UKSG
(A company limited by guarantee)
REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025
Charity number: 1093946
Company number: 04145775
CONNECTING THE KNOWLEDGE COMMUNITY
UKSG
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025
| CONTENTS | PAGES |
|---|---|
| Trustees’ Report | 2 to 16 |
| Auditor’s Report | 17 to 20 |
| Statement of financial activities and income and expenditure account | 21 |
| Balance sheet | 22 to 23 |
| Statement of cash flows | 24 |
| Notes to the financial statements | 25 to 34 |
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UKSG
TRUSTEES' ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025
Section 1:
Reference and Administrative Details of the Charity, its Trustees and Advisers
a) Charity name: UKSG
b) Charity Registration No.: 1093946
Company Registration No.: 04145775
c) Principal and Registered office: Witney Business & Innovation Centre, Windrush House, Windrush Industrial Park, Burford Road, Witney, Oxon, OX29 7DX
d) Names of the charity's trustees (who are also directors of the company) on the date the report was approved:
Jennifer Bayjoo (elected 2024)
Liam Bullingham (elected 2023)
Rob Johnson (elected 2024; Vice Chair, Chair from May 2026)
Tasha Mellins-Cohen (elected 2023; Treasurer – second year)
Bethany Logan (elected 2023)
Magaly Taylor (elected 2024)
Alison Hope (elected 2025)
Natalie Climas (elected 2026)
Donald Malanga (elected 2026)
e) Names of any others who served as a charity trustee in the financial year in question (i.e. during January to December 2025):
Katherine Rose (resigned 2025)
Charlie Rapple (resigned 2026)
Josh Sendall (resigned 2026)
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f) Staff responsible for day-to-day management:
Bev Acreman (Executive Director – full time) Vicky Drew (Events Executive – part time) Elaine Koster (Publications Associate – part time) Brian Lewis (Digital Marketing – part time, contract)
g) Other relevant organisations: Bank: The Co-operative Bank plc, 1 Balloon Street, Manchester, M4 4BE Accountant: The M Group, 4 Witan Way, Witney, Oxfordshire OX28 6FF Auditor: Just Audit & Assurance Ltd, 37 Market Square, Witney, Oxon OX28 6RE
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Section 2:
Structure, Governance and Management Public Benefit
The trustees confirm that they have complied with the requirements of section 4 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission for England and Wales.
Governing Document
UKSG is a company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital. It was incorporated on 23 January 2001 and is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association, which were updated and formally adopted in November 2024. UKSG has been registered as a charity with the Charity Commission since 26 September 2002.
UKSG is a professional interest group for the information resources community. The objects for which the company was established are laid out in the Memorandum as:
The advancement of education in the art and science of librarianship and data recall with particular reference to the management and classification of serials and similar periodicals, both nationally and internationally, and the conduct of research into the said subject, and to publish the useful results of such research.
Membership of the organisation is obtained by application to the Executive Director. Most members are corporate/institutional but there are a few memberships held by individuals. At December 31[st ] 2025, there were 405 members (December 31[st] 2024: 425) each of whom will have been requested to agree to contribute £1 in the event of the charity being wound up. UKSG does not act as an industry pressure group, its main strength being perceived as its unique function of bringing together all parties in the scholarly information communication chain.
Organisational Structure
The Board of Trustees, which is made up of a maximum of 9 members, administers the charity:
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Three Honorary Officers - Chair (automatically appointed after a term of two years as Vice Chair), Vice Chair (elected for a term of two years) and Treasurer (appointed from within Trustee membership).
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Six ordinary members, elected or co-opted.
There are a minimum of three meetings per year. Subcommittees are in place to cover Education and Events, Insights , Outreach and Engagement and the Annual Conference. Chairs of these subcommittees are elected from within the membership (with the exception of the Chair of the Conference Subcommittee who is appointed from within the Trustee membership) and are currently:
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Chair of the Education Subcommittee: Anna Franca
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Chair of the Insights Editorial Board: Jill Emery
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Chair of the Outreach and Engagement Subcommittee: Bethany Logan
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Chair of the Conference Planning Subcommittee: Josh Sendall
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Staff Structure: all staff report to Bev Acreman, Executive Director.
The organisation relies on bought-in services for the editing and hosting of Insights , and for attracting advertising and sponsorship revenue in connection with the seminars and the annual conference.
Recruitment and Appointment of Trustees
Each year all members of UKSG are invited to submit one candidate to stand for election to the Board of Trustees. The relevant information, which includes a fact sheet about the responsibilities of Trustees, is posted to our website and the link emailed to members, together with details of the organisation's AGM, held online in 2025, and at which the newly elected Board members are formally announced. Potential candidates are also discussed at meetings of the Board and on occasion a direct approach will be made to someone whom the Board considers will bring to the organisation a particularly valuable range of knowledge, experience or expertise. All Authorised Representatives within member institutions of UKSG are encouraged to cast their votes to elect Board members, a process now conducted securely online, and it is expected that those elected will have been selected for their knowledge of, enthusiasm for and commitment to the information resources industry.
Trustee Induction and Training
All those on the Board will be working within a sector of the information resources industry, be it in libraries, publishing, intermediate services, database provision, system design or consultancy, and should therefore be well equipped with a good understanding of the general environment in which UKSG operates.
New trustees benefit from informal support from the existing Trustees, and formal induction guidelines and a job description which are intended to help new trustees to feel welcome, to understand the proactive culture of UKSG, and to be able to make a positive contribution to the leadership of the organisation quickly and effectively.
Trustees are provided with access to the minutes of the Board meetings held during previous years, as well as useful reference material from the Charity Commission about the duties of Trustees. Apart from attending Board meetings, all Trustees are actively encouraged to become involved in one or more of UKSG's standard activities, for example sitting on one of the subcommittees or being involved in the planning of major events.
