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← The Serco Foundation

2023-12-31-accounts

Company Registration No. 08332279 Charity Registration No. 1150338

The Serco Foundation

(a company limited by guarantee)

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2023

The Serco Foundation

Report and Financial Statements 2023

Contents Page
Legal and Administrative Details 1
Report 2 - 5
Responsibilities Statement 6
Independent Examiner's Report to the Members of The Serco Foundation 7
Statement of Financial Activities 8
Balance Sheet 9
Notes to the Accounts 10 - 13

The Serco Foundation

Legal and Administrative Details

Directors/Trustees

Keith Archer-Jones David Richardson John Weller Kate Steadman (resigned 10 May 2023) David Eveleigh (appointed 10 May 2023) Christopher May (appointed 19 September 2023) Christopher Sullivan (appointed 1 December 2023)

Secretary

David Eveleigh

Registered office

Serco House 16 Bartley Wood Business Park Bartley Way, Hook Hampshire, RG27 9UY

Company number

08332279

Charity number

1150338

Bankers and investment manager

Barclays Bank 11 Melville Crescent Edinburgh, EH3 7LU

Solicitor

Farrer & Co. LLP London, WC2A 3LH

Independent examiner

Moore Kingston Smith LLP 6th Floor 9 Appold Street London EC2A 2AP

1

The Serco Foundation

Trustees Report

The Trustees present their annual report on the affairs of the Foundation, together with the financial statements, for the year ended 31 December 2023. This report and the financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to small companies entitled to the small compan under Companies Act 2006, and accordingly, exemption has been taken from preparing a Strategic Report. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out on pages 10 and 11.

The legal and administrative details set out on page 1 form part of this report. The financial statements comply with the current statutory requirements of the Companies Act 2006, its Articles of Association and the Statement of Recommended Practice 2019 Accounting and Reporting by Charities. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, in accordance with applicable accounting standards, the Charities Act 2011 and the Companies Act 2006.

Principal activity

The principal activity of the Foundation is to work as an independent charity operating within the geographical regions where Serco Group plc ( Serco ) operates.

Objectives and activities

The objectives of the charity are:

process of non-profit distributing enterprises,

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academic organisations and others that do not distribute profit. Since this decision, the Foundation has sought to support these initiatives delivered by chosen charitable partners through grant-making activities or through the donation of Serco employee skills and time.

In 2023 the Serco Foundation appointed a new Chairman, enhanced its trustees including appointing its first non UK based trustee to help focus the support to non UK based charities, improved management focus and administrative support and focused its support on charities and causes sponsored by and most relevant to Serco employees often where Serco employees have given of their own time and efforts that could be matched or assisted by the Serco Foundation as well as supporting a few charities on a more regular basis to increase the impact of contributions.

Forward Plans

erco Group plc by making management and other employees available and use their professional know-how or volunteering time and focus on more strategic and longer-term relationships with targeted charities and increase the impact that the Serco Foundation can have and not just financial grants. The intention is to offer charities the opportunity to secure more substantial and enduring benefits derived from improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness with which they deliver their charitable aims and aspirations. This will not always be possible so, as it did in 2023, it will be continuing to prioritise applications for support that are sponsored by Serco colleagues as opposed th Serco levant as possible. In 2024 it will also focus on greater diversity in its trustees and enhancing the trustees and to improve the communication and visibility of the Foundation.

Structure, governance and management

The Serco Foundation was incorporated on 14 December 2012 as a company limited by guarantee, which is governed by its

2

The Serco Foundation

Trustees Report (continued)

Articles of Association. The operations and running of the Serco Foundation are fully independent from Serco Group plc, however unpaid governance support is provided where necessary. The Articles of Association of the Foundation were updated and finalised at the end of June 2016 and provide for an Ex Officio Chairman, up to three Internal Trustees selected by Serco Group plc from employees of the Serco Group of companies, and three External Trustees who are appointed by the Board of Trustees and are not employees of the Serco Group. No other person or body external to the charity is entitled to appoint trustees.

All Trustees are inducted into the aims and objectives of the Serco Foundation before they are appointed. At one Board meeting each year as an early agenda item there is a reminder to Trustees of their key responsibilities.

The Chairman and the Trustees take the strategic decisions and approve the way ahead at formal Board meetings where they also make decisions about applications put to the Serco Foundation. Between Board meetings they delegate the tactical dayto-day decisions to the Secretary, who circulates information to Trustees as necessary, if an Out of Committee decision is required. To consider particular decisions in more depth, temporary subgroups are set up, led by a Trustee, but with the ability nts or support pport charities which align with the Serco Foundation objectives.

