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← Manchester International Festival

2025-03-31-accounts

TRUSTEE REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

31 March 2024

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Contents Page
Trustees’ Annual Report 3
Independent Auditors Report 34
Group Statement of Financial Activities 39
Group & Charity Balance Sheets 40
Group Statement of Cashflows and Net Debt Reconciliation 41
Notes to the Financial Statements 42

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TRUSTEES' ANNUAL REPORT

The Trustees are pleased to present their annual report for the year ended 31 March 2025. This report has been prepared to meet the requirements of a directors’ report under the Companies Act 2006 and includes the strategic report and the audited consolidated financial statements of the charity and its trading subsidiaries.

The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with applicable accounting standards and the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 and provide a true and fair view of the financial position and performance of the group for the year.

Manchester International Festival (MIF) (trading as Factory International (FI)) is a charity registered with the Charity Commission under registration number 1113902. Its purposes are to promote, maintain, improve, develop, and advance public education by the encouragement of the arts. Factory International is the trading name under which the charity delivers its activities within the venue AVIVA Studios and the biennial event Manchester International Festival, in addition to other activities as noted below.

Arts include music, opera, dance, singing, literature, and visual arts, and their promotion through the holding of festivals of culture, ideas, and creativity.

Factory Academy Limited, registered under company number 12978506, is our programme for delivering training for individuals looking to succeed within the creative and cultural industries, with the aim of diversifying the workforce in these sectors.

MIF Productions Limited, registered under company number 09308388, undertakes contracts for delivery of dramatic productions, orchestral performances, and art exhibitions. The company ceased trading on 1 April 2025 and is not expected to recommence trading. This does not affect the Group’s assessment of going concern.

Factory International Trading Services Limited (FITS) is registered under company number 14556931. The principal activities of this subsidiary are brand partnerships and corporate sponsorships including the naming rights of the venue, hire of the venue for third party commercial and music events, sale of merchandise through the Factory International shop and commission received through food and beverage sales.

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CHAIR’S STATEMENT

Realising ambitions

Ambition is a word that can sometimes be used without fully grounding it in both its context and focus. It’s a powerful word, and speaks of a desire to improve, to grow and to be part of a community with aspiration and drive. Factory International has its very foundations in ambition. As we move from a capital and building focused project, we enter into a period where we are surrounded by people, and our ambition for those people is rooted in this report.

We are ambitious for our teams, for all our staff, for our audiences and our local, national and regional communities. We are ambitious for our artists and creatives. We are ambitious for our funders and partners. We want to be a beacon and a lightning rod for that ambition, driving us all forward.

This has been a monumental year, our first full year of delivery. Sadly, Sir Howard Bernstein, who had done so much to help get us to this point, was not able to see the fruits of his work: we can only hope he and all my fellow trustees, past and present, would be proud of what we have achieved. There have been moments of awe and wonder, of contemplation and reflection, of joy and excitement, purpose and determination.

Our commissioned work has pushed artistic boundaries, cementing this as a place where artists can allow their creative minds to roam free. The technical and production expertise within our teams empowers those creative visions to become a reality. It means that our audiences have been able to see some incredible moments. This is the place they can come to be inspired.

The work within our local community, breaking down barriers, learning what people want from us and how they want to work with us in our new iteration, and ensuring this is a place for all, is what makes us truly accessible and inclusive.

Building a resilient business is key to realising our ambitions, and this values-led approach is what allows our sponsors, funders and partners, across the public and private sector, to see us as a brand to align with. Our team is taking this work to international audiences too, spreading the name of Factory International, of this radical ambition for cultural expression, into every corner of the globe.

We are a music venue, an arts venue, a commissioning venue, a performance venue, a technical venue, a place for people and space, a place for pizza and a quick catch up on the way home. We are offline and online, as committed to artistic innovation as we are to social impact.

None of this would have been possible without the support of our extraordinary staff and of the artists and freelancers who have worked with us. On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank everyone for their belief in this work.

Together, we can be ambitious for the future.

Moira Sinclair OBE

Chair, Factory International

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OUR VISION AND MISSION STATEMENT

As an arts organisation we have a simple but ambitious vision:

To Invent Tomorrow Together.

Our vision speaks directly to our mission:

Through art, music and culture, and in digital and physical spaces, we focus our activities on creating the meeting points between imagined futures and real lives.

STRATEGIC AIMS

The work we do everyday is driven by three objectives;

These are embedded across our 2021-2026 business plan.

Work began in late 2024 to develop Factory International’s next strategic plan, which will run from April 2026-March 2031. The initial scoping work and the development of the methodology, which will shape that plan, began in December 2024. From early 2025 we began extensive consultation with those inside, and outside, the organisation including all of our stakeholders, creative collaborators, staff, Board and Factory International’s People’s Forum.

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ACTIVITIES

“Ambitious. Awesome. For All”.

The 2024-25 Artistic Programme saw our first full year-round programme of commissioned and presented work at Aviva Studios, including world premieres of ten new commissions and a major immersive digital experience for Christmas.

We launched a new Programme Pathway , a structured approach to both process and delivery. This Pathway begins at artistic and programme decision making, creating a clear and trackable route as an idea travels from inception, through delivery and to evaluation.

Embedding our place within the community, the Public Realm Programme delivers inclusive, free events at Aviva Studios, fostering community collaboration, participation, and cultural exchange. Spanning performances, workshops, mini festivals, talks and more, the 2024-25 programme attracted a huge number of new audiences across 244 events in its first year, exceeding diversity targets and supporting Greater Manchester’s grassroots creativity.

From our home in Manchester, we extend our reach across the globe, working with International Partners who continue to support the creation of new commissions, showcasing our work and extending its life in new markets. In 2024-25 we secured £482,863 in international co-commissioning income and £296,098 in international touring and training income; there were 30 presentations of work commissioned or co-commissioned by Factory International.

A holistic strategy embeds Accessibility as a core principle of the organisation. Championed at Factory International by an Access Manager, it is a thread nourished and authenticated by every aspect of our work and is central to our organisation’s vision to Invent, Tomorrow, Together.

The People and Culture team champions an inclusive, values-led workplace by fostering belonging and supporting wellbeing. We drive positive change by embedding equity in all we do – through fair policies, staff development and collaborative leadership. We aim to ensure every individual is recognised, supported, and empowered to thrive across our organisation and creative community.

The Brand Partnerships and Corporate Sponsorships team create, sell and deliver ambitious and groundbreaking values-led partnerships, funded by, and in collaboration with, global brands and local sponsors. This includes delivery of the flagship Principal Partnership with Aviva.

Factory Academy continues to develop programmes which create opportunities for the widest possible range of people, and particularly those from diverse and working-class backgrounds who have historically been excluded from the industry – overall, 85% of participants were from diverse backgrounds between Oct 2020 to Jul 2025.

Within our first full year, the Commercial Events team has been developing our network and building brand awareness and reputation. Within this phase, the team secured 21 events, through agencies and direct corporate bookers to deliver an ambitious hires programme featuring award ceremonies, brand activations and launches to film festivals.

The Capital Build and Transition Project moved into the final stages. Focus moved to a handful of additional works, high impact defects and final building systems being fully commissioned, witnessed and handed over, prior to the lease being signed. Meanwhile, Factory International have delivered a

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number of Fit Out projects and managed procurement of final fixtures, fittings & equipment throughout 2024-25.

In our first full year in the venue our Music programme delivered 54 events including 16 own produced events. We worked with a new Head of Music and have been working across the organisation to become the UK’s best live music venue.

The Digital programme has included large scale immersive experiences from the UK’s most innovative creative studios, Marshmallow Laser Feast and Lightroom, digital R&D for a new opera and a new broadcast partnership with Aviva and Amazon City Sessions.

Philanthropic Fundraising during the year demonstrated resilience despite challenging economic conditions. Opportunities for driving artistic innovation and social impact continued to grow, enabling the team to renew relationships, elevate delivery and work towards providing greater financial stability from multi-year funding partnerships.

The Retail and Hospitality team manages all in-house retail, including bespoke show merchandise and gig concessions. Successful ventures, like the David Hockney exhibition, boosted both retail and hospitality income, with pre-ordered sales exceeding £20k for the event alone, highlighting new revenue streams. Large scale music gigs and club nights in the Warehouse demonstrated the potential to maximise F&B sales through in-room bars and accessible pricing.

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Artistic Programme

This marked the first full year of our artistic programme at Aviva Studios and we delivered a bold, ambitious series of world premieres and northern premieres alongside urgent and critically acclaimed productions.

During 2024-25 we presented ten world premieres of works commissioned by Factory International. Each allowed an artist to explore and present their story through creative means, spanning scalers, artforms and international borders.

In addition, we presented northern premieres of further key works: the Factory Internationalcommissioned Olivier award-winning Traplord by Ivan Blackstock and Cycles by Boy Blue; alongside one-off performances of All of this Unreal Time and Blue Now .

Our multi-year collaboration with Lightroom began; an explosion of colour and immersive experience with the digital production of David Hockney’s Bigger and Closer (not smaller and further away) in Winter 2024. The work wowed audiences, with 72,743 tickets sold.

Other notable artistic moments included our latest co-curation project Those Who Hold Up The Sky created with the Fusion Factory group; three Artist Takeovers, allowing Manchester based artists to experiment with scale in our unique spaces; and the creation of the Artists in Time of Upheaval talk series to allow for urgent, responsive conversations about the world.

With a strong, positive press reaction alongside critical reviews, an enthusiastic and passionate reception from local, regional and national audiences, we have built on our early successes of 2023/24. AVIVA Studios is becoming a major culture venue in Manchester, a national and international home for ambitious new work.

Work has already begun on our 2025/26 artistic programme. This includes Royal Shakespeare Company co-production Hamlet Hail to the Thief ; Marina Abramović’s large scale Balkan Erotic Epic ; the return of Lightroom with a three-show repertory season; the presentation of Circa’s Shaun the Sheep’s Circus Show ; and the wide-reaching festival programme for Manchester International Festival 2025 (MIF25), where we step outside of the venue to present a programme of diverse new work in venues and found spaces across the city.

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Producing, Production Technical

It is the ambition of the Producing and Programme department to be the delivery engine for everything Aviva Studios does.

The department is now delivering all the venue’s music, commercial events, public programmes, international touring, partnership activations and digital commissions. With new senior and developmental roles in Event Management we are increasing capacity to generate new income for the organisation, alongside our historic work with the subsidised artistic programme.

Within our production portfolio, several titles gave the opportunity for the Technical team to stretch whilst supporting the artist's vision; notably the sound immersive orchestra for City of Floating Sounds , video and show control for Sweet Dreams and the automation for Figures in Extinction and House of Manchester .

We continue to expand, and meet the demand, for live stream and broadcast, working with both Amazon Prime and Channel Four on capture and transmission. This involved bringing in full production for a 13 camera, six house, live stream for e-sports. The technical team’s capacity for commercial secondary spend is firmly established and is becoming a growth area for the wider business.

It is at the core of our mission to develop the next generation of talent, whether that is new people joining the technical team, or professional development for those working mid-career. Our in-house Technical Trainer has launched Event Ready, a course designed to find and develop new entrants from underrepresented backgrounds.

Alongside our commercial partners we are bringing Continued Professional Development training to both core and freelance technicians. The first of these saw Ambisphere bring lighting desk training to Manchester, and there’s more to come in 2025-26. Recognition, and raising the profile of the venue, is a key part of the talent development pipeline and we’re proud that lighting technician, Akshay Khubchandani won the Production Futures, Breakthrough Talent Award 2024.

Digital

Bringing the work we present in Manchester to screens across the globe.

This year we partnered with Amazon City Sessions and Aviva to run three broadcasts with the artists Bastille, Ella Henderson and Franz Ferdinand, which collectively reached an audience of over 1 million viewers. The first stream by Bastille attracted 300,000 live viewers, with about 11 million impressions across the two-week campaign leading up to it. The broadcasts were streamed via Amazon Prime and Twitch. You can still watch selected sets on YouTube.

Alongside the broadcasts, we continue to develop Factory Sessions, celebrating and capturing signature tracks from key music artists performing at AVIVA Studios, from Angelique Kidjo to Johnny Marr. The performances have received over 50,000 views.

Digital Innovation and R&D

Our Digital Innovation is powering new ways of creative expression, exploring the latest tools for artistry.

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One standout example was Sweet Dreams , a new work by the artist collective Marshmallow Laser Feast. This immersive multimedia show invited audiences to explore their place in the food chain through the eyes of a food mascot. The piece combined traditional hand-drawn 2D animation, digital puppetry, CGI, and AI-generated environments, offering a powerful commentary on how imagemaking is evolving today.

Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley’s video game I Can’t Follow You Anymore continued to tour and was presented by LAS in Berlin.

