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2025-12-31-accounts

AKO Foundation

Report and Financial Statements

31 December 2025

AKO Foundation Report and Financial Statements 2025

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Photo Credits – Cover

Fjaereheia Credit: South Coast Creative / Bruddet Fjaereheia

Farm Africa – Jacob Kiriungi Credit: Farm Africa – Bertha Lutome

Bookmark – Oldfleet Primary R2R Credit: Bookmark

AKO Foundation

Report and Financial Statements

31 December 2025

Trustees

The trustees, who were also directors under company law, who served during the year and up to the date of this report were as follows:

S Procopis H Syse D Woodburn

Senior Management Personnel P Lawford; Chief Executive Officer

Auditor

Sayer Vincent LLP Chartered accountants and statutory auditor 110 Golden Lane London, EC1Y 0TG

Bankers

Handelsbanken plc 5 Welbeck Street London, W1G 9YQ

Santander UK plc Santander Corporate & Commercial Banking 2nd Floor, Santander House 100 Ludgate Hill London, EC4M 7RE

Registered Office

One Newman Street London, W1T 1PB

Registered Company No: 08385711 Registered Charity No: 1151815

www.akofoundation.org

About the AKO Foundation

During the year the Foundation continued to make grants to charities and charitable projects within its three priority areas – to improve education and the wellbeing of young people, to promote the arts, and to combat the climate emergency. While continuing to help to start up, or to be the catalyst for, new charitable projects which otherwise might not be realised, the Foundation is also willing, where appropriate, to offer unrestricted support, recognising the need among its beneficiaries for financial flexibility. Mirroring the long-term thinking and investment strategy of AKO Capital, the Foundation aims to be a significant and reliable partner to its beneficiaries and generally seeks multi-year relationships with them.

The Foundation takes pride in the leanness of its administration, which results in fast decisionmaking, and in the greatest possible proportion of its resources being available to support beneficiaries. Our vision is to be recognised as a cost-effective and fast-moving organisation that stands out for its responsiveness as well as for the quality of the projects and causes supported.

The Trustees re-iterate their gratitude for the past generosity of the founder and Settlor of the Foundation, Nicolai Tangen, particularly with regard to the arrangements made following his (and Katja Tangen’s) departure from the Board upon Nicolai’s appointment as Chief Executive Officer of the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund. This has allowed the Foundation to sustain the significant level of grant-making of the last few years; towards the end of 2025, the Foundation’s 13th year of existence, the cumulative amount of new grants approved exceeded £390 million.

The Foundation’s work is summarised in the pages that follow. In each of our major grant-making categories, we highlight a small selection of both new and existing beneficiaries. A full list of grants made during the year appears in Note 6 to the Financial Statements.

The Foundation adopts a proactive approach to grant-making; accordingly, it does not seek applications for grants, nor does it make grants in response to unsolicited applications.

About the AKO Foundation

AKO Foundation Report and Financial Statements 2025

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Education

The Foundation believes that education is the key to a successful future both for individuals and for societies as a whole and thus supports educational projects in both developing and developed regions of the world.

Developing Countries

The Foundation’s approach is not to select specific countries in which to operate; rather, it supports trusted partners in their work, enabling them to use their local knowledge, expertise, and networks to judge where an intervention will have the greatest, or most widespread, impact. A number of large-scale studies have demonstrated the substantial positive social, economic and environmental impacts of giving girls, who would otherwise be disadvantaged or excluded, access to a good education; the Trustees therefore have a particular interest in this area.

Food 4 Education (Credit: Food 4 Education)

About the AKO Foundation

AKO Foundation Report and Financial Statements 2025

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Promoting Equality in African Schools (PEAS) (Credit: Ivan Turyatunga from Bivayn Multimedia)

Food 4 Education

AKO Foundation support new in 2025 Food 4 Education was founded in 2012 to provide school meals to just 25 children in Kenya and has since grown into a major school feeding programme operating at scale across the country. Today, its hub-and-spoke network of central and rural kitchens serves lunch to more than 600,000 children each school day, creating over 4,300 jobs in local communities and sourcing around 80% of ingredients from smallholder farmers. Its Tap2Eat technology — digital wristbands linked to mobile payment wallets — keeps costs to just $0.30 per meal while enabling real-time attendance tracking and nutritional monitoring.

Imagine Worldwide

AKO Foundation support new in 2025 Imagine Worldwide was founded with the aim of addressing the literacy and numeracy crisis affecting millions of children across Sub-Saharan Africa. Its model delivers evidence-based education technology through solar-powered tablets loaded with adaptive software, designed to work without internet connectivity or grid power and requiring no highly skilled teachers. Children drive their own learning at their own pace, guided by a teacher avatar in their national language — making the programme accessible even to those who have never previously used technology. The programme is currently reaching more than 700,000 children annually across Malawi, Sierra Leone and Tanzania, with national-scale partnerships in place with all three governments. The longer-term ambition is to bring foundational literacy and numeracy to millions of the most marginalised children across the continent.

Promoting Equality in African Schools (PEAS)

AKO Foundation support new in 2025 PEAS builds and runs affordable secondary schools in rural communities across Uganda and Zambia, while partnering with governments to strengthen wider educational systems. As one of the largest school networks in Sub-Saharan Africa, PEAS directly educates over 15,000 young people each year across its own schools, while its government partnerships expand its reach to benefit nearly 250,000 students annually across Uganda, Zambia, and Ghana. With over half of all supported students being girls— significantly above regional norms—the organisation's Uganda program was awarded the prestigious UNESCO Prize for Girls' and Women's Education in 2024, reflecting the strength, rigour, and scalability of its approach.

Beyond running its own schools, PEAS works hand in hand with governments to improve the wider education system through its Partner Schools Programme. Drawing on over 15 years of practical experience, PEAS embeds its proven school improvement model — centred on stronger leadership, better teaching, and robust child protection — into government schools that would not otherwise benefit from this level of support.

About the AKO Foundation

AKO Foundation Report and Financial Statements 2025

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The UK and other developed countries

Ark (Absolute Return for Kids)

AKO Foundation support since 2018

Ark’s mission is to ensure that all children, regardless of their background, have access to a great education and real choices in life. It operates one of the country's highest-achieving academy networks, with 39 non-selective schools educating around 30,000 pupils in underserved communities across London, Birmingham, Portsmouth and Hastings, consistently outperforming national averages, particularly for disadvantaged students. In 2025 the Foundation made a grant to support Ark's merger with Pontefract Academies Trust (PAT), a smaller multi-academy trust based in West Yorkshire. The merger will establish a northern hub, combining Ark's scale, expertise and resources with PAT's local leadership and community credibility. Ark's expansion into the North of England reflects both need and opportunity: educational outcomes in the region continue to lag those in London and the South East, with weaker early years provision, lower exam attainment and disproportionately high numbers of schools rated inadequate by Ofsted.

