Charlty reglstratlon n umber 1101785 Company reglstratlon number 04017910 (England and Wales) ONLINE TRANSPORT ARCHIVE LIMITED Annual report and unauditsd financial statements For the year ended 30 June 2024 ONLINE TRANSPORT ARCHIVE LIMITED Legal and administrative information Trustees MrT G F8rris Mr J G Green Mr F E M Jenklns Mr K R Mccormack Dr C C Roberts MsCGSalt Mr N J Sturgess Mr M P Waller Mr PA Mltehead Secretsry Mr M P Waller Charlty number 1101785 Company number 04017910 Prlnclpal address 25 Monkmoor Road Shrewsbury Shropshire SY2 SAG Reg istered office 25 Monkmoor Road Shrewsbury Shropshire SY2 SAG Independent •xarnlner Cadwallader & Co LLP Eagle Hous8 26 Severn Street Welshpool Powys SY217AD ONLINE TRANSPORT ARCHIVE LIMITED Contents Page Trustees report Indep8ndent examin8fs report Statement of financial activities Balan￿ sheet Notes to the financial statements 9-15 ONLINE TRANSPORT ARCHIVE LIMITED Trustsas report (including directors. report) For the year ended 30 June 2024 The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 30 June 2024. The financial statements have been prepared in accordan￿ with the accounting pollcies set out In note 1 to the financial statements and comply with the Companles Act 2006 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). Objectlves and activltles The principal activity of the company during the year continued to be the archiving and preservation of transport related film, video and photographlc material. Since tts formation in 2001 Online Transport Archive (OTA) continues to make progress with the arthiving and preservation of transport-related film and photographic material. It has become a valuable resource for authors and publishers in the transport field. Since January 2004, the company has been registered as a charty. It5 Stated object, as registered with the Charity Commissioners. is" -to advan￿ the education of the public. particularly but not exclusively, in the history of railway, tramway, road, air and water transport through the collection of film, colour slides. photographic negatiV8s and prints, videotape. electronlc images in all formats and other artefacts., Its activities can be summarised as: care and administration of transport-related film and photograph collections conservation work relating to these collections assistance to bona fide aLrthorslres8archers in thls field availability of the Archive to bona fide publishers thereby ensuring that the co118Ctions are made available to the public at large Publlc beneflt The trustees have reviewed the objects, goals, services and ot¥'e¢tives of the charlty in the light of Public Beneflt requirement and oan confirm that the OTA serves the public benefrt. Thls annual report includes evidence as to how the chanty strives to meet needs. The trustee8 confirm that they have complied wlth the requirements of section 4 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Ccfnmission for England and Wales. The charity fulfills its obligations through a number of avenues.. It provides a safe and secure environment for the preservation of a worfd class collectlon of historical material this ensuring its availability for future generations-, It creates opportunities for people to volunteer their services to assist in the charity's work on catsloguing and conserving the collection., It makes material available free of charges to other charits'es and not for profit organisations in order to enable them to improve the information that they can offer those interested in their projects Bona Fide researchers are welcorne to the offices in order to undertake research on transport and social history Content is made available and discussion engendered through an active social media profile . Through links to other organisations, such as the Land Transport Archive Ne￿Ork, it shares experien￿ and kn￿edge with other organisations involved in the consenfation of historic records ONLINE TRANSPORT ARCHIVE LIMITED Trustses report (includlng directors, report) (continued) For the year ended 30 June 2024 Achlevements and perfomiance The OTA'S involvement in the authoring of transport titles has continued in the year under review as has the provision of images to third-paty authors and publishers. Amongst publications that have featured images from the collection are: Railways of Bradford and Leeds (Pen & Sword), Ke￿hleY & Worth Valley Railway {Pen & Sword). Lost Tramways of Devon and Comwall (Graffeg). Lost Tramways of Manchester North (Graffeg). Lost Tramways ol Manchester South (Graffeg). Trolleybuses of West Centrdl London (Adam Gordon), Tramway Review (LRTA), Southem Way 61 (Crecy), Southem bvay 62 (Crecy). Soulhem Way 63 {Crecy). Bachmann Collectots, Magazine (Bachmann). Canals in the 1950s-1970s (Canal Book Shop), The London V3s (Unique Books). Settle & Carfisle.. The Post-war Years {Unique Books), Railways Remembered.. North-East England {Crecy). Backtrack (Atlantic Publishing), RM70 - Seventy Years of a London Icon {Amberley), Watenvays Worfd (INW Magazines), Great Westem Branch Line Gallery (Pen & Sword). Railways RememberBd." North-East England (Crecy), Railways Ren￿mbered.. The Westem Region - Thames V811ey and South Midlands (Crecy) and Town and City Buses {Capital Transport). The previous year's account5 (for 2022123) showed the impact of the significant bequest received from the estst8 from the late Arthur Weise. The £630.000 was received towards the end of the financial year and so ts arrival initially increased the OTA'S reserves. The Directors agreed that the bulk of the money received shculd be invested to support the OTA'S long-term aims of acquiring tts own property to ensure the security of the collection. There remains a small sum held by the solicitors pending any posslble claim for tsxation from the HMRC. it had been hoped that the residual amount would be passed to the OTA durin9 the 2023124 financial year. However, this was not the case and it is now hoped that the sum will be received during the 2024125 financial year. Over the past three years, slnce Arthur Weise's death, the Directors have been fomiulating a policy for the purchase of a property. As report8d in last year's annual report the OTA'S ambition is to acquire Its own pramises and, during the year, considerable efforts have gone into the search for suitsble accommodation. Various buildings and projects have been examined but. sadly none as yet has proved ideal. The charity recognises that it requires a warehouse unit of about 3,000 square feet with sufficient height either to install a mezzanine floor or to maximise the intem81 racking within a climate-controlled 'pod'. We are grateful to The Bus Archrve for the demonstration of their new facilities at Drorlwich, which demonstrated what could be achieved and is an excellent exemplar of vthat the OTA aspires for its own collection. Sadly, those units within the selected area of about 3,000 square f￿t seem only to be available on a short-term lease, ￿[ch is inapproprtate for the investment required in fitting out the space with the racking systems etc. There are developments where the developer is prepared to offer either freehold or very long {999-year) leases, which would be ideal, but, unfortunately. none of these new build properties had accommodation of less than 5,000 5qU8re feet which is greater than the OTA required or could afft)rd. More re￿ntly, the agent for one of these developments has intimated that a Spa￿ of about 3,000 square feet may be available: if that is the G9se, then it is hoped that the 2024125 financial year will see more substantial progress towards the completion of the first phase - the purchase- of a suitable building for the OTA'S purposes. Stripping out the bequest, the income for 2023124 (£35,722) was higher than in 2022123 (£20,507) with an increase in income from gifts and donations a5 VRII as frorn the licensing of images,. the latter was also higher than in the previous year. Wth a number of new publiGations either published or commissioned ti is anticipated that the revenue from the use of images will increase in future years. The Trustees are also actively seeking channels by which the Increasing amount of digrtised film can be brought to a wider audien￿. The sale of digital images through thetransportlibrary.co.uk c¢Mtinues to prove benefiaal. The bequest and increase in interest rates over the year have resulted in a large increase in interest received" this will also benefit the income likety in the 2024r25 financial year. In temis of expenditure. there was also an increase over the sums expended In the previous year from £27,815 to £30,894. The major area of expenditure Is the cost of the premises occupied. expenditure in this area - primarlly as a result of having established leases - is largely unchanged. Expenditure on archival material and on the transfer of the film collection to a digital format was higher than in 2022123. In addition the Trustees authorised the purchase of additional high capacty NAS drives for the storage of scanned Images and dlgitised films. As reported at the AGM of 11 November 2023, the Board has tsken the declsion to revise its depreciation pollcy. The af0￿mentioned NAS drives are being depreciated over three years, in line with many companies, policies, and this will be applied to future IT haroware purchases. ONLINE TRANSPORT ARCHIVE LIMITED Trustses report (including directors. report) (continued) For the year ended 30 June 2024 There was also an increase in expenditure in the cost of accountancy and professional fees, partly resulting from the Trustees, decision to seek advice on the possibilty of registering for VAT. Some of the £10,000 from the bequest transferred to 5UPPOrt the digital transfer work remained unspent at the end of the 2022123 financia year but was expended