels or the mining sector and will avoid those companies involved in the most carbon intensive industries or those who contribute to deforestation or water pollution. This policy is reviewed biennially by the trustees.
Management of our investment assets is reviewed and offered for tender every three years and is currently undertaken by Rathbones Incorporating Investec Wealth & Investment Ltd. Reports on the performance are provided quarterly and are reviewed at meetings with the fund manager which are held on a six-monthly basis with the Finance and General Purposes Committee.
Trustees apply a total return approach in respect of the endowment fund using powers granted by the Charities (Total Return) Regulations 2013 made under Section 104A of the Charities Act 2011. This was adopted in 2017 after taking legal and investment advice.
Under this policy, trustees will draw both income and capital growth gained from investment of the endowment to be used to further charitable objectives, whilst at the same time maintaining the real value of the relevant permanent endowments (being £1,700k at the time of adopting the total return approach) so that it can continue to provide for future beneficiaries. Accumulated returns in excess of this value form a fund from which the Charity may draw from time to time to further its charitable objectives. This unapplied total return was established at £712k on the date of the resolution. Trustees will review any such distribution from time to time and adjust funds being drawn as necessary to take account of prevailing rates of investment return, in order to safeguard the endowment and its longterm returns whilst accepting medium-term fluctuations in value.
The movements in unapplied total return are shown in note 5 to the accounts. This year the Charity did not transfer any monies into unrestricted funds (2024: £nil). At 31 March 2025 the endowment funds of £2,887k were in excess of the value of the permanent endowment for investment and the unapplied total return.
The overall aim of our investment policy is to maximise the amount that can be spent on charitable activities from income and medium-term capital growth whilst protecting the original value of the permanent endowment that forms part of the fund for the future.
## **Financial reserves policy**
We maintain a policy on financial reserves, which is periodically reviewed in line with guidance from the Charity Commission.
The trustees have decided that Plantlife International will hold six months’ core operating costs as a free, unrestricted financial reserve. This reserve is to cater for the following:
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**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
- An amount needed to discharge any contractual obligations should there be, for example, a catastrophic fall in income leading to a serious financial problem. This should also prevent the need for immediate cuts in expenditure and ensure our increasingly longer-term conservation projects can be completed.
- An amount to facilitate cash management. Our income is not received evenly throughout the year, and most large conservation projects require cash expenditure by Plantlife well in advance of the eventual recoupment of funding from project financiers.
- An operational reserve, for use on extraordinary costs such as IT upgrades, building moves or renovation or income generation and particularly to maintain the upkeep of our nature reserves at all times.
Plantlife may also hold additional unrestricted reserves. These reserves will be used within a reasonable period of receipt of the funds. When judging what is reasonable, the trustees will bear in mind that the conservation of plants and fungi often requires effort over a number of years and it can be some time before results are seen in plant populations.
18
Docusign Envelope ID: A0449DFE-424F-4978-8DEA-47502EF91A8C
**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **Principal risks and uncertainties**
The charity is exposed to a number of risks and uncertainties. Responses to these risks are managed within well-established systems and have been instituted to mitigate identified risks and are subject to continuous review.
Trustees periodically review the strategic risks facing the organisation and monitor the effectiveness of actions taken to mitigate the impact of such risks.
The principal risks and uncertainties identified by the trustees are:
- The funding environment for plant and fungi conservation is rapidly changing. Due to other societal pressures the availability of funds for conservation and environmental NGOs (eNGOs) is changing and if we fail to respond we will reduce our ability to make an impact.
- Larger eNGOs are better equipped to respond to changing funding opportunities due to their capacity and structure. The large eNGOs are finding their voice at a national level and becoming more vocal. This, linked to the economic background, may result in the big three or four capturing a large share of the available income – whether individual or corporate.
- On-going decline of plants & fungi across the UK and internationally. External factors and societal pressures reduce the focus on the natural world.
- The evolution of Plantlife into a bigger organisation changes our management approach and culture. Retaining focus on values and culture to maintain impact is a critical factor in a fast growing organization.
- Our areas of work, trustees, staff, volunteers and supporters do not yet fully reflect societal diversity in all aspects. This reduces our ability to deliver conservation effectiveness in accordance with our strategic objectives.
- Staff retention and succession planning. The market for ecologists is highly competitive and will become more so. Reliance on fixed term contracts results in constant churn and loss of key staff and their skills.
- Plantlife lags in the development of its IT systems and associated training, curtailing our ability to reach our full potential.
- Health, safety and welfare. We negatively impact the health of our people, those who work with us, or the environment.
- Governance & compliance. Policies do not comply with current legislation, and/or staff do not apply or refer to them.
- Developing our commercial activity. As we look to expand the scale and breadth of our commercial work the increased governance and administration burden involved in managing a more complex organisation may distract from other opportunities.
- Climatic impact is inherent in Plantlife’s daily activity. We are slow to deliver carbon net or gross zero which, given our conservation activity, is judged as inadequate.
Systems have been established to mitigate identified risks and are subject to continuous review. The detailed considerations of risk are delegated to the F&GP committee, assisted by the SMT. Risks are identified, assessed and controls established throughout the year. A formal review of the charity’s risk management process is undertaken on an annual basis at the main board.
19
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**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
Trustees consider that there is appropriate monitoring, measurement, and mitigation in place to avoid the principal risks and uncertainties to the organisation and its effectiveness, notwithstanding the fact that some will need continued attention as contributory factors continue to bring challenges.
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**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **Thank you**
We are extremely grateful to all our members, supporters, funders and other organisations that so generously supported us in 2024/25, including all donors who wish to remain anonymous. Unfortunately, we do not have space to individually name all our supporters, but on behalf of everyone at Plantlife we would like to acknowledge the following who provided support of £5,000 or more:
## **Grants**
BIFFA Award Cairngorms National Park Authoity (CNPA) Cranborne Chase National Landscapes Department for the Environment Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) National Lottery Heritage Fund
Natural England Natural Resources Wales Nature Scot Welsh Government
## **Charitable Trusts and Foundations**
Brian D Newman Foundation for the Environment Daniell Trust DS Smith Charitable Foundation Esmée Fairbairn Foundation Garfield Weston Foundation Henocq Law Trust John Ellerman Foundation King Charles III Charitable Fund Moondance Foundation MW Tops Wildlife Conservation Project Newby Trust Norman & Evelyn Proffitt Trust Scott (Eredine) Charitable Trust The Bentley Family Trust The Derek and Clare Stevens Trust The Esmee Fairbairn Foundation The Ian Addison Charitable Foundation The Linbury Trust The Lyon Family Charitable Trust Woolhope Dome Environmental Trust
## **Corporate Partners and Supporters**
Bellway Homes Black Bee Honey Limited Bramley Products Everleaf Formula Botanica GreenTheUK Ground Control National Highways CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP
## **Legacy Gifts**
Much of our work is underpinned by the generosity of supporters who have included a gift to Plantlife in their will. These gifts, no matter the size, are incredibly valuable and make a lasting impact on our mission to secure a world rich in plants and fungi. We would like to thank all our generous benefactors for their significant contributions.
21
Docusign Envelope ID: A0449DFE-424F-4978-8DEA-47502EF91A8C
**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **Statement of trustees' responsibilities**
The trustees, who are also the directors of Plantlife International - The Wild Plant Conservation Charity for the purpose of company law, are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Annual Report (including the Strategic Report) and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under company law trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that year.
In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
- observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP 2019 (FRS 102);
- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
- state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.
The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended). They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
In so far as the trustees are aware:
- there is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company’s auditor is unaware: and
- the trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditor is aware of that information.
The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company's website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.
## **Auditors**
Saffery LLP were appointed as auditor to the company and in accordance with section 485 of the Companies Act 2006, a resolution proposing that they be re-appointed will be put at a General Meeting.