Ark (Credit: Ark)

About the AKO Foundation

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AKO Foundation Report and Financial Statements 2025

Booker Prize (Credit: The Booker Prize Foundation)

Booker Prize Foundation

AKO Foundation support new in 2025 In October 2025, the Booker Prize Foundation announced the Children's Booker Prize, supported by AKO Foundation as its founding partner and principal funder. The prize — the first major new award from the Booker Prize Foundation in two decades — will launch in 2026 and will be awarded annually from 2027, celebrating the best contemporary fiction for children aged eight to twelve, written in or translated into English and published in the UK and/or Ireland. The winner will receive £50,000, placing the Children's Prize recipients on an equal financial footing with their adult counterparts. Uniquely, the prize will be judged by a combined panel of adult and child judges, ensuring that the winning book carries a genuine peer-to-peer recommendation from young readers. At least 30,000 copies of the shortlisted and winning books will be gifted to children each year.

The Prize is being launched at a moment when children's reading for pleasure is at its lowest level in 20 years and coincides with the UK government's National Year of Reading 2026. The AKO Foundation has committed to supporting the prize for its first three years, reflecting its longstanding belief in the importance of nurturing a love of reading from an early age and the compelling evidence linking reading for pleasure to improved educational outcomes and greater social mobility.

About the AKO Foundation 9

AKO Foundation Report and Financial Statements 2025

Bookmark (Credit: Bookmark)

Bookmark

AKO Foundation support new in 2025

Bookmark is a UK charity founded in 2018 whose mission is that all children can read well by the time they leave primary school. It works with schools in some of the most disadvantaged parts of England, offering one-to-one reading support delivered by trained volunteers. The scale of the literacy problem is striking: one in four children in England leaves primary school unable to read at the expected level — a figure that is even higher for children from disadvantaged backgrounds — and poor literacy can affect everything from future employment prospects to mental health and life expectancy. Bookmark currently partners with over 500 schools, and its 2024-27 strategy sets an ambitious target of reaching 1,000 schools and 500,000 children by the end of that period. While one-to-one reading sessions are at the heart of what Bookmark does, its approach goes further: it supports schools in building inspiring reading cultures, provides teacher training and CPD grants, and sends books and resources home to families — ensuring that reading is nurtured beyond the classroom as well as within it.

Purposeful Ventures

AKO Foundation support since 2024

Purposeful Ventures funds, develops and grows not-for-profit organisations addressing education and social issues, with the goal of creating a fairer society for young people. Originally operating as the Ark Ventures division within Ark — itself an AKO Foundation grantee — it was spun out as an independent organisation and has since established itself as a specialist in identifying and scaling initiatives with the potential to transform lives. In 2025, AKO Foundation and Purposeful Ventures jointly established a portfolio comprising charities that support secondary-age students from disadvantaged backgrounds in progressing to university or a career of their choice. The partnership was designed to draw on Purposeful Ventures' deep understanding of the educational landscape, its ability to conduct thorough due diligence, and its capacity to provide ongoing mentoring and relationship management with grantees — expertise and resource that the Foundation could not as readily deploy alone.

About the AKO Foundation

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AKO Foundation Report and Financial Statements 2025

Wellbeing of Young People

Within the field of education, the Trustees recognised that certain of the grants that they had made could more accurately be considered as falling within the general heading of young people’s wellbeing; and they are increasingly aware that wellbeing generally, and good mental health in particular, is often a prerequisite for successful learning and making the transition to adult life.

Beginnings Fund

AKO Foundation support new in 2025 The Beginnings Fund is a major philanthropic initiative launched in April 2025, focused on one of the most underfunded yet solvable challenges in global health: maternal and newborn mortality in Africa. Each year, 182,000 women and 1.2 million newborns die across the continent from largely preventable causes, alongside 950,000 stillbirths — a scale of avoidable loss that the Fund's founders are determined to address. Working in close partnership with the ministries of health of ten African countries — Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe — the Beginnings Fund deploys philanthropic capital across three interconnected areas: strengthening and expanding the maternal and newborn health workforce; scaling access to low-cost, evidencebased equipment, medicines and interventions; and reinforcing the critical systems — including data infrastructure, emergency transport and referral networks — on which quality care depends. By 2030, the Fund aims to prevent more than 300,000 avoidable deaths and improve the quality of care for 34 million women and newborns.

Beginnings Fund (Credit: Frederic Courbet)

About the AKO Foundation

AKO Foundation Report and Financial Statements 2025

11

Arts

The Foundation has a particular interest in the visual arts, reflecting the interest and expertise of its founder, Nicolai Tangen.

It seeks to develop close relationships with a limited number of partner institutions, primarily in the UK and Norway. In particular, the Foundation has been instrumental in the first major public-private partnership in the Norwegian visual art sector, through the establishment of the Kunstsilo Museum in Kristiansand, southern Norway; it has also financed the ‘Tangen Collection’ of modern Nordic works of art which is now on indefinite loan to Kunstsilo.

Kunstsilo (Credit: Even Askildsen)

About the AKO Foundation

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AKO Foundation Report and Financial Statements 2025

Camden Arts Centre

AKO Foundation support since 2019

Camden Arts Centre is one of north London's most important venues for contemporary art, with a long track record of being among the first institutions in London — and often the UK — to exhibit the work of significant international artists. The centre's charitable objectives are rooted in advancing public education in the understanding and appreciation of the arts, and this mission is reflected in a broad programme of free activities that extends well beyond the gallery itself. Its education programme — artist-led and free to access — is specifically targeted at some of the most disadvantaged communities in the surrounding boroughs of Camden, Brent, Barnet and Harrow, working closely with local schools, community groups and specialist partners to nurture the next generation of artists from early years through to adulthood. The centre's studios are made available to schools free of charge, offering hands-on learning in ceramics, painting, drawing and writing.