Decision Making
Significant items that have an impact on UKSG's governance, budget, overall mission and annual conference are always discussed at a meeting of the full Board of Trustees and, wherever possible, a decision is made based on an overall consensus. With a Board that is highly representative of the membership in terms of the different sectors represented, the Trustees are confident that major decisions are taken with the interests of the full membership as its prime focus.
Changes to the Memorandum and Articles of Association are presented to the membership at the Annual General Meeting for discussion and approval, or at an Extraordinary General Meeting. The
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annual subscription rates for members are also presented to the AGM and approved by those in attendance.
Our 2025 AGM was held online in March 2025, 39 members registered to attend (2024: 34 members).
New ideas and developments that are discussed at any of the subcommittee meetings and which are likely to have an impact on any of the factors mentioned in the first paragraph of this section are always referred to the main Board of Trustees for consideration and approval.
The strategic vision is available on the UKSG website and reflects a consultation with the membership about the organisation, its values and direction. This informs the organisation's priorities over the next few years. (See also Sections 3, 4 and 6.)
A Remuneration Subcommittee, comprising the Chair, Treasurer and Vice Chair, meets once a year to consider the performance and salaries of the organisation's employees and to approve any changes that are felt necessary.
Risk Management
UKSG reviews its Risk Management Policy annually. The associated Risk Register, managed by the Vice Chair, itemises the major areas of risk facing the organisation in fulfilling its charitable aims. Each risk is accorded a priority rating, based on the likelihood of occurrence and the severity of impact. The appropriate management responsibility and a brief description of how UKSG attempts to mitigate each risk are detailed. The retained net risk is listed, together with any further action required, and a date for review.
Each subcommittee also reviews on a regular basis the risks associated with its area of work, with new risks added when the organisation moves into new areas of activity, and risks that have become irrelevant removed.
Where appropriate, the financial risk is quantified. The single biggest risk remains the funds committed to UKSG's Annual Conference ahead of the event. We seek the appropriate insurances to cover the risk, however pandemics are specifically excluded.
Governance Code
The trustees have regard to the Charity Governance Code (2025 edition, published 3 November 2025), which the steering group recommends as best practice for charities in England and Wales. The Code is structured around eight universal principles: Foundation; Organisational Purpose; Leadership; Ethics and Culture; Decision Making; Managing Resources and Risks; Equality, Diversity and Inclusion; and Board Effectiveness.
The trustees will begin the process of reviewing their governance arrangements against the new Code and will report on progress in the 2026 Annual Report.
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Section 3:
Mission and Strategy
The mission of UKSG is: 'To connect the knowledge community and encourage the exchange of ideas on scholarly communication.’ Our vision comprises four themes – include, connect, innovate and deliver – which reflect UKSG's role as a meeting point for the scholarly communications community.
Include: UKSG will represent the diversity of the global knowledge community
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To represent all sections of our community in our activities and deliver a road map of change to resolve areas of under-representation
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To provide a voice for all members of our community from sector leaders to new entrants to our community
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To share our knowledge and expertise
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To collaborate internationally and include global perspectives
Connect: UKSG will bring together different voices and perspectives
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To provide a community of practice for professional development, exchanging ideas and sharing expertise, solutions and best practice
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To value plurality of opinions and practices, and not shy away from challenging topics
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To encourage and facilitate transparent, meaningful dialogue and constructive, respectful discussions
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To create a cross-sectoral space to enable understanding of each other’s values, perspectives and goals
Innovate: UKSG will be the forum for creating and nurturing new ideas
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To enable our members to keep pace with our changing landscape
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To identify tomorrow’s challenges and trends today
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To act as a catalyst for initiatives that benefit and develop our community
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To collaborate with other organisations to find solutions to the faultlines within our sector
Deliver: UKSG will deliver improvements to the flow of scholarly knowledge
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To support the delivery of practical solutions and not just ask questions
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To invest in initiatives and resource projects to enhance and improve our sector
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To highlight the value of scholarly communications to an enquiring society
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To be transparent about our governance, operations and finances
Conference Planning Subcommittee
The Conference Planning Subcommittee received an impressive number of high-quality proposals and is on track to deliver another outstanding programme for the 2026 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Brighton. The event will feature five Plenary Sessions addressing topical themes including, Open Access & university-led publishing, critical incident planning and resilience, EDIfocused resource lists management, digital preservation, safeguarding against academic censorship, and cyber security.
In addition, 30 breakout sessions covering a diverse range of subjects will run twice during the
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Conference, complemented by a series of lightning talks, and poster sessions scheduled alongside lunch breaks.
Over the past two years, we have successfully piloted a Workshop Series. These two-hour sessions allow delegates and facilitators to explore topics in greater depth through interactive and practical elements. Positive attendee feedback has confirmed the value of this initiative, and workshops are now a core component of the programme, continuing in 2026 and beyond. This year, members of the Conference Planning Subcommittee will actively support breakout sessions as moderators, encouraging Q&A engagement and enhancing accessibility through promoting microphone use. We remain committed to creating a welcoming environment for all delegates. To this end, we are exploring ways to increase the visibility of the Subcommittee and encourage members to connect with delegates who may appear isolated (excluding those displaying a red ‘no contact’ badge), particularly during intervals and social events.
Finally, the Chair of the Conference Planning Subcommittee and Trustee, Josh Sendall, extends sincere thanks to the Planning Subcommittee, UKSG staff, and everyone who submitted a proposal. Your contributions are vital to the success of the Conference.