## **ON BEHALF OF THE TRUSTEES:**
[ D Daniels DavDocuS132BBB98BBA6492... **i** gnedDaniels by: [pli P Wilson Signed53AD620ECE58476... by:Wilsow. Chair Treasurer 23[rd] July 2025 23[rd] July 2025
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Docusign Envelope ID: A0449DFE-424F-4978-8DEA-47502EF91A8C
**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **Auditor’s Report**
## **Opinion**
We have audited the financial statements of Plantlife International Limited – The Wild Plant Conservation Charity (the ‘parent charitable company’) and its subsidiaries (the ‘group’) for the year ended 31 March 2025 which comprise the Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities, the Consolidated and Parent Balance Sheet, the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). In our opinion the financial statements:
- give a true and fair view of the state of the affairs of the group and the parent charitable company as at 31 March 2025 and of the group’s incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for the year then ended;
- have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and
- have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and regulations 6 and 8 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended).
## Basis for opinion:
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the group and parent charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
## **Conclusions relating to going concern**
In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate. Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the group or the parent charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.
## Other information
The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to
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**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information; we are required to report that fact.
We have nothing to report in this regard.
Other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006
In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:
- the information given in the Trustees’ Annual Report which includes the Directors’ Report and the Strategic Report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
- the Trustees’ Annual Report which includes the Directors’ Report and the Strategic Report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
## **Matters on which we are required to report by exception**
In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the group and parent charitable company and their environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Trustees’ Annual Report and Strategic Report.
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) require us to report to you if, in our opinion:
- adequate accounting records have not been kept by the parent charitable company, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
- the parent charitable company’s financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
- certain disclosures of trustees’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or
- we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or
- [the trustees were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies’ regime and take advantage of the small companies’ exemption in preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report and the Strategic Report].
## **Responsibilities of trustees**
As explained more fully in the Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities set out on page 22, the trustees (who are also the directors of the parent charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of the financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the group and the parent charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the group or the parent charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
## **Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements**
We have been appointed as auditors under the Companies Act 2006 and under the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and report in accordance with regulations made under those Acts.
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**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the group and parent financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The specific procedures for this engagement and the extent to which these are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud are detailed below.
## Identifying and assessing risks related to irregularities:
We assessed the susceptibility of the group and parent charitable company’s financial statements to material misstatement and how fraud might occur, including through discussions with the trustees, discussions within our audit team planning meeting, updating our record of internal controls and ensuring these controls operated as intended. We evaluated possible incentives and opportunities for fraudulent manipulation of the financial statements. We identified laws and regulations that are of significance in the context of the group and parent charitable company by discussions with trustees and updating our understanding of the sector in which the group and parent charitable company operate.
Laws and regulations of direct significance in the context of the group and parent charitable company include The Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) and guidance issued by the Charity Commission for England and Wales and the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator.
## Audit response to risks identified:
We considered the extent of compliance with these laws and regulations as part of our audit procedures on the related financial statement items including a review of financial statement disclosures. We reviewed the parent charitable company’s records of breaches of laws and regulations, minutes of meetings and correspondence with relevant authorities to identify potential material misstatements arising. We discussed the parent charitable company’s policies and procedures for compliance with laws and regulations with members of management responsible for compliance.
During the planning meeting with the audit team, the engagement partner drew attention to the key areas which might involve non-compliance with laws and regulations or fraud. We enquired of management whether they were aware of any instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations or knowledge of any actual, suspected or alleged fraud. We addressed the risk of fraud through management override of controls by testing the appropriateness of journal entries and identifying any significant transactions that were unusual or outside the normal course of business. We assessed whether judgements made in making accounting estimates gave rise to a possible indication of management bias. At the completion stage of the audit, the engagement partner’s review included ensuring that the team had approached their work with appropriate professional scepticism and thus the capacity to identify non-compliance with laws and regulations and fraud.
There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures described above and the further removed noncompliance with laws and regulations is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely we would become aware of it. Also, the risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from error, as fraud
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**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery or intentional misrepresentations, or through collusion.
A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.
## **Use of our report**
This report is made solely to the parent charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006, and to the parent charitable company’s trustees, as a body, in accordance with Regulation 10 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the parent charitable company’s members and trustees those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the parent charitable company, the parent charitable company’s members and trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
## **Casidhe Baleri (Senior Statutory Auditor) for and on behalf of Saffery LLP**
Midland House, 2 Poole Road, Bournemouth, C758DE9BE3DB33428... by: BH2 5QY Statutory Auditors Date: 11 August 2025
Saffery LLP is eligible to act as an auditor in terms of section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006
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Docusign Envelope ID: A0449DFE-424F-4978-8DEA-47502EF91A8C
**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **Financial Statements**
## **Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities**
**For the year ended 31 March 2025** (incorporating an income and expenditure account)
|**Current financial year**
Note
**Income from:**
Donations and legacies
Other donations and legacies 1
Charitable activities
Conservation action
2
Membership income
2
Investment income
3
Other trading activities
4
**Total income and**
**endowments**
**Expenditure on:**
Raising funds
6
Raising donations and
legacies
Other trading activities
Investment management
costs
Charitable activities
7
Conservation activities
People engagement,
education and membership
**Total resources expended**
**Net income/(expenditure)**
Net gains/(losses) on
investment
13
Taxation
14
Transfers
**Net movement in funds**
**Reconciliation of funds**
Total funds brought forward
at 1 April 2024
**Total funds carried forward**
**at** **31 March 2025**|**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**Restricted**
**Funds**
**Endowment**
**Funds**
**Total**
**2025**
**2025**
**2025**
**2025**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
1,153,918
1,383,980
2,537,898
177,327
3,547,329
3,724,656
1,309,961
1,309,961
321,798
61,064
382,862
218,336
218,336
**3,181,340**
**4,931,309**
**61,064**
**8,173,713**
971,277
971,277
106,505
51,742
158,247
7,424
17,197
24,621
1,085,206
51,742
17,197
1,154,145
1,558,846
3,827,892
5,386,738
994,531
139,290
1,133,821
2,553,377
3,967,182
6,520,559
**3,638,583**
**4,018,924**
**17,197** **7,674,704**
**(457,243)**
**912,385**
**43,867**
**499,009**
(4,537)
4,360
(177)
-
-
-
-
195,947
(195,947)
-
-
**(265,833)**
**716,438**
**48,227**
**498,832**
2,553,948
5,772,103
2,838,285 11,164,336
**2,288,115**
**6,488,541**
**2,886,512** **11,663,168**|**Total**
**2024**
**£**
2,362,298
7,415,210
1,186,841
265,594
108,473|
|---|---|---|
|||**11,338,416**
1,041,326
105,619
22,978|
|||
1,169,923
6,858,590
1,117,922|
|||
7,976,512|
|||**9,146,435**|
|||**2,191,981**|
|||
227,358
-
-|
|||**2,419,339**|
|||
8,744,997|
|||**11,164,336**|
All amounts derive from continuing activities.
All gains and losses recognised in the year are included in the Statement of Financial Activities.
27
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**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **Prior financial year – for the year ended 31 March 2024**
|**Income from:**
Donations and legacies
Other donations and legacies
1
Charitable activities
Conservation action
2
Membership income
2
Investment income
3
Other trading activities
4
**Total income and endowments**
**Expenditure on:**
Raising funds
6
Raising donations and legacies
Othe trading activities
Investment management costs
Charitable activities
7
Conservation activities
People engagement, education
and membership
**Total resources expended**
**Net income/(expenditure)**
Net gains/(losses) on investments 13
Taxation
14
**Net movement in funds**
**Reconciliation of funds**
Total funds brought forward at
1 April 2023
**Total funds carried forward at**
**31 March 2024**|**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**Restricted**
**Funds**
**Endowment**
**Funds**
**Total**
**2024**
**2024**
**2024**
**2024**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
1,178,078
1,184,220
2,362,298
94,542
7,320,668
7,415,210
1,186,841
1,186,841
203,666
61,928
265,594
108,473
108,473|
|---|---|
||**2,771,600**
**8,504,888**
**61,928**
**11,338,416**
1,041,326
1,041,326
105,619
105,619
6,569
16,409
22,978|
||1,153,514
16,409
1,169,923
1,338,553
5,520,037
6,858,590
960,874
157,048
1,117,922|
||2,299,427
5,677,085
7,976,512|
||**3,452,941**
**5,677,085**
**16,409**
**9,146,435**|
||**(681,341)**
**2,827,803**
**45,519**
**2,191,981**|
||67,963
159,395
227,358|
||-
-
-
-|
||**(613,378)**
**2,827,803**
**204,914**
**2,419,339**|
||3,167,326
2,944,300
2,633,371
8,744,997|
||**2,553,948**
**5,772,103**
**2,838,285**
**11,164,336**|
All amounts derive from continuing activities. All gains and losses recognised in the year are included in the Statement of Financial Activities.
