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← Heart Of The City Of London Limited

2024-03-31-accounts

HEART OF THE CITY OF LONDON LIMITED

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HEART OF THE CITY ANNUAL REPORT
for the year ending 31 March 2024
Company Name: Heart of the City of London Limited
Charity number: 1117212
Company number: 5973126
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HEART OF THE CITY OF LONDON LIMITED 31 March 2024

Contents
Reference and Administration Details 2
Trustees’ Report 8
Charity Governance Code 11
Objectives and Activities for the Public Benefit 11
Financial Review 16
The Financial Statements 18
Independent Auditor’s Report 20
Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 March 2024 24
Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2024 25
Statement of Cash Flows at 31 March 2024 26
Notes to the Financial Statements 28

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HEART OF THE CITY OF LONDON LIMITED

Reference and Administration Details

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Charity Name: Heart of the City of London Limited
Charity Number: 1117212
Company Number: 5973126
Registered Address: Atlantic House, 21 Holborn Viaduct, London, EC1A 2FG
Operational Address: Innovation Growth Department, Guildhall, London EC2V 7HH
Company Secretary: Hogan Lovells, Atlantic House, Holborn Viaduct, London, EC1A 2FG
Banker: Lloyds TSB Bank plc, City Office, PO Box 72, Bailey Drive, Gillingham,
Kent ME8 OLS
Auditor: Crowe U.K. LLP, 55 Ludgate Hill, London, EC4M 7JW
Trustees: Keith Bottomley (until 5 December 2023)
Fiona Clark
Rob Elder
Rachel Engel (Vice-Chair) (until 3 October 2023)
Taraneh Farzaneh
Joanne Filbin
Kate Neal (from 5 December 2023)
Martin Powell
Sushil Saluja (Chair)
Suzanne Scatliffe
Paul Singh (from 28 May 2024)
Nick Turner
Carmen Whitelock
Director: Maggie Berry (until 14 May 2024)
Andy Melia (from 15 April 2024)
Treasurer: City of London Corporation
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Trustee Details

Keith Bottomley is an elected Member of the City of London Corporation and is widely involved in leading on youth, education, climate action, environment and broader policy agendas. He is Deputy Chairman of the City of London Corporation’s Policy and Resources Committee, Chairman of its Port Health and Environment Committee, and Chairman of Communications and Corporate Affairs Committee. Keith is passionate about advancing the interests of young people and about skills and education. He is a Governor of three Bermondsey Academies as well as a Governor at the City of London School and chairs Partnership for Young London which advances and influences London, Regional and central government on youth policy. Keith is also a member of the Board of the Green Finance Institute and Chairman of the City of London BIDs Strategic Partnership, as well as a Trustee of Heart of the City. A Member of the City of London Gresham Committee and Director of the Central Foundation Schools of London and Trustee of Housing for the Homeless Central Fund. As a Chartered Banker and former Director of Communications at NatWest Group he has a great deal of experience of working at a senior level in the City of London’s dynamic financial services industry.

Fiona Clark as a graduate of the Heart of the City’s Foundation Programme, and now as an Alumni Member, Fiona brings her personal experience and perspective as an SME to the Board of Trustees. As Practice Director at David Miller Architects (DMA) she has put responsible business at the heart of their practice. By supporting the communities where they work, attracting diverse new talent to the construction industry and actively committing to Net Zero, DMA shows that size is not a barrier, and that SMEs can make a real difference. As a result, DMA and their team have thrived whilst enjoying helping others. Fiona sits on the boards of Westminster Business Council and The Fitzrovia Partnership BID who also encourage responsible business. She is particularly proud that DMA’s social value creation, especially their work experience programme, has been recognised with a prestigious City of London Lord Mayor’s Dragon Award and a Westminster City Council Lion Award.

Rob Elder is the Bank of England’s Agent for Greater London, since May 2018. He joined the bank in 1998, and for twelve years supported the Monetary Policy Committee as an economist and then senior manager. Between 2010 and 2012 he represented the UK on the board of the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC. When he returned, he worked in our press office, and most recently, supported our Financial Policy Committee by running a team monitoring developments in the UK banking sector. Between 1990 and 1998 Rob worked as an economist and forecaster at HM Treasury, British Telecom and Manchester University. He also taught English in Japan for a year. Rob studied economics at Manchester University (first degree) and Warwick University (master’s degree).

Rachel Engel has been the Head of the Macquarie Group Foundation in the EMEA (Europe Middle East and Africa) region for the past twelve years managing the grants programme in region, the 50[th] Anniversary Award, COVID response fund, staff matching and employee engagement across 14+ offices. Rachel came from IBM where she led the Employee Volunteering programme the EMEA region. She has spent the past 25 years working in various roles in both the charity and corporate sectors focusing on shared value and corporate community investment. She was a founder member of Pride@Macquarie in EMEA and continues to be an active member on the steering group. Previous roles include AOL UK, East London Business Alliance and Bridges.org (tech for good non-profit based in South Africa). Rachel began her career in the arts (theatre production) and is currently Vice Chair of the arts and homelessness charity Streetwise Opera. She is also a trustee for both the Heart of the City and the Sudborough Foundation.

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Taraneh Farzaneh leads on Government Relations for Barclays, focusing on major policy, legislative and reputational developments, and issues such as prudential regulation, sustainability and D&I. She has spent most of her career focusing on SME policy and until recently headed up Government Relations for Business and Corporate Banking. She also managed Barclays’ regional Comms and Public Affairs team. Taraneh represents Barclays in discussions with policymakers and politicians at international and national levels and advises the firm’s senior management on the potential impact of legislation and public policy. This involves designing and executing campaigns focused and working with stakeholders across government.

Joanne Filbin co-founded Globacap, a UK regulated fintech driving the evolution of capital markets by making processes frictionless through automation. The business now operates globally, deploying tech for large institutions such as Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The platform has hosted over 60 primary placements, settled £135m secondary liquidity, and digitised over £10bn of private securities. Prior to Globacap, Joanne independently advised private equity funds’ portfolio companies on operational improvement and profitability enhancement and has held a number of senior roles in transformation at large corporates. Joanne trained as a Chartered Accountant at KPMG, where she spent seven years in both Audit and Transaction Advisory. She also holds an MBA from London Business School.