Outreach & Engagement Subcommittee
The Outreach and Engagement Subcommittee focuses on raising awareness of UKSG activities and member benefits, with a view to supporting current UKSG member interests and attracting new members. The Subcommittee now comprises eight volunteers, evenly drawn from libraries, publishers and intermediaries. Plans to recruit new early career members have been paused to align with the work of the EDI working group. The group meets online three times a year to progress its programme of work, and smaller cohorts meet outside of this schedule to plan specific work packages such as the podcast and the conference awards. Over the past year, the Subcommittee successfully delivered the Merriman and Early Career conference awards, the expansion in both the number and scope for eligibility had a huge impact on applications, which were at a record high. The Subcommittee maintains its partnership with the University of Sheffield Library School, delivering a successful roadshow event to highlight the wide range of career opportunities across the sector. The podcast had 1,066 plays in the last 12 months and continues to attract positive feedback from listeners.
Education and Events Subcommittee
In addition to the Annual and One-Day Conferences, the work of the Education and Events Subcommittee is central to UKSG’s objectives of encouraging professional awareness and realising public benefit by providing a programme of affordable seminars and workshops. All seminars during 2025 took place as online events.
The events vary from introductory-level seminars aimed at those new to the information community, to intermediate and advanced seminars on specific themes for those who wish to further their professional development. The Subcommittee continues to consider new themes for seminars, in response to demand from both members and non-members as well as developing and evolving current themes. For example, seminars in 2025 included Open Access in a Time of Financial Uncertainty and Understanding Resource Discovery: Archives and Primary Sources Content.
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Although the landscape for staff development in terms of both budget and available staff time continues to be challenging, the numbers of delegates registering for our events in 2025 remained strong. Delivering seminars online increases the reach of the events across the UK regions and from non-UK delegates as well as enabling seminar speakers to be located outside of the UK.
Further details of events run in 2025 are outlined in Section 4.
The group continues to actively capture and reflect on feedback following events and it uses this information to inform future decisions concerning course development and planning.
During the course of the year there were a number of changes to the Subcommittee membership, which currently stands at 16 with a mix of representatives from libraries, publishers and technology providers. The Subcommittee meets three times per year to plan our programme of events.
UKSG is also aware of the requirements of its membership beyond the UK and the difficulties of meeting their training needs and a freely available webinar series continues to attract high numbers of registrations from both within and beyond the UK. The Webinar Officer develops a programme of online events on a range of professional topics, working in conjunction with the members of other UKSG Subcommittees to gather ideas for topics and speakers. UKSG’s Events Assistant leads the organisation of, and technical support for, the webinar programme. The registration process continues to help the Webinar Officer understand the profile of webinar participants and inform future webinar planning.
During the course of 2025 a total of 1,284 people attended a UKSG conference or seminar, and an additional 2,235 people registered for one of our four free webinars.
Insights
The journal’s aim is to disseminate news, information and publications, and raise awareness of services that support the scholarly information sector. Insights is peer-reviewed, open access and offers a mix of research articles, case studies and opinion pieces.
The journal is managed by the Insights Editorial Board. The 2024 members of the Board were Bev Acreman (UKSG), Jonathan Agbenyega (ACS), Rick Anderson (Brigham Young University), Jill Emery (Portland State University), Victoria Gardner (Wiley), Siobhan Haime (Birkbeck, University of London), Rosie Higman (The London School of Economics and Political Science), Kira Hopkins (COPIM Open Book Futures/Birkbeck, University of London), Roy Kaufman (Copyright Clearance Center), Sam Nesbit, (University of Sussex), Beth Montague-Hellen (The Francis Crick Institute) Charlie Rapple (Kudos) and Megan Taylor (Boydell and Brewer). After twelve years as joint editors or Insights with Steve Sharp (Sheffield Hallam University), Lorraine Estelle (Information Power) has announced her retirement. The Editorial Board extend their heartfelt thanks to Lorraine for her invaluable contributions to Insights and wish her all the best in her future endeavours.
Insights is a ‘diamond’ open access journal, which does not charge authors fees and is free to read. Publication costs are paid in full by UKSG. Following technological changes to our editorial practices, we published 18 articles in 2025 (2024: 19) . All of our published articles resulted in significant readership and downloads, again surpassing the engagement of previous years.
Articles continue to be well-received and with good usage, social media comments and an increasing
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amount of citations. We are extremely happy to note that over two-thirds of the articles published in 2025 were unsolicited which indicates growing recognition of Insights as an important venue for scholarly articles in the information and library science fields.
UKSG eNews
The UKSG eNews member newsletter is published every two weeks and provides up-to-the-minute news of current issues and developments within the global knowledge community, sent to more than 1,915 member contacts (2024: 2,010 contacts). The issues include an editorial, UKSG news, industry news and people news.
Section 4:
Achievement and performance
Charlie Rapple is in her second year as chair having been elected as Vice Chair in 2022.
The process for electing members to the committee for 2025/2026 saw 8 people stand for election (2024: 7).
The appointment of one successful candidate from a publisher improved a balance of representation of the different UKSG main ‘stakeholder’ groups/communities: Libraries, Publishers, and Intermediaries.
Conferences held in 2025
Annual Conference – 771 delegates attended our annual conference in person in Glasgow from 27 countries (2024: 759 delegates from 26 countries).
UKSG Forum – This is an in-person event for UKSG members (non-members pay a small fee) - 144 delegates (2024: 164)
Following declining attendance in recent years, the decision was taken to cancel our online autumn conference, UKSG Uncovered. Several of the sessions developed for this conference will instead be shared as part of the UKSG webinar programme in the 2026 calendar year.