28
Docusign Envelope ID: A0449DFE-424F-4978-8DEA-47502EF91A8C
**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **Consolidated Balance Sheet Company number: 3166339**
|**Consolidated Balance Sheet**
**Company number: 3166339**||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||**as at**|**as at**|**as at**|**as at**|
|||**31 March**|**31 March**|**31 March**|**31 March**|
|||**2025**||**2024**||
||Note|**£**||**£**||
|**Fixed assets**||||||
|Intangible assets|15||20,468||39,285|
|Tangible assets|16||134,121||165,529|
|Heritage assets|17||1,622,805||1,582,805|
|Investments|18||4,116,289||4,080,024|
||||5,893,683||5,867,643|
|**Current assets**||||||
|Stocks|20||42,514||42,514|
|Debtors|21||1,206,854||2,907,624|
|Investments|22||4,612,408||3,529,054|
|Cash at bank and in hand|||2,934,159||1,420,817|
||||8,795,935||7,900,009|
|**Liabilities**||||||
|Creditors: amounts falling due within one year|23||(922,079)||(1,001,703)|
|**Net current assets**|||**7,873,856**||**6,898,306**|
|**Total assets less current liabilities**|||**13,767,539**||**12,765,949**|
|Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year 24|||(2,104,371)||(1,601,613)|
|**Total net assets**|||**11,663,168**||**11,164,336**|
|**Funds of the charity**||||||
|**Capital funds**||||||
|Endowment funds – general|27||2,886,512||2,838,285|
|**Income funds**||||||
|Restricted funds|29||6,488,541||5,772,103|
|Unrestricted funds||||||
|General unrestricted funds|28||1,844,632||2,046,159|
|Designated reserve|28||325,626||385,395|
|Revaluation reserve|28||117,857||122,394|
|**Total charity funds**|||**11,663,168**||**11,164,336**|
The notes on pages 36 to 54 are an integral part of these financial statements. Approved by the Board of Trustees on 23[rd] July 2025 and signed on its behalf by:
[ DavDocuS132BBB98BBA6492... **i** gnedDaniels by: **D Daniels**
Chair
**P Wilson**
Treasurer
29
Docusign Envelope ID: A0449DFE-424F-4978-8DEA-47502EF91A8C
**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **Charitable Company Balance Sheet Company number: 3166339**
|**Charitable Company Balance Sheet**
**Company number: 3166339**||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||**as at**|**as at**|**as at**|**as at**|
|||**31 March**|**31 March**|**31 March**|**31 March**|
|||**2025**||**2024**||
||Note|**£**||**£**||
|**Fixed assets**||||||
|Intangible assets|15||20,468||39,285|
|Tangible assets|16||134,121||165,529|
|Heritage assets|17||1,622,805||1,582,805|
|Investments|18||4,116,391||4,080,026|
||||5,893,785||5,867,645|
|**Current assets**||||||
|Stocks|20||42,514||42,514|
|Debtors|21||1,496,020||2,950,126|
|Investments|22||4,612,408||3,529,054|
|Cash at bank and in hand|||2,756,022||1,413,716|
||||8,906,964||7,935,410|
|**Liabilities**||||||
|Creditors: amounts falling due within one year|23||(923,084)||(986,880)|
|**Net current assets**|||**7,983,880**||**6,948,530**|
|**Total assets less current liabilities**|||**13,877,665**||**12,816,175**|
|Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year 24|||(2,104,371)||(1,601,613)|
|**Total net assets**|||**11,773,294**||**11,214,562**|
|**Funds of the charity**||||||
|**Capital funds**||||||
|Endowment funds – general|27||2,886,512||2,838,285|
|**Income funds**||||||
|Restricted funds|29||6,488,541||5,772,103|
|Unrestricted funds||||||
|General unrestricted funds|28||1,954,758||2,096,385|
|Designated reserve|||325,626||385,395|
|Revaluation reserve|||117,857||122,394|
|**Total charity funds**|||**11,773,294**||**11,214,562**|
The notes on pages 36 to 54 are an integral part of these financial statements. Approved by the Board of Trustees on 23[rd] July 2025 and signed on its behalf by:
[ DavDocuS **i** gnedDaniels by:
**D Daniels**
Chair
**P Wilson**
Treasurer
30
Docusign Envelope ID: A0449DFE-424F-4978-8DEA-47502EF91A8C
**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **Consolidated Cash Flow Statement For the year ended 31 March 2025**
|**2025**|**2025**|**2024**|
|---|---|---|
|**£**||**£**|
|**Cash flows from operating activities**|||
|**Net cash provided by operating activities**|**2,308,560**|**3,032,122**|
|**Cash flows from investing activities**|||
|Investment income|382,862|265,594|
|Purchase of intangible and tangible fixed assets|(18,284)|-|
|Purchase of heritage assets|(40,000)|(148,909)|
|Net proceeds on disposal of intangible and tangible fixed|||
|assets|-|1,456|
|Purchase of investments|-|(450,000)|
|Net investment income reinvested|(36,442)|(38,950)|
|Transfer (to) short term deposit account|(1,083,354)|(2,624,238)|
|**Net cash (absorbed by) investing activities**|**(795,218)**|**(2,995,047)**|
|**Cash flows from financing activities**|-|-|
|**Increase in cash and cash equivalents in the reporting period**|**1,513,342**|**37,075**|
|Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the reporting|||
|period|1,420,817|1,383,742|
|**Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the reporting period**|**2,934,159**|**1,420,817**|
|**Reconciliation of Net (Expenditure)/Income to Net Cash Flow From**|**Operating Activities**||
|**2025**||**2024**|
|**£**||**£**|
|Net income for the reporting period|||
|(as per the statement of financial activities)|498,832|2,419,339|
|Investment income recognised in the statement of financial|||
|activities|(382,862)|(265,594)|
|Fair value gains/(losses) on investments|177|(227,358)|
|Depreciation & amortisation|68,509|60,239|
|Decrease/(increase) in debtors|1,700,770|(934,925)|
|Decrease in creditors falling due within one year|(79,624)|-|
|Increase in creditors falling due after more than one year|502,758|1,980,421|
|**Net cash provided by operating activities**|**2,308,560**|**3,032,122**|
31
Docusign Envelope ID: A0449DFE-424F-4978-8DEA-47502EF91A8C
**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **– Principal Accounting Policies Consolidated Group and Charitable Company**
## **Nature of operations and general information**
Plantlife International – The Wild Plant Conservation Charity is a private company limited by guarantee and a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102. It is incorporated and domiciled in England, the address of its registered office is Brewery House, 36 Milford Street, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP2 1AP. Plantlife’s financial statements are presented in Pounds Sterling (£), which is also the functional currency of the company. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest whole pound.
## **Basis of preparation**
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) and "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019)". The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, modified to include the revaluation of listed investments at fair value.
## **Preparation of consolidated financial statements**
The financial statements incorporate the results of Plantlife International – The Wild Plant Conservation Charity and its subsidiaries Plantlife Trading Limited and Plantlife Biodiversity Enhancements Limited, consolidated on a line by line basis. The company has taken advantage of the exemption provided by section 408 of the Companies Act 2006 not to include the Statement of Financial Activities for the charity alone. The income and expenditure dealt with in the accounts of the charitable company was a surplus of £482,580 (2024: £2,473,699).
## **Going concern**
At the time of approving the financial statements, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. The trustees therefore continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.
## **Accounting judgements and assumptions**
The preparation of financial statements under SORP (FRS 102) requires the company to make judgements and assumptions that effect the application of policies and reported amounts. Assumptions and judgements are based on historical experience and other factors including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results may differ from the estimates derived from applying those judgements and assumptions. The judgements and assumptions which have a significant impact on the carrying value of assets and liabilities are considered to be those surrounding the valuation of fixed assets including heritage assets.