Our R&D had a strong focus on metaverse spaces, including the AHRC-funded Turandot Kiss in collaboration with composer Huang Ruo.

These workshops involved contributions from key industry specialists and tech studios such as Dimension and Random International.

Music

This was a year of firsts. In a vibrant music city like Manchester we have secured a platform for multiple genres, passionate audiences and ground-breaking ambition.

This was our first full year in the venue, and in that time we have delivered 54 music events, including 16 own produced events.

World premieres included Mercury-nominated Go Go Penguin, composer Anna Clyne creating a new piece for the first in our BBC Philharmonic Sessions series – which saw audiences get up close and personal to a full symphony orchestra – and the world's first screening of Manchester’s James: Live at the Acropolis, utilising the D&B Spatial Soundsystem.

International festival WOMEX came to Manchester for the first time, and we hosted three stages with much praise. Beyond the Music, the conference and education strands of the festival, allowed us to welcome people from across the music industry, with a first address from Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy.

Our first club events were a huge success and well received by our audience. It was a showcase of real cross-department effort with support from some external consultants. We delivered a series of artist residencies as Underworld, Janelle Monae, Fontaines DC and Sampha all performed multiple shows in the building.

It’s vital we use our place and space to provide a platform for marginalised voices and for artists from around the world including: Anohni & the Johnsons, Janelle Monae, Arooj Aftab, Nubya Garcia as well as a series of shows with various orchestral partners: BBC Philharmonic Schools Concert, Untold Orchestra & Paraorchestra. Many shows saw support slots come from local artists such as Obeka, The KTNA, DJ Paulette, Isaiah Hull, The Breath as we continue committed to developing artist careers through the organisation.

Our new Head of Music joined in July 2024 and has championed cross-departmental work:

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Reviews, from local and national press alongside audiences, have been consistently positive and enthusiastic, particularly the club nights with Teletech. Ticket sales have been stellar, with 28 shows achieving sold out status and many others getting incredibly close too.

When music fans come into the building, they don’t just spend on tickets, and over £200,000 in additional income has been brought in from additional spend including merchandise, food and beverage and box office charges.

Commercial Events

We’re working to bring major, international commercial events to Manchester.

The city itself is subject to growing interest from those who run major events and we want to maximise on that. The flexibility and design of the venue means we can host a wide variety of events, from conferences and product launches to festivals, filming and charity dinners.

The Commercial Events and hires programme is a new area for the organisation, so our focus has been to develop our base of corporate relationships and building venue awareness within the hire and agency industry. This helps us to cultivate our network and the reputation of the venue. Over the short and long term, this commitment will convert into commercial opportunity.

Within the 2024-25 financial year, Commercial Events secured £672,000 hire income across a programme of 21 events – focusing predominately on bookings for the Law Family Hall and the Warehouse.

Our continuing ambition is to attract national and international brands, alongside new events to the city. This has included Channel 4 with the finale of The Piano , an esports tournament hosted by Atmo, sports apparel brand adidas, streaming platform MUBI, Netflix, MTV EMA’s Afterparty and a charitable gala dinner with St Anne’s Hospice.

This rich variety is a good indicator for future growth. As the venue matures and our reputation builds we can focus this programme further and work to our strengths and organisational values. It is also worth acknowledging the positive and impactful shift in the event industry within Manchester, with other major event venues opening over recent years as well as Aviva Studios.

Public Engagement + Creative Learning

We are passionate about making Factory International a place for everyone, breaking down barriers and developing the next generation of creatives.

In this rewarding year we have built on the early work of our Public Engagement programme and deepened our connections with people all over Greater Manchester.

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Across all our engagement programmes, we saw:

One example of how we work was a six-month project, working with Fusion Factory, a group of 14 representative Greater Manchester residents on a co-curation project, and collaborating with playable art company BRiGHTBLACK. This culminated in Those Who Hold Up The Sky which welcomed 2,400 audience members to the main exhibition and a co-created public programme. The interactive exhibition invited audiences to imagine what cities will look like in the future through hands-on play and video game technology. The Manchester Evening News said ‘this free exhibition represents a counterbalance’ [to other costly city-centre offers] and the open-sourcing of the game online ‘ taps into a growing indie gaming ethos’ .

We also recruited and have been working alongside three new non-arts community partners providing bespoke support and helping them to build their capacity with a £10,000 contract. These include Rainbow Haven, who provide lifesaving support to sanctuary seekers across Greater Manchester from their base in Gorton; Salford Lads and Girls Club, an historic community club for working class young people in the ever-changing area of Ordsall; and Manchester Urban Diggers CIC, who educate and engage communities in growing local produce from Platt Fields Market Garden in Fallowfield.

Each also has weekly programming delivered by socially engaged artists through our Lifelong Learning programming and co-delivered uplifting events in community settings.

Our footprint extends far beyond our building and continues to grow. This year we have worked with 14 Neighbourhood Organisers (NOs), the largest number we have contracted in the same period. A vital part of our team, these NOs support engagement in commission-related activity, volunteering, Community Partnerships programming, We Gather (community social event) and distributing free tickets to target communities as part of our equitable ticketing strategy. This year they cover Salford, Cheetham Hill and Crumpsall, Rochdale, Moss Side and Hulme, Longsight and Ardwick, Moston, Harpurhey, Wigan, Wythenshawe, Failsworth, Oldham and Ancoats and Miles Platting.

We have three key flagship programmes for young people. Each drives our mission to make creativity a central part of everyday life, not something on the margins. They are Factory Schools, Young Creatives, and the adidas Creators Network.

Factory Schools has expanded its reach to children at risk of exclusion, working in partnership with schools and educators to embed cultural learning into the school day. The programme culminates every July, with 20 young people co-creating an event as part of our Schools Collective.

Young Curators, co-created with young people, has become a vital part of our formal curatorial structure. They are currently developing a new commission, set for delivery in 2025/26. The adidas Creators Network culminated in a vibrant public exhibition in April, spotlighting emerging creative talent and positioning underrepresented young people at the centre of our public programme.

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Public Realm Programme

It’s our purpose to open the doors of Factory International and to welcome everyone in for creative exchange and artistic participation. Our Public Realm Programme is central to our placemaking and how we engage with the public, bringing new audiences into the building – whether they’re arts audiences or not – while exploring key artistic and cultural trends.

This year’s programme was structured around three key strands:

We might be indoors or outdoors, our events might be one offs or regular, but they are developed for and with our communities and partners across the city-region.

Our programme has included live performances, talks and book launches, arts and crafts workshops, family activities, comedy and quiz nights, marketplaces and pop-up exhibitions, mini festivals and takeovers. It is diverse, inclusive and accessible, designed to reflect the people and communities of Greater Manchester, and goes a step further with a targeted approach for underrepresented communities and grassroots artists and creators.

This new, year-round 2024-25 Public Realm Programme has been a resounding success, with 244 events developed, commissioned, and delivered in its first year –attracting a huge number of new audiences to Aviva Studios. We have exceeded our targets with our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I) data showing increased representation in Q4 across all monitored categories: 57% People of Ethnic Diaspora, 32% Disability, 31% LGBTQ+, and 66% Female Representation.

Access

Factory International is for everyone, and over the past twelve months our access strategy has focused on three key areas; artistic practice, visitor experience, and building operations.

We have delivered;

That is a 53% increase in the number of accessible performances delivered when compared to our previous financial year.

A real driver of this success has been both an agreement and formalisation of how we deliver Access throughout the teams looking after programme delivery. This has helped to make them more confident about making Access related decisions. In fact, it’s worked so well we’re going to apply the same approach with our visitor experience teams and will launch an “Access Champions’ initiative we have been developing in the coming year.

We have seen an increase in a more regular offer for d/Deaf, disabled, and neurodivergent visitors which has helped us reach more people and we have seen 4000+ access tickets booked at Factory International in the last 12 months.

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We are working collectively with others in arts and culture to reduce barriers to cultural events, widening participation and broadening our reach as well as innovative practice. This has included roles within All In’s Advisory Panel and the UK’s Access Manager Group.

Our work with the Disabled People’s Engagement Group (DPEG), broadening its parameters and refreshing the membership base, alongside our increasingly productive relationships with Manchester’s disabled-led community organisers, has imbued the organisation’s access strategy with a revitalised sense of direction and civic connection.

The work continues. The results of an independent access audit of Aviva Studios in December 2024 show what needs to change. We are planning for our new portable Chill Out Space (otherwise called a quiet or calm space). This is a new facility that will be made available to artists, audiences, and staff from the opening weekend of MIF25 onwards, in addition to bolstering our welcome for specifically neurodivergent community members, the establishment of this provision will contribute significantly to the organisation’s efforts to join Attitude is Everything’s Live Event Charter at a Gold level – our primary access-related goal for the coming 2025-26 year.

Factory Academy

We’re working to get people into the creative industries.

‘ I now understand how a theatre space works, and it isn't as intimidating to get into’.

209 Greater Manchester residents have accessed one of our core Factory Academy programmes this year. We launched Event Ready, our technical workforce solution, and Business x Creativity incubator.

Event Ready has already supported 80% of its participants into paid employment with 62% of Business x Creativity graduates securing paid work or launching creative businesses or projects.

‘I finished the 12 week Business X Creativity course with Factory International! I would highly recommend this course to anyone starting out in their careers; I’ve learnt some valuable insight into the world of freelance. I have started working as a freelance facilitator, delivering drama, dance, and the occasional visual arts workshops. Excited that I get to regularly do what I love!’

142 accessed initiatives like the Working-Class Creative Exchange, Black and Global Majority Connector as well as a series of short and intense skill sessions focussed on topics like DIY film making, storytelling and creating audio drama.

55% of those we tracked once they completed a core programme have secured paid work in the creative or cultural industries. Graduates have moved into roles at Factory International in Technical, Facilities, Skills & Training, Public Engagement, Ticketing, Front of House and Festival teams as well as taking up roles with BIMM, BBC, Salford Uni, 53Two, Royal Exchange, Opera House, Oldham Coliseum, Reform Radio and Breaking Barriers amongst others.

42% of people accessing core programmes identified as being from low socio-economic backgrounds and working-class with 93.4% overall declaring being from either a diverse background or possessing an underrepresented characteristic which has been traditionally excluded from this industry.

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International

30 presentations of work in Europe, Asia, North America and Oceania

We work with partners and co-commissioners across the world to give Factory International a global footprint.

This year, we secured co-commissioning income from partners in Hong Kong, Taiwan, the USA and Australia to support the creation of The Accountants , City of Floating Sounds and ARK , all of which premiered at Aviva Studios in 2024-25.

The Accountants was then presented as the opening performance of Asia PLUS festival in Hong Kong in October 2024 and City of Floating Sounds was the opening performance of the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center Summer Season at Lincoln Center of the Performing Arts in New York in July 2024.

In the same year, we also saw co-commissioner presentations of The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions (MIF23) at Holland Festival and Ruhrtriennale and of R.O.S.E (MIF23) at Park Avenue Armory in New York. Find Your Eyes (MIF23) toured to the Venice Biennale di Danza, Dublin Theatre Festival and Under the Radar festival in New York. The Find (MIF23) and I Can’t Follow You Anymore were presented at Museum of Contemporary Art Helga de Alvear and Light Art Space respectively.

In total, 30 presentations of work commissioned or co-commissioned by Factory International took place in Europe, Asia, North America and Australasia.

We are building for the future, with the second year of the British Council Global Future Leaders programme and the latest edition of International Producer Training in Japan.

And the work doesn’t stop; the International team has been working to secure co-commissioning partners for multiple projects in MIF25 and Marina Abramović’s Balkan Erotic Epic as well as further touring presentations of existing projects and expanding our training and consultancy work.

The Aviva Studios’ programme has attracted significant interest from the global industry and we have welcomed guests from every continent except Antarctica this year; these visits have been invaluable for securing future collaborations and forging new relationships and we will continue to build on this in 2025-26.

Building and Visitor Operations

Visitor Operations

With our first full year of programming and operation, understanding and measuring our audiences' experience and sentiment is vital. We want everyone to have a great experience, whatever they are visiting for, and our work is focused on enhancing that.

We have generated visitor feedback via post event surveys, both in person and through surveys in the venue, as well as direct feedback through social media and email channels. It continues to be very positive, especially about the sound quality in music gigs, the welcoming and friendly atmosphere and people, the quality of the artistic experience and the venue cleanliness.

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There are areas of improvement, and our visitors suggest that it is around food and drink service and speed, the quality of food and queuing.

Our visitor operations team has matured and grown in confidence. We have focused a great deal of energy and attention this year on “the welcome”. In Spring 2025, we restructured our team to bring volunteering, security and visitor host team under one banner with a new senior post “Head of Welcome”. We have also created the capacity to introduce an Operations Director.