The Trustees have considered the major risks to which charities are exposed and have established appropriate systems and processes to manage these risks.

Three formal Serco Foundation Board meetings took place in 2023: in June 2023, September 2023 and December 2023.

Trustees

The Members and Trustees who held office during the year and to the date of this report were as follows:

Keith Archer-Jones David Richardson John Weller Kate Steadman (resigned 10 May 2023) David Eveleigh (appointed 10 May 2023) Christopher May (appointed 19 September 2023) Christopher Sullivan (appointed 1 December 2023)

The Foundation has made qualifying third-party indemnity provisions for the benefit of the Trustees which were made during the period and remain in force at the date of this report.

Related party transactions

The Serco Foundation had a related party relationship with Serco Group plc as in 2023 Kate Steadman was a Trustee of the Serco Foundation and an employee of Serco. Kate ceased being an employee of Serco in May 2023. David Eveleigh was appointed as Chair of Trustees in May 2023 and is also an employee of Serco. Christopher May was appointed a Trustee of Serco Foundation in September 2023 and is an employee of Serco. There have been no transactions between the Foundation and any of its related parties or any trustees during the year.

Achievements and performance

In 2023 the Serco Foundation appointed its first non UK based trustee, enhanced its administrative support and approach , refreshed and reviewed its financial arrangement and as part of our objectives and priorities, the Serco Foundation a concentrated on the increasing number of employee-sponsored and other charitable applications in 2023, a significant majority of which were sponsored by a Serco employee and were drawn from Serco employees across all regions. It also consolidated the tion.

3

The Serco Foundation

Trustees Report (continued)

With the strong administrative support available to the Serco Foundation, as well as the continually increasing goodwill of Serco employees and ongoing commitment of the Trustees, the Foundation is on a strong footing from which to deliver continued positive impact to citizens and communities around the world.

Public benefit

The Trustees have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the Serco aims and objectives and in planning future activities. In particular the Trustees considered how planned activities will contribute to the aims of the Serco Foundation and the objectives they have set and have therefore complied with the duty in section 17 of the Charities Act 2011.

Taking into account the achievements and beneficiaries of the Serco Foundation as described below, the Trustees confirm that due regard had been paid to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission.

Financial review and reserves

The Serco Foundation received income of £116,835 (2022: £115,002) from investments and bank interest, and £nil (2022: £nil) from other individual donations. Along with net gain on investments of £345,686 (2022: loss of £424,668) and funds carried over from the previous financial year, this has enabled us to deliver our activities as outlined in the achievements and performance section above and resulted in a surplus in 2023 of £245,153 (2022: Deficit of £554,671) for the year. The trustees consider the results of the Serco Foundation to be satisfactory.

As at 31 December 2023, unrestricted funds for the year were £5,876,124 (2022: £5,630,971).

behalf within guidelines related to ethical and investment activities as set by the Foundation and provide regular updates to Trustees.

Reserves policy and going concern

ds in reserve so as to ensure the charity can continue to meet its long-term objectives. The Trustees will finalise its full fundraising strategy with the aim of expanding its charitable activities in the future.

The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis which the Trustees consider to be appropriate for the following reasons.

The business model of the charity is such that its charitable activities are limited to those which it has sufficient funds and investments held to support from the excess of income received over the costs of administering the charity. The charity therefore has no specific commitments and no committed costs beyond its fixed costs of operation which are detailed in note 3 and 4.

The Trustees have reviewed the cash flow forecasts for a period of 12 months from the date of approval of these financial statements which indicate that the charity will have sufficient funds to meet its liabilities as they fall due for that period. The Trustees consider that even if no further external funding is received in the 12-month period, the charity has sufficient cash reserves and available investments to pay all committed costs. There have been no material post balance sheet date events that would affect this assessment.

Consequently, the Trustees are confident that the charity will have sufficient funds to continue to meet its liabilities as they fall due for at least 12 months from the date of approval of the statements.

Approved by the Board of Trustees and signed on its behalf by:

4

The Serco Foundation

Trustees Report (continued)

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Trustee

Serco House 16 Bartley Wood Business Park Bartley Way, Hook Hampshire, RG27 9UY

24 September 2024

5

The Serco Foundation

applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law they have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with UK Accounting Standards and applicable law (UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice), 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 excess of expenditure over income 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 ransactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are responsible for such internal control as they determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and have general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of the charitable company and to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities.