The trustees do not conceive there to be any significant risk of material adjustment during the next reporting period as a result of the judgements and assumptions applied to the financial statements.
## **Charitable funds**
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives. Restricted funds are subject to specific conditions by donors as to how they may be used. The purposes and uses of the restricted funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements. Endowment funds are subject to specific conditions by donors that the capital must be maintained by the charity.
32
Docusign Envelope ID: A0449DFE-424F-4978-8DEA-47502EF91A8C
**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **Income**
Income is recognised when the charity is legally entitled to it after any performance conditions have been met, the amounts can be measured reliably, and it is probable that income will be received. Income from general donations is recognised upon receipt or once the charity has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount. Cash donations are recognised on receipt. Other donations are recognised once the charity has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount. Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid or deeds of covenant is recognised at the time of the donation.
Legacies are recognised on receipt or otherwise if the charity has been notified of an impending distribution, the amount is known, and receipt is expected, the charity operates a risk factor of 30%. If the amount is not known, the legacy is treated as a contingent asset.
Income from government and other grants is recognised at fair value when the charity has entitlement after any performance conditions have been met, it is probable that the income will be received, and the amount can be measured reliably. If entitlement is not met these amounts are deferred. Income received during the year relating to grants wholly covering periods commencing after the year end is held as deferred income.
Investment income is earned through holding assets for investment purposes. It includes dividends and interest. Income from fixed interest investments is recognised when received. Dividend income is recognised as the charity's right to receive payment is established.
Annual membership and life membership subscriptions are recognised in full on receipt as this income is in the nature of a gift. No accrual is included for the cost of providing annual or life members with future publications as, whilst the trustees expect to continue to provide this service, they believe there is no contractual requirement or expectation to do so.
## **Recognition of donated goods, facilities and services**
Donated goods, facilities and services are recognised as income when: control over the expected economic benefits that flow from the donation has passed to the charity and any performancerelated conditions attached to the donation have been fully met; it is more likely than not that the economic benefits associated with the donated item will flow to the charity; and the value to the charity of the donated item can be measured reliably.
## **Expenditure**
All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs related to the category. Expenditure is recognised where there is a legal or constructive obligation to make payments to third parties, it is probable that the settlement will be required, and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.
Grants offered subject to performance conditions are accrued when the recipient has been notified of the grant and any remaining unfulfilled conditions attaching to the grant are outside the control of the charity.
Support costs are those that assist the work of the charity but do not directly represent charitable activities and include office costs, governance costs, administrative payroll costs. Where support costs cannot be directly attributed to a particular heading, they have been allocated to cost of raising funds and expenditure on charitable activities on a basis consistent with use of the resources, according to expenditure on those activities.
## **Intangible fixed assets**
Intangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of amortisation and any impairment losses. Amortisation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets over their useful lives estimated at 3 years on a straight line basis. The gain or
33
Docusign Envelope ID: A0449DFE-424F-4978-8DEA-47502EF91A8C
**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset and is recognised in net income/(expenditure) for the year.
## **Tangible fixed assets**
Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses. Depreciation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:
Fixtures and fittings 10% and 25% straight line Office equipment 33% straight line Computer equipment 25% straight line Motor vehicles 25% straight line
The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset and is recognised in net income/(expenditure) for the year.
## **Heritage assets**
The charity acquires and maintains nature reserves in support of the charity's main objectives. The nature reserves are recorded in the Balance Sheet at cost and the Board of Trustees consider the assets to have an infinite useful life and therefore do not consider it appropriate to charge depreciation.
## **Fixed asset investments**
Cash investments are stated at cost. Listed investments are initially measured at transaction price excluding transaction costs and are subsequently measured at fair value at each reporting date. Changes in fair value are recognised in net income/(expenditure) for the year. Transaction costs are expensed as incurred.
A subsidiary is an entity controlled by the charity. Investments in subsidiaries are measured at cost less impairment.
## **Impairment of fixed assets**
At each reporting end date, the charity reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible assets to determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss. If any such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in order to determine the extent of the impairment loss (if any).
## **Stocks**
Stocks are stated at the lower of cost and estimated selling price less costs to complete and sell.
## **Cash and cash equivalents**
Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, and highly liquid bank accounts. Cash held as part of an investment portfolio is included with the investment to which it relates. Cash held in deposit accounts with a maturity of more than 90 days held for investment purposes rather than to meet short-term cash commitments as they fall due are included in current asset investments.
## **Financial instruments**
The charity has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments. Financial instruments are recognised in the charity's balance sheet when the charity becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument. Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.
## **Basic financial assets**
Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the
34
Docusign Envelope ID: A0449DFE-424F-4978-8DEA-47502EF91A8C
**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.
## **Basic financial liabilities**
Basic financial liabilities, including creditors, are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised. Debt instruments are subsequently carried at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method. Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of operations from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
## **Derecognition of financial liabilities**
Financial liabilities are derecognised when the charity’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.
## **Taxation**
The charity is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities. Taxation for the trading subsidiaries is accrued on its taxable profit.
## **Employee benefits**
The cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee’s services are received. Termination benefits are recognised immediately as an expense when the charity is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.
## **Retirement benefits**
Payments to defined contribution retirement benefit schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due.
## **Foreign exchange**
Transactions in currencies other than pounds sterling are recorded at the rates of exchange prevailing at the dates of the transactions. At each reporting end date, monetary assets and liabilities that are denominated in foreign currencies are retranslated at the rates prevailing on the reporting end date. Gains and losses arising on translation are included in net income/(expenditure) for the period.
## **Fund Accounting**
Where funds are received for a specific purpose set out by the donor or implied by the terms of appeal, these are shown as restricted income in the Statement of Financial Activities. Funds donated to be held as capital are shown as Endowment Funds. Expenditure for the purpose specified is applied against the income and any amount unexpended at the balance sheet date is shown within Restricted Funds.
General funds are unrestricted funds which are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity and which have not been designated for other purposes.
The trustees, at their discretion, may set aside funds to cover specific future costs. Such funds are shown as designated funds within unrestricted funds. Should the trustees decide such funds are no longer required for the purposes intended, they may be released by transfer to the general unrestricted funds.
35
Docusign Envelope ID: A0449DFE-424F-4978-8DEA-47502EF91A8C
**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **Notes to the Financial Statements**
## **1. Income from donations and legacies**
|**Donations and gifts**
Core funding
Reserves management
Conservation action
**Legacies receivable**
Core funding
Reserves Management
Conservation action|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total**
**2025**
**2025**
**2025**
**£**
**£**
**£**
317,231
-
317,231
33,730
-
33,730
550
1,383,980 1,384,530
**351,511** **1,383,980**
**1,735,491**
802,217
190
-
-
802,217
190
-
-
-
**802,407**
**-**
**802,407**
**1,153,918** **1,383,980**
**2,537,898**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total**
**2024**
**2024**
**2024**
**£**
**£**
**£**|
|---|---|---|
|||
542,611
100,328
642,939
6,265
68,436
74,701
2,344 1,007,436 1,009,780|
|||**551,220**
**1,176,200** **1,727,420**
626,858
-
-
-
626,858
-
-
8,020
8,020|
|||**626,858**
**8,020**
**634,878**|
|||**1,178,078**
**1,184,220** **2,362,298**|
## **2. Income from charitable activities**
|Conservation activities
Membership income|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total**
**2025**
**2025**
**2025**
**£**
**£**
**£**
177,327 3,547,329 3,724,656
1,309,961
-
1,309,961
**1,487,288** **3,547,329** **5,034,617**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total**
**2024**
**2024**
**2024**
**£**
**£**
**£**|
|---|---|---|
|||
94,542 7,320,668
7,415,210
1,186,841
-
1,186,841|
|||**1,281,383** **7,320,668** **8,602,051**|
## **3. Investment income**
|Income from listed
investments
Deposit account interest|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Endowment**
**funds**
**general**
**Total**
**2025**
**2025**
**2025**
**£**
**£**
**£**
29,587
61,064
90,651
292,211
-
292,211
**321,798**
**61,064**
**382,862**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Endowment**
**funds**
**general**
**Total**
**2024**
**2024**
**2024**
**£**
**£**
**£**|
|---|---|---|
|||
27,403
61,928
89,331
176,263
-
176,263|
|||**203,666**
**61,928**
**265,594**|
36
Docusign Envelope ID: A0449DFE-424F-4978-8DEA-47502EF91A8C
## **PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **4. Other trading activities**
Included in the consolidated accounts are the results of the active wholly owned subsidiary, Plantlife Trading Limited, which delivers a range of paid for services comprising botanical consultancy and evaluation work. Its summary statement of comprehensive income is:
|Turnover
Cost of sales
**Gross profit**
Administrative expense
Other operating income
**Operating (Loss)/Profit**
Interest payable and similar
**(Loss)/Profit before taxation**
Tax on profit on ordinary activities
**(Loss)/Profit after tax and (loss)/profit for the financial**
**year**|**Total**
**2025**
**£**
176,668
(133,843)
**42,825**
(99,098)
-
**(56,273)**
(8,964)
**(65,237)**
1554
**(63,683)**|**Total**
**2024**
**£**
113,862
(46,583)|
|---|---|---|
|||**67,279**
(117,291)
410|
|||**(49,602)**|
|||(4,758)|
|||**(54,360)**|
|||
-|
|||**(54,360)**|
## **year**
The aggregate capital and reserves for Plantlife Trading Limited at the end of the reporting period was (£110,124) (2024: £50,223).