Seminars and training events held in 2025
We ran seven seminars during 2025 (2024: six), attended by 369 delegates (2024: 457). For all the seminars that were run as online events there was an option to attend on demand rather than live, although the majority attended as live events:
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April: Licensing skills for librarians
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May: Open educational resources
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June: Introduction to e-resources
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November: Understanding resource discovery: Archives and primary sources content
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November: Usage data for decision making
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November: Understanding data visualisation
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December: Open access in a time of financial uncertainty
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Webinars held in 2025
We ran a programme of four webinars in 2025 (2024: three webinars), including presentations on SHERIF’s enhancement groups, society publishing and usage data for OA content.
Those that had registered were able to either attend the live webinar or watch a recording at a later date:
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January: SHERIF Showcase: Powering Progress with Enhancement
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February: Society Publishing at a Crossroads: Rethinking Value in Academic Publishing
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May: OA Book Usage Data Trust: An International Data Space for Usage Data and Beyond
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September: Usage metrics for OA, AI, and more: building on solid foundations
A total of over 2,235 (2024: 1,569) people registered to attend one or more of our webinars in 2025.
Recordings for the webinars are available for viewing after the event for registered delegates
Membership Support & Member Inclusion
UKSG continues to offer a wide range of benefits to its members, for example:
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UKSG eNews – a fortnightly round-up of our own news, plus that of our members and others in the sector, with guest editorials – sent to 1,915 member contacts following an exercise to clean up our mailing list (2024: 2,010 member contracts).
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Free attendance to our webinar programme
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Discounted rates for UKSG seminars and events including the annual conference
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Free student workshops
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Awards and bursaries to support attendance at various UKSG events.
Income received from membership fees and events is used responsibly by UKSG in its not-for-profit capacity for the benefit of the wider knowledge community and future generations of professionals working in scholarly communications. Still proving popular and well attended, the programme of webinars has continued to be run free of charge for everyone in the community.
The Outreach and Engagement Subcommittee is responsible for increasing UKSG’s connections with its own community.
In 2025 we provided 266 free places (2024: 389) at our events for those who are unemployed, students, early career and librarians in low-income countries.
Member Inclusion
We continued to run a series of seminar events throughout 2025 and all seminars were delivered online. Attendance across the seminar series was lower in 2025 than in 2024, but in line with longterm trends, and we continue to receive positive feedback from delegates:
“I've learned some very useful 'tricks' during the seminar that I already applied and I got a lot of inspiration about what we can do more with the usage and other types of statistics we have.”
“It was an incredibly useful course - thank you so much. I only started my new role a week before the course, so it was very timely, and equally, having had 1 week of introduction to eResources was very useful before joining the course. GoTo was fantastic (super easy to use, no headaches, yay!) and
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the pace and structure of the 2 days was great.”
UKSG continued to offer a programme of webinars in 2025 which allowed us to engage with our members both in the UK and internationally. Sessions aim to cater for all levels, running more practical and information-delivering sessions alongside opinion pieces, and providing a way for practitioners to keep up with new topics. As well as listening live, registrants can listen to a recording of the session later, giving the opportunity to reach an audience regardless of time zone.
Annual Conference
Our annual conference is the principal driver of our finances (see Section 5). In 2025 we delivered an in-person conference with 771 delegates in total (2024: 759 delegates), and a positive response rate of 92% describing the conference as “excellent” or “good” (2024: 96%). After the summer in 2025, we made all of the conference content freely available.
“Overall, I had excellent experience. It was exceptionally well-organized, intellectually enriching, and offered valuable opportunities for networking, learning, and professional growth. The sessions were relevant and thought-provoking, and the overall atmosphere was welcoming and inspiring.”
“An excellent conference - good sessions and speakers, well organised and really enjoyed the social aspects. Thank you!”
“It's always a great space to catch up on things, learn new things, meet up with colleagues that you might only see online and make connections.”
Membership benefits remain substantial in terms of discounted attendance at events, communications and more.
Previously we have reported that UKSG will embark on greater involvement and inclusion, both of a wider spread of our community and of more people within current member organisations. To that end, we continually monitor and review pricing for events and we have continued our series of free webinars that enable greater inclusion, particularly for international and underfunded members.
We are also founder members and on the steering committee for C4Disc – Coalition for Diversity and Inclusion in Scholarly Communication and Think.Check.Submit where we actively promote the education programme aimed at helping researchers find the best outlets for their work.
The remainder of this section gives more details on activities in particular areas.
To represent the diversity of the global knowledge community
UKSG has members in 33 countries (2024: 32 countries).
The Joint UKSG/NASIG John Merriman Award was granted to two professionals in non-managerial positions relating to the management of e-resources, allowing them to visit the UKSG Annual Conference and that of our sister organisation, NASIG, in the US.
UKSG is grateful to its Merriman Award sponsor, member Taylor & Francis Group, which continues to make a generous contribution toward the costs of travel, accommodation and associated expenses for the UK winner.
As part of its strategic vision launched in 2022, UKSG committed to embracing and representing the diversity of the global knowledge community in its activities and addressing areas of under-
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representation throughout the organisation.
This year we have launched a new EDI Working Group, with diverse representation from libraries, publishers, and intermediaries. Building on the audit work conducted previously by UKSG, the working group have reviewed previously identified recommendations and surfaced key themes for us to collectively take forward including data, governance, training, and community. The group has focused on the development of a new EDI award to recognise a group or individual’s commitment and excellence in EDI from our UKSG community, as well as reviewing our Board recruitment processes. We have also collaborated on an ongoing Volunteers Pathways project to ensure our UKSG committee membership is inclusive and reflects the diversity of our communities. Future actions include a refreshed EDI action plan and a tandem scoping project to collate sector good practice and relevant documentation.
To provide a community of practice for professional development, exchanging ideas and sharing expertise, solutions and best practice
Our wide range of seminars and webinars again saw strong attendance in 2025. We continue to see strong usage of the articles within Insights . Citations of Insights articles continue to grow, which is evidence of value to the wider scholarly information sector.