Kate Neale is Climate Action Director at the City of London Corporation, leading their net zero and climate resilience programmes. She and her team coordinate work delivered across the Corporation to deliver net zero in our own operations by 2027, the value chain and the wider Square Mile by 2040, whilst embedding climate resilience. Kate joined the Corporation with over a decade’s experience in property sustainability – most recently creating Cadogan Estate’s first sustainability strategy, encompassing net zero, climate risk, air quality, circular economy, water and greening, as well as employment and skills, and social value.

Martin Powell is Group sustainability Director at AXA leading the sustainability outcomes across the group. He previously held roles with Siemens in London and New York in Urban Development and sustainability. He has been involved in building strategies and developing pathways for organizations to achieve ESG improvement as well as roles in energy purchasing and Green Funds. Prior to this, he was the Deputy Mayor of London for Energy & Environment to the former Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, responsible for policy in water, waste, air quality, energy, climate change mitigation and adaptation and biodiversity. He was also the Executive Director for the design and delivery of the City’s environmental programmes. As Managing Director of Cambridge Management & Research he worked for the Energy Saving Trust and the Institute for Sustainability and was also Special Advisor to the C40 Cities Group chaired by Michael R Bloomberg during his time as Mayor of New York. An Engineer, he built his career working with organizations as a consultant to structure their projects and programs. He has two published books - “Better Cities, Better Life” and “Smart Cities - Cities in the Digital Age” and his “The Climate City” from Wiley publishing which involves contributions from 30 experts in the sustainable city sector.

Suzanne Scatliffe is Global Sustainability Director at AXA XL, where she leads the global sustainability strategy and programs. Suzanne has 17 years’ experience in CSR and sustainability roles in the insurance, technology, and education sectors, and is a certified Sustainability Practitioner (IEMA) and Fellow of the Institute of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (ICRS). She served as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF)

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UK from 2018-2021 and volunteers as a Heart of the City Mentor, helping small businesses in the UK develop CSR and Sustainability initiatives.

Sushil Saluja is Chairman of Heart of the City. He is also a governor of Greenwich University and a trustee of the British Council, where he chairs the commercial board. He is a senior business leader and advisor, focused on international business, technology-led transformation and education. With over 30 years’ prior experience at Accenture, Sushil has led business units in EMEA (based in London) and Asia Pacific (based in Hong Kong) and launched FinTech accelerators in Hong Kong and Dubai. Sushil graduated in engineering from Pembroke College, Cambridge. He was previously a trustee of the Princes’ Teaching Institute (PTI) and on the board of TheCityUK.

Paul Singh is Lead Member for SMEs for the City of London Corporation and is a prominent figure in the property and construction industry, transitioning from labourer to Founder and CFO of EEDN Ltd., which specialises in design and project management for technical real estate. Paul has made significant contributions to industry standards releasing the building standards for life sciences real estate in 2023 – Constructing Science. His insights have regularly been featured in both industry and business publications such as EG and London Business Matters and is an influential speaker, particularly committed to driving prosperity and meaningful change within communities. He holds a number of board and advisory positions including within the City of London Chamber of Commerce and has recently been appointed to improve bilateral business relations between the UK and Italy by the respective embassies.

Nick Turner Strategist, advisor and futures thinker, Nick is the founder and Managing Partner of Stratforma, an advisory boutique that offers counsel to senior decision makers at multi-national organisations. Nick is the product of Silicon Valley and Wall Street, having served as a Managing Director and head of Strategy at Morgan Stanley, after a number of years spent in the hightechnology industry in California. As a strategy consultant, Nick was the Co-President of scenario planning and experiential learning pioneers Global Business Network (GBN) and a Senior Partner of Michael Porter’s Monitor Group. Nick is a visiting lecturer in strategy, scenario planning and innovation at leading business schools, including London (LBS), Imperial College and INSEAD. Nick is also a trustee of the educational charity, Ambition Institute. He previously served as a board member of the Mayor of London’s Enterprise Panel (LEP), The London Skills and Employment Board (LSEB) and chaired the London Employer Coalition (LEC).

Carmen Whitelock brings over 15 years of digital marketing, brand and corporate communications experience to our board. Currently the Digital Marketing Lead at Cynergy Bank, Carmen has designed and delivered award-winning websites, apps, brand and digital marketing strategies for organisations including Cazenove Capital, M&S, RSA Insurance Group, Arup and Save the Children UK. Carmen continues to build and maintain a broad network of industry experts and influencers.

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Council of Members

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Name Title Organisation
The Rt Hon. Lord Mayor of the
Co-President Heart of the City
City of London
Governor Andrew Bailey Co-President Heart of the City
Sushil Saluja Chair Heart of the City
Nicola Atkinson COO, UK and Ireland Deutsche Bank AG
Vice-chair and the London City Senior
Zakir Bokhari Deloitte UK
Partner
Ian Caswell
Managing Director Sapphire Systems PLC
(until 9 November 2023)
Tim Clement-Jones CBE Chairman of the Council Queen Mary University
Aedamar Comiskey
Senior Partner and Chair Linklaters LLP
(from 1 January 2024)
Michael Davison Deputy CEO Hogan Lovells
Georgia Dawson Senior Partner Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Joint Head of Corporate, London
Melissa Fogarty Clifford Chance
Partner
Jo Goddard Sustainability Director Green and Good Consulting
Prem Goyal Alderman, Portsoken City of London Corporation
Peter Harrison
CEO Schroders PLC
(until 30 November 2023)
Chris Hayward Chairman of Policy and Resources City of London Corporation
Tom Heylen UK Clients and Sectors Partner DLA Piper UK LLP
Laura Hinton Executive Board Member and Head of
PwC
(until 19 July 2024) People
Hemione Hudson Global Chief Risk and Regulatory
PwC
(from 19 July 2024) Officer, UK Chief Network Officer
Tiina Lii
Chief Executive UK and Ireland Deutsche Bank AG
(until 8 August 2023)
Managing Director, Chief of Staff to
Andreas Luginbuehl the President EMEA, Head Non-Core & UBS Group AG
Legacy and UK CEO
Sarah Mullally Bishop of London Church of England
CEO for EMEA and Head of
Paul Plewman Commodities and Global Markets Macquarie Group Limited
EMEA
Giles Shilson Chair Bridge House Estates
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This list reflects companies and job titles when individuals were in post as Council members.