during the first few months of the 2023124 financial year. The overall result was a surplus for the 2023r24 finanaal year of £4,155- this is inevitably a signfficant dedine in the result than in the previous year when the company made a surplus of £822,692 but this was skewed by the receipt of the £630.000 bequest from the estate of the late Arthur Weise during the 2022123 financial year. The Trustees anticipate a modest surplus for the 2024125 financial year with income remaining at a more normal level and expenditure staying fairly consistent. Overall, the Archive rernains in a healthy financtal position because of its reserves.Corporate governance is provided through a Board of Directors m05t of whom have standing in the world of transport heritage, photography and film making. The Board has continued to ensure that fInan￿S have been managed on a prudent basis. The Directors each take an adive role in furthering the company's aims and they are actively assisted in this by a number of members. During 2023124 the Archive received further important film and photographlc donations and collect10n￿rnat8na[S. Notable amongst these have been historically importanl collections (or parts of collections) from Bill Alborough, Chris Bennett, Barry Cross, Brian G. Dutton. Martin Eady. Peter Grace, Ivor Harding, Geofftey Heywo(xl. Marts'n James, Martin Jenkins, Peter Johnson, Glynn Parry, Vemon Parry. Alan PrythercFFEvans, Bill Ryan, rim Stubbs and John Symons. The number of enquiri88 relating to future deposit of collections continues to increase notably. In th8 same period material from collections held by the OTA has been published in a number of transport-related magazines and books, wrth material being requested from sever81 publishers and other bodies. The two premises currently occupied by the OTA offer secure and attractive working environm8nts and. as a result. It has proved possible to undertake a considerable amount of conservation work on various collections. The work undertaken over the year in transferring collections to low-acid storage boxes has had th6 benefit both of making many of the collections more accessible - aiding the pr¢xess of scanning and cataloguing - whilst also optimising the space available In order to accommodate the new collections that have been passed to the OTA over the past 12 months. This process is ongoing as the number of collectlons either held by, or offered to, th8 OTA continues to grow. The OTA has continued to benefit during the year from close connections with other archives and from advice from the National Archives. The contractual arrangement with thetransportlibrary.co.uk ha5 continued and. as more Images are uploaded to their site, rt generates increasing income for The OTA as well a5 making more images available to a wider audience. The OTA'S own website continues to generate interest. Alongside this, the OTA maintains a social media presence through Facebook and the selective use of images on this has gene￿ted further interest; the Facebook page is currently updated three times a week. The number of unsolicited requests for the OTA to become custodians of collections is testament to its greater visibility. The OTA also issues a newsletter three times a year- this is distributed to a small number by FM)St and to an increasingly number by email. The newsletter provides infomiation on the OTA'5 activities and also profiles individuals whose collections now form part of the OTA collection. The lease5 on the current premises continue until December 2024 (Roy Fletcher Centre) and June 2027 (The Wightman Building). The expectation is that the former will be automatically renewed for a further three years. The OTA is making good progr8ss and has worked hard to ensure effective storage of its collections, whilst continuing to work hard lo make material available to the errthusiast community. Flnanclal revlew Going conc8m After making appropriate enquiries, the Directors have a reasonable expectation that the Company has adequate resources to continue in operatlon81 existence for the foreseeable future. The company's reserves, at the end of the financial year, stood at £656,437, largely as a result of a slgnificant lequest rec8ived during the previous financial year from the estate of the late Arthur Weise. ONLINE TRANSPORT ARCHIVE LIMITED Trustses report (including directors. report) (continued) For the year ended 30 June 2024 ReseNes policy 1. Vthilst the prime aim of the OTA is to meet its charitable objectives. the Trustees. having revIev￿d the risks to which the OTA 15 exposed. are of the opinion that the charity could incur unexpected and unbudgeted costs. 