We work with a third-party security service, FGH Security, and they have been working with us to refresh our Counter Terrorism Strategy with detailed work on Emergency Planning and Protest Management Plans. We have also benefited from their expertise across all events, including our large-scale music gigs and newly introduced club nights in March 2025.

Hospitality and Retail

Factory International isn’t just a place to come and see great art, it’s a place we want people to feel welcome, to come and hang out and feel a part of. Our hospitality and retail offer is central to that.

We know that our audiences want to buy show merchandise and programmes, both in the building and online, and our move to an “always on” shop is part of that.

Hamlet Hail to the Thief was our first “live” show for our new online store, allowing audiences to make an order to be delivered or pick up at the show. Pre-ordering a programme or merchandise is now part of our ticketing journey, which has seen sales of over £6,000 on each show we have used it on.

David Hockney’s Bigger and Closer (not smaller and further away) was the most successful show for retail with a total turnover of just below £190,000 with a spend per head above target at £2.32. We also saw a higher spending audience purchasing a £4,500 Taschen David Hockney book three times.

Most of our F&B is contracted to Super Serve who continue to operate our bars and café spaces providing variable commission to Factory International, depending on the space and event.

Music gigs generate the highest income, with over £100,000 from these alone. A further £37,000 came from merchandise on these shows. With plenty of big shows to come, we can only see this continuing.

It’s vital that our food offers helps to set the tone and make this a welcoming environment for every event, so we have worked alongside other catering partners for culturally specific food for certain events, as well as with catering partners like Hessian for higher-end dinners including St Anne’s Hospice Gala Dinner and a Partnerships event for Selfridges inside the David Hockney exhibition.

Capital Projects

We have created a new learning and training space called The Lab, after entering into a lease with the Science and Industry Museum for one of the storage arches, which adjoins the Aviva Studios building. This will be mainly used by Factory Academy and Public Engagement, allowing the majority of the Factory Academy courses to be run onsite, encouraging a greater integration between the Academy graduates, community users and those in the main venue.

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Audiences, Press + Marketing

Press and media are a critical tool for engaging with our audiences and our focus is on generating high quality coverage, locally, nationally and internationally. This raises awareness of our brand, tells people about our programming, driving ticket sales while engaging with the public.

We had just under 7,000 pieces of press coverage over the year with 596 broadcasts, 366 print and 5,808 digital items (equating to £12.6m AVE)

Top performing titles included Manchester Evening News, BBC Radio Manchester, BBC 6 Music, I Love Manchester, I Love MCR, The Guardian, BBC News Online, NME and Dazed.

Our press campaigns have focused on reinforcing both the vision and values of Factory International, amplifying our flagship projects and building on key moments within the city.

Through seasonal and headline announcements, we are able to showcase the range and ambition of our international programme, and to talk about its impact, especially of Factory Academy.

Key productions such as Figures in Extinction , City of Floating Sounds , Robin/Red/Breast , and Laurie Anderson’s ARK generated major features in the likes of Crack magazine, The Guardian, Observer, FT, and BBC Radio 4, alongside reviews across all national broadsheets and regional publications; while TIME magazine named Aviva Studios as one of the 100 Greatest Places in the UK. We marketed and promoted 26 major own promotion shows between April 2024 and March 2025 as well as a number of one-off events and public programme across the year.

We achieved £2.5m ticket income for the year.

Most of our shows hit our Audiences’ targets, with our Lightroom and David Hockney’s Bigger and Closer (not smaller and further away) attracting 72,000 visitors.

As part of our commitment to ensure Factory International is open for everyone, 38% of our tickets were affordable; low income, unwaged, Aviva £10 Tickets, audience development free and £3 tickets, over 65s and students. Successes for the year were Traplord (38%), The Accountants (28%), Arooj Aftab (25%) and Cycles (24%). 20% of our audiences identified as having a disability and 25% of audiences came from a Manchester City postcode.

We extend Factory International’s storytelling out of the building and online with our digital content. This builds our profile, engages with our audiences and breaks down barriers to entry.

Our social following grew significantly over the year growing by 81%, we had 1.2m likes and engagements and 14m views of our videos across all our platforms.

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Partners + Funders

Brand Partnerships + Corporate Sponsorship

With Aviva Studios now enjoying a year-round cultural programme, we developed a bold strategy to take advantage of the new opportunities that came our way and the enhanced visibility.

Our brand partnerships and corporate sponsorships have achieved significant growth in the past year.

Our revenue has risen, as has average investment, and we have 23 partnerships secured across a variety of sectors, in addition to our flagship naming rights partnership with Aviva.

This has resulted in collaborations that have helped us to reach more people, connect with new and diverse audiences, work inclusively, with an innovative approach and has enhanced our goals to make Factory International a place for everyone.

This year, our portfolio of partner brands and sponsors was diverse, with new connections being made, as well as old friends continuing to work together.

We have 23 partnerships and a refreshed strategy, which is more ambitious and proactive.

Longstanding relationships with Selfridges and our regional universities continued, while new partners came on board thanks to our “go to market” strategy. We developed this by working across teams towards a common goal, with new sales collateral making the case for supporting Factory International.

Partnership revenue reached £1.1 million. Our activations expanded in both scale and ambition, as we shifted towards collaborations that are covering longer periods of time with a higher impact. A highlight was the flagship partnership with adidas, Factory International’s Official Sportswear Partner. We share a vision to democratise opportunity and, with their brand wanting to reconnect with its UK heartland in the North West, adidas launched two engagement strands: Build, a skateboarding festival, and the Originals Creator Network North, a skills-based creative learning programme.

adidas Build Manchester

Our team worked alongside skate specialists Dent and Betong Park to build a bespoke skatepark outside Aviva Studios for Build. Combining sport, culture and the community, hundreds of local participants came together with global adidas team riders like Gabriel Summers, Vitoria Mendonca, and Blondey. There were free daily skate schools led by Projekts and Gooseside, DIY skate obstacle workshops, and giveaways from brands like Drama Call and Note.

A survey in Greater Manchester targeting Gen Z significant uplift in perception of both brands.

adidas Originals Creator Network North

Co-developed with Factory’s Creative Learning team, this adidas-backed programme supported underrepresented young creatives in marketing and content creation. The inaugural cohort of 20 reflected diversity in race, LGBTQ+ identity, disability, neurodivergence and socio-economic background. The programme will continue into 2025/26.

Partnership with AVIVA

Aviva’s strategic partnership has supported several key initiatives;

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Factory Academy: Aviva’s backing helped train 209 Factory Academy students this year. Unlocked: Creative Careers : Launched in 2024, this programme reached 500+ students via workshops and school visits.

£10 Tickets Initiative: Over 21,000 tickets sold at £10, boosting cultural access.

Amazon Music City Sessions

This partnership featured performances by Bastille, Ella Henderson and Franz Ferdinand, streamed on Prime Video and Twitch. With huge live streams and impressions, the series reached across the UK and the US. Factory Academy alumni gained production experience.

MUBI Fest

Factory hosted the UK’s first MUBI Fest , a two-day celebration of independent cinema at Aviva Studios, attracting 5,945 attendees.

Philanthropy + Fundraising

Our Philanthropy team embraces creative problem-solving and innovation in their quest to provide a full-service fundraising operation.

This might be a challenging environment to work in, contending with shifting donor expectations and competition for funding, but we have worked strategically and proactively.

We created a new and targeted Case for Support for Factory International and delivered on our strategy to strengthen our base of previous donors. This was a vital step to truly embed a culture of philanthropy across the organisation and helped us to reconnect with lapsed donors, restore our giving circles and give our supporters a stronger, creative relationship with us.

We’re building relationships with new trusts and foundations, including those that operate on invite only, and are working with our Chair and Senior Leadership Team to connect with funders. Identifying who we want to work with, and how they align with our mission and values, is a critical element of our work. It’s vital that all of our philanthropic opportunities are entwined with both our business plan and strategic objectives.

This includes connecting with our current supporters and encouraging them to become advocates for our work and impact; responding to supporter feedback and reviewing how we work. We want to increase our major gifts from regional and UK-wide donors and work ambitiously to develop new initiatives, launch a Friends of Factory International USA and a mid-career Groundbreakers scheme. We are also actively exploring how we can build on our connections within Film & TV as well, as a South Asian Artist Strategic Fund.

It is our goal to build greater financial stability from restricted and unrestricted income, cultivate major funder prospects, prioritising those with multi-year funding opportunities and actively pursuing nonarts grant funding from cross-sector partners. Our artistic and engagement programmes offer a great way to sell our story and what our organisations need, and we’ll continue to build our work.

Since January 2025 the team has been led by Executive Commercial Director, Scott McVittie and from September 2025, Max Dunbar will be Philanthropy Director. This allows us to develop and strengthen our team and their skills, with the Philanthropy Assistant and Philanthropy Coordinator increasing their experience in Trusts and Foundations and individual giving fundraising respectively.

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Funding Bodies

Strong relationships are at the heart of what we do, and nowhere are they more important than with our public investors. We have worked closely with Arts Council, with a positive and open dialogue and this has resulted in our risk rating moving downward during the year to now be assessed at ‘moderate’ in place of ‘high’ risk by March 2025.

Both of our key funders have supported us with advice, via external advocacy and in demonstrating flexibility to better support the final stages of the capital project and forward business and financial planning.

We are building on our communication and connections. We attended the Regeneration Scrutiny Committee with MCC senior officers. Following this, business and project updates are provided to MCC Culture and Capital teams for dissemination to members. Factory Oversight Group meetings continued through the year (capital project oversight) with ACE, DCMS, MCC and Factory International representatives overseeing the closing stages of the capital project.

Strategic Planning

Our next Strategic Plan will focus on 2026-31. The goal is look forward, focusing on our ambitions now that the opening of Aviva Studios is complete. We will assess how we can make sure the full range of activities that are both delivered and supported by Factory International meet our vision and mission.

Work began in September 2024 with a Board Away Day where we looked at key themes and our vision for the future. Intensive work then stepped up with the Executive team in December 2024 and a staff Away Day in February 2025. The Factory International People’s Forum has been giving input throughout.

While the core purpose of our organisation stays the same, we will be reviewing language around Vision, Mission and Values, as well as the setting of new key Aims and Ambitions for the five-year period.

We’ll be talking to our stakeholders, consulting on their views, as part of the process, alongside an indepth analysis of risks and opportunities.

The planning process will continue until late 2025, with the plan launched in early 2026.

Review + Reset

With a mission of inclusivity and equity, it’s always important we put our core values into practice. That’s why, in late 2023, we launched a staff-led project.

Review + Reset is internal, and it aims to both identify and address challenges within Factory International as we settle into a new venue and deliver a year-round programme. It might be an operational, a process or a system issue but it is about ensuring everyone has a voice.

We began with a wide-ranging review of all existing project feedback and then conducted a full staff survey.

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That enabled us to identify key themes which were then refined and developed by groups of staff. These have now been focused on 20 core improvement projects, which vary in both scale and complexity.

We’ve set up a Steering Group which meets every month and reports back to staff. Their focus is to monitor progress and work to identify and unblock any barriers in each project.

This is a process in itself, and everyone is still learning. We continue to make improvements to the organisation’s systems, based on what we’ve been told and understood so far. We have;

This ambitious work is focused on driving change and will continue to be rolled out, with longer term projects being championed, being integrated into the organisation’s Strategic Plan.

People + Culture

Equity and representation are at the heart of our values as an organisation, and we work to embed them into our work. We are passionate about having a people-centred policy and practice.

This year we launched our first staff engagement survey, achieving a 78% participation rate and an overall engagement score of 58%. In response, we’ve improved meeting structures and are working closely with the Senior Management Team, Line Managers Group and the Staff Representation Group (including Health & Wellbeing) to shape recognition initiatives. This ensures transparency and responsiveness to feedback, with further initiatives planned based on ongoing evaluation. Our line managers scored highest in the survey, with 86% of respondents agreeing they genuinely care for the welfare of their teams. We are building on this by strengthening their skills through dedicated training, one-to-one coaching, and mentoring. This supports fair, consistent implementation of policies and improves daily working relationships.

Listening to the feedback from both staff and managers, we have launched a simplified appraisal process focused on pastoral care.

Across the year, we delivered 1,776 hours of training, including face-to-face and online sessions. That has included;

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We also refreshed and relaunched our Equalities Action Plan (EAP), setting SMART targets with clear departmental accountability. Equalities initiatives are increasingly staff-led, with support from coaching, inclusive practice training, and a growing cultural competency framework. This approach has been informed by a People-Centred Leadership Session, attended by 180 staff, as part of our organisation-wide strategy day. Our Equity Leads model continues to deepen leadership accountability.

