2025-07-31-accounts - Conservatoires UK

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CONSERVATOIRES UK

(a company limited by guarantee without share capital)

ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE PERIOD 1 AUGUST 2024 – 31 JULY 2025 Company Number: 5005423 Registered Charity Number: 1108731 (registered 24 March 2005) Company Registered: 5 January 2004 in England and Wales Registered Office: Woburn House 20 Tavistock Square London WC1H 9HQ Directors: Professor Anthony Bowne Professor Jonathan Freeman-Attwood CBE Josette Bushell-Mingo OBE Professor Helena Gaunt Professor Joe Wilson Professor Linda Merrick CBE Stephen Maddock OBE James Williams Professor Mark O’Thomas Professor Jeffrey Sharkey Professor Jonathan Vaughan Chair: Professor Linda Merrick CBE Secretary: Nadine Patel Bankers: Lloyds TSB 31-32 Park Row Leeds LS1 5JD Solicitors: Wrigleys Solicitors 19 Cookridge Street Leeds LS2 3AG

CONSERVATOIRES UK

(a company limited by guarantee without share capital)

REPORT OF THE DIRECTORS for the period ended 31 JULY 2025

Directors’ Report

The directors present their annual report and the financial statements covering the period from 1 August 2024 to 31 July 2025.

Constitution

Conservatoires UK (CUK) was established as a company limited by guarantee on 5 January 2004 and was registered as a charity on 24 March 2005. The subscribing members are:

Guildhall School of Music & Drama London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art Leeds Conservatoire Royal Academy of Music Royal Birmingham City University on behalf of the Birmingham Conservatoire Royal Central School of Speech and Drama Royal College of Music Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Royal Northern College of Music Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance

Objects

The objects of the CUK are:

To advance and assist in the advancement of higher or further education in the United Kingdom in the fields of music and performing arts (in so far as such advancement and assistance shall be of an exclusively charitable nature) and in particular, but without prejudice to the foregoing, by providing and maintaining an organisation to facilitate applications for admission to such higher or further education establishments and to assist applicants in gaining access to such education establishments.

Directors and Trustees

The Directors are ex officio the Principals/Directors of the member organisations; the holders of these positions throughout the period are listed below:

Guildhall School of Music & Drama Prof. Jonathan Vaughan London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art Prof. Mark O’Thomas Leeds Conservatoire Prof. Joe Wilson Royal Academy of Music Prof. Jonathan Freeman-Attwood Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Stephen Maddock Royal Central School of Speech and Drama Josette Bushell-Mingo Royal College of Music James Williams Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Prof. Jeffrey Sharkey Royal Northern College of Music Prof. Linda Merrick

CONSERVATOIRES UK

(a company limited by guarantee without share capital)

Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance

Prof. Helena Gaunt Prof. Anthony Bowne

Principal Activities and Review

The activities of CUK during this accounting period continued to be catalysed and expedited through a Service Level Agreement with Universities UK for the services of a Policy Researcher for two days per week, employed through Universities UK and based at Woburn House, Tavistock Square, London, WC1H 9HQ. Activities included:

The operation of a number of fora covering a range of academic, professional, musical and pedagogical matters relevant to the objects of CUK and its member organisations.
Activities of the CUK Student Network (CUKSN) continued to be facilitated by a part-time chair/coordinator funded by CUK. The Network remains a valuable resource for SU presidents as a source of good practice across conservatoire student unions. The CUKSN has during this period has been invited to join the CUK EDI forum ensuring a more diverse range of committee members with lived experiences.
The CUK Chair has held regular meetings and written to various key stakeholders to highlight the current challenges and issues facing conservatoires, this, the Department for Education, UKRI and the OfS
CUK supported a cohort of senior leaders to participate in a ‘Leadership Transitions at the Top in Conservatoires’ programme.
CUK continues its joint subscription to ResearchConnect, a specialist research funding database which supports organisations to identify, communicate and share funding opportunities.
Alignment with the Specialist Institutions’ Forum of UUK has continued to bring cohesion in policy and access to data gathering and analysis in areas such higher education funding and regulation.

Results

CUK had a deficit of £13,105 for the year which decreases the general reserves.

