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2024-07-31-accounts

CONTEMPORARY DANCE TRUST LIMITED ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 JULY 2024

CONTENTS

CONTENTS
COMPANY INFORMATION 3
THE PLACE AT A GLANCE 4
WELCOME FROM THE CHAIR AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE 6
STRATEGIC REPORT 8
AIM 1 – MOVING PEOPLE 12
AIM 2 – MOVING DANCE 19
AIM 3 – MOVING WITH CARE 22
PRIDE IN OUR PEOPLE 27
FINANCIAL REVIEW 30
GOVERNANCE REVIEW 35
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS 46
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 50
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES 50
BALANCE SHEET 51
CASH FLOW STATEMENT 52
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 53

CONTEMPORARY DANCE TRUST LIMITED | ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2023-24

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COMPANY INFORMATION

The Board of Governors presents this Annual Report, incorporating the Strategic Report and Financial Statements, for the year ended 31 July 2024.

Contemporary Dance Trust Limited is the legal name of The Place. Throughout this document the organisation is referred to as The Place.

Board of GovernorsThe Board of Governors who served during the period and to the date of approval were: Board of GovernorsThe Board of Governors who served during the period and to the date of approval were:
Alan Bishop (Chair) Chris Rowland (retired December 2023)
Jane Alexander (Vice Chair) Eva Sarma
Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante MBE John G Stewart
Lisa Baglin Elizabeth Varley
Helen Bailey Catherine Ward (retired March 2024)
David Blackburn Liz Wilson
Derek Hicks Rosalind Wynn
Shaparak Rahimi
Chief ExecutiveClare Connor
Company ClerkLise Smith
Senior Staff: ArtisticEddie Nixon, Artistic Director
Christina Elliot, Head of Programming and Producing
Senior Staff: EducationBaptiste Bourgougnon, Director of Undergraduate Courses and International Development
Anna Helsby, Director of Registry and Student Well-Being
Dr Efrosini Protopapa, Director of Postgraduate Courses and Research
Josh Slater, Deputy Director of Undergraduate Courses (appointed 3 Jan 24)
Dr Lise Uytterhoeven, Director of Dance Studies
Senior Staff: AdministrationCaroline Busby, Chief Financial Officer
Anna Cassidy, Director of Development
Holly Conneely, Director of Communications
Sanjay Dasani, Head of Operations
Laura Naldrett, Head of Human Resources
Elin Williams, Executive Producer
Registered OfficeThe Place, 17 Duke’s Road, London WC1H 9PY
Company Registered Number883094
Charity Registered Number250216
AuditorsHaysMac LLP, 10 Queen Street Place, London EC4R 1AG
BankBarclays Bank Plc, Hanover Square Corporate Banking Group, PO Box 15163H, London SW1A 1QD
SolicitorCMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP, 78 Cannon Street, London EC4N 6AF
Investment AdvisorsMcInroy & Wood, 53 Davies Street, London W1K 5JH

CONTEMPORARY DANCE TRUST LIMITED | ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2023-24

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THE PLACE AT A GLANCE

INCOME AND EXPENDITURE

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SCHOOL INCOME
3
SCHOOL EXPENDITURE
27
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PUBLIC PROGRAMME INCOME 39% GRANTS 53% GRANTS 23% HOME UK FEES 32% 27% INTERNATIONAL FEES 15% 9% CENTRE FOR ADVANCED TRAINING 5 2% OTHER PUBLIC PROGRAMME EXPENDITURE 27% TEACHING AND 24% LEARNING 18% LEARNING RESOURCES 24% TOURING 17% PREMISES AND DEPRECIATION 12% 16% ADMINISTRATION 12% 16% ACADEMIC COSTS 24 14% COSTS OF 6% SCHOLARSHIP AND BURSARY FUNDING

53% GRANTS 32% EARNED INCOME 15% FUNDRAISING

SCHOOL EXPENDITURE

24% THEATRE AND ARTIST DEVELOPMENT 24% PRODUCING AND TOURING 12% PREMISES AND DEPRECIATION 12% ADMINISTRATION 14% COSTS OF RAISING FUNDS

9% CLASSES AND COURSES 5% CREATIVE LEARNING

WHY DOES THE PLACE MAKE AN OPERATING SURPLUS?