We’re growing as a team and we’re increasing representation across the organisation. So far, we’ve filled 73 roles with 53% female, 39% male and 8% gender minority; 47% LGBTQ+; 36% Black, Asian or other ethnic diaspora backgrounds; 10% identify as disabled; 20% as neurodivergent or living with a mental health condition; and 26% from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

We know we can do more, so we are going to look at how we can improve our recruitment processes to further encourage applicants from underrepresented groups. This will include improving induction and onboarding programmes. We are also looking at how we can adapt to the increasing use of AI by applicants.

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FINANCIAL REVIEW

Over the 12-month financial period ended March 2025 the group made a loss of £414k (2024: £136k) with the result that reserves decreased from £13,646k to £13,232k (representing a drop of 3%).

A comparison of the results of this financial period to the previous one, requires acknowledgement of the delivery of the biennial Festival MIF23 in the previous financial period, and also the fact that the new venue AVIVA Studios opened officially in October 2023.

GRANTS AND DONATIONS

The amount of income from grants and donations decreased by 26% compared to prior year from £19,037k to £14,100k reflecting reduced support from MCC as we neared completion of Aviva Studios. The largest grant was provided by Arts Council England (ACE) representing a National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) funding agreement for the ongoing development of Factory International. The total amount of ACE funding has remained relatively flat; marginally increasing from £9,905k in the prior year to £10,007k this year.

Our other principal funding agreement is with Manchester City Council (MCC). In this period, the total amount of MCC funding was £3,596k and included our typical annual funding of £2,500k however we also received a contribution of £500k towards the impact of delays to the building and £596k towards the fit-out of the new venue and investments in fixtures and fittings.

In addition to public funding, Factory International continued to be supported by income from Trusts and Foundations to support key areas of activity – particularly our creative engagement programme. The total income from three organisations was £325k (2024: £303k).

We also received support from individual donations of £73k (2024: £177k).

INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

Income from charitable activities represents income from the many activities that Factory International undertakes for the public benefit, including the varied activities that take place in Aviva Studios as well as touring activities and international presentations.

Total income for the financial period from charitable activities was £5,405k which represents a decrease from £6,235k in the prior year primarily due to no Festival or venue opening activity in this financial year .

INCOME FROM OTHER TRADING ACTIVITIES

Income from other trading activities includes £735k (2024: £945k) from The Factory Academy programme of activity which as described earlier in the Trustees Report, provides pre- and postemployment training for under-represented groups in the cultural sector. The Factory Academy income relates to a secured sub-contracting funding agreement with a learning body, initially secured in September 2020, to provide high-quality training programmes. There was also £3,920k (2024: £2,976k) of income from commercial activities such as business partnerships, music and commercial event hire, food & beverage and merchandise.

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COST OF RAISING FUNDS

The cost of raising funds has remained relatively consistent with prior year increasing by only 2% from £5,647k to £5,758k driven primarily by the direct cost of the operations of the trading subsidiaries.

EXPENDITURE ON CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

Expenditure on charitable activities presents expenditure from activities that Factory International undertakes for the public benefit, including the AVIVA Studios based artistic programme and other year-round charitable activities such as Creative Engagement as well as the biennial Manchester International Festival.

Overall expenditure decreased from £25,310k to £20,000k with no festival being delivered during the financial year and 24/25 being the first full year of operating activities in the new AVIVA Studios.

Expenditure related to the transition into AVIVA Studios declined from £1,910k to £680k as the organisation settled into the new venue.

TAXATION

Factory International accrued a taxation benefit of £1,108k (2024: £1,568k) in relation to creative industry tax reliefs claimed by both MIF and MIF Productions in respect of eligible commissioned work. This is a decrease on the prior year and represents the mixture of eligible in-year activity and activity for the 25/26 venue and festival programme.

INVESTMENT POWERS AND POLICY

Under the company's Memorandum and Articles of Association the charity has the power to invest in any way deemed appropriate. Factory International endeavours to make best use of available funds by investing these funds in interest bearing deposit accounts, which in the 12 months to March 2025 generated interest of £75k (2024: £61k).

RESERVES POLICY

FI’s Reserves Policy is reviewed and updated annually as part of the organisation’s longer-term strategic financial planning and risk management. In setting the Policy and the target for general reserves, a number of factors are considered including the general level of risk within the current and future operations; the reliability of forecasted revenue and expenditure projections and the extent of cover required for overheads.

The Reserves Policy is set to ensure that Factory International can continue to deliver its charitable objectives through this transition period of opening Aviva Studios and beyond. The level of risk in the financial year ahead is considered to remain high, as we establish the year-round artistic programme and develop commercial revenue streams.

The current reserves position is as follows

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Restricted Funds:

As at the end of March 2025, the total value of restricted funds were £138k (2024: £270k) and are for various Trust & Foundation supported projects.

Unrestricted Funds:

The total value of unrestricted and general funds were £13,094k (2024: £13,376k) and represented:

Looking ahead the following reserves will be targeted for successful ongoing operations:

GOING CONCERN

The group manages its activities with positive restricted and unrestricted reserves. The charity relies on funding from Arts Council England and Manchester City Council. Future success is also dependent on achieving a balance of artistic, social and revenue-generating commercial activity at the venue operated by Factory International.

The current unrestricted Arts Council England funding agreement contractually covers the period to March 2026. The Charity submitted a bridging funding application in December 2024 to cover the period April 2026 to March 2027. The funding extension has been confirmed by Arts Council England however the level of funding has not yet been agreed due to the details of government funding not being known presently. This approach is applicable to all NPO funded organisations, not specifically to Factory International. The Trustees are confident that there is unlikely to be reduced funding for 26/27, and have assumed no increase on 25/26 as a prudent approach.

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Alongside the long-term financial support of Arts Council England, Factory International has also signed a Management Agreement with Manchester City Council to run the new building out to March 2032. This attracts an appropriate service fee and underpins the core running costs of the venue.

The Trustees have undertaken a full review of the current short-term and long-term financial plans and the cashflow forecast through to 31 December 2026, giving necessary and due consideration to the wider organisational context and macro-economic challenges. The Trustees have also considered the potential impacts of not achieving future income targets and / or covering unforeseen costs by conducting sensitivity analysis on cash projections. Following this review, the Trustees confirm that the organisation’s accounts will be prepared on the basis of ‘Going Concern’.

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STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

GOVERNING DOCUMENT

Manchester International Festival (trading as Factory International) is a company limited by guarantee governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association dated 22 September 2014. The company became a registered charity on 26 April 2006.

DIRECTORS AND TRUSTEES

Factory International is governed by a diverse Board of leaders from business, arts, local government and communities. The Directors of the charitable company (the charity) are its Trustees for the purpose of charity law and throughout this report are collectively referred to as the Trustees.

All Directors on the Board are members (except for the Directors appointed by Manchester City Council). A Director must be a person aged 18 years or older who is not disqualified from acting as a Director or charity Trustee by law.

APPOINTMENT AND RETIREMENT OF DIRECTORS

The Board may, by ordinary resolution, appoint a person who is willing to be a Director. The Schedule of Delegation requires that all new appointments go through a process with the Nominations Committee who then makes a recommendation to the Board on the suitability of persons to appoint.

Manchester City Council currently has appointed two persons as Directors to the Board and retains the powers to change these appointments as required. A Director appointed by Manchester City Council may at any time be removed from office only by notice in writing by the City Council.

All other Directors are subject to retirement after four years. A director may be re-appointed for a second term of office, but at the end of the second term of office, may only be appointed for subsequent terms if 75% of the Board agree.

Board recruitment continued its annual cycle to replace retiring or resigning Trustees. The focus of our Trustee recruitment continues to be on increasing diversity of board membership, and aligning skills and experience to the expanding remit of Factory International and the venue.

TRUSTEE INDUCTION AND TRAINING

All new Trustees receive a Board induction pack including the charity's governing document, details of the responsibilities of charity Trustees, the next annual budget, the most recent management financial statements and papers from the previous two Board meetings. Additional training is made available to all new Trustees to ensure that they are well supported to be able to carry out their responsibilities.

ORGANISATION

The Trustees administer the charity. They meet as a Board quarterly and through various subcommittees – Finance & Audit, People & Culture, Ethics and Nominations – which meet prior to main Board meetings.

The four meetings align with quarterly finance, Business Plan and external funding reporting to strengthen Board scrutiny of company performance. For the fifth meeting, the Board undertakes an annual retreat to ensure focus on long term strategy in September.

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In addition to the standing sub-committees, there are also various time limited working groups which convene around topics such as key leadership appointments, key funding submissions, and key procurement activities related to the operating model. Individual members act as Board-nominated leads on specific areas including Equalities and Safeguarding.

A CEO & Artistic Director is appointed to administer the day-to-day operations of Factory International. To assist in the effective running of the charity, operational matters including finance, production, and marketing, are delegated to the CEO and Artistic Director with the approval of the Trustees.

SUBSIDIARIES

On 27 October 2020, a subsidiary Factory Academy Limited (company number 12978506) was incorporated to deliver the Factory Academy programme of activities. The subsidiary is a private company with a £1 share issue and is wholly owned by Factory International. The charity consolidates in its financial statements the results of Factory Academy Limited.

Membership of Factory Academy Limited is as follows:

On 12 November 2014, a subsidiary MIF Productions Limited (company number 09308388) was incorporated to deliver specific dramatic and music productions. The subsidiary is a private company with a £1 share issue and is wholly owned by Factory International. The charity consolidates in its financial statements the results of MIF Productions.

Membership of MIF Productions Limited is as follows:

Factory International Trading Services Limited (FITS) -. (Company number 14556931), was incorporated on 23 December 2022 and its trading activities commenced on 01 April 2023.The principal activities of the company are brand partnerships and corporate sponsorships including the naming rights of the venue, hire of the venue for 3rd party commercial and music events, sale of merchandise through the Factory International shop and commission received through food and beverage sales. The subsidiary is a private company with a £1 share issue and is wholly owned by Factory International. The charity consolidates in its financial statements the results of Factory International Trading Services Limited (FITS).

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Membership of Factory International Trading Services Limited (FITS) is as follows:

RELATED PARTIES

Information concerning the related parties is detailed in note 22 of the financial statements.

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RISK MANAGEMENT

FI’s performance in the year was still being impacted by the slower than projected development of the surrounding St John’s area. The implications of this remained significant within the year, as it affected FI’s ability to attract external hires and events and our ability to attract more casual “drop-in” audiences.

Key areas of financial risk specific to the business model for the organisation, include:

To mitigate these risks the organisation’s management meets monthly to review the income and expenditure projections around the artistic programme of activity and to take responsive corrective action. All production budgets include a suitable level of contingency for unavoidable cost overages.

Commercial income is also regularly reviewed by management and, if and when necessary, organisational budgets are reforecast to manage and mitigate the reduced income.

The development of clear mid-to-long term planning of the programme of activities and identification of resources has been facilitated through the introduction of a new Programme Pathway. A new major project sign off process is in development aligned to this.

The charity regularly reviews all items of risk and had developed an updated organisational risk register. The Risk Register is a standing item at both the Finance & Audit committee meetings and the main Board meeting. Action is taken to mitigate and minimise those risks deemed significant and likely to occur.

The organisation has regular review meetings with both its major public funders – Manchester City Council and Arts Council England. Ongoing performance and risk are discussed at these sessions quarterly and annually. Both funders have observer status on the Board of Trustees and are provided with all financial and risk documentation for review throughout the year.

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REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Charity name Manchester International Festival Charity number 1113902 Company number 05292793 Country of incorporation England and Wales Company registered address AVIVA Studios Water Street Manchester, M3 4JQ Legal form Charitable company limited by guarantee Auditors Saffery LLP 71 Queen Victoria Street London EC4V 4BE Bankers The Co-operative Bank P O Box 250, Delf House Southway Skelmersdale, WN8 6WT Solicitors Eversheds Sutherland 6 Stanley St Manchester, M3 5GX

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DIRECTORS AND TRUSTEES OF MANCHESTER INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL

Moira Sinclair OBE (Chair)

Jo Whitfield CBE

Pat Bartoli

Cllr Luthfur Rahman OBE (nominated by Manchester City Council – to May 2024)

Cllr Garry Bridges (nominated by Manchester City Council – appointed May 2024)

Richard Paver (to July 2024)

Sir Howard Bernstein (to June 2024)

Richard Bell

Cathryn Wright

Jamil Khalil

Alan Bishop

Nihal Arthanayake (appointed March 2025)

Maria Balshaw CBE (to February 2025) John Dunleavy (appointed March 2025)

Ngozi Ugochukwu Fazeel Barber Lamia Dabboussy

Laura Jordan-Bambach Grace Ladoja MBE (to February 2025) Ibrahim Mahama (to February 2025) Shaminder Nahal Gary Neville (to February 2025)

Sharon Watson

Candice Hull (appointed March 2025) Joshua Wilkinson (appointed March 2025) Lemn Sissay (appointed March 2025) Thom Hetherington (appointed March 2025) Leila Alexander (appointed March 2025)

COMPANY SECRETARY

Sheena Wrigley (to May 2025)

Karen Bass (appointed May 2025)

KEY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL

Chief Executive Officer & Artistic Director - John McGrath

Executive Director – Sheena Wrigley Creative Director – Kee Hong Low

Chief Financial Officer – Karen Bass

Executive Commercial Director – Scott McVittie (appointed October 2024)

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TRUSTEES’ RESPONSIBILITIES

The Trustees (who are also directors of Manchester International Festival for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law, the Trustees have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law) including FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland. Under company law, the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charitable company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the company and 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 confirm that:

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.