Other trading activities income (all unrestricted) comprises of:
|Plantlife Trading Limited
Merchandise
Magazine Advertising & Publications|**Total**
**2025**
**£**
176,668
31,030
10,638|
|---|---|
||**218,336**|
## **5. Income from listed investments**
## **Permanent endowment invested on a total return basis**
The charity has exercised its rights by the trustees under section 104(A) of the Charities Act 2011 on 14 October 2017. This power permits the trustees to invest permanently endowed funds to maximise total return and therefore to apply an appropriate portion of the unapplied total return to income. The unapplied total return remains invested as part of the permanent endowment until that power is exercised. When exercised it allows the trustees to apply an appropriate portion of the unapplied total return to income each year. During the current year the trustees have transferred £nil (2024: £nil) to unrestricted income funds. In deciding this amount, the trustees considered the level of income received since adopting the total return basis and determined this approach appropriate.
37
Docusign Envelope ID: A0449DFE-424F-4978-8DEA-47502EF91A8C
**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **Permanent endowment invested on a total return basis**
|**at 31 March 2024**
Trust for investment
Unapplied total return
**Movements in the period**
Investment return – dividends and interest
Investment return – realised and unrealised gains and (losses)
Investment management fees
Unapplied total return allocated to income in the period
**Net movements in the period**
**at 31 March 2025**
Trust for investment
Unapplied total return
|**Trust for**
**investment**
**Unapplied**
**total return**
**Total**
**endowment**
**£**
**£**
**£**|
|---|---|
||1,700,000
- 1,700,000
-
1,138,285
1,138,285|
||1,700,000
1,138,285
2,838,285
-
61,064
61,064
-
4,360
4,360
-
(17,197)
(17,197)|
||-
48,227
48,227
-
-
-|
||-
48,227
48.227
1,700,000
- 1,700,000
-
1,186,512
1,186,512|
||**1,700,000**
**1,186,512**
**2,886,512**|
## **6. Costs of raising funds**
|**Raising**
**donations and**
**legacies**
Staff direct
Staff support
Other direct
Other support
Governance
**Other trading**
**activities**
**Investment**
**management**
**costs**
**Total cost of**
**raising funds**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Endowment**
**funds**
**Total**
**2025**
**2025**
**2025**
**2025**
**£**
**£**
**£**
497,985
**-**
- 497,985
5,744
**-**
-
5,744
443,478
**-**
- 443,478
24,070
**-**
-
24,070
-
**-**
-
-
**971,277**
**-**
**-**
**971,277**
**106,505**
**51,742**
**- 158,247**
**7,424**
**-**
**17,197**
**24,621**
**1,085,206**
**51,742**
**17,197 1,154,145**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Endowment**
**funds**
**general**
**Total**
**2024**
**2024**
**2024**
**£**
**£**
**£**|
|---|---|---|
|||
117,346
-
117,346
121,841
-
121,841
702,468
- 702,468
92,697
-
92,697
6,974
-
6,974|
|||
**1,041,326**
**- 1,041,326**
**105,619**
**-**
**105,619**
**6,569**
**16,409**
**22,978**|
|||
**1,153,514**
**16,409 1,169,923**|
38
Docusign Envelope ID: A0449DFE-424F-4978-8DEA-47502EF91A8C
**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **7. Charitable activities**
|**Conservation activities**
Reserves management
Conservation action
International
Share of support costs
Share of governance
costs
**Total conservation**
**activities**
**People engagement,**
**education and**
**membership**
Communicating and
educating members and
the public
Share of support costs
Share of governance
costs
**Total people**
**engagement, education**
**and membership**
**Total cost of charitable**
**activities**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total**
**2025**
**2025**
**2025**
**£**
**£**
**£**
301,106
5,890
306,996
1,072,699 3,059,274
4,131,973
127,853
-
127,853
1,501,658 3,065,164 4,566,822
40,220
762,728
802,948
16,968
-
16,968
**1,558,846** **3,827,892** **5,386,738**
661,242
111,536
772,778
325,817
27,754
353,571
7,472
-
7,472
**994,531**
**139,290**
**1,133,821**
**2,553,377**
**3,967,182** **6,520,559**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total**
**2024**
**2024**
**2024**
**£**
**£**
**£**|
|---|---|---|
|||
276,447
100,010
376,457
692,085 5,029,037
5,721,122
82,877
20,000
102,877|
|||
1,051,409
5,149,047 6,200,456
278,104
359,310
637,414
9,040
11,680
20,720|
|||**1,338,553** **5,520,037** **6,858,590**|
|||
756,476
157,048
913,524
197,963
-
197,963
6,435
-
6,435|
|||**960,874**
**157,048**
**1,117,922**|
||||
|||**2,299,427** **5,677,085**
**7,976,512**|
39
Docusign Envelope ID: A0449DFE-424F-4978-8DEA-47502EF91A8C
**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **8. Grant making activities**
**Activities Grant Total Total undertaken funding of directly activities to institutions 2025 2025 2025 2024 £ £ £ £** Biodiversity enhancement programme 1,359 1,257,711 1,259,070 3,692,808 **1,359 1,257,711 1,259,070 3,692,808** Material grants to institutions made this year were:
|Payments made in the year
Accruals for future payments due
Revaluation of future payments due|**Forder**
**Farm**
**Yelland**
**Farm**
**Higher**
**Hurston**
**Farm**
**Sleight-**
**holmedale**
**Holnest**
**Farm**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**|
|---|---|
||-
-
499,579
255,375
14,564
76,730
92,882
139,431
179,513
-
-
-
-|
||**14,564**
**76,730**
**92,882**
**639,010**
**434,888**|
## **9. Support costs**
|Staff costs
Other support
Governance costs
**Analysed between**
Fundraising
Charitable activities|**Support**
**costs**
**Governance**
**costs**
**Total**
**2025**
**2025**
**2025**
**£**
**£**
**£**
636,558
636,558
549,776
549,776
24,440
24,440
**1,186,334**
**24,440**
**1,210,774**
29,814
29,814
1,156,520
24,440
1,180,960
**1,186,334**
**24,440**
**1,210,774**|**Support**
**costs**
**Governance**
**costs**
**Total**
**2024**
**2024**
**2024**
**£**
**£**
**£**|
|---|---|---|
|||
596,271
596,271
453,644
453,644
34,129
34,129|
|||**1,049,915**
**34,129** **1,084,044**|
|||
214,538
6,974
221,512
835,377
27,155
862,532|
|||**1,049,915**
**34,129** **1,084,044**|
40
Docusign Envelope ID: A0449DFE-424F-4978-8DEA-47502EF91A8C
**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **10. Donated goods, facilities and services**
In the prior year, on 29 August 2023 the trustees of The Woodmeadow Trust (charity number 1151831, company number 000376) (“WmT”) elected to transfer the assets, transfer or assign leases and transfer the intellectual property rights of the WmT to Plantlife, having determined that its objects would be more effectively fulfilled by the said transfers. Having established that the objects of the WmT were aligned with those of Plantlife, the trustees of Plantlife agreed to accept and carry on certain of the WmT’s assets and activities.