Kunstsilo (formerly SKMU Sørlandets Kunstmuseum)

AKO Foundation support since 2015

The SKMU Sørlandets Kunstmuseum was a regional art institution, located in Kristiansand, southern Norway, which, since its formation in 1995, collected and displayed high quality modern and contemporary art and crafts objects from the local region.

Now renamed Kunstsilo, the former SKMU took over the running of the Kunstsilo Museum upon the completion and critically acclaimed opening of the latter in 2024. The Kunstsilo Museum is now the primary venue for display of works in the Tangen Collection; it will also host a broad range of related exhibitions.

In 2025 the Foundation continued its support for the Kunstsilo including its programme of temporary exhibitions.

About the AKO Foundation

AKO Foundation Report and Financial Statements 2025

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Climate

The AKO Foundation Trustees are concerned by the effect of the changing climate on current and, especially, future generations, and on global biodiversity. Accordingly, they support charitable entities which they believe will have significant and lasting impact in this field.

Several of the Foundation’s beneficiaries within this Climate category are themselves re-granting organisations. The Foundation is thereby able to benefit from their research, scale and networks, which in turn benefit, in many cases, from the experience and expertise of other major funders. The Foundation has also been able to take advantage of the knowledge and advice offered by Climate Lead (formerly the Climate Leadership Initiative).

Having developed a portfolio of beneficiaries within this field, the Trustees now focus their grant-making in three sub-categories: ‘coal-to-clean’, carbon disclosure, and natural solutions. Although these are widely used terms, this classification is somewhat artificial; in practice, many of these organisations work across more than one of these three subcategories.

Tara (Credit: Tara Climate Foundation)

About the AKO Foundation

AKO Foundation Report and Financial Statements 2025

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Coal to-Clean

RELP (Credit: RELP)

RELP

AKO Foundation support new in 2025 Founded in 2019 by Sebastián Kind, who previously served as Argentina's Undersecretary of Renewable Energy, RELP was built on the success of the RenovAr programme that Kind and his team designed and implemented while in government — an initiative that has since attracted over $11 billion in investment and 9.2 GW of new renewable capacity, made renewables the country's cheapest unsubsidised energy source, and saved over $8.9 billion in fossil fuel imports. RELP's model is to offer other governments what its founders wished they had had at the start of RenovAr: direct, embedded support in the design and implementation of competitive procurement processes, stable regulatory frameworks, and innovative financial instruments to de-risk investment. It works as an extension of government teams — typically hosted within energy and finance ministries — focusing exclusively on large-scale, grid-connected renewable programmes in emerging markets and developing economies, with active engagements currently spanning the Caribbean, West Africa, East Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia.

Tara Climate Foundation

AKO Foundation support new in 2025 Tara Climate Foundation is a regionally led regranting foundation headquartered in Singapore. Originally established and incubated by the European Climate Foundation (ECF), it became independent in 2021 with the full backing of ECF and over a dozen global philanthropic funders. Tara Climate Foundation is the principal climate regranting body for South, Southeast, and East Asia, excluding China and India. While Asia accounts for nearly 50% of global carbon emissions, this region of 1.4 billion people outside the continent's two largest emitters remains critically underserved by climate philanthropy. In this context, Tara plays a pivotal role as the principal climate re-granting body for the region. Its work spans three areas: providing grants to organisations working on the energy transition; developing finance strategies to mobilise capital for decarbonisation; and convening partners to build a coherent climate movement across the region.

About the AKO Foundation 15

AKO Foundation Report and Financial Statements 2025

Carbon Disclosure

Global Methane Hub

AKO Foundation support since 2023

Global Methane Hub (GMH) was founded to bring coordinated philanthropic resource and strategic focus to methane reduction — an area that had previously been fragmented and underfunded. Although methane breaks down more quickly than many greenhouse gases, its warming power is around 80 times that of CO2 during its lifetime, making it a critical target for near-term climate action. Headquartered in Santiago, Chile, and active in over 100 countries, GMH operates as a connector, funder, educator and advocate, working across the energy, agriculture and waste sectors, which together account for around 95% of human-caused methane emissions. Since its launch, it has re-granted over $200 million to more than 130 organisations, helped mobilise over $10 billion for methane-reducing projects globally, and played a central role in building support for the Global Methane Pledge — a global commitment to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030.

Natural Solutions

Farm Africa

AKO Foundation support new in 2025

Farm Africa was founded in 1985 in response to the famine in Ethiopia and has since established itself as a trusted partner to smallholder farmers across five countries in East Africa — Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Its mission is to reduce poverty and hunger by helping farmers, agribusinesses and rural communities grow their incomes while protecting the natural environment around them.

Central to Farm Africa's current work is the promotion of climate-smart agriculture — a set of approaches that help farmers make their production and livelihoods more resilient to climate extremes while simultaneously reducing the environmental impact of farming. Small-scale farmers are among those most exposed to the effects of climate change, yet they often have limited access to the knowledge, inputs and finance they need to adapt. Farm Africa's experience has shown that providing farmers with access to improved seeds, training in sustainable practices, and connections to markets and finance can meaningfully increase yields and household incomes even in the face of worsening climate conditions. The benefits extend beyond individual livelihoods: increased productivity reduces the pressure to expand farming land, helping to curb deforestation and lower carbon emissions, while improved post-harvest handling reduces emissions from food loss. In this way, Farm Africa's work sits at the intersection of poverty reduction, food security and climate action — addressing each in ways that reinforce the others.

About the AKO Foundation

AKO Foundation Report and Financial Statements 2025

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Farm Africa ( Credit: Farm Africa / Bertha Lutome)

About the AKO Foundation

AKO Foundation Report and Financial Statements 2025

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Local Projects

The Foundation is a London based charity; its founder previously lived, and most of the trustees do live, in north London. The founder, Nicolai Tangen, was born and brought up in Kristiansand, Norway; other Trustees also have connections to Norway.

The Foundation values these links and selectively supports charities and charitable projects in north London and in Norway that may not otherwise fit the categories described above.

Fjæreheia

AKO Foundation support new in 2025

The Fjæreheia Amphitheatre is an outdoor theatre located a short distance from the town of Grimstad on the southern Norwegian coast. One of the country's most distinctive performance venues, it is best known as the home of a celebrated annual Ibsen festival. The theatre was formerly operated by Kilden, the major performing arts complex in Kristiansand, but is now an independent non-profit organisation governed by its own board.