TO ENSURE OUR ACTIVITIES REMAIN FINANCIALLY SUSTAINABLE IN THE LONG TERM

TO ENSURE WE CAN MAINTAIN AND UPDATE OUR BUILDING AND EQUIPMENT

TO PROTECT US AGAINST TO ENABLE US TO TAKE EVENTS WHICH MIGHT CREATIVE RISKS AND REMAIN DAMAGE OUR FINANCIAL AT THE LEADING EDGE OF HEALTH CONTEMPORARY DANCE WORLDWIDE

CONTEMPORARY DANCE TRUST LIMITED | ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2023-24

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AUDIENCE AND PARTICIPATION

OUR STUDENTS AND YOUNG PEOPLE CONTINUED TO ENGAGE AND EXCEL

94% 94%

94% OF BA GRADUATES 94% OF POST GRADUATE RECEIVING A 2:1 STUDENTS WITH PASS, AND ABOVE MERIT OR DISTINCTION. 67% MERIT OR ABOVE

87%

87% OF UNDERGRADUATE CONTINUING THEIR STUDIES, BA1 TO BA2 (ONE YEAR AFTER STARTING)

95%

95% OF STUDENTS WE AWARDED 80 STUDENTS COMMENTED POSITIVELY GRANT FUNDED PLACES TO ON SUPPORT FOR ATTEND THE CENTRE FOR ACEDEMIC STUDIES AND ADVANCED TRAINING PROWELLBEING (NSS 2024) - GRAMME WHICH IS 63% 10% INCREASE IN BOTH OF THE COHORT

WE CONTINUED TO INVEST IN ARTISTS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW WORK

46

23 NEW COMMISSIONS BY 35 ARTISTS 16 CHOREODROME COMMISSIONS

4

LCDS COMMISSIONS

2 KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE COMMISSIONS

5 PRODUCING AND TOURING COMMISSSIONS

WE CONTINUED TO REACH OUT TO NEW AUDIENCES

OVER 46,000 PEOPLE SAW OUR PRODUCTIONS, 26% INCREASE FROM LAST YEAR. INCLUDING OVER 6,000 CHILDREN, 50% INCREASE FROM LAST YEAR

117 TOURING PERFORMANCES AT 60 VENUES

367 PRESS MENTIONS IN 160 DIFFERENT OUTLETS, EQUATING TO 62M IMPRESSIONS FOR THE PLACE

WE REMAIN COMMITTED TO CREATING OPPORTUNITIES IN DANCE PARTICIPATION

ADULT ATTENDANCE IN RECREATIONAL DANCE SESSIONS LIVE AND ONLINE: OVER 25,000 +33% 33% INCREASE FROM LAST YEAR

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+12%
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YOUNG PEOPLE ATTENDANCE IN RECREATIONAL DANCE SESSIONS LIVE AND ONLINE: OVER 7,000 12% INCREASE FROM LAST YEAR WITH 55% FROM CAMDEN POSTCODES

CONTEMPORARY DANCE TRUST LIMITED | ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2023-24

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WELCOME FROM THE CHAIR AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Guided by our vision for a WORLD WITH MORE DANCE , the year 2023-2024 marked the transition from one 5-year strategic plan to the next.

Despite an increasingly challenging external context, The Place has demonstrated dynamism and growth in dance development through our world-leading status. This has been achieved through courageous ambition combined with fastidious risk management, drawing strength from our unique and defining artistic and education ecology, placing the independent dance artist at its heart.