The assets donated to Plantlife as a result of this combination were:
|**Asset**|**Description**|**Accounting**|**Valuation**|**Valuation**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||**treatment**|**method**||
|Goodwill|||No value|Nil|
||||assigned||
|Leasehold|Land known as Three|New lease agreed|Lease terms|Pepper-|
|properties|Hagges Woodmeadow|between landowner||corn|
|||and Plantlife.|||
|Fixed & moveable|Polytunnel|Addition to|Net book value|£72,394|
|assets|Cabin & fixtures|Plantlife’s fixed|on date of||
||Golf buggy|assets as a|transfer||
||Buggy container|donation.|||
||Tractor|Depreciation in line|||
||Shipping container|with Plantlife’s|||
|||policy.|||
|Restricted funds|Three ongoing grant|Restricted donation|Unspent|£33,098|
|and benefit of the|funded projects.||balances of||
|grant contracts|||project funding||
|Business names|Woodmeadow Trust|n/a|No value|NIL|
||||assigned||
|Business|Subject to privacy policies,|n/a|No value|NIL|
|information|access to lists of||assigned||
||benefactors, members,||||
||supporters and ongoing||||
||funding initiatives||||
|Business intellectual|Registered and|n/a|No value|NIL|
|property rights|unregistered trademarks.||assigned||
||Web domain name and||||
||social media accounts.||||
|Third party rights||n/a|No value|NIL|
||||assigned||
Plantlife undertook to employ 4 members of WmT staff, initially for a fixed transition period of six months, extending to permanent contracts. WmT volunteers continue their activities at Three Hagges Woodmeadow. Their contribution is included with Plantlife’s volunteer figures for the year.
At 31 March 2025 the WmT has been fully dissolved, and all remaining cash balances held by WmT have been donated to Plantlife.
41
Docusign Envelope ID: A0449DFE-424F-4978-8DEA-47502EF91A8C
## **PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **11. Net movement in funds**
|**Net movement in funds is stated after charging:**
Fees payable to the company’s auditor for the audit of the financial
statements
Depreciation of owned tangible assets
Amortisation of owned intangible assets
Operating lease charges|**2025**
**2024**
**£**
**£**|
|---|---|
||23,375
21,600
49,692
43,216
18,817
17,023
37,382
42,245|
## **12. Employees and staff costs**
The average number of full-time equivalent employees in the year was:
|Charitable activities
Generating funds
Management and administration|**2025**
**2024**
**number**
**number**|
|---|---|
||63
53
11
9
12
11|
||**86**
**73**|
The average number of staff on a head count basis in the year was 97 (2024: 83).
The aggregate remuneration comprises:
|Wages and salaries
Social security
Pensions
Ex-gratia payments|**2025**
**2024**
**£**
**£**|
|---|---|
||3,152,480
2,580,938
310,927
245,662
177,230
138,187
-
3,784|
||**3,640,637**
**2,968,571**|
The key management personnel of the charity comprise the trustees and the senior management team. The aggregate employee benefit received by Plantlife’s key management personnel was £352,608 (2024: £371,303). None of the trustees received any remuneration or other benefits from Plantlife.
At the period end £22,965 (2024: £nil) of pension contributions had yet to be paid over by the charity.
The number of higher paid employees was:
|£60,001 - £70,000
£70,001 - £80,000
£90,001 - £100,000
£110,001 - £120,000|**2025**
**2024**
**Number**
**number**
1
2
2
-
1
-
-
1|
|---|---|
42
Docusign Envelope ID: A0449DFE-424F-4978-8DEA-47502EF91A8C
**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **13. Net (losses)/gains on investments**
|Revaluation of
investments|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Endowment**
**funds**
**general**
**Total**
**2025**
**2025**
**2025**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**(4,537)**
**4,360**
**(177)**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Endowment**
**funds**
**general**
**Total**
**2024**
**2024**
**2024**
**£**
**£**
**£**|
|---|---|---|
|||**67,963**
**159,395**
**227,358**|
## **14. Taxation**
No corporation tax has been accrued for Plantlife Trading Limited as there was a loss in the financial year. Included is a £1,554.20 refund for corporation tax paid previously, still to be paid over by HMRC.
## **15. Intangible fixed assets** - Group and Charitable Company
|**Cost**
At 1 April 2024
Additions
Disposals
**At 31 March 2025**
**Depreciation**
At 1 April 2024
Charge for the year
Disposals
**At 31 March 2025**
**Net book value**
**as at 31 March 2025**
as at 31 March 2024|**Website**
**Total**
**£**
**£**|
|---|---|
||56,452
56,452
-
-
-
-|
||**56,452**
**56,452**|
||17,167
17,167
18,817
18,817
-
-|
||**35,984**
**35,984**|
||**20,468**
**20,468**|
||39,285
39,285|
43
Docusign Envelope ID: A0449DFE-424F-4978-8DEA-47502EF91A8C
**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **16. Tangible fixed assets** - Group and Charitable Company
|**Cost**
At 1 April 2024
Additions
Disposals
**At 31 March 2025**
**Depreciation**
At 1 April 2024
Charge for the year
Disposals
**At 31 March 2025**
**Net book value**
**as at 31 March 2025**
as at 31 March 2024|**Fixtures and**
**fittings**
**Computer**
**equipment**
**Motor**
**vehicles**
**Total**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**|
|---|---|
||116,874
116,098
59,069
292,041
-
18,284
-
18,284
-
-
-|
||**116,874**
**134,382**
**59,069**
**310,325**|
||50,209
47,249
29,054
126,512
9,328
28,754
11,610
49,692
-
-|
||**59,537**
**76,003**
**40,664**
**176,204**|
||**57,337**
**58,379**
**18,405**
**134,121**|
||66,665
68,849
30,015
165,529|
## **17. Heritage assets** - Group and Charitable Company
|**Cost**
At 1 April 2024
Additions
Disposals
**At 31 March 2025**
**Depreciation**
At 1 April 2024
Charge for the year
Disposals
**At 31 March 2025**
**Net book value**
**as at 31 March 2025**
as at 31 March 2024|**Nature**
**Reserves**
**Total**
**£**
**£**|
|---|---|
||1,582,805
1,582,805
40,000
40,000
-
-|
||**1,622,805**
**1,622,805**|
||-
-
-
-
-
-|
||**-**
**-**|
||**1,622,805**
**1,622,805**|
||1,582,805
1,582,805|
Heritage assets represent Nature Reserves and are recorded in the Balance Sheet at cost. In the year to 31 March 2025, there were additions to heritage assets totalling £40,000.
44
Docusign Envelope ID: A0449DFE-424F-4978-8DEA-47502EF91A8C
**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **Acquisition**
The ownership of nature reserves is to be undertaken with direct reference to the fulfilment of at least one of Plantlife’s strategic objectives. To be considered for acquisition, acceptance or retention, a strong case from any one of the three following criteria must be met:
- To deliver a strategic and long-term contribution to the conservation of rare and
- threatened plants or fungi species, communities and assemblages where this cannot practically be achieved by means other than land acquisition.
- To provide a means through which we are better able to influence the management
- of landscapes that are of strategic importance to Plantlife (principally those within IPAs).
- To generate active support for Plantlife and plant conservation through face-to-face
- engagement with the public and provision of an inspirational visitor experience.
In all cases the area of the land should be considered. An area greater than 50 hectares is preferable, but small, critically important sites may be of interest dependent on other criteria measures. In situations where a parcel of land contributes or is contiguous to existing protected areas or links such areas, a smaller hectarage will be more acceptable.
Where Plantlife is acquiring the land, independent professional advice should be obtained in respect of the value of the land and the price being charged. Payment of a premium may be acceptable for land of critical botanical importance.
In all cases the on-going financial and human resource commitment required to manage the land must be taken into consideration.
If the proposed acquisition is instrumental in engaging a new or broad audience with a particular focus on meeting our equality, diversity and inclusion objectives Plantlife may from time-to-time compromise on the quality of the conservation potential.