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Trustees’ Report

Structure, Governance and Management

The annual report and audited financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies entitled to the small companies’ exemption, including the exemption from preparing a strategic report. Part of our objectives includes ensuring our governance framework is robust and enables us to achieve our mission. This section explains how we achieve this.

Governing Document

Heart of the City is a company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 20 October 2006 and registered as a charity on 11 December 2006. The company was established under a Memorandum of Association which established the objects and powers of the charitable company and is governed under its Articles of Association. In 2010, we combined both documents and updated them in accordance with the Companies Act 2006. In the event of the company being wound up, members are required to contribute an amount not exceeding £10. In May 2015, we updated our charitable objects, to better reflect our mission, and our Memorandum and Articles of Association, in line with the Charities Act 2011.

Recruitment and Appointment of the Board

The directors of the company (‘the Board’) are also charity trustees for the purposes of charity law and under the company’s articles are known as the trustees.

Selection process for Board Members

Recruitment of trustees is carried out through open advertising. Appointments are made to ensure that any gaps in skills required at Board level are filled. Appointment is undertaken through a vote of the existing trustees and a resolution reflecting the vote is signed by the Chair. The City of London Corporation (CoLC) nominates one trustee.

Board Induction and Training

As part of their selection and subsequent induction, our potential/new Board members are invited to meet our Director, Chair and other trustees to talk through the role and responsibilities of trustees, the work of the charity and its governance structures. New Board members are given the business plan, recent annual report and other information including promotional materials and funder reports. Board members are invited to attend the charity’s events and workshops and receive updates on the charity’s work in the Director’s report, which is presented as a key agenda item at each Board meeting.

Management framework

In addition to its Board, Heart of the City has a Council of Members. The members of the Board and the Council are all members of the company. The Council, which comprises the Lord Mayor and the Governor of the Bank of England (both acting as co-Presidents), the Chair of the CoLC’s Policy and Resources Committee and senior business leaders, meets every six months. In addition, Council members attend Heart of the City events. Council members are ambassadors for the charity, championing the growth of effective responsible business practice within their own companies and within member businesses.

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The Board met six time in 2023-24 and is responsible for determining Heart of the City’s major strategic, financial and other policies. As of 31 March 2024, the Board has eleven members from a variety of professional backgrounds relevant to the work of the charity. Day-to-day responsibility for the provision of the services rests with the Director and their team. The Director is responsible for ensuring the charity delivers the specified programme and that key performance indicators are met. They also undertake individual supervision and appraisal of the team, ensuring that they continue to develop their skills and working practices in line with good practice and the Heart of the City business plan.

Conflicts of Interest

The trustees receive no remuneration. No trustee expenses were claimed during the year. The Board has revised and adopted the charity's memorandum and articles of association to reflect the provisions of the Companies Act 2006 relating to conflicts of interest. Trustees have a duty to avoid situations in which they have or can have a direct or indirect interest that conflicts, or may possibly conflict, with the interests of the charity. Trustees are asked to declare any conflicts of interest at the start of each Board meeting.

Relationship with the City of London Corporation

The Director and their team are housed by the City of London Corporation and, in addition to core funding, receive considerable practical support from the Corporation in the shape of human resources advice, financial processing and other administration. Heart of the City staff are employed by the Corporation and seconded by the CoLC to the charity.

Health and safety, employment policy and internal and financial audit are integral parts of the administration provided by the CoLC. The terms of a service level agreement between CoLC and Heart of the City help the trustees to satisfy themselves that their own responsibilities in these areas are met.

Risk Management

In this financial year, the Board continued to review and update its risk register. Identified risks fell broadly into four categories: strategic, financial, operational (programmes, customers, personnel, premises, volunteers), and governance (including legal and reputation). In addition, in line with ISA240, trustees have considered the specific risk of fraud to the charity for both finances and assets.

The Board has established systems and procedures to mitigate these as far as possible. Whilst these procedures can mitigate major risks, the Board is aware that systems can only provide reasonable and not absolute assurance that key risks have been adequately identified and managed. The internal control procedures are designed to support progress towards achieving the charity’s mission, to maintain expenditure within the limits of available income and to safeguard the company’s assets.

An annual budget is set each year in line with the goals and targets of the business plan to manage financial risk. Performance against this budget is reviewed monthly by the Director and quarterly management accounts are produced. In addition, regular re-forecasting exercises are undertaken to address changes in the economic environment and respond to changes in income expectations. A set of key performance indicators have been established to focus on the major targets of the business plan covering both financial and non-financial measures.

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Key risks currently identified by Heart of the City and mitigating strategies are as follows:

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any staff member leave. The Board and Director have also reviewed the Reserves policy[1] to ensure that there is sufficient funding available to support interim cover.

Fundraising

Section 162a of the Charities Act 2011 requires charities to make a statement regarding fundraising activities. Although we do not undertake fundraising from the general public, the legislation defines fundraising as “soliciting or otherwise procuring money or other property for charitable purposes.” Such amounts receivable are presented in our accounts as Income - Donations and include grants.

In relation to the above we confirm there is no involvement of professional fund-raisers or third parties. The day-to-day management of all income generation is delegated to the Director, who is accountable to the trustees. Any solicitations would be managed internally. The charity is not bound by any undertaking to any regulatory scheme and the charity does not consider it necessary to comply with any voluntary fundraising codes of practice.

We have received no complaints in relation to fundraising activities. Our terms of employment require staff to always behave reasonably. As we do not approach individuals for funds, we do not have a particular reference to fundraising activities, nor do we consider it necessary to design specific procedures to monitor such activities.

Charity Governance Code

The trustees are supportive of the Charity Governance Code and its aim to assist in the development of high standards of governance throughout the charity sector. In 2018 the trustees reviewed the Code and the charity’s current practice. The charity’s governance was found to be in line with the key areas of the Code. The trustees have continued to act in line with the Code in 2023-24 and will keep the Code under review in 2024-25.