2. As a result, the Trustees have resolved to establish reserves both to ensure against unexpected k)ss of income. and to provide for future activiti'es. not least being the development of the OTA'S plans for a secure. environmentally controlled site in which to accommodate its collection. This building - part of a two centre approach by the charity (the other being a town centre Offi￿ that will ad as a portal to the colleXion in order to engage with the community and provide acc8SS to the colledion). 3. The OTA notes th8 Charity Commission's recommendats'ons about the usual level of reserves. these should be generally about three times the level of expenditure on an annual basis 8xduding exceptional circumstances. The OTA'S nonnal running expenses are circa £20,000 per annum and so, having noted the Charlty Commission's guidance, the OTA'S reserves should be exduding extraordinary circumstances about £60.000. 4. The OTA'S plans for the development of the Iwo sites - the secure dimate controlled storage facility and the town centre portal - viill mean tha( as funds are ratsed to support the work {vthich is estimated to cost in all over a perlod of tlme bet￿￿en £1.Smillion and £2million), the level of r8serves will inevltably exceed the recommended level over the short to medium temi. 5. The costs of Iransferring the collection into archfval standard low acid storage boxes is recognised by the Twstees as being an essential part of ensuring the long-tenn survival of the collection and essential to the storage of the collectlon once the climate controlled warehouse facility is completed. To this end, the Trustees have approved the use of the interest generated from the reserves to fvnd the purchase of these low acid storage boxes as and when required. 6. The Trustees will review this policy at least annually, nomially after the Annual General Meeting has approved the OTAS accounts. to review the £60,000 resetve and to confirm whether that target is still an appropriate figure. The Trustees will minute any decision to retain the policy as it currently is. in order to demonstrate that it has carried out the review. structure. govemance and management The OTA is a charitable company limited by guarantee incorporated in 2001 and registered as a charity on 2004 The Charitys Memorandum of Association sets oirt its objects and pOV￿r5 and its Articles of Association sets out its governance. In the event of the Company being wound up members are required to contribute £10. The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year and up to the date of srgnature of the financi81 ststements were: MrT G Ferrls Mr J G Green Mr F E M Jenkins Mr K R Mccomiack Dr C C Roberts MsCGSalt Mr N J Sturgess Mr M P Waller Mr P A Whitehead R6crultmont and appolntment of trustees The directors of the company are also the charity trustees for the purpos88 of charity law and under the company's Artides are known as Trustees. All twsteesldirectors are elected at the AGM and hold the role for three years. At the end of each three-year period, each trusteeldirector can be r8418Ct8d for a further three-year period. A new trusteel director can be appointed by the existing Board during the course of the year but each new co-opted trusteeldlrector must be confirmed in his or her position at the first avai18bleAGM after his or her co-opts'on. ONLINE TRANSPORT ARCHIVE LIMITED Trustses report (including directors, report) (continued) For the year ended 30 June 2024 Organisational Structure The Trust888 meet a minimum of six times per year and are responsible for strategic direction and policy. Day to day operatlonal management of the charity is handled by the Chairman, Tr8a8urer and Secretary. The OTA has no paid employees. Inductlon and tralning of trusteès All the Trustees have an interest in andlor are already involved in charitieslvoluntary organisations. They are therefore familiar with the roles, funding, management and regulation of charities. On appointmenuelection new Trustees are given a briefing by the Chaimian and recerve a set of briefing papers as detailed in the charity's protocols. The trustees report was approved by the Board of Trustees. Roberts Trustee 2 November 2024 ONLINE TRANSPORT ARCHIVE LIMITED Independent examiner's report TO THE TRUSTEES OF ONLINE TRANSPORT ARCHIVE LIMITED I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of Online Transport Archive Limtted (the charity) for the year ended 30 June 2024. Responslbllltles and basis of rnport As the trustees of the charity (and also its directors for the purFrf)ses of company law) you are responsrble for the preparation of the financial ststements in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 201￿ (the 201 Act). Having satisfied myself that the financial statements of the charity are not required to be audited urKler Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination. I report in respect of my examination of the charitls financial statements carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act). In carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Dir*ions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)