In this period, we have witnessed striking challenges in the international environment including the continuing war in Ukraine and the escalation of war in Gaza, and we continue to share hope for a much-desired ceasefire and the return of the hostages. We understand artists have an important role to play in these times and have leaned into our value of CULTURAL ACTIVISM to build relationships with dance artists in Ukraine and alongside refugee communities, to ensure a multiplicity of voices are seen and heard.

Despite rising inflation domestically, the Higher Education financial model remains unaltered, equating to a 32% decrease in the real value of fees since 2012. Similarly, the continued structural decline in investment in the arts, reflected in standstill funding from Arts Council England National Portfolio (NPO) funding, equates to a 20% decrease in real value over the term. The downward pressure of these two funding streams has seen the devastating closure of other dance departments and smaller arts organisations around the UK. Wherever possible, we have continued to offer partnership whilst placing emphasis on our ability to TAKE RISKS THROUGH ARTISTIC INNOVATION . Meanwhile, relative fundraising successes, good uptake of free weekly hot lunches for staff and students, strong audiences and low staff turnover have all been positive indicators of our organisation’s responsiveness to the circumstances, while informing our current and future services to UNLOCK THE POTENTIAL within all the people we serve.

In support of ENTREPRENEURSHIP , we have explored new avenues for income generation through international development and short courses and by right sizing our current provision. Our collective efforts have strengthened our reserves position as we anticipate continuing economic headwinds despite the change in government this summer. Early indications have shown a favorable political and proactive engagement with the arts and education sectors, which have been warmly welcomed.

Concern for social justice continues to influence and shape our thinking. Striving for EQUITY remains at the forefront of our decision making and we press on with action to evolve behaviours and culture. Our external Governance Effectiveness Review this year focused on ensuring that our leadership of the strategy was effective in the context of equity, and in doing so, recognised our sector leadership. Our ongoing work on carbon reduction is yielding promising results, and we have evolved our partnership with Wellbeing in the Arts to support staff mental health, with a 20% uptake across the workforce.

CONTEMPORARY DANCE TRUST LIMITED | ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2023/24 6

The strength and depth of the staff team has secured many outstanding achievements in 2023-2024:

  1. The first extraordinary celebration of our 70 graduating undergraduate and postgraduate students with the University of the Arts London at the iconic Royal Festival Hall

2. Winning London Higher’s Creative Arts Initiative of the Year Award for Super Normal Extra Natural representing the combined efforts of the Public Programme Team and London Contemporary Dance School in support of Croydon London Borough of Culture

3. 30 phenomenal London Contemporary Dance School public performances demonstrating innovation in creation and artistic commissioning as well as the new postgraduate showcase at Studio Wayne McGregor

  1. The Playground Tour, created for children and families in outdoor settings, helped us triple our young audiences to almost 10,000 this year

5. The most successful Peggy Hawkins fundraising gala to date with our Patron, Anthony Van Laast, featuring a commissioned film centering student well-being told through the student voice

  1. Fresh from The Place, a capsule performance programme featuring 20 artists in the Paris 2024 Olympic Cultural Season at La Villette

7. We embarked on a £1 million capital upgrade – the first significant project in over 20 years to improve the café, artist dressing rooms, changing rooms and toilets

  1. Our carbon reduction efforts yielded an 8% reduction in emissions overall

9. A 33% increase in adult class attendance evidences an appetite for participation and in support of continued growth, we took on a new three-year lease with the Camden Chinese Community Centre to further enhance the student, participant and artist experience

  1. We developed a new five-year strategic plan Moving with the Times which invests in the realisation of a Research and Knowledge Exchange strategy

In this year the dance sector mourned the sad loss of John Ashford, The Place Theatre Director (1986-2009) and Emma Gladstone, former Associate Director of The Place Theatre (1997-2003). Their loss serves as an important reminder that it is the people that ultimately make the difference, and the success of The Place can only be attributed to the dynamism, ambition and collaborative leadership of the staff team and Board of The Place, for which we are eternally grateful.