Objectives and Activities for the Public Benefit

Our vision is that every business can be a force for good.

Our purpose is to galvanise company leaders to do good business.

1 See Page 15

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Our mission: We inspire and empower business leaders to build successful companies that make a positive difference to people, places and the planet. Heart of the City does this through equipping leaders with tools and practical advice and connecting them with professionals working in mature businesses who provide coaching support.

Our Charitable Objects

The Board of Trustees confirms that it has referred to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing Heart of the City’s aims and objectives and in planning future activities. Consequently, the trustees consider that Heart of the City operates to benefit the general public and satisfies the public benefit test.

Heart of the City promotes the voluntary sector for the benefit of the public by:

  1. making best practice in corporate social responsibility easily accessible to companies through peer-to-peer knowledge sharing in order to effectively promote ethical standards and increase positive impact on communities and the environment;

  2. promoting charitable giving by companies and organisations and encouraging individuals to participate in voluntary work, providing education and training on subjects relevant to the efficiency of the voluntary sector and assisting in the provision of financial, technical and other resources to the voluntary sector; and

  3. such other charitable objects as the trustees shall consider appropriate.

Our objectives in 2023-24 which enabled us to fulfil our charitable objects were:

  1. Supporting SME members with responsible business

  2. Supporting SME members with climate action

  3. Expand our work with large organisations to enable them to support SMEs in their value with responsible business activities

The actions we took in 2023-24 to meet these objectives are set out below:

1. Supporting SME members with responsible business

In Summer 2023, we launched a new partnership with MSDUK, the UK’s leading supplier diversity organisation connecting ethnic minority businesses with global corporations. This partnership aims to overcome the challenges London’s ethnic minority businesses often face when seeking public and private sector business opportunities. Called Minority Business Matters and funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, we will safeguard or increase jobs and remove barriers to accessing new customers and markets by supporting ethnic minority businesses to become supplier-ready, embed social value best practice and connect to procurement opportunities. Ethnic minority businesses engaged with the partnership are able to access Heart of the City’s Foundations for Responsible Business (FfRB) programme, to support the development of their responsible business, social value and net zero strategies - all key elements of becoming supplier ready.

The FfRB programme aims to support SMEs across multiple industries and welcomes all SMEs. Over the course of the year we supported 166 SMEs, including businesses beginning or ending their membership with us during this period.

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Each SME on our FfRB programme has their own individual aims and priorities. We recognise that each company is unique, and we don’t push members to do the same thing, but we provide a wide range of content, workshops, surgeries and engagement opportunities to best suit time poor SMEs. During 2023-24, members of the FfRB programme were able to attend 20 responsible business learning events, including two in-person networking opportunities. Our most popular events for our members were our Lunch and Learn sessions focusing on Social Value, and our workshop with the Living Wage Foundation.

In March 2023 we also began a new bespoke programme with Places for London (TfL’s property arm), to support up to 40 of their tenants. The programme aims to support their small businesses understand the benefits of responsible business, encourage them to measure their carbon footprint, and become Living Wage employers.

Through our partnerships with MSDUK and Places for London, we welcomed SMEs with a stronger consumer focus (B2C) as opposed to the more common business to business SMEs we have worked with. As a result of this shift, we have seen a greater focus on people and community related support, as well as articulating what sustainability means to a business.

2. Supporting SME members with climate action

In March 2021, we agreed a four-year funding relationship with the CoLC. CoLC have set a target for the Square Mile to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040. The reduction in emissions from small businesses is essential in achieving this. We agreed to work together to support SMEs to measure their carbon footprints and to develop and implement net zero action plans. We developed a training programme called ‘Climate for SMEs: 4 steps to action’ along with an accompanying climate action toolkit that is free to access for any SME. By March 2024, 195 SMEs had engaged with the training programme), and 49 had committed to a 90% reduction in carbon emissions by 2040, equating to 34,640 tonnes CO2e. In addition, our climate action toolkit had been used by 1020 SMEs.

We also run a series of online education sessions on climate action topics. Between April 2023 and March 2024, these sessions covered collecting and measuring carbon data, a deep dive into carbon offsets, why nature matters to SMEs, and the impact of financial investing on a carbon footprint. By March 2024, 508 SMEs who are based or operating in the Square Mile have attended an education session and understand the importance of climate action.

3. Supporting large organisations to develop responsible business practices across their value chains

Whilst we have always included a focus on environment in our FfRB programme, developing our specific focus on climate action has opened up new opportunities for Heart of the City and has helped us to support more SMEs with net zero including SMEs in the supply chain of large corporates. For example, from March to October 2022, we ran an eight-month net zero mentoring programme for 39 SME suppliers to the property company Grosvenor to support them in measuring their carbon footprint and in submitting a science-based target. This bespoke support programme has generated interest with other large corporates who recognised the value of working with the SMEs in their supply chain. These particularly focus on working with SME suppliers on carbon emission reductions to positively impact their own supply chain emissions.

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In addition to the programme, we are running with Places for London, during 2023-24 we further developed our bespoke training offer and commenced two programmes with large corporates to support climate action. From December 2023 to the end of August 2024, we ran a nine-month programme for Canary Wharf Group, a commercial and residential property management and development company, with 27 of the SME suppliers. The programme supported the SMEs to measure a robust carbon footprint, create a net zero action plan, and submit targets to the Science Based Target initiative. We are currently running a similar eight-month programme with the law firm Pinsent Masons for 16 of their SMEs suppliers. This programme started in February and runs to the end of October 2024.

Challenges

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more of a necessity for businesses wanting to work with larger suppliers and public institutions. For SMEs who are consumer focused, a carbon footprint is not easily communicated to the public and so, a wider focus on ‘sustainability’ and the impact of business has been more relevant. However, even if an SME is consumer-facing, measuring their carbon footprint is a valuable tool to understanding their environmental impact.