AKO Foundation's grant supports much-needed improvements to the theatre's sound and lighting infrastructure. Beyond the Ibsen season, Fjæreheia hosts a broader programme of musicals, concerts and popular entertainment, and its financial sustainability depends significantly on this wider activity. Higher-specification sound and lighting equipment is essential to attracting and delivering productions of this kind, making the investment a practical necessity as much as an artistic one — and one that will benefit the full breadth of the theatre's programme for years to come

Fjaereheia (Credit: South Coast Creative / Bruddet Fjaereheia)

About the AKO Foundation

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AKO Foundation Report and Financial Statements 2025

Other Initiatives

Give Back

The AKO Give Back scheme provides all AKO Capital staff with the opportunity to nominate a charity to receive a grant from the Foundation. As well as nominating charities, the staff collectively determine the recipients of larger grants. A committee of staff members selects a short list of the nominated charities, and all staff then vote on the allocation of a pool that in 2025 amounted to some £1 million.

Matched Funding

Certain charitable donations by members of staff of AKO Capital are matched, on a 1:1 basis, by the Foundation. The Foundation gave matching grants of around £359k under this scheme in 2025.

The two categories summarised immediately above – Give Back and Matched Funding – are together described as ‘Other’ in the following Trustees’ report and financial statements.

Two of the largest grants in 2025 were made to the following recipients.

Mission EmployAble

Mission EmployAble runs a supported internship programme for young adults aged 18–25 with learning disabilities, with the goal of securing them permanent paid employment. Based just outside London and operating out of its café training centre, the charity works in partnership with a local further education college to deliver a structured curriculum covering employability, life skills, and confidence building, alongside hands-on work experience across sectors including hospitality, retail, horticulture, and care. Over the past three years, around 90% of graduates have gone on to secure and sustain paid employment.

Trees for Cities

Trees for Cities is the only national charity dedicated to urban trees. Over more than 30 years, it has worked with local communities, schools and businesses to plant more than 1.7 million trees in towns and cities across the UK and around the world. Its broader aim is to tackle climate change, create social cohesion and improve urban environments through tree planting, community engagement, and education initiatives.

About the AKO Foundation

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AKO Foundation Report and Financial Statements 2025

Report of the trustees

Independent auditor's report Financial Statements

Report of the Trustees

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AKO Foundation Report and Financial Statements 2025

Report of the trustees

The trustees present their report and the audited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2025.

Reference and administrative information set out on page 1 forms part of this report. The financial statements comply with the current statutory requirements, the memorandum and articles of association and the Statement of Recommended Practice – 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 (Charities SORP (FRS 102)).

Structure, governance, management & remuneration

The Foundation is a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 1 February 2013 and registered as a charity on 29 April 2013. The company was established under a memorandum of association which established the objects and powers of the charitable organisation and is governed under its articles of association.

The Foundation has one wholly owned subsidiary and one associated undertaking. Further details on these entities are included in notes 8 and 9 to the financial statements.

The Foundation is managed by the trustees with decisions taken at the regular trustee meetings. Trustees are given training and advice on their responsibilities when they take on the position. They give their time voluntarily and receive no remuneration or benefits from the Foundation. Any expenses reclaimed from the Foundation are set out in note 3 to the financial statements.

Any future trustee appointments are made by the Members of the Foundation. The Members are David Woodburn and Nicola Staples; David Woodburn is also a trustee of the Foundation.

The Foundation has two employees and its reward and recognition strategy is designed to attract and retain motivated and talented individuals.

Objectives and activities

The objective of the Foundation is to act as a charity for general charitable purposes with a focus on education and the arts, in particular the provision of grants for charitable purposes (as prescribed by the Charities Act 2011).

The Foundation’s charitable objectives are:

The trustees review the aims, objectives and activities of the Foundation each year. In recent years the trustees have become increasingly concerned by the effect of the changing climate on current and future generations and on global biodiversity and in 2019 they initiated a grant making programme in this field. In 2022 the trustees added “Wellbeing of young people” as a separate category of grant making.

This report looks at what the Foundation has achieved and the outcomes of its work in 2025. Details of the grants made in the year are included in the financial statements.

The trustees have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the Foundation's aims and objectives and in planning its future activities. In planning the Foundation’s activities, the trustees consider how these will contribute to the aims and objectives that have been set.

In undertaking their management of the Foundation, and the making of grants, the trustees have had regard to their obligations under Section 172 (1)(a)-(f) and 172(2) of the Companies Act 2006 to promote the success of the Foundation to achieve its charitable objectives.

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AKO Foundation Report and Financial Statements 2025

Strategic Report

Achievements and performance in the delivery of public benefit

The Foundation’s main activity is to make grants to UK charities and for general charitable purposes elsewhere in the world. The primary foci of its grant making activities are initiatives and projects which improve education or the wellbeing or young people, promote the arts, or combat climate change.

During the year to 31 December 2025 the Foundation made grants to a variety of entities involved in these areas. The major grants, considered as being those for an amount of £100,000 or more, are described below, listed in descending size order within the respective categories:

Grants for the advancement of education

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Strategic Report (continued)

Grants towards the wellbeing of young people

Grants for the advancement of art

Grants to mitigate the effect of climate change

Local Projects

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AKO Foundation Report and Financial Statements 2025

Strategic Report (continued)

Other major grants (through the ‘Give Back’ programme)

The Foundation’s general grant making policy is for individual trustees or the executive team to identify possible grant recipients, which are then considered by the trustees acting as a body. The Foundation does not seek applications for grants and does not make grants in response to unsolicited applications received.

As a grant making charity the primary key performance indicators for the Foundation are its income and carried forward funds, as these set its ability to make future grants; and the grants made, and cash distributed, in the year. During the year to 31 December 2025 the Foundation had income of £70,219,000 (2024: £119,980,000), made new grants of £85,340,000 (2024: £75,522,000) and carried forward funds of £1,271,882,000 (2024: £1,267,236,000). It distributed cash of £57,779,000 (2024: £56,176,000) to grant recipients. The trustees are satisfied with the performance of the Foundation over the year.

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AKO Foundation Report and Financial Statements 2025

Financial Review

In 2025 the Foundation received its income via Gift Aid donations from AKO Capital Management Limited and from its interest in AKO Capital LLP held via its trading subsidiary AKO Subsidiary 2020 Limited (2024: donations from AKO Capital Management Limited and from its interest in AKO Capital LLP). Total donations of £4,000 (2024: total donations of £6,000) were received in the year to 31 December 2025 which includes £Nil receivable at 31 December 2025 (2024: £Nil receivable at 31 December 2024). The income arising from its interest in AKO Capital LLP in 2025 was £66,574,000 of which £17,803,000 was receivable at 31 December 2025 (2024: £116,747,000 of which £59,500,000 was receivable at 31 December 2024).