Alan Bishop Chair

Clare Connor Chief Executive

CONTEMPORARY DANCE TRUST LIMITED | ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2023-24

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STRATEGIC REPORT

The Place is a global leader in contemporary dance development. Our work across the entire ecology of dance is unrivalled, uniting research, education and training with the creative processes that lead to the conception, production and consumption of inspiring new work.

Our World-leading specialist provider status, awarded by the Office for Students (OfS) to London Contemporary Dance School (LCDS), and our continued inclusion as an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation together reflect The Place’s role at the forefront of dance development, and our important contribution towards the work of artists who have international reach and impact.

We believe dance can enhance lives and are committed to increasing opportunities and removing barriers to watching and participating, across local and rural communities, cities, regions, online and far beyond the borders of the UK.

We nurture new artistic collaborations and audience connections to spark imagination and reflect the complexities of the world around us.

We encourage a culture of innovation and collaboration, learning from and intersecting with other disciplines and sectors to continually change our practice.

The balance of our unique ecology sets us apart from every other dance organisation in the world.

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OUR PURPOSE

We exist to develop, nurture and celebrate dance locally, nationally and internationally.

OUR VISION

Our vision is a world with more dance where more people experience the possibilities of dance across their whole lifetimes, and where the innovation, deep human connections, critical thinking and health benefits in dance are celebrated widely.

OUR MISSION

We strive to power imagination through dance by teaching, researching, commissioning, co-creating, producing and programming in collaboration with leading international partners.

OUR VALUES

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In 2018 we set out a courageous vision for a “world with more dance” and in the past five years we have…

CONTEMPORARY DANCE TRUST LIMITED | ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2023-24

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THE CHANGE WE ARE STRIVING FOR 2024-2029

Our new five-year strategic plan 2024-2029 Move with the Times is driven by a firmly held passion to redress the systematic erosion of dance due to:

We believe that dance makes lives better and is vital to improving people’s health and well-being and that there are wider socio-economic benefits to be gained. In pursuit of a world with more dance we strive to

STRATEGIC AIMS 2024-2029

Aims Outcomes Outputs 2024-2025
Moving People
Evolve our reach
and engagement

 –MP1 Access & Participation Plan (APP)
–MP2 Programme and commissions
–MP3 Participation and engagement		 –APP targets (2018-24) to increase social mobility
New 5-year APP submission (2024-2029)
made to OfS
–Co-curating partnerships x 5 annually
–Develop strategy to increase reach with Camden
Partner Schools and Get Camden Dancing
Moving Dance
Pursue world-leading
quality dance education,
creation, research and
knowledge exchange

 –MD1 LCDS course recruitment
–MD2 Knowledge Exchange
Partnerships
–MD3 Independent artist practice
research		 –Applications to offers combined aligned to
5-year plan
–x 3 artistic & education partnerships
per annum
–x 20 research & production commissions
per annum
Moving with Care
Ensure quality,
sustainability and
preparedness to
future-proof


 –MC1 Preparedness for ACE and
OfS funding
–MC2 Sector leadership
–MC3 Environmental Responsibility
–MC4 Commitment to
strengthening equity		 –Funding criteria linked to planning and
comms frameworks
–Increased tracking and visibility of staff,
alumni and Patrons awards and
achievements annually
–Carbon reduction targets met annually
–Annual benchmarking against national data
(ACE & HE sector) alongside demonstrable
progress against Equity Plan Goals

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AIM 1 – MOVING PEOPLE: EVOLVE OUR REACH AND ENGAGEMENT TO BRING US CLOSER TO OUR VISION OF A WORLD WITH MORE DANCE

This year, in pursuit of a World With More Dance, The Place presented a diverse range of performances featuring both UK and international artists, and supported emerging talent through residencies and commissions, including the award-winning Super Normal Extra Natural. Additionally, we expanded community engagement and reached over 9,600 children through touring productions, expanded our access and participation programme and built alumni connections with new engagement initiatives and residencies.