Marketing
Our social media presence continues to grow and have impact. The UKSG LinkedIn group has 1,638 followers (2024: 1,496), and our Facebook group has 656 followers (2024: 643). Following the decline in popularity of X amongst our membership community, UKSG chose to leave the platform in July 2025. We now have an established a presence on Bluesky with 2,200 followers (2024: 1,300) and Mastodon, with 138 followers. We have continued utilising social media to promote individual articles published within Insights to great effect.
We continue to run surveys following each event to ensure that we are meeting member needs and take any ideas for future activities into consideration. Survey data shows satisfaction is consistently high.
Membership Support and Marketing
Marketing activities continue to support UKSG's main areas of work defined by Education, Insights , Outreach and events, in particular the Annual Conference and UKSG Forum. They will also focus on priorities identified by the Trustees such as:
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Communications that reflect the inclusive, dynamic nature of UKSG and its unique role within the knowledge community.
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Engaging more with our members and publicising member benefits - for example, developments to our members-only newsletter, UKSG eNews.
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A gap analysis to try to encourage new memberships among those organisations that are not UKSG members but that regularly make use of UKSG events and webinars.
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Section 5
Financial Review Year end overview
The post of Treasurer was held by Tasha Mellins-Cohen.
Thanks to very careful financial management, we ended 2025 better than budgeted with a small surplus of £279 (2024: surplus £19,765).
The Annual Conference remains our largest source of income. The event was held in Brighton in 2025, bringing in £552,239 (2024: £552,070) against costs of £386,768 (2024: £361,765). Conference delivered a surplus £165,471 in 2025, down 13% on 2024 (£190,305) and 30% on 2023 (£235,086). Other event revenue from Seminars fell slightly in 2025, down to £30,045 from £33,114 in 2024, owing to rescheduling of education events (seminars) and the cancellation of November Conference. The Forum, which supports our long-term relevance by engaging those who are earlier in their careers, was run in Brighton in 2025. This free, in-person event ran at a deficit, subsidised by other revenue-generating activities.
Our community faced and is facing increasing financial pressures which we anticipate will have implications for UKSG. The Executive and Officers therefore created financial projections for the five years to 2030. In response to the projections, we undertook a review of Conference costs as well as registration and exhibition pricing. Other, smaller budget lines were also reviewed, with the intent of running a surplus budget for 2026 onwards.
Risk Management : We continue to spread our financial risk by holding our cash in multiple accounts; at the end of 2025, our cash at bank and in hand was £758,632 (2024: £805,022). The majority of our cash reserves remain in the CAF Charity Deposit Platform, provided by Flagstone Investment Management, which reduces the administrative overhead of running multiple bank accounts and maximises the interest earned on our cash reserves.
Financial Control and Investment Policy : Our finances are managed in line with our Financial Control and Investment Policy, which was adopted at a Trustees meeting held on the 4 December 2022. The policy codifies our approach to financial management and reflects our primary investment objectives of maintaining liquidity and minimising risk and a secondary objective of minimising the impact of inflation on the value of our cash reserves.
Reserves Policy : our Reserves Policy was last discussed in detail at a Trustees meeting held on the 16 June 2025. It requires us to hold sufficient reserves to cover 80% of the costs of the annual conference (£309,414 based on 2025 outcomes) plus 35% of our operating costs (£82,353). This requirement was exceeded throughout the year. Trustees agreed to spend down some of the excess reserves during 2027, in activities designed to bolster our community during our 50th anniversary year.
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Section 6:
Future Plans
UKSG is fortunate to be able to rely on so many willing volunteers, as well as on the dedication of its paid staff – Bev Acreman, UKSG Executive Director, Vicky Drew (Events Executive), Brian Lewis (Digital Communications Associate), Elaine Koster (Publications Associate), and others who carry out specialised tasks for the group.
For 2026 the Education and Events Subcommittee plans to:
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Continue with our programme of one-day seminars on a range of topics, including a new event focused on licensing skills for librarians (previously delivered by Jisc).
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Commence planning for a series of regional events to celebrate UKSG’s 50[th] anniversary throughout 2027
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Grow the Subcommittee membership with a call for new group members.
For 2026 the Insights Editorial Board plans to:
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Engage an equitable process to find a new co-editor to onboard, with Lorraine Estelle stepping down as Co-Editor. (ongoing)
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Continue to develop our internal Publications Manual to help with onboarding of new editorial board Members and develop a public webpage regarding editorial work with Insights.
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Continue to build on our increasing rate of unsolicited submissions to the journal.
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Begin the groundwork for the UKSG anniversary special issue led by Lorraine Estelle.
For 2026 the Outreach and Engagement Subcommittee plans to:
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Expand the scope of the podcast to bring in more mid-career voices with a focus on collaborative working and learning from peers.
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Grow podcasting and marketing skills to enhance the impact of the podcast, while also offering valuable development opportunities for volunteers.
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Put out a shared call for new volunteers with the Education Committee, utilising the EDI Committees recommendations for inclusive recruitment.
Section 7:
Audit
The audit of the 2025 accounts was successfully completed by Just Audit & Assurance Ltd, who are pleased to continue as auditors for the year ended 31 December 2026.