Reserves Policy

At 31 December 2025 the Foundation had total funds of £1,271,882,000 (2024; £1,267,236,000). The Foundation’s reserves policy is to ensure it maintains adequate funds to meet its commitments and to hold reserves while it identifies appropriate projects to fund. It does not currently hold any restricted funds and thus characterises all funds as unrestricted reserves.

Investment Policy

Several venture capital type investments have been donated to the Foundation and the nature of these investments means that the Foundation expects to hold them to their maturity.

With respect to its other assets, the Investment Policy of the Foundation is for these to be held in either equity-based investments or as cash or shortterm fixed interest instruments. The equity-based component is held in Management Shares in funds managed by AKO Capital LLP. These shares are non-fee paying and the investment is split between NOK, Euro and US$ denominated share classes. The funds managed by AKO Capital LLP invest in a diversified range of European and Global equities.

of approximately 1%. While this is disappointing the trustees remain confident as to the long-term prospects of the Foundation’s investments.

In respect of its investments the Foundation seeks an awareness of the social, environmental, or ethical policies of the relevant fund entities but this is not a primary consideration in determining its investments.

The trustees are mindful of their duty to review and monitor the Foundation’s investments and receive regular investment reports in respect of the funds in which they are invested.

Costs

The Foundation seeks to minimise its cost base in order to maximise the funds available for its charitable purposes. As stated elsewhere in this report, the trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no remuneration or benefits; and the largest component of the Foundation’s investments is the Management Shares of funds managed by AKO Capital LLP which are non-fee paying. In 2025 the total costs of the Foundation were £301,000 which represents 0.02% of the Foundation’s net assets and 0.4% of the grants payable in the year.

Energy usage

The Foundation did not consume more than 40,000 kWh of energy in its reporting period. It therefore qualifies as a low energy user and is exempt from the reporting otherwise required under the United Kingdom’s Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting regulations.

The investment objective of the Foundation is to maintain the real value of its investment portfolio over the longer term and to provide capital growth for the furtherance of the Foundation’s objectives. In 2025 the investment return of the Foundation, measured in GBP, was an overall gain

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AKO Foundation Report and Financial Statements 2025

Risk Statement and Going Concern

The trustees have reviewed the major risks to which the Foundation is exposed and consider that systems are in place to mitigate exposure to these risks. As a grant making charity the main risk facing the Foundation is that it has inadequate income or existing resources to fund its grant making activity. In 2026 the Foundation’s main source of income is expected to remain the profit share from AKO Capital LLP and the main current risk is, therefore, the profitability of AKO Capital LLP. During the year to 31 December 2025 AKO Capital LLP remained profitable. In addition, the Foundation’s reserves policy is to ensure it maintains adequate funds to meet its commitments and to allow it to continue as a grant making charity; the Trustees consider that the Foundation’s reserves are more than adequate for this purpose. Accordingly, the trustees believe that there is a reasonable expectation that the Foundation will have adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future; they have thus continued to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the annual financial statements.

Fundraising

The Foundation’s main source of future income is expected to remain a profit share from AKO Capital LLP. The Foundation does not engage in public fundraising and does not use professional fundraisers or commercial participators. The Foundation nevertheless observes and complies with the relevant fundraising regulations and codes. During the year there was no non-compliance with these regulations and codes and the Foundation received no complaints relating to its fundraising practice.

Relationship with stakeholders

The Foundation’s primary stakeholders are the grant recipients. The Foundation seeks to foster long-term and open relationships with these partners.

Plans for the Future

The Foundation plans to continue as a grant making charity with a focus on education, the wellbeing of young people, the arts and combating climate change.

Statement of responsibilities of the trustees

The trustees (who are also directors of AKO Foundation for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the report of the trustees, including the strategic report and the financial statements, in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that 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 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.

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AKO Foundation Report and Financial Statements 2025

In so far as the trustees are aware:

The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company's website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Members of the charity guarantee to contribute an amount not exceeding £1 to the assets of the charity in the event of winding up. The total number of such guarantees at 31 December 2025 was 2. One of the trustees is a Member of the charity but this entitles him only to voting rights. The trustees have no beneficial interest in the charity.

Auditor

Sayer Vincent LLP was re-appointed as the Foundation’s auditor and has expressed its willingness to continue in that capacity.

The report of the trustees including the strategic report was approved by the trustees on April 2026 and signed on their behalf by

David Woodburn, Trustee 8 April 2026

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AKO Foundation Report and Financial Statements 2025

Independent auditor’s report to the members of AKO Foundation

Opinion

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

In our opinion, the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

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

Conclusions relating to going concern

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

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on AKO Foundation'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 other information comprises the information included in the trustees’ annual report, including the strategic report, other than the group financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the group financial statements does not cover the other information, and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the group financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the group 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.

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28

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

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

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the group and the parent charitable company and their environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the trustees’ annual report, including the strategic report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 and Charities Act 2011 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of trustees

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

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

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

We have been appointed auditor under the Companies Act 2006 and section 151 of the Charites Act 2011 and report in accordance with those Acts.

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.

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

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Capability of the audit in detecting irregularities

In identifying and assessing risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, our procedures included the following:

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or noncompliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

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

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company's members as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and regulations made under section 154 of that Act. 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.

Joanna Pittman (Senior statutory auditor) Date: 13 April 2026

for and on behalf of Sayer Vincent LLP, Statutory Auditors Sayer Vincent LLP, 110 Golden Lane, London, EC1Y 0TG

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AKO Foundation Report and Financial Statements 2025

Group Statement of Financial Activities

Group Statement of
Financial Activities
Incorporating an income and
expenditure account
For the year ended 31
December 2025
Notes
Income
Incoming resources from generated funds
Income from interests in associated undertakings
Donations
Investment income
Total incoming resources
Expenditure
Charitable activities
Education
Wellbeing of young people
Art
Climate
Local projects
Other
Total resources expended
2
Net incoming/(outgoing) resources for the year
3
Net gains/(loss) on investments
Foreign exchange gain/(loss)
Net income for the year and net movement in funds
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward
16		 Year ended
31 December
2025
£’000
66,574
4
3,641
70,219
27,431
12,170
11,903
26,627
6,008
1,502
85,641
(15,422)
18,087
1,981
4,646
1,267,236
1,271,882		 Year ended
31 December
2024
£’000
116,747
6
3,227
119,980
17,243
1,517
31,734
21,711
2,246
1,292
75,743
44,237
47,826
(2,898)
89,165
1,178,071
1,267,236

All of the above results are derived from continuing activities and are unrestricted. There were no other recognised gains and losses other than those stated above. Movements in funds are disclosed in note 16 to the financial statements.