Programme, commission and produce highest quality dance reflecting the London and UK audiences we serve

Theatre programme

At the core of our vision is a commitment to offer a diverse, dynamic, and innovative programme for audiences that reflects the vibrant possibilities of dance. Over the past year, our theatre programme has presented work by some of the UK’s most exciting independent artists, including Emilyn Claid, Akshay Sharma, Seke Chimutengwende, James Wilton, Chisato Minamimura, Dam Van Huynh, Jaivant Patel, Charlotte Mclean, Annie Hanauer, and Amina Khayyam - each bringing unique narratives, ideas and movement to the stage.

Alongside UK talent we also presented work by international artists from Portugal, Belgium, Ireland, Germany, France, Cameroon, Senegal, China, Taiwan, and Korea, creating a rich and multicultural tapestry of dance experiences. We are leading efforts to cultivate onward touring opportunities, expanding the reach of high-quality dance while minimising the ecological cost of international touring. Following the success of the sixth edition of our Festival of Korean Dance in our theatre, we once again toured these works to cities such as Glasgow, Newcastle, Salford, and Bournemouth.

Our programme of contextual events, workshops and post-show talks continued to deepen audiences’ experiences. This year, 25 shows had post-show talks, of which 14 wereBritish Sign Language (BSL) interpreted, and on average 38% of audiences stayed to join post-show talks.

We continue to cultivate curatorial partnerships which introduce distinctive new ideas to the programme, including FRINGE! Queer Film & Art Fest, Dance Umbrella, BOP Jazz Theatre Company, Feel The Rhythm and Queer East. A new collaboration with the Parisian festival Generation A, showcasing contemporary dance from French-speaking African countries, highlighted our ongoing commitment to spotlighting underrepresented voices. In collaboration with Aerowaves we presented Artists Encounters, a week-long exchange of performances and pedagogical practice.

Our Summer programme closed with the return of Family Dance Day, hosted at Coram’s Fields near The Place, with workshops, crafts and outdoor performances by Sonia Sabri Company, Autin Dance and Vanhulle Dance Theatre. This event reaffirmed our commitment to creating accessible, community-focused dance experiences for families.

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Our festive family production, Pirates! by Scottish Dance Theatre, ran for 15 performances and welcomed 1800 audience members, nearly half of whom were young people with many new to our theatre. The performances had hugely positive feedback from audiences and excellent reviews.

“A REALLY ENGAGING, FUN AND FUNNY SHOW.” THE GUARDIAN.

Residencies, Commissions and Producing

A significant pillar of our artistic programming continues to be our commitment to artist development and emerging voices. Across 2023-24 we commissioned 19 new projects, including work by Jo Bannon, Stefania Pinato, Anatomical, SAY and Sonia Sabri, whose projects continue to push the boundaries of contemporary dance. This year, our artist residency programme Choreodrome provided a platform for 16 artists, while new partnerships with East London Dance and A Φ E Lab opened doors for hip-hop and virtual reality (VR) dance artists.

We worked with artist Anders Duckworth on the development and future touring of Little M, a retelling of The Little Mermaid aimed at children aged 9+ and their families. This reimagined production foregrounds themes of transformation and acceptance, with a creative team entirely composed of trans or non-binary artists. We also supported artists Akeim Toussaint Buck and Ella Mesma in the development of their piece Okan (which means ‘oneness’ in Yoruba), incorporating Salsa, Wing Chun, and other movement practices to explore themes of ancestry, gender norms, and relationship dynamics.

One of the standout productions of the year was Super Normal Extra Natural, created by Requardt & Rosenberg, a large-scale, immersive performance staged at the Whitgift Shopping Centre as part of Croydon Borough of Culture. This production, which included a 45-member cast of local students, community participants from Croydon, SLiDE, LCDS third-years, and professional performers, was a true celebration of collaboration across The Place. With over 700 audience members, this headphone-guided experience was lauded for its innovation and inclusivity, and went on to win the first-ever London Creative Arts Initiative of the Year award at the London Higher Awards.