Future Plans

The focus over the coming years will be the development of a new long-term strategy that will enhance both our reach and impact, underpinned by a secure financial model. 2025 is Heart of the City’s 25[th] anniversary and provides an ideal opportunity to take stock of our success and consolidate the different areas of work that have been developed over the last few years into a cohesive approach that can ensure we are supporting communities and the environment by enabling more SMEs to embed business responsible principles into their operations.

A core aspect of this will be the development of a comprehensive impact framework, which will enable the charity to better quantify and communicate the difference we make. This is an essential next step in developing our income diversification strategy, enabling us to provide evidence of the change that we make, through which we can engage more corporates and other funders.

We will also review the successful implementation of the Minority Business Matters programme to identify how we can harness further new approaches. Our collaboration with MSDUK has provided an opportunity to test more in-depth partnership working, and we will explore the development of other partnerships that will deliver our mission and support our income diversification.

Alongside this, we will continue to deliver engaging and relevant content within our FfRB programme, and we will further develop our climate offer ensuring we provide our SMEs with the most up-to-date resources that are suitable for SMEs. This will include enhancing our online delivery, maximising our use of Thinkific and reaching businesses through new partnerships and in new geographies.

A major ambition remains for us to raise our profile so that more businesses – both large and small – and the public sector know about the positive impact of responsible business, make use of our free resources and come to us when they want access to paid-for training support. We would like Heart of the City to be front of mind whenever the public and private sectors think about responsible business support for SMEs. We will explore how we can develop our advocacy and influencing role by drawing learning from Minority Business Matters and our bespoke programmes, and use this to engage new audiences, particularly across business and government.

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Financial Review

Income and Expenditure

Our total income was £659,667 versus £260,805 for 2022-23. The increase is mainly driven by the first tranche of funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which amounted to £388,373. There have also been additional pro-bono legal services received which have increased our gift-in-kind income and expenditure in the year.

Expenditure of £954,101 compares with £537,230 for 2022-23 – this difference in expenditure is mainly due to the UKSPF grant, a proportion of which is transferred to our partner organisation MSDUK in payment for salary and project costs related to Minority Business Matters. As such, the net deficit for the period was £294,434 compared to a net deficit of £276,425 for 2022-23.

Reserves Policy

The charitable company’s policy is not to accumulate restricted reserves as restricted projects are intended to be fully funded but not surplus generating. Unrestricted funds may be carried forward to be spent in future years in line with charitable activities and for wind-down or other contingency purposes.

The charity held a total of £396,172 of unrestricted reserves at 31 March 2024 which includes £200,000 of accrued grants receivable from the CoLC. Setting aside the CoLC grant receivable, yearend free reserves were below the target level of six months of operating costs (£240,000). Trustees and the Director have put in a place a plan to build up reserve levels over the coming financial year, as well as to continuously review required levels, taking into account changes in staffing structures and the need to provide cover in the event of a long-term absence.

Donations Policy

If there are concerns about the reputation of the donors or the extent of influence over the organisation sought by the donor, the Director will consider the matter with the Chair of the Board. They will specifically include in their consideration whether there is a threat to the reputation of the charity, or to its independence.

Investment Policy

Most of the charitable company’s funds are to be spent in the short term so there are no funds for long term investment. An investment policy is therefore not considered by the trustees to be appropriate for the time being.

Going Concern

The trustees have taken into consideration the organisation’s current financial situation, its business development pipeline as well as the ongoing challenging economic situation, and they consider the charity to be a going concern. The trustees have carefully considered the impact of the economic environment and the growth of our corporate partnerships, as well the end of the current four-year funding agreement with the City of London Corporation and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). Trustees are confident that the charity’s plans for income growth and its on-going partnership with the Corporation mean that it continues to be a going concern.

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The Financial Statements

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in Note 1 to the accounts and comply with the charity’s trust deed, the Charities Act 2011 and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) effective from 1 January 2015 and the Companies Act 2006. The financial statements consist of the following and include comparative figures for the previous year.

Responsibilities of the Trustees

Company law requires the board to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the charitable company’s financial activities during the year and of its financial position at the end of the year. In preparing financial statements giving a true and fair view, the board should follow best practice and:

The board is responsible for keeping accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy the financial position of the charitable company and which enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. The trustees 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 board, who are directors for the purposes of Company law and trustees for the purposes of charity law, who served during the year and up to the date of this report are set out on page 2.n accordance with Company law, as the company’s directors, we certify that:

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Adopted and signed for and on behalf of the board.

Sushil Saluja (Chair of Trustees) Date:

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Independent Auditor’s Report to the Trustees and Members of Heart of the

City of London Limited

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Heart of the City of London Limited (‘the charitable company’) for the year ended 31 March 2024 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, Balance Sheet, 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).

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 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 trustee's use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

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

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

Other information

The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. 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.

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HEART OF THE CITY OF LONDON LIMITED

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 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.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

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

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and their environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the directors’ report included within the trustees’ report.

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

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement set out on page 1 6 the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

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

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HEART OF THE CITY OF LONDON LIMITED

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an 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.

Details of the extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations are set out below.

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

Extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We identified and assessed the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements from irregularities, whether due to fraud or error, and discussed these between our audit team members. We then designed and performed audit procedures responsive to those risks, including obtaining audit evidence sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks within which the charitable company operates, focusing on those laws and regulations that have a direct effect on the determination of material amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The laws and regulations we considered in this context were the Companies Act 2006 together with the Charities SORP (FRS102) 2019. We assessed the required compliance with these laws and regulations as part of our audit procedures on the related financial statement items.

In addition, we considered provisions of other laws and regulations that do not have a direct effect on the financial statements but compliance with which might be fundamental to the charitable company’s ability to operate or to avoid a material penalty. We also considered the opportunities and incentives that may exist within the charitable company for fraud. The laws and regulations we considered in this context for the UK operations were General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Health and Safety Legislation.

Auditing standards limit the required audit procedures to identify non-compliance with these laws and regulations to enquiry of the Trustees and other management and inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any.