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UKSG STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES AND INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025 Notgs Restricted Funds Unrg$tri¢tgd Funds Total Total Funds 2025 Funds 2024 INCOME Income from grants Income from charitable activities 12,000 643,973 645,762 645,762 Income from generated funds.. Investment income 16,997 16,997 17,717 Total income 662,759 662,759 673,690 EXPENDITURE Charitable aclimlies 626,643 626,643 615,542 Governance costs 35,837 35,837 38,383 Total expenditure 662,480 662,480 653,925 NET INCOME 279 279 19,765 Reconciliation of funds Total funds brought forward 15 618,963 618,963 599,198 Total funds carried forward 15 619,242 619,242 618,963 The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities. 21
UKSG BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2025 Notes 2025 2024 FIXED ASSETS Intangible assets 16,460 25,423 CURRENT ASSETS Debtors Cash at bank and in hand 10 16 213,406 758,632 224,011 805,022 972,038 1,029,033 CREDITORS.. Amounts falling due within one year 11 369,256 435,493 NET CURRENT ASSETS 602,782 593,540 NET ASSETS 619,242 618,963 FUNDS OF THE CHARITY: Unreslricled income funds Restricted income funds 14&15 14&15 619,242 618,963 619,242 618,963 22-
UKSG BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2025 These accounts have been prepared and delivered in accordance with the special provisions relating lo small companies within Part 15 of Ihe Companies Act 2006 and with the Financial Reporting Standard 102 Section 1A smaller entities. The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for ensuring that the company keeps accounting records which comply with section 386 and for preparing accounts which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company as al the end of the financial year and of ils surplus or deficit for the financial year in accordance with the requirements of sections 394 and 395 and which otherwise comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 relating lo accounts, so far as applicable lo the company. Signed on behalf of the board of trustees Rob Johnson Trustee - Chair Date approved by the board.. 4 August 2026 23-
UKSG STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025 Notgs 2025 2024 Cash flows from operating activities Net income for the reporting period las per the SOFA) 279 19,765 Movements in working capital Decrease in debtors (Decrease) l increase in creditors Amortisalion of intangible assets 10,605 {66,2371 8,963 15,203 72,717 1,494 Net cash generated by operating activities {46,6691 89,414 Cash flows from investing activities Payments lo acquire intangible assets {16,3491 Net cash used in investing activities {16,3491 Cash flows from financing activities Repayment of borrowings {24,9441 Net cash used in financing activities {24,9441 Net {decreasel l increase in cash and cash equivalents {46,3901 67,886 Cash and cash equlvalents at the beglnnlng of the year 16 805,022 737,136 Cash and cash equlvalents at the end of the year 16 758,632 805,022 -24-
UKSG NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025 GENERAL INFORMATION UKSG is a registered charity and private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. Its registered office and principal office is.. Windrush House Windrush Park Burford Road Oxon OX29 7DX The financial statements are presented in Steding, which is the functional currency of the charity. The charity has no share capital and in the event of winding-up each member is limited to £1. The charity is a public benefit entity. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES Basls of preparatlon of the flnanclal statements These financial slalements have been prepared in accordance wlh the Accounting and Reporting by Charities.. Statement of Recommended Practice applicable lo charities preparing accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard 102 Section 1A applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland IFRS 1021 leffective 1 January 20191- (Charities SORP IFRS 10211, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland IFRS 1021. They also comply with the Companies Act 2006 and Charities Act 2011. Golng concern The Trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the Charitls ability lo continue as a going conrn nor any significant areas of UnrtaInty that affect the carrying value of assets held by the charity. Ample reserves are held to meet the minimum funding obligations. 25-
UKSG NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025 STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTING POLICIES {continued...) Incoming resources Charitable trading activities Income from conference and seminar event admission charges is included in incoming resources in the period in which the relevant event lakes pla. Income from membership subscriptions is included in incoming resources for the pericé in which the membership occurs. Grant income Income from donations and grants, including capital grants, is included in incoming resources when these are receivable, except as follows.. When donors specrfy that donations and grants given to the charity must be used in future accounting periods, the income is deferred until those periods. When donors impose conditions which have to be fulfilled before the charity becomes entitled lo use such income, the income is deferred and not included in incoming resources until the pre-conditions for use have been met. When donors spectfy that donations and grants, including capital grants. are for particular restricted purposes. which do not amount lo pre-conditions regarding entillemenl, this income is included in incoming resources of reslricled funds when receivable. Interest receivable Interest is included when receivable by the charity. Grants The company received total grant income of NIL in the year12024- £12,000}. Expenditure All expenditure is recognised when a liability is incurred and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs related lo that heading. They are included in the Statement of Financial Activities on an accruals basis, exclusive of VAT. Costs of charitable activities are expenses direcuy incurred in achieving the objectives of the charty- Govemance costs include those incurred in the governance of the charity and its assets and are primarily associated with conslitulional and ststulory requirements. 26-
UKSG NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025 STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued. .) Tangible fixed assets Tangible fixed assets are not capitalised and are instead written off through the income and expenditure account. Intanglble flxed assets Intangible fixed assets, other than goodwill, are slated al cost less accumulated amortisation and any accumulated impairment losses. Amortisalion is calculated on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful economic life, which is generally three years. Included in intangible fixed assets is the website. It has a remaining amortisaiton period of one year and ten months and the amortisation is included under the heading for charitable activites in unreslricled funds. Financial instrurnents A financial asset or financial liability is recognised only when the entity becomes a party lo the contractual provisions of the instrument. The company only enters into basic financial instruments transactions that result in the recognition of financial assets and liabilities like trade and other accounts receivable and payable, loans from banks and other third parties. loans to related parties and investments in non-putlable ordinary shares. Basic financial assets and financial liabilities are initially recognised al transaction price and measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction. They are subsequently carried at their amortised cost using the effective interest rale method, less any provision for impairment. If the effect of the time value of money is immaterial, they are measured at cost less impairment. Basic financial assets and liabilities which are measured at cost or amortised cost are reviewed for objective impairment at each balance sheet date. If there is objective evidence of impairment. an impairment loss is recognised in the slalement of financial activities immediately. Any reversals of impairment are recognised in the statement of financial activities immediately, to the extent that the reversal does not result in a carrying amount of the financial asset or liability which exceeds what the carrwng amount would have been had the impaimienl loss not previously been recognised. Financing transactions are measured al the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. They are subsequently measured at 8mortised costs using the effective interest method. Discounting is omitted where the effect of discounting is immaterial. Debtors Short term debtors are measured at transaction price, less any impaimienl. 27-