## **Disposal**
Plantlife views its reserves as being held in perpetuity for the benefit of all Plantlife members and the public as places to see and enjoy wild plants and to protect and conserve the wild plant interests at each site. Plantlife has no plans to dispose of any of its reserves but if required to do so through, for example, compulsory purchase orders, would seek to ensure that similar or better standards of management and preservation were required of the new owners.
45
Docusign Envelope ID: A0449DFE-424F-4978-8DEA-47502EF91A8C
**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **18. Fixed asset investments**
## Group
|**Cost or valuation**
At 1 April 2024
Additions
Valuation changes
Disposals
Dividend and interest income net of fees
**At 31 March 2025**
**Carrying amount**
**as at 31 March 2025**
as at 31 March 2024
Listed investments at fair value comprise:
UK fixed interest
Overseas fixed interest
UK equities
International equities
Property
Alternative assets|**Listed**
**investments**
**Cash and**
**settlement**
**pending**
**Total**
**£**
**£**
**£**|**Listed**
**investments**
**Cash and**
**settlement**
**pending**
**Total**
**£**
**£**
**£**|
|---|---|---|
||4,001,186
78,838
4,080,024
733,435
(733,435)
-
26,030
(26,207)
(177)
(679,359)
679,359
-
36,442
36,442||
||**4,081,292**
**34,997**
**4,116,289**||
||**4,081,292**
**34,997**
**4,116,289**||
||4,001,186
78,838
4,080,024||
|||**2025**
**2024**
**£**
**£**|
|||480,857
498,754
133,171
132,135
322,446
323,245
2,669,775
2,510,966
110,825
178,868
364,218
357,218|
|||**4,081,292**
**4,001,186**|
The investment consists of two funds: Unrestricted £1,229,777 (2024: £1,241,738); and Permanent Endowment Fund £2,886,512 (2024: £2,838,285).
## Charitable Company
In addition to the group investments detailed above, the charitable company also owns 2 ordinary shares of £1 representing 100% of the issued share capital of Plantlife Trading Limited, and 100 ordinary shares of £1 representing 100% of the issued share capital of Plantlife Biodiversity Enhancements Limited. See also note 33.
46
Docusign Envelope ID: A0449DFE-424F-4978-8DEA-47502EF91A8C
**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **19. Financial instruments**
## **Carrying amount of financial instruments**
|Financial assets
Investments
Trade debtors
Cash at bank and in
hand
Financial liabilities
Creditors due within one
year
Creditors due after more
than one year|**Group**
**Measured at**
**Total 2025** **Total 2024**
Amortised
Cost
Fair Value
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
- 4,612,408 4,612,408 3,529,054
122,374
-
122,374 2,099,136
2,934,159
-
2,934,159
1,420,817
(922,079)
- (922,079) (1,001,702)
- (2,104,371) (2,104,371) (1,601,613)|**Charitable Company**
**Total 2025** **Total**
**2024**
**£**
**£**|
|---|---|---|
|||
4,612,408 3,529,054
77,911 2,015,056
2,756,022
1,413,716
(923,084) (986,880)
(2,104,371) (1,601,613)|
All financial assets and financial liabilities qualify as basic financial instruments.
## **Valuation methods applied**
Investments are valued at the current value of invested funds.
Creditors due after more than one year are valued at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest for a similar debt instrument as determined at initial recognition.
**Income and expenses measured at fair value through the statement of financial activities** Group and charitable company
|**Financial Assets**
Investments
Balance at 1 April
Interest recognised in the statement of financial activities
Investments made
Investments withdrawn
**Financial Liabilities**
Creditors due after more than one year
Balance at 1 April
Revaluation recognised in the statement of financial
activities
Liability recognised at fair value in the statement of financial
activities|**2025**
**£**|**2024**
**£**|
|---|---|---|
||3,529,054
56,824
2,109,530
(1,083,000)
**4,612,408**
(1,601,613)
363
(503,121)
**(2,104,371)**|904,816
41,238
2,683,000
(100,000)|
|||**3,529,054**|
|||(92,451)
(10,953)
(1,498,209)|
|||**(1,601,613)**|
|||47|
Docusign Envelope ID: A0449DFE-424F-4978-8DEA-47502EF91A8C
**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **20. Stock** - Group and Charitable Company
During the year ended 31 March 2017 the charity entered into an agreement to acquire a flock of 426 sheep. The charity owns the sheep and has provided them to a farmer for the purpose of grazing the land on a nature reserve. The flock retains its value at £42,514 (2024: £42,514).
## **21. Debtors**
|Trade debtors
Other debtors
Prepayments and accrued income
Amounts owed by subsidiary
undertakings|**Group**
**2025**
**2024**
**£**
**£**
122,374
2,099,136
744,988
562,249
339,492
246,239
-
-
**1,206,854**
**2,907,624**|**Charitable Company**
**2025**
**2024**
**£**
**£**|
|---|---|---|
|||77,911
2,015,056
744,988
563,866
339,492
246,239
333,629
124,965|
|||**1,496,020**
**2,950,126**|
All amounts are receivable within one year from the balance sheet date. Included within other debtors are grants receivable of £382,322 (2024: £411,166) and legacies receivable of £362,266 (2024: £129,242).
## **22. Current asset investments** - Group and Charitable Company
|Unlisted investments|**2025**
**2024**
**£**
**£**|
|---|---|
||**4,612,408**
**3,529,054**|
## **23. Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year**
|Trade creditors
Accruals for grants payable
Accruals and deferred income
Social security and other taxes
Other creditors|**Group**
**2025**
**2024**
**£**
**£**
140,630
139,811
499,579
499,579
181,203
275,860
76,896
69,249
23,771
17,204
**922,079**
**1,001,703**|**Charitable Company**
**2025**
**2024**
**£**
**£**|
|---|---|---|
|||136,748
130,369
499,579
499,579
176,301
271,510
76,896
68,219
33,560
17,203|
|||**923,084**
**986,880**|
Accruals and deferred income includes £nil (2024: nil) in respect of deferred incoming resources.
48
Docusign Envelope ID: A0449DFE-424F-4978-8DEA-47502EF91A8C
**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **24. Creditors: Amounts falling due after more than one year** - Group and Charitable Company
|Grant payments due|**2025**
**2024**
**£**
**£**|
|---|---|
||2,104,371
1,601,613|
||**2,104,371**
**1,601,613**|
Grant payments due comprise amounts in relation to the biodiversity improvement programme and are expected to be paid according to the following profile:
|**Expected date of payment**
Due later than one year and
not later than five years
Due later than five years and
not later than ten years
Due later than ten years|**Future Cash**
**Payments**
**Due**
**Present Value of**
**Future Cash**
**Payments Due**
**2025**
**2025**
**£**
**£**
834,814
716,711
2,169,207
1,387,660
-
-
**3,004,021**
**2,104,371**|**Future Cash**
**Payments**
**Due**
**Present Value of**
**Future Cash**
**Payments Due**
**2024**
**2024**
**£**
**£**
1,198,384
1,056,997
698,805
516,383
46,575
28,233|
|---|---|---|
|||**1,943,764**
**1,601,613**|
## **25. Government grants**
The charity received grants from government, government agencies and similar bodies both local and national for conservation projects to the sum of £2,918,217 (2024: £2,221,436).
## **26. Retirement benefit schemes**
The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme for all qualifying employees. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charity in an independently administered fund. The charge to profit or loss in respect of defined contribution schemes was £177,230 (2024: £138,187).
49
Docusign Envelope ID: A0449DFE-424F-4978-8DEA-47502EF91A8C
**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **27. Endowment funds** - Group and Charitable Company
Endowment funds represent assets which must be held permanently by the charity. Income arising on the endowment funds can be used in accordance with the objects of the charity and is included as unrestricted income. Any capital gains or losses arising on the assets form part of the fund.
|Balance at 1 April 2023
Movement in funds
Incoming resources
Resources expended
Transfers
Revaluations gains and losses
**Balance at 31 March 2024**
Movement in funds
Incoming resources
Resources expended
Transfers
Revaluations gains and losses
**Balance at 31 March 2025**|**Permanent**
**endowments**
**£**|
|---|---|
||2,633,371
61,928
(16,409)
-
159,395|
||**2,838,285**|
||61,064
(17,197)
-
4,360|
||**2,886,512**|
An amount of £700,000 was donated to Plantlife in 1992 by an anonymous donor and an amount of £1,221,575 was donated to Plantlife in 2010 also by an anonymous donor. The gifts were made to the charity on condition that they be held as permanent endowment, the income from which is to be applied to fund the activities of the charity. From 14 October 2017 the permanent endowment has been managed on a total return basis. Refer to note 5 for more information.