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Registered Company Nº 08385711

Group Balance Sheet

as at 31 December 2025

Notes
Fixed assets
Investments
7
Current assets
Debtors
11
Cash
Current liabilities
Creditors:_amounts falling due within one year
12
Net current assets
_Creditors: amounts falling due in more than one year
13
Net assets
15
Funds
Unrestricted funds – general income funds
16
Unrestricted funds – fair value reserve
16
Total unrestricted funds and total funds		 2025
£’000
1,227,638
1,227,638
17,803
100,818
118,621
47,095
71,526
27,282
1,271,882
1,004,496
267,386
1,271,882		 2024
£’000
1,156,976
1,156,976
59,500
97,472
156,972
32,528
124,444
14,184
1,267,236
1,016,695
250,541
1,267,236

Approved by the trustees on 8 April 2026 and signed on their behalf by:

David Woodburn Trustee

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AKO Foundation Report and Financial Statements 2025

Registered Company Nº 08385711

Company Balance Sheet

as at 31 December 2025

Notes
Fixed assets
Investments
7
Current assets
Debtors
11
Cash
Current liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
12
Net current assets
Creditors: amounts falling due in more than one year
13
Net assets
Funds
Unrestricted funds – general income funds
16
Unrestricted funds – fair value reserve
16
Total unrestricted funds and total funds		 2025
£’000
1,227,638
1,227,638
5
100,708
100,713
47,090
53,623
27,282
1,253,979
992,546
261,433
1,253,979		 2024
£’000
1,156,976
1,156,976
-
97,158
97,158
32,523
64,635
14,184
1,207,427
962,839
244,588
1,207,427

Approved by the trustees on 8 April 2026 and signed on their behalf by:

The surplus of the Charity for the year ended 31 December 2025 was £46,552,000 (2024: Surplus - £77,962,000).

David Woodburn Trustee

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Group Cash Flow Statement

For the year ended 31 December 2025

Reconciliation of net incoming
resources to operating cash fow
Net incoming/(outgoing) resources for the period
Foreign exchange gain/(loss)
Interest receivable
(Increase)/decrease in debtors
Increase/(decrease) in creditors
Net cash infow from
operating activities before tax
Corporation tax paid
Net cash infow from
operating activities after tax
Return on investments
Interest received
Capital expenditure/receipts
Additions to investments
Proceeds from sale of investments
Increase/(decrease) in cash
Cash at bank and in hand brought forward
Cash at bank and in hand carried forward		 2025
£’000
(15,422)
1,981
(3,641)
41,697
27,665
52,280
-
52,280
3,641
(53,817)
1,242
3,346
97,472
100,818		 2024
£’000
44,237
(2,898)
(3,227)
(10,433)
17,915
45,594
-
45,594
3,227
(100,450)
22,118
(29,511)
126,983
97,472

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Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2025

1. Accounting policies

The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties in respect of the Foundation’s ability to continue as a going concern and therefore continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.

Investments in associated undertakings are accounted for under the equity method of accounting such that the investment is initially recognised at cost and is subsequently adjusted to reflect the group’s share of the profit or loss of the associate.

2025 2024
Education 32% 23%
Wellbeing of young people 14% 2%
Art 14% 42%
Climate 31% 28%
Local projects 7% 3%
Other 2% 2%

AKO Foundation Report and Financial Statements 2025

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1. Accounting policies (continued)

Within the Foundation itself investments in subsidiaries and associates are accounted for at cost less any impairment. All other investments held as fixed assets are revalued at market value at the balance sheet date with the gain or loss for the year taken to the Statement of Financial Activities. Other basic financial instruments are measured at their settlement value.

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2. Total resources expended

2025
Education
Wellbeing of
young people
Art
Climate
Local projects
Other
Governance
Costs
Support Costs
Total
resources
expended		 Grants
Payable
(Note 6)
£’000
27,335
12,127
11,861
26,533
5,987
1,497
85,340
-
-
85,340		 Legal
fees
Other
Governance and
Support Costs
£’000
£’000
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
6
20
-
275
6
295		 Total
Allocation of
Governance and
Support Costs
£’000
£’000
27,335
96
12,127
43
11,861
42
26,533
94
5,987
21
1,497
5
85,340
301
26
(26)
275
(275)
85,641
-		 Total 2025
£’000
27,431
12,170
11,903
26,627
6,008
1,502
85,641
-
-
85,641

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2. Total resources expended (continued)

2024
Education
Wellbeing of
young people
Art
Climate
Local Projects
Other
Governance
Costs
Support Costs
Total
resources
expended		 Grants
Payable
(Note 6)
£’000
17,193
1,513
31,641
21,648
2,239
1,288
75,522
-
-
75,522		 Legal
fees
Other
Governance and
Support Costs
£’000
£’000
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
22
-
199
-
221		 Total
Allocation of
Governance and
Support Costs
£’000
£’000
17,193
50
1,513
4
31,641
93
21,648
63
2,239
7
1,288
4
75,522
221
22
(22)
199
(199)
75,743
-		 Total 2024
£’000
17,243
1,517
31,734
21,711
2,246
1,292
75,743
-
-
75,743
Analysis of Support Costs
Governance Costs
Legal fees
Audit & Accountancy
Other Support Costs
Staf costs
Bank charges and other costs
Total Governance and Support Costs		 2025
£‘000
6
20
26
233
42
275
301		 2024
£’000
-
22
22
180
19
199
221

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AKO Foundation Report and Financial Statements 2025

3. Net incoming resources for the year

This is stated after charging

This is stated after charging
2025 2024
£’000 £’000
Trustees’ remuneration - -
Trustees’ expenses 14 5
Auditor’s remuneration (excluding VAT)
Audit 14 15
Other 3 3

During 2025 Trustees’ expenses of £13,567 (2024: £4,727) were incurred representing the payment of travel costs, including accommodation, for two trustees (2024; three trustees) relating to project visits.