6

Independent

report to the members of The Serco Foundation

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Company for the year ended 31 December 2023.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity's trustees (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 ("the 2006 Act").

Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the Company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity's accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 ("the 2011 Act"). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145 (5) (b) of the 2011 Act.

Independent Examiner's Statement

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

  1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the Company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or

  2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or

  3. the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or

  4. the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities.

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

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Adam Fullerton (FCA, DChA) For and behalf of Moore Kingston Smith LLP Chartered Accountants

6th Floor 9 Appold Street London EC2A 2AP

24 September 2024

7

The Serco Foundation

Statement of Financial Activities (including income and expenditure account) Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes
Income from:
Investments
2
Total income
Expenditure on:
Fees
3
Charitable activities and governance costs
4
Total expenditure
Net expenditure before net movement on investments
Net gain/(loss) on investments
7
Net movement in funds
Total unrestricted funds at start of year
Total unrestricted funds at end of year		 2023
£
116,835
116,835
(33,209)
(184,159)
(217,368)
(100,533)
345,686
245,153
5,630,971
5,876,124		 2022
£
115,002
115,002
(34,388)
(210,617)
(245,005)
(130,003)
(424,668)
(554,671)
6,185,642
5,630,971

All amounts represent unrestricted funds.

There are no recognised gains or losses for the current period other than as stated in the Statement of Financial Activities. Accordingly, no separate statement of total recognised gains and losses has been presented.

The results for the year are wholly attributable to the continuing operations of The Serco Foundation. The accompanying notes form an integral part of the financial statements.

8

The Serco Foundation

Balance Sheet

As at 31 December 2023

Notes
Current assets
Investments
7
Cash held by investment managers
Cash at bank and in hand
Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year:
Accruals and deferred income
8
Net current assets
Funds of the charity
Unrestricted funds
Total funds		 2023
£
5,727,750
109,264
42,610
(3,500)
5,876,124
5,876,124
5,876,124		 2022
£
5,399,555
177,293
62,123
(8,000)
5,630,971
5,630,971
5,630,971

All amounts represent unrestricted funds.

The accompanying notes form an integral part of the financial statements.

The Directors state:

(a) For the year ended 31 December 2023, the charitable company was entitled to exemption under Section 477 of the Companies Act 2006.

(b) No notice from Trustees requiring an audit has been deposited under Section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.

(c) The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for: -

(i) ensuring that the charitable company keeps accounting records which comply with Section 386 of the Companies Act 2006, and

(ii) preparing financial statements which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company as at the end of the financial year, and of its income and expenditure for the financial year, in accordance with the requirements of Sections 394 and 395 and which otherwise comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 relating to accounts, so far as applicable to the charitable company.

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small

The financial statements of The Serco Foundation (company number 08332279) were approved by the Board of Trustees and were signed on its behalf by:

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David Eveleigh Trustee 24 September 2024

9

The Serco Foundation

Notes to the Financial Statements For the Year Ended 31 December 2023

1. Accounting policies

The principal accounting policies are summarised below. They have all been applied consistently throughout the current and preceding year.

Basis of accounting

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) issued on October 2019, Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Charities Act 2011. SORP Update Bulletin 1 which was issued 2 February 2016 has also been adopted, as the charity is a public benefit entity for the purposes of FRS 102.

The Serco Foundation qualifies as a small company under the Companies Act 2006 and accordingly has taken advantage of the exemption available in the FRS 102 SORP applicable for periods commencing after 1 January 2016 to not prepare a cash flow statement.

Going concern

The Trustees consider the Serco Foundation to have sufficient reserves to meet its forecast commitments and they believe that the Serco Foundation has adequate resources to continue for a period of at least 12 months from the date of this report. In particular, the Trustees have considered the level of investments held both at 31 December 2023 and at the date of signing these financial statements, together with the value of donations committed but not yet paid. The Trustees have confirmed that sufficient reserves exist to make all committed payments along with other payments required to be made for at least 12 months from the date of this report. Accordingly, the Trustees consider it appropriate to adopt the going concern basis in the preparation of the Serco Foundation's financial statements.

Income

These are recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities (SoFA) when:

Where incoming resources have related expenditure (as with fundraising or contract income) the incoming resources and related expenditure are reported gross in the SoFA.

Donated services and facilities

These are only included in the SoFA (with an equivalent amount in resources expended) where the benefit to the charity is reasonably quantifiable, measurable and material. The value placed on these resources is the estimated value to the charity of the service or facility received. It is not possible to reliably measure the value of donated administrative services supplied by Serco Group plc.