UKSG NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025 STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTING POLICIES {continued...) Creditors Short term trade Creditors are measured at the transaction pri. Other financial liabilities, including bank loans, are measured initially al fair value, net of transaction costs, and subsequently al amortised cost. Bank borrowlngs Interest-bearing borrowings are initially recorded al fair value, net of transaction costs. Interesl-bearing borrowings are subsequently carried al amortised cost, with the difference beiween the proceeds, nel of transaction costs, and the amount due on redemption being recognised as a charge lo the Statement of Financial Activities over the period of the relevant borrowing. Interest expense is recognised on the basis of the effective interest method and is included in interest payable and similar charges. Borrowings are classified as Current liabilities unless the company has an unconditional right lo defer selllemenl of the liability for al least twelve months after the reporting dale. 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 charty and which have not been designated for other purposes. Restricted funds are funds which are to be used in accordance with specific reslriclions imposed by the donors or which have been raised by the charity for particular purposes. Designated funds are fLJnds set aside by the trustees out of unrestricted funds for specific future purposes or projects. Taxation The Charity is considered to pass the tests set out in Paragraph 1 Schedule 6 of the Finance Act 2010 and therefore il meets the definition of a charitable company for UK corporation tax purposes. Accordingly, the Charity is potentially exempl from taxation in respect of income or capital gains received within categories covered by Chapter 3 Part 11 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 or Section 256 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, to the exl8nl that such income or gains are applied exclusively to charitable purposes. 28-
UKSG NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025 STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued. .) Defined contribution pension obligation A defined contribution plan is a pension plan Ljnder which fixed contributions are paid into a pension fund and the company has no legal or conslruclive obligation lo pay further contributions even if the fund does not hold sufficient assets lo pay all employees the benefits relating lo employee service in the current and prior periods. Contributions lo defined contribution plans are recognised as an employee benefit expense when Ihey are due. If contribution payments exceed the contribution due for service, the excess is recognised as a prepayment. Al pension costs are included in unrestricted expenditure. CRITICAL ACCOUNTING ESTIMATES AND JUDGEMENTS The trustees have made key assumptions in determining the useful economic life of intangible assets. INCOMING RESOURCES The incoming resources included in the Statement of Financial Activities consist of the following sources of income.. Restricted Funds Unrestricted Funds 2025 Total 2024 Total Income from charitable activities Conference and seminar fees Subscriptions Grants and donations received Other income 582,284 54,929 582,284 54.929 585,185 56,363 12,000 2.425 8,549 8.549 645,762 645,762 655,973 Investment income Interest received 16,997 16,997 17,717 Total Income 662,759 662,759 673,690 29-
UKSG NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025 EXPENDITURE The resources expended included in the Slalement of Financial Activitr'es consist of the following sources of expenditure.. Restricted Funds Unrastrictgd Funds 2025 Total 2024 Total Charitable activities Conference expenditure Seminars expenditure Administration 386,768 13,777 226,098 386,768 13,777 226,098 362,065 21.030 232,447 626,643 626,643 615,542 Governance costs Audit of the financial statements Accountancy, bookkeeping and payroll costs Committee expenses 3,950 30,524 1,363 3,950 30,524 1,363 3,750 31,228 3,405 35,837 35,837 38,383 Total expenditure 662,480 662,480 653,925 INTANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS Website costs Cost At 1 January 2025 26,917 At 31 December 2025 26,917 Accumulated amounts written off At 1 January 2025 1,494 Charge for year 8,963 At 31 December 2025 10,457 Net book value At 1 January 2025 25,423 At 31 December 2025 16.460 30-
UKSG NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025 EMPLOYEES The average number of persons employed by the charity during the year was.. 2025 2024 Average number of employees STAFF COSTS 2025 2024 Stsff costs during the year amounted lo: Salaries Employer's National Insurance contributions Pension costs 133,851 5,819 4,875 129,105 6,833 4,918 144,545 140,856 No other Iruslee received any remuneration during the year or received other benefits from an employment with the charity or a related entity. General unpaid volunteers are also used as part of the numerous committees which help with the running of the charity. 3 trustees12024- 71 were reimbLJrsed for travel, meeting and accommodation costs and gifts to employees, lolalling £1,32312024 - £2,512}. 1 member of stsff earned in excess of £80,000 bul less than £90,000 during the year12024 - 1 in excess of £70,000 bul less than £80,000). RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS During the year there have been no related party transactions in the reporting period that require disclosure other than that disclosed in note 8. 31
UKSG NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025 10 DEBTORS 2025 2024 Trade debtors Prepayments and accrued income Other debtors 50,884 162,522 71.224 152,611 176 213,406 224,011 Included within prepayments and accrued income are amounts considered to be due afler more than one year of £29,15412024 - £11,272) in relation to conference venue deposits. 11 CREDITORS: amounts falling due within one year 2025 2024 Trade Creditors Taxation and social security Accruals Deferred income 20,088 33,404 15,475 300,289 74,298 34,744 11,669 314.782 369.256 435.493 12 DEFERRED INCOME The provision for deferred income of £300,289 is for income relating to 2026 received in 2025. In the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2024, £314,782 was deferred and has been released in the current year. 13 COMMITMENTS Amounts falling due next year under licences for land and buildings.. 2025 2024 Expiring in less than one year 7,420 7.420 7,420 7.420 Lease payments of £12,72012024- £11,388} in relation lo licences for land and buildings have been recognised as an expense in the statement of financial activites in the year. 32-
UKSG NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025 14 ANALYSIS OF ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS Restricted Funds Unrestricted Funds 2025 Total 2024 Total Intangible assets Debtors Cash at bank and in hand Current liabilities 16,460 213,406 758,632 1369,2561 16,460 213,406 758,632 {369,2561 25,423 224,011 805,022 {435.4931 619,242 619,242 618,963 15 MOVEMENT IN FUNDS At1 January 2025 Asat31 D8cembgr Incoming resources Outgoing resources Transfers 2025 Unrestricted funds: General funds 618,963 662,759 1662,4801 619,242 Totsl unrestricted funds 618,963 662,759 1662,4801 619,242 Restricted funds Total funds 618,963 662,759 1662,4801 619,242 33-
UKSG NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025 15 MOVEMENT IN FUNDS {Continued...) Movement in funds {previous yearl At1 January 2024 Asat31 Dember 2024 Incoming resources Outgoing resources Transfers Unrastrictgd funds: General funds 599,198 661,690 1641,9251 618,963 Totsl unrestricted funds 599,198 661,690 1641,9251 618,963 Restricted funds 12,000 {12,0001 Total funds 599,198 673,690 1653,9251 618,963 Restricted funds In 2024 Funds of £12,000 were recieved from Glasgow City Council lo support UKSG'S activities in delivery of the Annual Conference. 16 ANALYSIS OF CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS 2025 2024 Cash in hand 758,632 805.022 Total cash and cash equivalents 758,632 805,022 34-
Section 8:
Statement of Trustees' Responsibilities
The charity trustees (who are also the directors of UKSG for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing a trustees' annual report and financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company as at the balance sheet date and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including the net income or expenditure, for the financial year. In preparing those financial statements, the trustees should follow best practice and:
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observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP
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state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements
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make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; and
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prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue on that basis.
The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and which enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. 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.
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.
Statement as to disclosure to our auditors
In so far as the trustees are aware at the time of approving our trustees' annual report:
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there is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company's auditor is unaware, and
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the trustees have each taken all steps that they are obliged to take as a director to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditor is aware of that information.
By order of the Board of Trustees
Chair: Rob Johnson
Date: 4 August 2026
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INDEPENDENT AUDITORS’ REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF UKSG
OPINION
We have audited the financial statements of UKSG (“the charitable company”) for the year ended 31 December 2025, included within the Annual report and financial statements (the “Annual Report”), which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities and Income and Expenditure Account, Balance Sheet, Statement of Cash Flow; and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies.
In our opinion, the financial statements:
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give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company’s affairs as at 31 December 2025 and of its surplus for the year then ended;
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have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and
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have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.
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 Auditors’ responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report.
We are independent of the 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 director's 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 charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the original financial statements were authorised for issue.
However, because not all future events or conditions can be predicted, this conclusion is not a guarantee as to the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern.
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 contained within the annual report. 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
17
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INDEPENDENT AUDITORS’ REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF UKSG
misstatements, we are required to perform procedures to conclude whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves or a material misstatement of the other information. 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.
TRUSTEES’ REPORT
In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:
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the information given in the trustees’ report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
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the trustees’ report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements
In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the trustees’ report.
MATTERS ON WHICH WE ARE REQUIRED TO REPORT BY EXCEPTION
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:
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adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
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the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
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certain disclosures of trustees’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or
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we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or
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the trustees were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies’ exemptions in preparing the trustees’ report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF TRUSTEES FOR THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
As explained more fully in the statement of trustees’ responsibilities in respect of the financial statements set out on page 16, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the applicable framework 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 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 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 charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
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INDEPENDENT AUDITORS’ REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF UKSG
AUDITORS’ RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE AUDIT OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditors’ 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 extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below.
Based on our understanding of the charitable company and industry, we identified that the principal risks of non-compliance with laws and regulations related to employment laws and regulations and we considered the extent to which non-compliance might have a material effect on the financial statements. We also considered those laws and regulations that have a direct impact on the financial statements such as Companies Act 2006 and UK Tax Legislation. We evaluated management’s incentives and opportunities for fraudulent manipulation of the financial statements (including the risk of override of controls) and determined that the principal risks were related to posting inappropriate journal entries in the underlying books and records. Audit procedures performed by the engagement team included:
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Discussion with management, including consideration of known or suspected instances of noncompliance with laws and regulations;
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Identifying and testing of journal entries based on our risk assessment criteria, in particular any journals with unusual account combinations that represent a risk of material misstatement due to fraud;
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Using analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships;
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Incorporating elements of unpredictability into the audit procedures performed; and
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Challenging and assessing the reasonableness of assumptions and judgements applied by management in respect of significant accounting estimates.
There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures described above. We are less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations that are not closely related to events and transactions reflected in the financial statements. Also, the risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting the resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery or intentional misrepresentations, or through collusion.
A fuller description of our responsibilities is provided on the FRC’s website at https://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities.
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INDEPENDENT AUDITORS’ REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF UKSG
PURPOSE OF OUR AUDIT WORK AND TO WHOM WE OWE OUR RESPONSIBILITIES
This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the 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 charitable company and the charitable company’s members, as a body and the charitable company’s trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
……………………………………
Martin Wright (Senior Statutory Auditor) For an on behalf of Just Audit & Assurance Ltd, Statutory Auditor Chartered Accountants
37 Market Square Witney OX28 6RE
Date: 05/08/2026
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