4. Staff cost

4. Staff cost
Wages and salaries
Social security costs
Other pension costs
Total staf costs		 2025
£’000
188
26
19
233		 2024
£’000
155
20
5
180

The average monthly number of employees was 2 (2024: 1) and the employee benefits detailed above relate to two employees. One employee had remuneration, excluding employer pension contributions and employer national insurance contributions, exceeding £60,000 and within the £140,001 to £150,000 band. The total employee benefits including pension contributions of the key management personnel were £178,000 (2024: £166,000).

5. Taxation

The Foundation is generally exempt from corporation tax as all its income is charitable and is applied for charitable purposes.

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AKO Foundation Report and Financial Statements 2025

6. Grants Payable

A list of recipients of the grants made during the years ended 31 December 2025 and 31 December 2024 are shown below.

2025
Grants for the advancement of education
CAMFED
Imagine Worldwide
Booker Prize Foundation
WHO Foundation
Teach First
Ark
Purposeful Ventures
PEAS
Educate Girls
Food 4 Education
Pratham Education Foundation
Obama Foundation
Bookmark
Teach For All
Get Further
Big Give Trust
Literacy Pirates
Nesbru Rotary Club
Normisjon
Little Sun Foundation
University of the Arts
MM Foundation
Florida International University
Grants towards the wellbeing of young people
Beginnings Fund
Onside Youth Zones
Bite Back 2030
Roundhouse Trust
Institutt for Spiseforstyrrelser
Grants for the advancement of art
AKO Kunststiftelse
Kunstsilo
Camden Arts Centre
Big Give Trust
Somerset House
Nasjonalmuseet Oslo
Hepworth Wakefeld
Kunstmuseum Stuttgart
Al Kulturhus		 £’000
6,000
4,565
3,000
2,224
2,100
1,500
1,290
1,200
1,115
1,000
884
737
500
484
300
250
200
178
143
135
72
57
(599)
27,335
£’000
9,511
1,200
1,000
400
16
12,127
£’000
5,545
5,386
345
250
150
79
70
25
11
11,861

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AKO Foundation Report and Financial Statements 2025

6. Grants Payable (continued)

Grants to mitigate the effect of climate change
European Climate Foundation
Other
Tara Climate Foundation
Client Earth
FILE
Global Methane Hub
World Resources Institute
Farm Africa
RELP
Environmental Defense Fund
Big Give Trust
Utviklingsfondet
Local projects
Skiforeningen
Redningsselskapet
Oslofjordens Friluftsrad
Den Norske Turistforening
Fjaereheia
Other
Mission EmployAble
Trees for Cities
Free to be Kids
MediCinema
Aspire
Bloody Good Period
The Money Charity
Coronet Theatre
Other AKO Give Back donations
AKO Matched Funding donations		 £’000
6,492
4,460
4,424
2,500
2,125
1,475
1,314
1,200
1,141
1,115
250
37
26,533
£’000
2,523
1,283
736
733
712
5,987
£’000
128
116
113
100
74
64
62
26
455
359
1,497
85,340

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6. Grants Payable (continued)

2024
Grants for the advancement of education
Strømme Foundation
University of the Arts
Educate Girls
Purposeful Ventures
Norwegian Refugee Council
London School of Economics and Political Science
Lively Minds
Ark
Teach for India
Brilliant Club
Get Further
Education and Employers
Now Teach
Right to Sight
World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts
Little Sun Foundation
ImpactEd
Aalto University Executive Education
Street League
Generating Genius
Christ’s Hospital school
Loden Education Trust
University of Agder
Nesbru Rotary Club
Become
Teach First
Peer Productions
Wharton Fund
Breaking Barriers
Real Action
MM Foundation
Many Hopes UK
Education Partnerships Group
Grants towards the wellbeing of young people
Place2Be
Kirkens Ungdomsprosjekt (KUP)
Frontline
Babyzone
Humans for Humans		 £’000
3,434
2,584
1,738
1,300
1,200
1,000
600
500
475
450
450
400
375
325
300
298
225
205
200
180
140
135
116
115
100
100
90
77
75
75
30
25
(124)
17,193
£’000
600
334
300
250
29
1,513

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AKO Foundation Report and Financial Statements 2025

6. Grants Payable (continued)

Grants for the advancement of art
AKO Kunststiftelse
Kunstsilo (formerly SKMU Sørlandets Kunstmuseum)
Tate Gallery
Wigmore Hall Trust
CLAY Museum of Ceramic Art Denmark
Big Give Trust - Arts for Impact
Nasjonalmuseet Oslo
Grants to mitigate the effect of climate change
European Climate Foundation
Carbon Mapper
CDP Worldwide
TNC UK Foundation
Climate Arc
Conservation International
Client Earth
Sunrise Project
Global Greengrants Fund
Financial Futures Centre
RARE
Big Give Trust - Green Match fund
Cool Earth
Sustainable Finance Institute Asia
Environmental Funders Network
Julie's Bicycle
Local projects
Vest Agder Museum
Doorstep Homeless Families Project
Åkerøya Bedehusforening
Other
National Deaf Children's Society
City Harvest
Heart of Kent Hospice
The Wildlife Trusts
Inspire
Other AKO Give Back donations

AKO Matched Funding donations		 £’000
25,731
3,609
1,100
500
492
105
104
31,641
£’000
5,839
4,600
2,500
1,770
1,569
1,386
1,000
989
600
464
232
210
200
174
120
(5)
21,648
£’000
2,131
100
8
2,239
£’000
123
103
96
91
87
420
368
1,288
75,522

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7. Investments

Group and Foundation
Carrying value at the start of the year
Additions
Disposals
Gain on investments
Carrying value at the end of the year
Historic cost at the end of the year - Group
Historic cost at the end of the year - Foundation
Investments comprise
Group and Foundation
Interests in associated (Group)/subsidiary (Foundation) undertakings
Other investments
Investment funds
Investment in AKO Fund
Investment in AKO Global Fund
Investment in AKO European Long-only Fund
Investment in AKO Future Focus Fund
Investment in other investment funds
Venture capital type investments
Investment in money market and short dated fxed income funds
Market value at the end of the year
Total investments		 2025
£’000
1,156,976
53,817
-
16,845
1,227,638
960,252
966,206
2025
£’000
1,303
£’000
224,916
228,940
30,897
9,521
14,006
157,187
560,868
1,226,335
1,227,638		 2024
£’000
1,030,818
100,450
(19,052)
44,760
1,156,976
906,435
912,389
2024
£’000
1,303
£’000
220,641
231,211
29,659
10,809
12,784
162,347
488,222
1,155,673
1,156,976