By order of the Board of Trustees

Moira Sinclair (Dec 11, 2025 12:17:25 GMT)

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INDEPENDENT AUDITORS REPORT TO THE MEMBERS AND TRUSTEES OF MANCHESTER INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL

OPINION

We have audited the financial statements of Manchester International Festival (the ‘parent charitable company’) and its subsidiaries (the ‘group’) for the year ended 31 March 2025 which comprise the consolidated statement of financial activities, the consolidated and charity balance sheets, the consolidated statement of cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion the financial statements:

BASIS FOR OPINION

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the group and parent charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

CONCLUSIONS RELATING TO GOING CONCERN

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the Trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the group or the parent charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

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Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the Trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

OTHER INFORMATION

The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The Trustees are responsible for the other information. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information; we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

OTHER MATTERS PRESCRIBED BY THE COMPANIES ACT 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

MATTERS ON WHICH WE ARE REQUIRED TO REPORT BY EXCEPTION

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the group and the parent charitable company and their environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Trustees’ Annual Report and Strategic Report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Companies Act 2006 require us to report to you if, in our opinion:

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RESPONSIBILITIES OF TRUSTEES

As explained more fully in the Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities set out on page 33, the Trustees (who are also the directors of the parent charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the Trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of the financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the Trustees are responsible for assessing the group and the parent charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Trustees either intend to liquidate the group or the parent charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

AUDITOR’S RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE AUDIT OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

We have been appointed as auditors under the Companies Act 2006 and report in accordance with regulations made under that Act.

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the group and parent financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The specific procedures for this engagement and the extent to which these are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud are detailed below.

IDENTIFYING AND ASSESSING RISKS RELATED TO IRREGULARITIES

We assessed the susceptibility of the group and parent charitable company’s financial statements to material misstatement and how fraud might occur, including through discussions with the Trustees, discussions within our audit team planning meeting, updating our record of internal controls and ensuring these controls operated as intended. We evaluated possible incentives and opportunities for fraudulent manipulation of the financial statements. We identified laws and regulations that are of significance in the context of the group and parent charitable company by discussions with Trustees and updating our understanding of the sector in which the group and parent charitable company operate.

Laws and regulations of direct significance in the context of the group and parent charitable company include The Companies Act 2006 and guidance issued by the Charity Commission for England and Wales.

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AUDIT RESPONSE TO RISKS IDENTIFIED

We considered the extent of compliance with these laws and regulations as part of our audit procedures on the related financial statement items including a review of financial statement disclosures. We reviewed the parent charitable company’s records of breaches of laws and regulations, minutes of meetings and correspondence with relevant authorities to identify potential material misstatements arising. We discussed the parent charitable company’s policies and procedures for compliance with laws and regulations with members of management responsible for compliance.

During the planning meeting with the audit team, the engagement partner drew attention to the key areas which might involve non-compliance with laws and regulations or fraud. We enquired of management whether they were aware of any instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations or knowledge of any actual, suspected or alleged fraud. We addressed the risk of fraud through management override of controls by testing the appropriateness of journal entries and identifying any significant transactions that were unusual or outside the normal course of business. We assessed whether judgements made in making accounting estimates gave rise to a possible indication of management bias. At the completion stage of the audit, the engagement partner’s review included ensuring that the team had approached their work with appropriate professional scepticism and thus the capacity to identify non-compliance with laws and regulations and fraud.

There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures described above and the further removed noncompliance with laws and regulations is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely we would become aware of it. Also, the risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery or intentional misrepresentations, or through collusion.

A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

USE OF OUR REPORT

This report is made solely to the parent charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the parent charitable company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the parent charitable company and the parent charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

37

11/12/2025

…………………………………..

Cara Turtington (Senior Statutory Auditor) for and on behalf of Saffery LLP

Statutory Auditors

71 Queen Victoria Street London EC4V 4BE

………………………

38

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

(including income and expenditure account) for the year ending 31 March 2025

Unrestricted
Restricted
12 Months Ended Unrestricted
Restricted 12 Months Ended
31 Mar 2025
31 Mar 2024
£
£
£
£
£
£
Note
Income:
Grants & Donations
2
13,674,959
425,000
14,099,959
18,763,811
273,341
19,037,153
Charitable Activities
3
5,405,327
-
5,405,327
6,234,542
-
6,234,542
Other Trading Activities
4
4,655,014
-
4,655,014
3,920,331
- 3,920,331
Investments
5
75,383
-
75,383
61,388
-
61,388
Total income
23,810,682
425,000
24,235,682
28,980,072
273,341
29,253,413
Expenditure:
Cost of raising funds
6
5,738,424 19,529
5,757,953
5,601,837
45,397
5,647,234
Expenditure on charitable activities
Festival Costs
7
52,136 1,325
53,462
7,314,221
366,570
7,680,792
Other Charitable Activities
7
18,730,499
536,177
19,266,676
14,471,825
1,247,668
15,719,492
AVIVA Studios Transition costs
7
679,645
0
679,645
-
1,909,925
1,909,925
Total expenditure
25,200,704
557,032
25,757,736
27,387,883
3,569,560
30,957,443
Net expenditure
(1,390,022)
(132,032)
(1,522,053)
1,592,189 (3,296,219)
(1,704,029)		 Unrestricted
Restricted
12 Months Ended Unrestricted
Restricted 12 Months Ended
31 Mar 2025
31 Mar 2024
£
£
£
£
£
£
Note
Income:
Grants & Donations
2
13,674,959
425,000
14,099,959
18,763,811
273,341
19,037,153
Charitable Activities
3
5,405,327
-
5,405,327
6,234,542
-
6,234,542
Other Trading Activities
4
4,655,014
-
4,655,014
3,920,331
- 3,920,331
Investments
5
75,383
-
75,383
61,388
-
61,388
Total income
23,810,682
425,000
24,235,682
28,980,072
273,341
29,253,413
Expenditure:
Cost of raising funds
6
5,738,424 19,529
5,757,953
5,601,837
45,397
5,647,234
Expenditure on charitable activities
Festival Costs
7
52,136 1,325
53,462
7,314,221
366,570
7,680,792
Other Charitable Activities
7
18,730,499
536,177
19,266,676
14,471,825
1,247,668
15,719,492
AVIVA Studios Transition costs
7
679,645
0
679,645
-
1,909,925
1,909,925
Total expenditure
25,200,704
557,032
25,757,736
27,387,883
3,569,560
30,957,443
Net expenditure
(1,390,022)
(132,032)
(1,522,053)
1,592,189 (3,296,219)
(1,704,029)
Cost of raising funds
6
Expenditure on charitable activities

Festival Costs
7
Other Charitable Activities
7
AVIVA Studios Transition costs
7
Total expenditure
Net expenditure
(1,390,022)
(132,032)
(1,522,053)
1,592,189 (3,296,219)
(1,704,029)
Taxation
19		 1,108,203
-
1,108,203
1,568,172
-
1,568,172
Transfers between funds
16
Net movement in funds after transfers
Total funds brought forward:
At 1 April 2024
16
Total funds carried forward
16		 - - - 3,786,672 (3,786,672)
-
(281,818)
(132,032)
(413,850)
6,947,033 (7,082,891)
(135,857)
13,376,220
270,023
13,646,243
6,429,187
7,352,914
13,782,101
13,094,402
137,991
13,232,392
13,376,220
270,023
13,646,243

These results derive from continuing activities and all gains and losses recognised in the year are included in the above statement.

The notes on pages 42 to 60 form part of these financial statements.

39

CONSOLIDATED & CHARITY BALANCE SHEETS

Company No. 05292793 As at 31 March 2025

Note
Fixed assets:
Tangible assets
12
Intangible assets
12
Investments
24
Total Fixed Assets
Current assets:
Debtors
13
Cash and bank balances
Total Current Assets
Liabilities:
Amounts falling due within
one year
14
Net current assets
Provisions for liabilities
15
Total Net assets
Funds:
Unrestricted funds
16
Restricted funds
16		 Group
31 Mar 2025
£
9,826,260
528,596
-		 Charity
31 Mar 2025
£
8,783,797
481,889
3
9,265,689
5,755,855
4,680,583		 Group
31 Mar 2024
£		 Charity
31 Mar 2024
£
10,821,212
765,448
-		 9,479,182
717,028
3
10,354,855
5,872,862
5,063,954		 11,586,660
4,094,659
3,733,637		 10,196,214
5,465,977
2,713,562
10,936,816
(8,059,280)		 10,436,438
(7,434,945)		 7,828,296
(5,639,343)		 8,179,539
(5,278,152)
2,877,537
-		 3,001,493
-		 2,188,953 2,901,388
(129,370) (129,370)
13,232,392 12,267,182 13,646,243 12,968,231
13,094,402
137,991		 12,129,191
137,991
13,376,220
270,023		 12,698,208
270,023
13,232,392 12,267,182 13,646,243 12,968,231

The Charitable company has taken advantage of section 408 of the Companies Act 2006 not to publish its own Statement of Financial Activities. The parent company’s net deficit for the year was (£1.16m) (2024: £0.93m).

These financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Board and were signed on its behalf by:

Moira Sinclair (Dec 11, 2025 12:17:25 GMT)

Moira Sinclair OBE

Date: 11/12/2025

The notes on pages 42 to 60 form part of these financial statements.

40

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

For the 12 months ended 31 March 2025

Cash inflow from operating activities
Surplus after tax for the year
Adjustment for non-cash items
Depreciation and amortisation
Disposal of fixed assets
Increase in debtors
Increase in creditors
Provision for liabilities
Net cash flow from operating activities
Cash flow from investing activities
Payments made to acquire fixed assets
Maturity of long term deposit
Cash flows from financing activities
Increase in cash and cash
equivalents in the year
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of the year
Cash and cash equivalents at end of the year		 Group
2025
£
(413,850)
2,444,658
269,087
(1,778,204)
2,419,936
(129,370)		 Group
2024
£
(135,857)
1,321,862
-
(2,706,899)
3,262,964
(55,424)
2,812,256 1,686,645
(1,481,940)
-		 (9,405,119)
3,000,000
(1,481,940) (6,405,119)
- -
1,330,317 (4,718,474)
3,733,637 8,452,111
5,063,954 3,733,637

41

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

ACCOUNTING POLICIES

CHARITY INFORMATION

Manchester International Festival is a company (company registration number: 05292793) limited by guarantee and incorporated in England and Wales. It is also a charity (charity registration number: 1113902) registered at the address AVIVA Studios, Water Street, Manchester M3 4JQ.

ACCOUNTING CONVENTION

The group financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities (Charities SORP) and with Financial Reporting Standard 102 applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS102) and the Charities Act 2011 and the Companies Act 2006.

Manchester International Festival meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical costs or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy note.

The financial statements are prepared in sterling which is the functional currency of the company. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £1.

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.

REPORTING PERIOD

The company has prepared accounts for the year to 31 March 2025.

PREPARATION OF THE ACCOUNTS ON A GOING CONCERN BASIS

The group’s activities and future plans are set out in the Trustees’ Annual Report. The Trustees are satisfied that having considered the future plans and all identified risks, and reviewed a cashflow forecast for a period not shorter than 12 months from the date of signing these financial statements the business is a going concern, and these financial statements have been prepared on that basis.

GROUP FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

These financial statements consolidate the results of the charity Manchester International Festival (MIF) and its wholly owned subsidiaries, MIF Productions Limited, Factory Academy Limited and Factory International Trading Services Limited, on a line by line basis.

The accounting periods for all subsidiaries are co-terminus with that of the charity.

42

FUNDS

Unrestricted funds comprise accumulated surpluses and deficits on general funds and are available for use at the discretion of the Board in furtherance of the general charitable objectives. Restricted funds are funds subject to specific restricted conditions imposed by the donors.