10

The Serco Foundation

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued) For the Year Ended 31 December 2023

Accounting policies (continued)

Expenditure

Expenditure is included in the SoFA on an accruals basis when incurred and includes attributable VAT which cannot be recovered.

Resources expended comprise the following:

Tax

As a registered charity, the Foundation is exempt from corporation tax under the Corporation Tax Act 2010 or Section 256 of the Taxation for Chargeable Gains Act 1992, to the extent surpluses are applied to its charitable purposes.

Fund accounting

All funds are unrestricted and are available to be used in accordance with the charitable objects at the discretion of the Trustees.

Investments

The Foundation invests in a mixture of listed equities, ETFs and non-listed funds with investments in equities and fixed income securities. All investments are initially recognised at their transaction value including fees and duty. They are subsequently measured at their fair value as at the balance sheet date using the closing quoted market price or NAV per share provided by the fund managers. Changes in fair value are recognised in the statement of financial activities. Realised and unrealised investment gains and los statement of financial activities. The charity does not use short selling, enter into derivative contracts or other complex financial instruments. Fees payable in relation to the m statement of financial activities on an basis.

11

The Serco Foundation

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued) For the Year Ended 31 December 2023

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----- Start of picture text -----
2. Income from investments
2023 2022
£ £
Dividends and distribution income 62,242 74,657
Interest on investments 53,641 40,150
Bank interest 952 195
116,835 115,002
3. Fees
2023 2022
£ £
Investment fees 33,209 34,388
33,209 34,388
4. Charitable activities and governance costs
2023 2022
£ £
Other grants
177,918 212,577
Support costs Governance costs (note 5)
6,241 (1,960)
184,159 210,617
5. Support costs
2023 2022
£ £
Administrative expenses 1,141 40
Fees payable to the auditor for
Accounts 1,600 3,000
Fees payable to the independent examiner for the examination of
the charity's annual accounts 3,500 -
Other - (5,000)
6,241 (1,960)
----- End of picture text -----

There were no employees in the year (2022: none) and accordingly no employee benefits paid (2022: nil).

6.

The Trustees do not receive any remuneration or reimbursement of expenses in respect of their services to the Serco Foundation. Where Trustees are also employees of the Serco Group, their services to the Serco Foundation are incidental in the context of their wider role within the Serco Group and whilst they may be remunerated by other companies in the Group, they do not receive any remuneration specifically in relation to their qualifying services to the Foundation. As such, there is for the year ended 31 December 2023 (2022: none).

12

The Serco Foundation

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued) For the Year Ended 31 December 2023

7. Investments

Fair value at start of year
Additions at cost
Disposal proceeds
Net gain on change in fair value
Fair value at end of year
Historic cost at the end of the year
Investments comprise:
UK investments
Non-UK investments
Investments representing over 5% by value of the portfolio comprise:
Barclays Global Corporate Bond
iShares Global Corp Bond UCITS ETF1
PIMCO Fund GIS - Global Investment Grade Credit Fund1
Fidelity Investment Funds - Asia Fund
GSQuartix		 2023
£
5,399,555
2,895,650
(2,913,141)
345,686
5,727,750
5,507,084
2023
£
250,268
5,477,482
5,727,750
2023
£
488,618
470,690
308,876
304,422
-
1,572,606		 2022
£
6,127,166
833,666
(1,136,609)
(424,668)
5,399,555
5,147,393
2022
£
757,573
4,641,982
5,399,555
2022
£
-
-
-
293,694
518,656
812,350
  1. Investments was held as at 31 December 2022 but did not represent 5% by value of total assets

8. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

reditors: amounts falling due within one year
Accruals and deferred income 2023
£
3,500
3,500		 2022
£
8,000
8,000

9. Liabilities of members

The Serco Foundation is a company limited by guarantee. In the event of winding up, the maximum amount guaranteed to be contributed by each member is £1.

10. Related party transactions

The Serco Foundation had a related party relationship with Serco Group plc as in 2023 Kate Steadman was a Trustee of the Serco Foundation and an employee of Serco. Kate ceased being an employee of Serco in May 2023. David Eveleigh was appointed as Chair of Trustees in May 2023 and is also an employee of Serco. Christopher May was appointed a Trustee of Serco Foundation in September 2023 and is an employee of Serco. There have been no transactions between the Foundation and any of its related parties or any trustees during the year.

13