Reserves

The balance shows the assets and liabilities attributable to the general fund by type and the Statement of Financial Affairs summarises the period’s movements on this fund. The Directors and Trustees endeavour to maintain a minimum level of free reserves adequate to provide sufficient funding to cover their expectations of CUK’s operating expenditure after taking account of its future known and anticipated income.

CONSERVATOIRES UK

(a company limited by guarantee without share capital)

Risk management

The Directors and Trustees have examined the major strategic, business and operational risks which the charity faces and confirm that systems have been established to enable regular reports to be produced so that the necessary steps can be taken to lessen these risks.

Statement of Directors’ Responsibilities

Law applicable to incorporated charities in England and Wales requires the directors of the company, to prepare accounts for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity at the end of the period and of its financial activities during the period then ended. In preparing those accounts, the directors are required to:

select suitable accounting policies and the apply them consistently;
make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
prepare the accounts on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the company will continue in operation.

The directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and which enable them to ensure that the accounts comply with the Companies Act 1985. They have general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of the charity and to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities.

By order of the Directors and Trustees

Nadine Patel

Company Secretary

CONSERVATOIRES UK

(a company limited by guarantee without share capital)

Independent examiner's report to the trustees of Conservatoires UK

I report on the accounts of the Trust for the year ended 31 July 2025, which are set out on pages 6 to 8.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).

I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. Basis of independent examiner's report.

Independent examiner’s statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act; or
the accounts do not accord with those records; or
the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Miss Julie Hardy (FCCA) Fellow of Association of Chartered Certified Accountants 13 Wyndale Drive Failsworth Manchester M35 0PY

24/02/2026

CONSERVATOIRES UK

(a company limited by guarantee without share capital)

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

(including Income and Expenditure Account)

For the period 1 August 2024 to 31 July 2025

Incoming Resources Member Subscriptions Research Connect Leadership Programme Resources Expended Events and Marketing Consultancy Research Connect Leadership Programme CUKSN UK Research Integrity Administration Miscellaneous Net (outgoing)/incoming resources for the period at 31 July	31-Jul-25 £ 84,075 16,920 8,570 109,565 9,376 59,760 20,040 19,113 5,697 3,440 5,153 90 122,669 (13,105)	31-Jul-24 £ 80,071 16,092 11,412
		107,575
		2,441 57,900 19,062 18,965 5,329 - 3,657 136
		107,490
		85

The company has no recognised gains or losses other than the net incoming resources for the period. All of the company’s activities are classed as continuing.

CONSERVATOIRES UK

(a company limited by guarantee without share capital)

BALANCE SHEET as at 31 July 2025

		31-Jul-25	31-Jul-24
	£	£	£ £
CURRENT ASSETS
Debtors	15,404		46,568
Accrued Income		-	16,092
Cash at Bank and in Hand	74,510		136,346
	89,914		199,006
CREDITORS - amounts
falling
due within one year
Creditors and Accruals	11,503		107,490
	11,503		107,490
NET CURRENT ASSETS		78,411	91,516
FUNDED BY
Unrestricted General
Fund		78,411	91,516

These accounts were approved by the board of directors on 04/03/2026 and were signed on its behalf by:

Professor Linda Merrick Chair

Professor Anthony Bowne Director

CONSERVATOIRES UK

(a company limited by guarantee without share capital)

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the period ended 31 July 2025

Notes to the Financial Statements

Accounting Policies The following accounting policies have been applied consistently in dealing with items which are considered material in relation to the company’s accounts.
a) Basis of Preparation The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention and in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities (effective April 2008), the Companies Act 1985 and follow the recommendations in Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice issued in October 2000 and revised 2005.
b) Income and Expenditure Income and expenditure are recognised on an accruals basis.
c) Cashflow Statement The company is exempt from the requirement of Financial Reporting Standard No 1 to prepare a cashflow statement on the grounds of its size.
Staff Costs and Board of Directors The Directors of the Board do not receive any remuneration for their services, and no members of staff are employed directly by the Company.

The position of Policy Researcher was employed through a Service Level Agreement with Universities UK on a two-day per week basis throughout the period, based at Woburn House, Tavistock Square, London, WC1H 9HQ.