INCOME RECOGNITION POLICY

For Manchester International Festival t/a Factory International, income is recognised in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) for Charities and Financial Reporting Standard (FRS) 102, when:

Arts Council England and Manchester City Council grants are recognised over the period to which they relate, as funding conditions are met through strategic delivery.

Trusts, foundations, and philanthropic giving are recognised when receivable unless conditions exist that require deferral. If specific performance conditions are attached, income is recognised only when those conditions have been met.

Box office income is recognised when performances take place, as is ticket commission. Cocommissioning and touring income is recognised when performances take place. If a performance spans multiple financial periods, income is recognised in the period of the final performance.

For Factory International Trading Services Ltd and Factory Academy Ltd, income is recognised in accordance with Financial Reporting Standard (FRS) 102.

Sponsorship and brand partnerships are recognised as performance obligations are satisfied, either by allocating transaction prices to specific obligations or, where obligations cannot be clearly separated, on a time-elapsed basis over the contract period. Non-cash sponsorship (value in kind) is recognised as the service or benefit is received.

Income from hiring the venue is recognised in the period in which the event occurs. If an event is cancelled, any refund obligations are accounted for based on contract terms.

Retail and food & beverage income is recognised at the point of sale or, in the case of commission arrangements, when calculations for the period have been confirmed, or a reasonable estimate of the commission value has been made.

Factory Academy income from training delivery is recognised when the payment conditions are met, as contractual obligations with partner colleges are met on a per student basis.

Where income is received in advance of entitlement, it is deferred and recorded as a creditor until the conditions for recognition are met. Where entitlement to income exists before cash is received, income is accrued.

43

DONATED SERVICES AND FACILITIES

Donated services or facilities are recognised as income when the charity has control over the item; any conditions associated with the donated item have been met; the receipt of economic benefit from the use by the charity of the item is probable, and that economic benefit can be measured reliably.

On receipt, donated services and facilities are recognised on the basis of the value of the gift to the charity which is the amount the charity would have been willing to pay to obtain services or facilities of equivalent economic benefit on the open market; a corresponding amount is then recognised in expenditure in the period of receipt.

EXPENDITURE

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party; it is probable that settlement will be required, and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.

Costs of generating funds comprises the costs associated with attracting voluntary income and the costs of the expenditure for raising sponsorship income.

Charitable expenditure comprises those costs incurred by the charity in the delivery of its activities and services for its beneficiaries. It includes both costs that can be allocated directly to such activities and those costs of an indirect nature necessary to support them.

Governance costs include those costs associated with meeting the constitutional and statutory requirements of the charity and include the audit fees and costs linked to the strategic management of the charity.

All costs are allocated between the expenditure categories on the Statement of Financial Activities on a basis designed to reflect the use of the resource. Costs relating to a particular activity are allocated directly; others are apportioned on an appropriate basis.

All significant producing costs expended in respect of the shows presented in future years are included in the prepayments in the Balance Sheet.

TANGIBLE ASSETS

Tangible fixed assets costing over £1,000 are capitalised. They are depreciated evenly over their expected useful lives. Depreciation is calculated at the following rates:

Equipment – 10% - 33 1/3% straight line per annum

Fixtures and fittings – 10% - 33 1/3% straight line per annum

INTANGIBLE ASSETS

Intangible fixed assets include software and related consultancy costs that the company believes will provide ongoing economic benefit. Intangible assets are capitalised when it is expected that the project cost will be in excess of £5,000 and the period of benefit is at least 3 years. Amortisation is charged from the point an asset is brought into use and the amortisation period is between 3 and 5 years dependent on the type of asset.

44

PENSION COSTS AND RETIREMENT BENEFITS

The charity operates a defined contribution scheme. The assets of this scheme are held separately from those of the charity, being invested by insurance companies. Pension costs charged in the Statement of Financial Activities represent the contributions payable by the charity in the year.

LEASING COMMITMENTS

Rentals payable under operating leases are charged as expenditure to the Statement of Financial Activities on a straight line basis over the lease term.

TAXATION

Manchester International Festival is considered to pass the test set out in Paragraph 1 Schedule 6 of the Finance Act 2010 and, therefore, it meets the definition of a charitable company for UK corporation tax purposes. Accordingly, the charity is potentially exempt 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 extent that such income or gains are applied exclusively to charitable purposes.

As non-charitable companies, all subsidiaries are eligible for UK corporation tax. In this 12-month financial year ended March 2025, no Corporation Tax was due within any of the subsidiaries as Manchester International Festival has a legally binding agreement in place under which the subsidiaries will gift-aid all taxable profits to the Charity within nine months of the year end. No deferred tax assets or liabilities have been recognised, as this arrangement makes their crystallisation unlikely.

Across the 12-months to March 2025 the Group accrued a taxation benefit of £1,108,203 that is in relation to creative tax reliefs claimed by the Charity and MIF Productions in respect of eligible commissioned work.

FOREIGN CURRENCIES

Transactions in foreign currencies are recorded at the rate ruling at the date of the transaction. Monetary assets and liabilities in foreign currencies are translated at the rates of exchange ruling at the balance sheet date. All differences are recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities.

FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

The Group has applied the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments. Other than where specifically stated all of the Group’s financial instruments are classed as basic financial instruments. Financial assets are recognised in the Group’s balance sheet when the Group becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument. Financial assets are classified into specified categories. The classification depends on the nature and purpose of the financial assets and is determined at the time of recognition.

BASIC FINANCIAL ASSETS

Basic financial assets, which include trade and other receivables and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method, unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted

45

at a market rate of interest. Other financial assets classified as fair value through the statement of financial activities are measured at fair value.

IMPAIRMENT OF FINANCIAL ASSETS

Financial assets, other than those held at fair value through profit and loss, are assessed for indicators of impairment at each reporting end date.

Financial assets are impaired where there is objective evidence that, as a result of one or more events that occurred after the initial recognition of the financial asset, the estimated future cash flows have been affected. If an asset is impaired, the impairment loss is the difference between the carrying amount and the present value of the estimated cash flows discounted at the asset’s original effective interest rate. The impairment loss is recognised in profit or loss.

If there is a decrease in the impairment loss arising from an event occurring after the impairment was recognised, the impairment is reversed. The reversal is such that the current carrying amount does not exceed what the carrying amount would have been, had the impairment not previously been recognised. The impairment reversal is recognised in profit or loss.

DERECOGNITION OF FINANCIAL ASSETS

Financial assets are derecognised only when the contractual rights to the cash flows from the asset expire or are settled, or when the company transfers the financial asset and substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership to another entity, or if some significant risks and rewards of ownership are retained but control of the asset has transferred to another party that is able to sell the asset in its entirety to an unrelated third party.

CLASSIFICATION OF FINANCIAL LIABILITIES

Financial liabilities and equity instruments are classified according to the substance of the contractual arrangements entered into. An equity instrument is any contract that evidences a residual interest in the assets of the company after deducting all of its liabilities.

BASIC FINANCIAL LIABILITIES

Basic financial liabilities are initially recognised at transaction price, unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Other financial liabilities classified as fair value through the statement of financial activities are measured at fair value.

DERECOGNITION OF FINANCIAL LIABILITIES

Financial liabilities are derecognised when the entity’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or are cancelled.

CRITICAL ESTIMATES AND JUDGEMENTS

The preparation of the financial statements in accordance with FRS 102 requires the Trustees to make estimates and assumptions concerning the future. The estimates and assumptions that could have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next financial year include accruals, depreciation, amortisation, and doubtful debt provision. The accounting in these areas of the accounts requires management to use judgement. In relation to accruals this is a best estimate of costs that will be incurred based on contractual

46

requirements. Provision for doubtful debts is based on the age of debts and probability of their recovery. For depreciation and amortisation, the estimates are driven by the useful economic life of the associated assets.

47

2 Grants & Donations
Manchester City Council
Arts Council England - Factory Grant
Arts Council England Unrestricted Project Grants
Arts Council England Restricted Project Grants
Other Public Funding Grants (inc. ALBs)
Trusts & Foundations
Kickstart Scheme
Individual Donations
Manchester City Council
Arts Council England - Factory Grant
Arts Council England Unrestricted Project Grants
Arts Council England Restricted Project Grants
Other Public Funding Grants (inc. ALBs)
Trusts & Foundations
Kickstart Scheme
Individual Donations		 Unrestricted
Restricted
2025
£
£
£
3,595,731
-
3,595,731
9,908,150
-
9,908,150
0
-
0
-
99,000
99,000
99,000
-
99,000
-
325,000
325,000
- - -
72,079 1,000
73,079
13,674,959
425,000
14,099,959
Unrestricted
Restricted
2024
£
£
£
8,653,293
-
8,552,326
9,564,095
-
9,564,095
371,274
-
371,274
-
(30,000)
(30,000)
99,000
0
99,000
-
303,341
303,341
- - -
177,117
-
177,117
18,864,778
273,341
19,037,153

The amount received from local and Central Government grants was £13,701,881 (2024: £18,556,695). The comparative year included restricted income of £273,341 from grants and donations.

3 Income from Charitable Activities
Box Office		 Unrestricted
Unrestricted
2025
2024
£
£
2,362,846
2,407,779
-
290,811
482,863
587,445
(76,967)
287,967
296,098
632,929
2,304,593
2,001,225
35,893
26,387
Digital
Co-Production & Co-Commissioning
Sponsorships & Partnerships
International Presentations
Other Projects & Charitable Activities
4 Income from other trading activities
Education Services
Commercial Services
5 Investments
Interest receivable
Memberships and Ancillary activities
5,405,327
6,234,542
Unrestricted
Unrestricted
2025
2024
£
£
735,006
944,614
3,920,008
2,975,717
4,655,0143,920,331
Unrestricted
Unrestricted
2025
2024
£
£
75,383
61,388

48

6 Cost of Raising funds

----- Start of picture text -----
Wages and
Direct Costs Support Costs 2025
Salaries
£ £ £ £
Fundraising 5,177 379,420 354,009 738,606
Production Services 681,219 - - 681,219
Education Services 254,744 250,051 - 504,795
Commercial Services 2,907,849 925,484 - 3,833,333
3,848,989 1,554,955 354,009 5,757,953
Wages and
Direct Costs Support Costs 2024
Salaries
£ £ £ £
Fundraising 213,538 373,762 363,909 951,209
Production Services 1,604,171 - - 1,604,171
Education Services 358,744 415,937 - 774,681
Commercial Services 1,335,361 981,811 - 2,317,173
3,511,815 1,771,509 363,909 5,647,234
----- End of picture text -----

Expenditure on raising funds include £19,511 (2024: £45,397) of restricted expenditure.

7 Expenditure on Charitable activities

The charity undertakes direct charitable activities only and does not make grant payments.

Other Direct
Costs
Direct Wages
and Salaries
Support Costs
2025
Charitable Activities £
£
£
£
Festival
Non-Festival Artistic Commissions
Non-Festival Music Presentations
Non-Festival Co-Commissioning & Co-
Producing
International Presentations
Digital Commissions & Broadcasting
Creative Engagement
R&D and Curatorial
AVIVA Studios Transition Project		 14,768
13,069
25,624
53,462
2,637,489
2,334,053
4,576,143
9,547,685
395,346
348,965
685,114
1,429,426
765,484
677,417
1,328,143
2,771,043
826,316
197,103
942,024
1,965,442
224,174
171,442
364,151
759,767
637,370
639,435
1,175,257
2,452,061
135,406
42,285
163,559
341,251
313,581
40,315
325,749
679,645
5,949,933
4,464,085
9,585,764
19,999,782

Expenditure on charitable activities include £537,521 (2024: £3,524,163) of restricted expenditure.