We identified the greatest risk of material impact on the financial statements from irregularities, including fraud, to be within the timing of recognition of grant, project and contributions in-kind income and the override of controls by management. Our audit procedures to respond to these risks included enquiries of management, and the Board of Trustees about their own identification and assessment of the risks of irregularities, sample testing on the posting of journals, reviewing accounting estimates for biases, reviewing regulatory correspondence with the Charity Commission,

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HEART OF THE CITY OF LONDON LIMITED

sample and cut-off testing of income and reading minutes of meetings of those charged with governance.

Owing to the inherent limitations of an audit, there is an unavoidable risk that we may not have detected some material misstatements in the financial statements, even though we have properly planned and performed our audit in accordance with auditing standards. For example, the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations (irregularities) is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely the inherently limited procedures required by auditing standards would identify it. In addition, as with any audit, there remained a higher risk of non-detection of irregularities, as these may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal controls. We are not responsible for preventing non-compliance and cannot be expected to detect non-compliance with all laws and regulations.

Use of our report

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

Tina Allison Senior Statutory Auditor For and on behalf of Crowe U.K. LLP Statutory Auditor London

18 December 2024

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HEART OF THE CITY OF LONDON LIMITED

Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 March 2024

Notes
Income and Endowments from:
Donations and Legacies
Charitable Activities
Interest and Other Income
Contributions in-kind
Total Income
4
Expenditure on:
Charitable Activities
Total Expenditure
5
(Expenditure) and net movement
in funds
Reconciliation of funds
Total Funds brought forward
Total Funds carried forward		 Unrestricted
Fund
Restricted
Fund
Total
2023-24
Total
2022-23
£
£
£
£
-
-
-
95,000
125,643
358,275
483,918
110,267
11,181
-
11,181
8,307
164,568
-
164,568
47,231
301,392
358,275
659,667
260,805
595,826
358,275
954,101
537,230
595,826
358,275
954,101
537,230
(294,434)
-
(294,434)
(276,425)
690,606
-
690,606
967,031
396,172
-
396,172
690,606

All operations are continuing. There are no recognised gains or losses other than the results for the period set out about above.

The result of net movement in funds is the same as the profit/loss figure under Companies Act 2006.

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HEART OF THE CITY OF LONDON LIMITED

Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2024
Notes
Current Assets
Debtors
7
Cash
Liabilities
Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year
8
Total Assets less Current Liabilities
The funds of the Charity:
Unrestricted income funds
Restricted Funds
Total Charity funds
9		 2024
£
415,130
165,163
580,293
184,121
396,172
396,172
-
396,172		 2023
£
430,409
286,700
717,109
26,503
690,606
690,606
-
690,606

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provision of the small companies' regime within Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006. The financial statement of Heart of the City, with registered company number 5973126 were approved and authorised on behalf of the trustees on.

Sushil Saluja (Chair of Trustees)

Date:

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HEART OF THE CITY OF LONDON LIMITED

Statement of Cash Flows at 31 March 2024

tatement of Cash Flows at 31 March 2024
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash (used in) operating activities:
Table 1
Cash flows from investing activities:
Interest and Other Income
Change in cash and equivalents in the reporting
period
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of
the reporting period
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the
reporting period
Table 2		 2023-24
£
(132,718)
11,181
(121,537)
286,700
165,163		 2022-23
£
(107,753)
8,307
(99,446)
386,146
286,700

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HEART OF THE CITY OF LONDON LIMITED

Table 1: Reconciliation of net (expenditure) to net cash flow from operating activities

Net (expenditure) for the reporting period (as per the
statement of financial activities)
Adjustments for:
Interest and Other Investment Income
(Decrease)/increase in creditors
Decrease/(increase) in debtors
Net cash (used in) by operating activities		 2023-24
£
(294,434)
(11,181)
157,618
15,279
(132,718)		 2022-23
£
(276,42)
(8,307)
(21,776)
198,755
(107,753)

Table 2: Analysis of cash and cash equivalents

Deposits (less than 3 months)
Total cash and cash equivalents		 2023-24
£
165,163
165,163		 2022-23
£
286,700
286,700

Table 3: Analysis of changes in cash

: Analysis of changes in cash
At 1 April 2023
£		 Cashflow
£		 At 31 March
2024
£
Cash 286,700 (121,537) 165,163

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HEART OF THE CITY OF LONDON LIMITED 31 March 2024

Notes to the Financial Statements

1 . Accounting Policies

The following accounting policies have been applied consistently in dealing with items which are considered material in relation to the charity’s financial statements.

(a) Basis of preparation

The accounts (financial statements) have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant notes to these accounts. Heart of the City is a public benefit entity and the financial statements have been prepared in accordance with company law and with the Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) effective from 1 January 2019 (2[nd] Edition) and the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Charities Act 2011.

(b) Going Concern

The trustees have taken into consideration the organisation’s current financial situation, its business development pipeline as well as the ongoing challenging economic situation, and they consider the charity to be a going concern. The trustees have carefully considered the impact of the economic environment and the growth of our corporate partnerships, as well the end of the current four-year funding agreement with the City of London Corporation and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Trustees are confident that the charity’s plans for income growth and its on-going partnership with the Corporation mean that is continues to be a going concern.

(c) Income policies

Items of income are recognised and included in the accounts when all of the following criteria are met:

SME memberships are provided on a rolling basis (i.e. an SME can join at any time in the calendar year and their membership will run for 12 months from that date) and so SME membership fees are recognised in the financial year they relate to, with amounts being deferred into the following financial year as appropriate.

Contributions in-kind are included where the benefit to Heart of the City is reasonably quantifiable and measurable and are valued at the price the Charity would expect to pay in the open market which reflects the guidance from the Charities SORP – the value recognised may be lower than, but cannot exceed, the open market value. The value of the in-kind support is only measured and recorded once received. Please see note 4 below for more details.

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HEART OF THE CITY OF LONDON LIMITED

(d) Expenditure

Allocation of costs between different activities: All costs are allocated directly to charitable activities. There are no financial commitments.

(e) Pension costs

Heart of the City does not directly employ any staff directly, all staff are seconded from the City of London Corporation during the year for the purposes of the charity. These staff are entitled to be members of the City of London Corporation’s Pension Scheme and the related pension costs are incurred within the secondment recharge.