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8. Subsidiary Undertakings

The Foundation owns or owned the whole of the issued ordinary share capital of the following subsidiary undertakings:

A summary of the results of the AKO Subsidiary 2020 Limited as included in these consolidated results is shown below:

AKO Subsidiary2020 Limited
Percentage owned by the Foundation
Financial information
Income
Expenses
Proft/(loss)
Assets and liabilities at 31 December:
Assets
Liabilities
Shareholders' funds		 2025
100%
£’000
66,650
5
66,645
£’000
19,217
11
19,206		 2024
100%
£’000
116,904
1
116,903
£’000
61,117
6
61,111

9. Associated Undertaking

On 1 December 2020 an interest in AKO Capital LLP was donated to the Foundation and AKO Capital LLP became an associated undertaking of the Foundation. This interest in AKO Capital LLP is now held via AKO Subsidiary 2020 Limited and is included in the financial information in respect of AKO Subsidiary 2020 Limited set out in the table above.

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10. Sensitivity to risks

Market risk

The Group is exposed to market risk through its investments in investment funds and venture capital type investments as the value of those investments is affected by movements in the underlying financial markets. The nature of these investments is such that changes in their value should not be directly related to these market movements. The impact on the statement of financial position of a 5% fall in the value of these investments would be a £33,273,000 fall in the assets of the Group.

Foreign exchange risk

Several of the Foundation’s investments and parts of the Foundation’s current assets and liabilities are denominated in foreign currencies. At 31 December 2025 the sensitivity of the profit for the financial year to a 2% movement in the exchange rate of the British Pound against the US Dollar, Euro and NOK was, respectively, £7,270,000, £5,242,000 and £4,945,000.

Liquidity risk

The investments in the AKO funds are redeemable at Net Asset Value on their dealing days with between one month’s and 90 days’ notice. The investments in the money market and short dated fixed income funds have daily liquidity. The investments in the other investment funds and venture capital type investments are generally not redeemable with distributions from these investments being dependent upon the realisation of the underlying assets within these funds and the decisions of their investment managers.

Credit risk

The credit risk relating to investments arises from the default of a counterparty, with a maximum exposure equal to the carrying amount of these investments. The trustees believe the credit risk is mitigated as:

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46

11. Debtors

Group
Accrued income
The Foundation
Other debtors		 2025
£’000
17,803
59,500
2025
£’000
5		 2024
£’000
59,500
59,500
2024
£’000
-

12. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Group
Accruals
Grants payable
The Foundation
Accruals
Grants payable		 2025
£’000
34
47,061
47,095
2025
£’000
29
47,061
47,090		 2024
£’000
33
32,495
32,528
2024
£’000
28
32,495
32,523

13. Creditors: amounts falling due in more than one year

Group and the Foundation 2025 2024
£’000 £’000
Grants payable 27,282 14,184

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AKO Foundation Report and Financial Statements 2025

14. Contingent liabilities and commitments

At the year end the Group and Foundation had unfunded commitments under the venture capital type investments and other investment funds of £5,294,000 (2024: £5,932,000). These amounts will be payable when called over the next 6 years and will be funded from unrestricted funds.

As part of the terms of the donation by DSHN Philanthropy LLP of an interest in AKO Capital LLP to the Foundation, as referenced in note 9 above, the Foundation gave DSHN Philanthropy LLP and its individual Members an indemnity in respect of the donation.

15. Analysis of group net assets between funds

2025

Investments
Net current assets less longer-term creditors
Net assets at the end of the year
2024

Investments
Net current assets less longer-term creditors
Net assets at the end of the year		 Fair Value
Reserve
£’000
267,386
-
267,386
Fair Value
Reserve
£’000
250,541
-
250,541		 Income
Funds
£’000
960,252
44,244
1,004,496
Income
Funds
£’000
906,435
110,260
1,016,695		 Total
Fund
£’000
1,227,638
44,244
1,271,882
Total
Fund
£’000
1,156,976
110,260
1,267,236

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16. Movements in funds

Group

General funds
Income funds at start of the year
Incoming resources
Outgoing resources
Foreign exchange gain/(loss)
Realised gain/(loss) on investments
Income funds at the end of the year
Revaluation reserve at start of year
Net unrealised gain/(loss) on investments
Revaluation reserve at the end of year
Total funds at the end of year
The Foundation
General funds
Income funds at start of the year
Incoming resources
Outgoing resources
Foreign exchange gain/(loss)
Realised gain/(loss) on investments
Income funds at the end of the year
Revaluation reserve at start of year
Net unrealised gain/(loss) on investments
Revaluation reserve at the end of year
Total funds at the end of year		 2025
£’000
1,016,695
70,219
(85,641)
1,981
1,242
1,004,496
250,541
16,845
267,386
1,271,882
2025
£’000
962,839
112,120
(85,636)
1,981
1,242
992,546
244,588
16,845
261,433
1,253,979		 2024
£’000
972,290
119,980
(75,743)
(2,898)
3,066
1,016,695
205,781
44,760
250,541
1,267,236
2024
£’000
929,638
108,776
(75,743)
(2,898)
3,066
962,839
199,828
44,760
244,588
1,207,427

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AKO Foundation Report and Financial Statements 2025

17. Related party transactions

The Foundation has taken advantage of the exemption available under Section 33 of FRS 102 not to disclose transactions with its wholly owned subsidiary undertakings.

David Woodburn, a trustee, is a partner in AKO Capital LLP which is the investment manager of the AKO funds in which assets from the Foundation are invested. The investment by the Foundation is in the Management Shares of these AKO funds and these shares are non-fee paying. Therefore, AKO Capital LLP receives no benefit from these investments by the Foundation.

During 2025 AKO Capital Management Limited, a company which is part of the AKO Capital group, made donations of £4,000 (2024: £6,000) to the Foundation.

In the normal course of its charitable granting there may be instances where the Foundation makes donations to charities with common trustees with the Foundation. Although in these instances the relevant Foundation trustee is part of a collective of non-related trustees and is normally not considered to be in a significant position of influence over those other charities disclosure of such situations is included below:

• No such in 2025 or 2024.

Details of grants made to such entities are included in note 6 and any amounts payable at the year-end are included in the grants payable disclosed in notes 12 and 13.

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Food 4 Education

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