49

Charitable activities - prior year Other Direct
Costs		 Direct Wages
and Salaries		 Support Costs 2024
£ £ £
Festival 3,430,201 1,308,696 2,941,895 7,680,792
Non-Festival Artistic Commissions 3,583,048 1,367,706 3,073,415 8,024,169
Non-Festival Music Presentations 547,762 207,980 469,162 1,224,904
Non-Festival Co-Commissioning & Co- 546,109 208,458 468,433 1,223,000
Producing
International Presentations 670,551 _200,245 _ 540,588 1,411,383
Digital Commissions & Broadcasting 809,165 147,935 594,165 1,551,266
Creative Engagement 629,490 611,253 770,250 2,010,993
Factory Academy -
 -
 -
 -
R&D and Curatorial 126,248 _42,668 _ 104,862 273,778
AVIVA Studios Transition Project 1,123,134 _55,253 _ 731,539 1,909,925
11,465,707 4,150,193 9,694,309 25,310,209

8 Support costs

The charity allocates its support costs as shown in the table below and then further apportions these costs on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

Charitable Activities
Festival
Other
Charitable
AVIVA Studios
Transition
2025
Raising
Funds
£
£
£
£
£
Branding / Press and PR
Audiences & Ticketing
Governance & Administration
Finance & Reporting
People & Culture
Systems & Data
Property Management		 15,356 1,111
400,557 14,130 431,154
77,388 5,601
2,018,671 71,210 2,172,871
98,454 7,126
2,568,180 90,594 2,764,354
16,877 1,222
440,241 15,530 473,869
18,347 1,328
478,583 16,882 515,141
38,095 2,757
993,720 35,054 1,069,627
89,493 6,478
2,334,438 82,349 2,512,758
Branding / Press and PR
Audiences & Ticketing
Governance & Administration
Finance & Reporting
People & Culture
Systems & Data
Property Management
354,009
25,624
9,234,391
325,749
9,939,773
Raising
Funds
Festival
Other
Charitable
AVIVA Studios
Transition
2024
£
£
£
£
18,300
147,937
302,767
36,786
505,790
98,082
792,910
1,622,768
197,167
2,710,927
77,243
624,440
1,277,978
155,275
2,134,936
34,254
276,912
566,727 68,858 946,751
27,765
224,457
459,373
55,814
767,408
38,541
311,575
637,668
77,477
1,065,262
69,725
563,664
1,153,594
140,162
1,927,145
Charitable Activities
363,909
2,941,895
6,020,875
731,539
10,058,218

Where relevant, professional fees and charges and other staff costs are directly attributed to activities in respect of which they were incurred. Otherwise they are apportioned to activities according to estimated usage. Depreciation, running expenses and premises costs are apportioned to activities according to estimated usage.

50

9 Movement in total funds for the period
Net movements in funds are stated after charging:
Auditors’ remuneration:
Audit services - current year
Audit services - prior year
Operating lease rentals
Depreciation and amortisation
Foreign exchange (gain) / loss
10 Analysis of staff costs
Wages and salaries
Social security costs
Pension costs
Number of employees:
The average monthly head count for permanent and fixed term employees was 210 (2024: 221).
The average monthly fixed term equivalent for casual employees was 30 (2024: 36).
The number of staff who had total earnings of more than £60,000 in the following ranges were:
£ 60,001 - £ 70,000
£ 70,001 - £ 80,000
£ 80,001 - £ 90,000
£ 90,001 - £100,000
£100,001 - £110,000
£110,001 - £120,000
£120,001 - £130,000
£130,001 - £140,000
£140,001 - £150,000		 2025
2024
£
£
45,350 45,000
8,541 20,000
- 161,692
2,444,658 1,321,862
(11,449)
(5,958)
2025
2024
£
£
8,479,649
8,263,727
821,675
789,726
301,368
272,300
9,602,692
9,325,753
2025
2024
No.
No.
10 5
1 3
2
-
1 3
1
-
1 2
- -
- -
1 1
17
14
2025
2024
£
£
57,554
54,646
Total pension paid for during the reporting period, in respect of the higher
paid employees, was:

11 Board's remuneration and expenses, and the costs of key management personnel.

None of the board members received remuneration for their services during the year. Four (2024: Seven) board members received re-imbursed travel expenses of £907 (2024: £2,741).

The key management of the parent charity, Manchester International Festival, comprise the trustees, Chief Executive Officer & Artistic Director, Executive Director, Creative Director, Chief Financial Officer, and Executive Commercial Director.

The total employee benefits of the key management personnel (including pension) for the reporting period of 12 months were £611,338 (2024: £597,525) .

The key management personnel of the group are the same as of the charity as the wholly owned subsidiaries do not employ any personnel. The employee benefits of key management personnel for the group are therefore the same as for the charity.

51

12 Tangible Fixed Assets - Group
Cost:
At 1 April 2024
Additions
Transfers
Disposals
At 31 March 2025
Depreciation:
At 1 April 2024
Disposals
Charge for the year
At 31 March 2025
Net book value:
At 31 March 2025
At 1 April 2024		 £
£
£
10,044,054
2,379,141
12,423,195
1,336,120
37,211
1,373,332
242,500
(242,500)
-
(810,585)
(138,138)
(948,724)
Equipment
Fixtures &
Fittings
Total
10,812,089
2,035,715
12,847,804
1,278,714
323,270
1,601,983
(666,655)
(134,959)
(801,614)
1,827,262
393,913
2,221,175
2,439,320
582,224
3,021,544
8,372,769 1,453,491
9,826,260
8,765,340
2,055,872
10,821,212
Tangible Fixed Assets - Charity
Cost:
At 1 April 2024
Additions
Disposals
At 31 March 2025
Depreciation:
At 1 April 2024
Disposals
Charge for the year
At 31 March 2025
Net book value:
At 31 March 2025
At 1 April 2024		 £
£
£
9,432,471
1,498,524
10,930,995
1,336,250
37,211
1,373,462
(810,585)
(138,138)
(948,724)
Fixtures &
Fittings
Total
Equipment
9,958,136
1,397,598
11,355,733
1,189,997
261,816
1,451,813
(666,655)
(134,959)
(801,614)
1,655,554
266,185
1,921,738
2,178,895
393,042
2,571,937
7,779,241 1,004,556
8,783,797
8,242,474
1,236,708
9,479,182

52

Intangible Assets - Group
Cost:
At 1 April 2024
Additions
Disposals
At 31 March 2025
Depreciation:
At 1 April 2024
Disposals
Charge for the year
At 31 March 2025
Net book value:
At 31 March 2025
At 1 April 2024
Intangible Assets - Charity
Cost:
At 1 April 2024
Additions
Disposals
At 31 March 2025
Depreciation:
At 1 April 2024
Disposals
Charge for the year
At 31 March 2025
Net book value:
At 31 March 2025
At 1 April 2024		 £
£
1,150,323 1,150,323
108,608
108,608
(310,719)
(310,719)
Intangible Assets
Total
948,212
948,212
384,875
384,875
(188,741)
(188,741)
223,483
223,483
419,616 419,616
528,596 528,596
765,448765,448
£
£
1,098,123 1,098,123
98,821
98,821
(310,719)
(310,719)
Intangible Assets
Total
886,225
886,225
381,095 381,095
(188,741)
(188,741)
211,982
211,982
404,335 404,335
481,889481,889
717,028717,028
13 Debtors
Trade debtors
Other debtors
Amounts owed by group undertakings
Prepayments
Accrued income
Stock		 Group
Charity
Group
Charity
2025
2025
2024
2024
£
£
£
£
2,244,620
1,644,189
1,246,601
1,135,001
698,909
47,377
1,812,853
3,038
-
1,484,642
-
3,385,708
2,036,428
1,980,075
244,581
218,938
817,260
599,572
790,624
723,292
75,646
-
-
-
5,872,862
5,755,855
4,094,659
5,465,977

53

Group Charity Group Charity
14 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year 2025 2025 2024 2024
£ £ £ £
Trade creditors 1,301,256 945,891 989,576 964,457
Other creditors 660,491 91,813 548,292 548,292
Amounts owed to group undertakings -
 1,220,614 - -
Accruals 1,602,744 1,300,250 1,621,489 1,519,036
Deferred income 3,720,949 3,179,304 2,385,532 2,243,420
VAT 773,840 697,073 94,453 2,946
8,059,280 7,434,945 5,639,343 5,278,152

Included within Other creditors there is a finance lease commitment of £nil (2024: £90,381) of which £nil (2024: £43,177) is due under one year, and £nil (2024: £47,204) is due over one year.

Also included within Other creditors is £52,028 (2024: £50,770) of unpaid pension contributions at the year end.

Deferred income - Group and Charity
At 1 April 2024
Amount released in the period
Amount deferred in the period
At 31 March 2025
Deferred income - prior year:
At 1 April 2023
Amount released in the period
Amount deferred in the period
At 31 March 2024		 Group
Charity
£
£
2,385,532
2,243,420
(5,617,024)
(5,049,591)
6,952,442 5,985,475
3,720,949
3,179,304
Group
Charity
£
£
565,226
565,226
(1,535,208)
(1,508,708)
3,355,513
3,186,902
2,385,532
2,243,420

The funds are deferred when the charity or its subsidiaries receives funds but do not yet have entitlement to them or there are performance conditions attached to the items of income which have not yet been met or are not fully within the control of the charity or its subsidiaries.

15 Provision for liabilities

Following the Alternative Dispute Resolution in December 2024 that ruled in favour of the Charity in its dispute with HMRC regarding the classification of some of the Charity's activities as non-business, the Charity was due a repayment from HMRC. The whole repayment was received by the end of March 2025. Consequently the provision for VAT liability of £129k was not required any longer.

54

----- Start of picture text -----
Movement in Funds
Balance at Net incoming Net outgoing Balance at
Transfers
16 Analysis of movement in funds - Group 31-Mar-24 resources resources 31-Mar-25
£ £ £ £ £
Analysis of unrestricted funds movements:
Unrestricted Funds 13,376,220 24,918,886 (25,200,704) - 13,094,402
Analysis of restricted funds movements:
Restricted Funds 270,023 425,000 (557,032) - 137,991
13,646,243 25,343,886 (25,757,736) - 13,232,392
Balance at Net incoming Net outgoing Balance at
Transfers
31-Mar-23 resources resources 31-Mar-24
£ £ £ £ £
Analysis of unrestricted funds movements:
Unrestricted Funds 6,429,187 30,548,244 (27,387,883) 3,786,672 13,376,220
Analysis of restricted funds movements:
Restricted Funds 7,352,914 273,341 (3,569,560) (3,786,672) 270,023
13,782,101 30,821,585 (30,957,443) - 13,646,243
----- End of picture text -----

Transfer of funds between restricted and unrestricted is equivalent to the value of fixed assets (tangible and intangible) acquired during the 12-month financial period to March 2024. The assets were purchased from a restricted funding agreement with MCC. As the assets are held for a general and not a restricted purpose, the restriction on the funding was released when the assets were purchased.

55

17 Outline summary of restricted fund movements

Fund Name
Arts Council - Under the Radar
EFF - Creative Engagement Grant
EFF - Reinventing Performing Arts Grant
The Paul Hamlyn Foundation
Reframe
Bloomberg LP Grant
Individual Grant - Factory Sounds
AVIVA Charity Trust		 Fund Balances
Brought
Forward
Income
Expenditure
Transfer
Fund
Balances
Carried
Forward
01-Apr-24
31-Mar-25
£
£
£
£
£
51,908
99,000
123,839
-
27,069
83,525
100,000
138,823
-
44,702
23,565
-
-
-
23,565
6,258
-
6,258
-
-
15,761
25,000
(1,895)
-
42,656
89,006
-
89,006
-
-
-
1,000
1,000
-
-
-
200,000
200,000
-
-
270,023
425,000
557,032
-
137,991

Name of restricted fund

Arts Council - Under the Radar Arts Council - The Factory grant

EFF - Creative Engagement Grant

EFF - Reinventing Performing Arts Grant

The Paul Hamlyn Foundation

Description, nature and purpose of the fund

Showcasing the UK artists at the Under the Radar festival in New York NPO Funding for delivery of MIF/The Factory Business Plan, including the MIF Festival activities. At the end of each financial year a transfer from restricted to unrestricted funds equivalent to the value of capital assets acquired is made.

A five-year programme that transforms how people access, engage and benefit from the arts with three new approaches: creating a grassroots ambassador programme (Community Advocates), building more equitable partnerships with local organisations (Community Contracts) and developing useful skills for residents (a co-designed skills programme).