(f) Funds

The charity has two funds – the unrestricted income fund which contains any unspent annual income carried forward for use in future years, and a restricted fund which comprises grant funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and is provided with stipulations on spend.

(g) Support costs

The charity does not employ any staff directly. Officers of the City of London Corporation provide administrative assistance to the charity when required. These support costs are accounted for within the in-kind support and cover administrative support received by the finance department, accommodation feed and pro bon expertise. The charity has an in-kind policy which details how in-kind costs are recognised.

2 . Tax Status of the Charity

Heart of the City is a registered charity and as such its income and gains are exempt from income tax to the extent that they are applied to its charitable objectives.

3 . Indemnity Insurance

The City of London Corporation has taken out indemnity insurance on behalf of Heart of the City. Heart of the City does not contribute to the cost of that insurance.

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HEART OF THE CITY OF LONDON LIMITED

4. Income

Income is comprised as follows:

----- Start of picture text -----
Unrestricted Restricted 2023-24 2022-23
£ £ £ £
Income
Grant Income – City Bridge Trust - - - 95,000
-
Membership Fees 35,857 35,857 57,767
Grant Income: UKSPF – Minority Business
Matters Project
30,098 358,275 388,373 -
Project Income – Dragon Awards
15,000 - 15,000 15,000
Project income
44,688 - 44,688 37,500
Interest and Other Income 11,181 - 11,181 8,307
Contributions in-kind 164,568 - 164,568 47,231
Total Income 301,392 358,275 659,667 260,805
----- End of picture text -----

In 2023-24 restricted income was £358,275 (2022-23: £95,000) and the comparative amount of unrestricted income was £301,392 (2022-23: £165,805).

Grants/Donations

Grant income of £388,373 was received in 2023-24 (2022-23: £95,000); project income of £44,688 has been received from bespoke programmes for both the Foundations for Responsible Business and Climate for SMEs programmes; £15,000 for Dragon Awards (2022-23: £37,500 project income for mentoring programme and £15,000 for Dragon Awards).

Fees

Membership fees are in respect of the paid-for SME membership programmes.

Contributions in-kind

The contributions in-kind of £164,568 (2022-23: £47,231) relate to accommodation provided by the City of London Corporation, pro-bono legal advice and the time spent by Heart of the City’s business supporters in assisting with programme promotion and delivery. The increased contribution in-kind for 2023-24 is due to the team requiring more pro-bono legal support in this financial year.

Interest and Other Investment Income

Interest and other investment income of £11,181 is comprised of income earned on cash and short-term investments that are held within the City of London Corporation’s Banking Section.

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HEART OF THE CITY OF LONDON LIMITED

5. Expenditure

Expenditure is analysed between activities undertaken directly and in-kind support costs as follows:

----- Start of picture text -----
Activities Support 2024 Activities Support 2023
Undertaken Costs Total Undertaken Costs Total
Directly Directly
2024 2024 2023 2023
£ £ £ £ £ £
Charitable activities
Heart of the City
799,661 154,440 954,101 489,999 47,231 537,230
membership
programme
Total Expenditure 799,661 154,440 954,101 489,999 47,231 537,230
----- End of picture text -----

No expenditure is incurred by third parties to undertake charitable work on behalf of the charity.

Charitable activities support costs

Expenditure on charitable activities £31,419 (2022-23: £22,439) includes accommodation, labour, equipment, materials and other supplies and services incurred as the running costs of Heart of the City. This support is provided by CoLC, by individuals within the Heart of the City ambassador network of industry experts as well as by PwC for VAT software use and by Salesforce for CRM use.

Governance support costs

Governance support costs of £123,021 (2022-23: £9,735) relate to the general running of the charity, rather than specific activities within the charity, and include strategic planning and costs associated with trustee meetings. All governance costs are provided on an in-kind basis.

Auditors’ remuneration and fees for external financial services: the auditors’ fee of £5,450 (202223: £5,450) has been paid for 2023-24 by City of London Corporation on behalf of Heart of the City. Hogan Lovells, which provided company secretarial support, have also waived their fee. No other external financial services were provided for the charity during the year or in the previous year.

Trustees’ expenses: trustees of Heart of the City are unpaid and do not receive allowances - £0 expenses were paid in 2023-24 (2022-23: £0).

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HEART OF THE CITY OF LONDON LIMITED

Analysis of support costs

----- Start of picture text -----
Support costs Heart of the City Programmes
Accommodation £21,249
IT and Marketing £5,895
Legal £113,914
Other £12,962
Speakers and Ambassadors £420
Total £154,440
----- End of picture text -----

6. Staff Numbers and Costs and Overview of Other Expenditure

----- Start of picture text -----
2023-24 2022-23
Salaries £415,447 £343,343
Pension costs £87,250 £71,829
National Insurance costs £44,157 £38,488
Redundancy £3,419 -
Total staffing costs £550,273 £453,660
----- End of picture text -----

The average number of staff seconded to Heart of the City across the year was nine (2022-23: six). This staff number was made up of 12 different individuals working for the charity throughout 2023-24 (2022-23: 11). For 2023-24 there was 1 member of staff with salary above £60,000 (2022-23: 1). Key management personnel include the charity’s Director and Head of Programmes roles and their combined total compensation for 2023-24 was £176,472 (2022-23: £171,689).

Staffing costs of £550,273 (salaries, pension and national insurance) represents 70% of Heart of the City’s annual costs (2022-23: £453,660 / 93%). Other expenditure of £239,259 during 202324 (2022-23: £36,339) included MSDUK costs for the Minority Business Matters project of £154,044 (2022-23: £0); marketing services of £19,454 (2022-23: £3,756), £28,723 on systems and computing (2022-23: £14,792), £3,220 on training and recruitment advertising (2022-23: £7,746), £1,938 on office administration and IT support costs (2022-23: £6,000) and £31,877 on other miscellaneous costs such as subsistence, travel, insurance, equipment and materials (2022-23: £4,045).

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HEART OF THE CITY OF LONDON LIMITED

7. Debtors

Grants Receivable relates to £200,000 from CoLC and £126,123 from the UKSPF. A further £89,007 is related to amounts receivable related to bespoke programmes where delivery is split across two financial years.