50
Docusign Envelope ID: A0449DFE-424F-4978-8DEA-47502EF91A8C
## **PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **28. Unrestricted funds**
The income funds of the charity and trading subsidiaries include unrestricted funds comprising the following unexpended balances:
## **Investment**
## **valuation**
|Balance at 1 April 2023
Movement in funds
Incoming resources
Resources expended
Revaluation gains and
losses
Taxation
**Balance at 31 March 2024**
Movement in funds
Incoming resources
Resources expended
Transfers
Revaluation gains and
losses
**Balance at 31 March 2025**|**General fund**
**reserve**
**Designated For:**
**Total**
**Systems &**
**capacity**
**development**
**Green**
**finance**
**initiative**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**|
|---|---|
||2,667,721
54,431
395,174
50,000
3,167,326
2,771,600
-
-
-
2,771,600
(3,393,162)
-
(59,779)
-
(3,452,941)
-
67,963
-
-
67,963
-
-
-
-
-|
||**2,046,159**
**122,394**
**335,395**
**50,000**
**2,553,948**|
||3,181,340
-
-
-
3,181,340
(3,628,814)
-
(9,769)
-
(3,638,583)
245,947
-
-
(50,000)
195,947
-
(4,537)
-
-
(4,537)|
||**1,844,632**
**117,857**
**325,626**
-
**2,288,115**|
The investment valuation reserve values unrestricted investments at fair value. Changes in value from initial cost are reflected in the investment valuation reserve.
The trustees have designated certain unrestricted funds for specific purposes. An amount has been assigned to fund the ongoing development of Plantlife’s operational systems and capacity, including the strengthening of our IT systems and capability. The trustees agreed to undesignate the £50,000 for green finance as these goals are being met through other funding.
Transfers represent the net effect of Plantlife’s contribution from unrestricted reserves to restricted projects where there is a deficit or match funding is required, releasing several spent restricted funds into unrestricted, and a £3,781 adjustment to PTL’s final balance from 2023/24.
51
Docusign Envelope ID: A0449DFE-424F-4978-8DEA-47502EF91A8C
## **PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **29. Restricted funds** - Group and Charitable Company
The income funds of the charity include restricted funds comprising the following unexpended balances of donations and grants held on trust for specific purposes:
|Balance at 1
April 2023
Movement in
funds
Incoming
resources
Resources
expended
**Balance at 31**
**March 2024**
Movement in
funds
Incoming
resources
Resources
expended
Transfers
**Balance at 31**
**March 2025**|**Nature**
**reserves**
**Land**
**purchasing**
**fund**
**Ranscombe**
**Farm**
**Reserves**
**management**
**Biodiversity**
**enhancement**
**programme**
**Conservation**
**action**
**Total**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**|
|---|---|
||1,167,532
121,019
225,000
29,545
603,624
797,580 2,944,300
-
-
-
75,755
5,728,590
2,700,543 8,504,888
-
-
-
(100,010) (3,692,808)
(1,884,267) (5,677,085)|
||**1,167,532**
**121,019**
**225,000**
**5,290**
**2,639,406**
**1,613,856**
**5,772,103**|
||-
178,055
-
-
1,909,530
2,843,724
4,931,309
-
(2,890)
-
(30,290)
(1,259,070)
(2,726,674) (4,018,924)
40,000(65,000)
-
25,000
-
(195,947)
(195,947)|
||**1,207,532**
**231,184**
**225,000**
**-**
**3,289,866**
**1,534,959**
**6,488,541**|
## **Nature reserves**
A total of 24 nature reserves are owned or leased by Plantlife. The purchase of nature reserves is funded by grants, sponsorship monies and private and public donations. Funds raised for specific reserves have been set against the full cost of land purchase, with any surplus allocated to management or general land purchase funds, within the terms of the appeal.
## **Land purchasing fund**
This fund comprises monies dedicated to land purchase received via public appeal or legacy that has not yet been spent. £40k of the money raised from the Ryewater appeal was transferred to nature reserves upon purchase of the land, and £25k to reserves management.
## **Ranscombe Farm**
Ranscombe Farm was acquired by Medway Council in 2004. Medway Council wished to establish the site as a form of country park and Plantlife wished to secure ownership and management of the site to conserve the rare plants there. It was agreed that Plantlife would acquire the freehold to 44 hectares for the consideration of £225,000 and the leasehold to the remaining 185 hectares for a period of 25 years at a cost of £1.00 per annum. The restricted fund comprises the monies raised for the freehold purchase.
## **Biodiversity enhancement programme**
Working on our own reserves and in partnership with other landowners, this project aims to achieve considerable improvements to the biodiversity of various sites through the implementation of long-term management interventions.
52
Docusign Envelope ID: A0449DFE-424F-4978-8DEA-47502EF91A8C
## **PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **Conservation action**
Plantlife's conservation action programmes receive grants raised from government agencies, charitable trusts and income from specific appeals.
## **30. Analysis of net assets between funds**
Fund balances are represented by:
|Balance at 31 March
2024
Unrestricted funds
Restricted funds
Endowment fund
**Total**
**Balance at 31 March**
**2025**
Unrestricted funds
Restricted funds
Endowment fund
**Total**|**Intangible**
**assets**
**Tangible**
**assets**
**Heritage**
**assets**
**Investments** **Current**
**assets/**
**(liabilities)**
**Creditors:**
**amounts**
**due after**
**more than**
**one year**
**Total**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**|
|---|---|
||39,285 165,529
190,273
1,241,739
917,122
- 2,553,948
-
- 1,392,532
- 5,981,184 (1,601,613) 5,772,103
-
-
-
2,838,285
-
- 2,838,285|
||**39,285** **165,529** **1,582,805** **4,080,024** **6,898,306** **(1,601,613)** **11,164,336**|
||20,467
134,121
190,273
1,229,777
713,477
- 2,288,115
-
- 1,432,532
- 7,160,380 (2,104,371) 6,488,541
-
-
-
2,886,512
-
- 2,886,512|
||**20,467**
**134,121** **1,622,805**
**4,116,289** **7,873,857** **(2,104,371)** **11,663,168**|
## **31. Operating lease commitments**
The total future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases in respect of property and office equipment are as follows:
|Expiring not later than one year
Expiring later than one year and not later than five years
Expiring later than five years|**2025**
**2024**
**£**
**£**|
|---|---|
||42,245
42,245
39,882
82,127
-
-|
||**82,127**
**124,372**|
The total leasing costs during the year were £37,382 (2024: £42,245.)
## **32. Related party disclosures**
Neither the trustees nor any persons connected with them received any remuneration during the year (2024: nil). The travel and accommodation expenses of 6 (2024: 8) trustees to the value of £1,815.01 (2024: £1,840) were reimbursed during the year.
During the year Plantlife received donations to the value of £236.45 of which £nil were restricted (2024: £5,469 of which £5,130 were restricted) from its trustees. None of these donations contained any conditions that would, or might, require the charity to alter significantly the nature of its existing activities.
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Docusign Envelope ID: A0449DFE-424F-4978-8DEA-47502EF91A8C
**PLANTLIFE INTERNATIONAL – THE WILD PLANT CONSERVATION CHARITY Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **33. Subsidiaries**
At 31 March 2025 the charity had two subsidiaries:
Name of undertaking Plantlife Trading Limited Registered company 02742265 number Registered territory England & Wales Nature of business Other professional, scientific and technical activities not elsewhere classified Class of shares held Ordinary Percentage shareholding 100% (direct)
Name of undertaking Plantlife Biodiversity Enhancements Limited Registered company 15614364 number Registered territory England & Wales Nature of business Other professional, scientific and technical activities not elsewhere classified Class of shares held Ordinary Percentage shareholding 100% (direct)
54