Reinventing Performing Arts programme of work that is split across Digital (content and creation) and Talent Development strands. A four-year programme of community-led curation building on some of previous MIF successful models including public forums, co-curation, participatory commissions and digital innovation

Reframe To support the development of young Black creatives as part of a national career acceleration programme co-ordinated by the Southbank and supported by Apple. Bloomberg LP Grant Funding for a Digital Accelerator programme that aims to help visitors navigate the new venue using digital screens and other tools. Kickstart Grant Funding helping MIF as an employer to create jobs for 16-24 year olds on Universal Credit

Outline summary of restricted fund movements - prior year

Fund Name
Arts Council - Under the Radar
Arts Council - The Factory Grant
EFF - Creative Engagement Grant
EFF - Reinventing Performing Arts Grant
The Paul Hamlyn Foundation
Reframe		 Fund Balances
Brought
Forward
Income
Expenditure
Transfer
Fund
Balances
Carried
Forward
01-Apr-23
31-Mar-24
£
£
£
£
£
93,213
(30,000)
41,305
30,000
51,908
6,888,786
-
3,072,114
(3,816,672)
-
71,583
100,000
88,058
-
83,525
23,565
-
-
-
23,565
54,118
68,841
116,701
-
6,258
21,649
24,500
30,388
-
15,761
Bloomberg LP Grant
Granada Foundation Grant
Backstage Trust Grant		 200,000
80,000
190,994
-
89,006
-
10,000
10,000
-
-
-
20,000
20,000
-
-
7,352,914
273,341
3,569,560
-3,786,672
270,023

56

Analysis of net assets between funds - Group

Analysis of net assets between funds - Group
31-Mar-25
Tangible
Intangible
Investment
Current assets
Current liabilities
Provision for liabilities		 Unrestricted
Funds Restricted Funds
Total Funds
£
£
£
9,826,260
-
9,826,260
528,596
-
528,596
-
-
-
10,798,826
137,991
10,936,817
(8,059,280)
-
(8,059,280)
-
-
-
13,094,402
137,991
13,232,392
Analysis of net assets between funds - Group
31-Mar-24 Unrestricted
Funds Restricted Funds
Total Funds
£
£
£
Tangible
Intangible		 10,821,212
-
10,821,212
765,448
-
765,448
-
-
-
Investment
Current assets 7,558,273
270,023
7,828,296
Current liabilities (5,639,343)
-
(5,639,343)
(129,370)
-
(129,370)
Provision for liabilities
13,376,220
270,023
13,646,243
Analysis of net assets between funds - Charity
31-Mar-25 Unrestricted
Funds Restricted Funds
Total Funds
£
£
£
8,783,797
-
8,783,797
481,889
-
481,889
3
-
3
10,298,447
137,991
10,436,438
(7,434,945)
-
(7,434,945)
-
-
-
Tangible
Intangible
Investment
Current assets
Current liabilities
Provision for liabilities
12,129,191
137,991
12,267,182
Analysis of net assets between funds - Charity
31-Mar-24 Unrestricted
Funds Restricted Funds
Total Funds
£
£
£
Tangible
Intangible		 9,479,182
-
9,479,182
717,028
-
717,028
3
-
3
Investment
Current assets 7,909,516
270,023
8,179,539
Current liabilities (5,278,152)
-
(5,278,152)
(129,370)
-
(129,370)
Provision for liabilities
12,698,208
270,023
12,968,231

57

18 Share Capital

The charitable company is limited by guarantee and has no share capital. The liability of the members is limited. In the event of the charitable company being wound up, the liability of the members in respect of their guarantee is limited to £10. The members' liability applies during the time they are members of the charitable company or one year thereafter as stated in the Memorandum of Association.

The wholly owned subsidiary MIF Productions is limited by shares. Its share capital is £1. The wholly owned subsidiary Factory Academy Limited is limited by shares. Its share capital is £1. The wholly owned subsidiary Factory International Trading Services Limited is limited by shares. Its share capital is £1.

19 Taxation

The Charity is a registered charity and as such is a charity within the meaning of schedule 6 of the Finance Act 2010. Accordingly, the Charity is potentially entitled to tax exemption under part 11 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 or section 256 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 in respect of income and gains arising. Given this, no tax charge arises on the charity.

The Group benefits from a tax refund of £429,678 (Charity, 2024: Nil) and £634,539 (MIF Productions, 2024: £1,568,172) in respect of losses the Charity and MIF Productions incurred during the year in the course of delivering qualifying productions.

20 Operating lease commitments
Total of non-cancellable operating leases payments
for the following periods:
not later than one year
later than one year and not later than 5 years		 £
£
£
£
-
-
-
52,575
-
-
-
-
Land &
Buildings
31-Mar 25
Office
Equipment
31 Mar 25
Land & Buildings
31-Mar 24
Office
Equipment
31 Mar 24
-
-
-
52,575

21 Pension arrangements

MIF participated in a scheme provided by Scottish Widows. Due to the nature of the plan, the accounting charge for the period under FRS102 represents the employer contributions payable. For the 12 months to March 2025, the pension contributions charged to the accounts totalled £302,776 (£272,300 for the 12-months ended 31 March 2024).

Pension contributions of £52,028 were due to Scottish Widows at balance sheet date (2024: £50,770)

58

22 Related parties

The charity has a close working relationship with Manchester City Council (MCC) which has nominated two of the charity's trustees and provides a significant proportion of the funding to enable the charity to carry out its charitable objectives, principally the delivery of a biannual

MIF also receives grant funding from Arts Council England (ACE), the grant for the year is disclosed in note 2.

MIF receives grant funding from Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), which is disclosed in note 2 as 'Other Public Funding Grants (inc. ALBs)'.

As the funding received from such bodies is applied to pursue the normal, independent activities of the charity and in no way inhibits it from doing so, none of the transactions with these bodies is regarded as a related party transaction that needs to be disclosed in further detail in the accounts.

Other less significant sums of income and expenditure are also received from and paid to bodies which trustees have connections with but the amounts are not material and arise in the normal course of business.

MIF Productions is a 100% wholly owned subsidiary of Manchester International Festival. At the balance sheet date, there was £665,385 (2024: £1,774,476) due to MIF from MIF Productions.

This is resulting from the intercompany transactions related to the delivery of production,

Factory Academy Limited is a 100% wholly owned subsidiary of Manchester International Festival. At the balance sheet date, there was £117,158 (2024: £455,999) due to MIF from Factory Academy Limited. This is relating to intercompany transactions related to general expenditure.

Income recharges to MIF relating to fulfilment of services of Aviva Naming Rights and Law Foundation agreements £511,428 (2024: £589,690) Cost recharges from MIF relating to general expenditure and resources £282,595 (2024: £415,937)

Factory International Trading Services Limited is a 100% wholly owned subsidiary of Manchester International Festival. At the balance sheet date there was £531,158 (2024: £1,155,232 due to MIF) due from MIF to Factory International Trading Services Limited. Income recharges to MIF relating to fulfilment of services of Aviva Naming Rights agreement £670,000 (2024: £1,343,463) Cost recharges from MIF relating to general expenditure and resources £1,743,638 (2024: £1,245,496)

23 Derivatives

The charity has receivables in foreign currencies which are held by a third party. The charity does not purchase forward foreign currency contracts to manage its foreign exchange risk. No derivatives (2024: £Nil) were held at the balance sheet date.

At the balance sheet date, the charity had £82,793 (2024: £327,552) in foreign currencies.

59

24 Investments

MIF invested £1 in its subsidiary, MIF Productions (Registration number: 09308388, registered address: AVIVA Studios, Water Street, Manchester, M3 4JQ). The company delivers production, running and closure of productions presented at the MIF Festivals.

The turnover in the year to March 2024 was £2,863,122 (2024: £4,744,464), as the company was contracted by Manchester International Festival to deliver production, presentation and closure of the shows eligible for theatre and orchestra tax relief. The loss on ordinary activities before tax for the 12 months to March 2025 was £681,219 (2024: £1,604,171). The company made a loss after tax of £29,687 (2024: £35,998 loss). At the balance sheet date, net assets were £4,457 (2024: £34,144).

MIF invested £1 in its subsidiary, Factory Academy Limited (Registration number: 12978506, registered address: AVIVA Studios, Water Street, Manchester, M3 4JQ). The company delivers the programmes of skills and training to young adults that addresses the skills gaps within the Cultural sector. The turnover in the year to March 2025 was £735,006 (2024: £944,614).

The profit on ordinary activities after tax for the 12 months to March 2025 was £230,211 (2024: £169,933). At the balance sheet date, net assets were £215,230 (2024: (£14,646)).

MIF invested £1 in its subsidiary, Factory International Trading Services Limited The turnover in the year to March 2025 was £3,920,008 (2024: £2,975,717) The profit on ordinary activities before tax for the 12 months to March 2025 was £86,675 (2024: £658,519) At the balance sheet date, net assets were £750,739 (2024: £658,520)

Manchester International Festival had no funds invested in two-year deposit accounts at balance sheet date (2024: £Nil).

25 Commitments

The charity had capital commitments of £89,786 for capital projects at the year-end, which were not reflected in the balance sheet for the period ended March 2025 (2024: £115,373)

60

Saffery LLP 71 Queen Victoria Street London EC4V 4BE

11 December, 2025

Dear Sirs,

This representation letter is provided in connection with your audit of the financial statements of Manchester International Festival for the year ended 31 March 2025 for the purpose of expressing an opinion as to whether the financial statements give a true and fair view of the results and financial position of Manchester International Festival in accordance with The Charities Act 2011, The Companies Act 2006 and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

We confirm that, to the best of our knowledge and belief, having made such inquiries as we considered necessary for the purpose of appropriately informing ourselves:

Financial Statements

  1. We have as trustees fulfilled our responsibility, as set out in the terms of your engagement for preparing financial statements in accordance with The Charities Act 2011, The Companies Act 2006 and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice) which give a true and fair view of the financial position of the charity as of 31 March 2025 and of the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended and for making accurate representations to you.

  2. The methods, data and significant assumptions used by us in making accounting estimates and their related disclosures are appropriate to achieve recognition, measurement and disclosure that is reasonable in the context of the applicable financial reporting framework.

  3. We have no plans or intentions that may materially alter the carrying value and where relevant the fair value measurements or classification of assets and liabilities reflected in the financial statements.

  4. We have disclosed all known actual or possible litigation and claims whose effects should be considered when preparing the financial statements and these have been disclosed in accordance with the requirements of accounting standards.

  5. Related party relationships and transactions have been appropriately accounted for and disclosed and we are not aware of further related party matters that require disclosure.

  6. All events subsequent to the date of the financial statements and which require disclosure or which would materially affect the amounts in the financial statements have been adjusted or included in the financial statements.

  7. The financial statements are free of material misstatements, including omissions.

  8. That, having considered our expectations and intentions for the next twelve months, and the availability of working capital, the charity is a going concern. That our plans for future actions required to enable the charity to continue as a going concern are feasible. That the disclosures in the accounting policies are an accurate reflection of the reasons for our consideration that the financial statements should be drawn up on a going concern basis.

  9. We confirm that there were no contractual commitments for capital expenditure, for work ongoing at the year end or occurring post year end, requiring disclosure within these financial statements.

Information provided

  1. All accounting records and relevant information have been made available to you for the purpose of your audit of the financial statements. We have provided to you all other information requested and given unrestricted access to persons within the entity from whom you have determined it necessary to obtain audit evidence. All other records and related information including minutes of all management and Trustee meetings have been made available to you.

  2. All transactions undertaken by the charity have been recorded in the accounting records and are reflected in the financial statements.

  3. We acknowledge our responsibility for the design, implementation and maintenance of controls to prevent and detect fraud. We have disclosed to you the results of our assessment of the risk that the financial statements may be materially misstated as a result of fraud.

  4. We have disclosed to you all information in relation to fraud or suspected fraud that we are aware of and that affects the entity and involves management, employees who have a significant role in internal control, or others, where fraud could have a material effect on the financial statements.

  5. We have disclosed to you all information in relation to allegations of fraud, or suspected fraud affecting the entity’s financial statements communicated by employees, former employees, analysts, regulators or others.

  6. We have disclosed to you all known instances of non-compliance or suspected non-compliance with laws and regulations whose effects should be considered when preparing financial statements.

  7. We confirm that we have disclosed to you the identity of the entity’s related parties and all related party relationships and transactions relevant to the charity that we are aware of.

  8. The charity has satisfactory title to all assets, and there are no liens or encumbrances on the assets except for those disclosed in the financial statements.

  9. There are no liabilities, contingent liabilities or guarantees to third parties other than those disclosed in the financial statements.

  10. The charity has at no time during the year entered into any arrangement, transaction or agreement to provide credit facilities (including loans, quasi loans or credit transactions) for directors, nor to guarantee or provide security for such matters, except as disclosed in the financial statements.

  11. Grants and donations

All grants, donations and other income, the receipt of which is subject to specific terms or conditions, have been notified to you. There have been no breaches of terms or conditions during the period in the application of such income.

  1. Legacies and similar sources of assets

Notifications of legacies and similar sources of assets have been monitored, and all such assets have been recognised in accordance with the recommendations of the SORP on charity reporting.

We confirm to the best of our knowledge and belief that the above representations are made on the basis of enquiries of management and staff with relevant knowledge and experience and, where appropriate, of inspection of supporting documentation sufficient to satisfy ourselves that we can properly make each of the above representations to you.

We acknowledge our legal responsibilities regarding disclosure of information to you as auditors and confirm that so far as we are aware, there is no relevant audit information needed by you in connection with preparing your audit report of which you are unaware. Each Trustee has taken all the steps that they ought to have taken as a Trustee in order to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that you are aware of that information.

Yours faithfully,

Moira Sinclair (Dec 11, 2025 12:17:25 GMT)

…………………………………………………………. Signed on behalf of the Board of Trustees of Manchester International Festival

11/12/2025 Date……………………….