----- Start of picture text -----
2024 2023
£ £
Other Debtors 89,007 30,409
Grants Receivable 326,123 400,000
Total 415,130 430,409
----- End of picture text -----

8. Creditors

Receipts in Advance of £86,322 relates to 2024-25 SME membership fees and income from bespoke programmes (2022-23: £26,503). Trade Creditors includes a discretionary payment towards a member of staff of £3,419 (2022-23: nil), payments owing related to the provision of the Minority Business Matters project in 2023-24 of £72,525 (2022-23: nil) and £21,786 owing to HMRC (2022-23: nil).

----- Start of picture text -----
2024 2023
£ £
Trade Creditors 97,764 -
Accruals 36 -
Receipts in Advance 86,322 26,503
Total 184,122 26,503
----- End of picture text -----

9. Movement of Funds during the year to 31st March 2024

----- Start of picture text -----
Balance at Income Expenditure Balance at Balance at
1 April and 31 March 31 March
2023 transfers 2024 2023
£ £ £ £ £
Unrestricted Funds
General 690,606 301,392 (595,826) 396,172 690,606
Restricted Funds
City Bridge Trust -34 - 34 - (34)
TheCityTogether 34 - -34 - 34
UKSPF - 358,275 (358,275) - -
Total 690,606 659,667 (954,101) 396,172 690,606
----- End of picture text -----

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HEART OF THE CITY OF LONDON LIMITED

Fund transfers

Within the expenditure and transfers column there is a £23,750 transfer of funds from the general reserve to the City Bridge Trust project restricted reserve. A deficit was arising in the restricted fund and no further income for the project is due to be received, so the costs were borne out of the general reserves in the year.

Movement of Funds during the year to 31st March 2023

----- Start of picture text -----
Balance at Income Expenditure Balance at
1 April 2022 31 March 2023
£ £ £ £
Unrestricted Funds
General 896,874 165,805 (372,073) 690,606
Restricted Funds
City Bridge Trust 70,123 95,000 (165,157) (34)
TheCityTogether 34 - - 34
Total 967,031 260,805 (537,230) 690,606
----- End of picture text -----

Restricted funds

UKSPF Fund

The UKSPF restricted fund is related to the Minority Business Matters project. This project is aimed at working with ethnic minority owned businesses operating within Greater London to become supplier ready, and in doing so create or safeguard jobs and/or adopt new products and services or enter new markets. Expenditure incurred by Heart of the City in relation to this project, alongside costs recharged by our business partner MSDUK, are also reported against this restricted fund. As part of this agreement an unrestricted contribution to core costs is also received; this is reported in general reserves.

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HEART OF THE CITY OF LONDON LIMITED

10. Analysis of Net Assets between funds: 31[st] March 2024

----- Start of picture text -----
Current Current Balance at
Assets Liabilities 31 March 2024
£ £ £
Unrestricted Funds
General 580,293 (184,121) 396,172
Restricted Funds
City Bridge Trust - - -
TheCityTogether - - -
UKSPF - - -
Total 580,293 (184,121) 396,172
----- End of picture text -----

Analysis of Net Assets between funds: 31[st] March 2023

----- Start of picture text -----
Current Current Balance at
Assets Liabilities 31 March 2023
£ £ £
Unrestricted Funds
General 717,075 (26,469) 690,606
Restricted Funds
City Bridge Trust - (34) (34)
TheCityTogether 34 - 34
Total 717,109 (26,503) 690,606
----- End of picture text -----

11. Related Party Transactions

The Heart of the City’s relationship with the City of London Corporation is set out in the section on Structure, Governance and Management.

The City of London Corporation provides IT support and shared office administrative services for the charity. In 2023-24, £1,600 and £4,400 were charged to the charity for office admin and IT support services (2022-23: £1,600 for office admin and £4,400 for IT support). As of 31 March 2024, Heart of the City owed £nil to the City of London Corporation in respect of these charges (2022-23: £nil). Heart of the City staff are employed by the CoLC and seconded by the CoLC to the charity; for further details see note 6.

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HEART OF THE CITY OF LONDON LIMITED

The City of London Corporation also provides banking services, allocating all transactions to the charity at cost and crediting or charging interest at a commercial rate. The cost of these services is set out in the Statement of Financial Activities under “Expenditure”. The City of London Corporation is currently providing a four-year grant to Heart of the City which provides £200,000 of cash receipts per year from 2021-22 to 2024-25. This £800,000 grant was recognised in full in the 2021-22 accounts. As of 31 March 2024, Heart of the City is due £200,000 from the City of London Corporation in relation to this grant (2022-23: £400,000).

In addition, Heart of the City received contributions in-kind from the Corporation for accommodation of £21,249 (2022-23: £15,910) and audit fee of £5,450 (2022-23: £5,450).

Heart of the City received £0 grant funding from the City Bridge Trust, a restricted fund which comprises grant funding towards the cost of responsible business work (2022-23: £95,000). As of 31 March 2024, Heart of the City was owed £0 from City Bridge Trust in relation to this grant (2022-23: £23,750).

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Hotc - Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24 v10 Final Audit Report 2024-12-13 Created.. 202&>12-13 By.. Angela Miller langda.miller@rjtyoflondon.gov.ukl Status.. Signed Transaction ID.. CBJCHBcAABAAhHgzFUDTQsZIL￿RvsXi0gJHL￿2ogG "HotC- Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24 v10" History Document created by Angela Miller (angela.miller@cityoflondon.gov.uk) 2024-12-13- 11.'58..07 AM GMT Document emailed to sushil@sushilsaluja.com for signature 2024-12-13- 11.'58.'12 GMT Email viewed by sushil@sushilsaluja.com 2024-12-13- 6=20.'51 PM GMT Signer sushil@sushilsaluja.com entered name at signing as S K Saluja 2024-12-13- 6=21.'15 PM GMT Document e-signed by S K Saluja (sushil@sushilsaluja.com) Signature Date: 2024-12-13- 6.'21.'17 PM G￿- Time sour￿.. server Agreement completed. 2024-12-13- 6=21.'17 PM GMT Adobe Acrobat Sign