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Participation and Engagement

Education and Community Wellbeing

This year, we expanded our work in education and community wellbeing by collaborating with community groups and schools across London. For the second iteration of the BA2 ‘Outside Encounters’ Unit, we commissioned eight dance artists and their community groups from across London to work with students in the Spring and Summer Terms, including older adults, stroke survivors, asylum seekers, Amici Theatre, and SLiDE Dance. This allowed our students to gain hands-on experience in co-creative community practices and wellbeing through dance, and we are now embedding this into a new undergraduate pathway focusing on education and community engagement.

Our first cohort of MA Dance: Participation, Communities, Activism students has made a profound impact, working with hundreds of individuals across South Africa, Brazil, Poland, Germany, Mexico, and England. These projects fostered international collaboration, connecting people through dance: Caribbean elders from Croydon teamed up with women in South Africa to explore migration histories, while intergenerational groups from Poland and Brazil learned about care from the non-human world, and adults in rural Germany and young people with learning disabilities in Mexico explored non-verbal communication across geographical distance. These groundbreaking initiatives showcase how dance is a tool for social connection, healing, and activism.

Partner Schools

In Camden, our flagship Partner Schools programme reached 796 children from 16 primary schools, who attended workshops, performances, and 10-week creative projects with professional artists in their schools. The highlight of this programme remains the Camden Schools Dance Festival, with the children performing for their families in our theatre. Our youth engagement continued with the annual Youth Dance Platform and Camden Youth Dance Festival, both curated by our Youth Focus Group, which saw 232 young people performing on our stage.

Our collaboration with screen dance artist Cailin Mallin and Robson House School’s Special Educational Needs Unit produced two stunning dance films, which were shared with the students’ teachers and families. This project, like many others we’re involved in, demonstrates our commitment to making dance accessible to all.

Community Creative Projects

Our work with adults provides accessible and high-quality lifelong engagement opportunities, particularly in Camden through our partnerships with organisations including Recovery College, Camden and Islington NHS Trust, and Clean Break. This year, we ran three Introduction to Dance for Health and Wellbeing courses, and we commissioned and hosted Protein Dance’s biennial project with refugees and migrants, There & Here, that culminated in a memorable performance in our theatre.

Our work with vulnerable communities expanded through new partnerships with New Horizon Youth Centre in Somers Town, which supports young homeless and vulnerable people in London, offering contemporary African, hip-hop, Bhangra, and Krump dance workshops. Our partnership with Clean Break, an organisation supporting women with experience in the criminal justice system, resulted in a beautiful dance performance created by Sara Dos Santos and 10 women, showcased at their Members’ Summer Event. This year, we also started a new partnership with Holborn Community Association to offer creative dance workshops to their over-60s group, with plans to develop this into a larger programme.

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Camden Primary Schools Festival, image by Henry Curtis
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CONTEMPORARY DANCE TRUST LIMITED | ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2023-24

Classes & Courses

Our Classes & Courses provide inclusive, high-quality dance experiences for all ages, covering the full spectrum of dance, from Children and Youth Dance Classes to Adult and Professional Classes, as well as activities for those over 60. We also offer annual summer intensives and tailored learning opportunities.

In 2023-24, we saw a remarkable 33% increase in participation, with over 13,000 adults attending weekly classes in styles like Contemporary, Ballet, Bharatanatyam, Street Dance, Improvisation, and Tanztheater. Our Summer 2023 Intensives attracted 725 adults over three weeks, introducing new styles such as Waacking, Ballroom and Latin.

Our programme for adults includes three weekly classes for dancers over 60, and in Autumn 2023, many of these dancers performed in Home From Home at sold-out shows at DanceEast, Norwich Playhouse, and The Place Theatre. Directed by Luca Silvestrini (Protein Dance), this project won the Artistic Innovation Award from One Dance UK.

This year 950 young people aged 3-18 joined our classes, resulting in over 6,500 total attendances. To increase access, we offered bursaries to 50 families. Seventy young dancers also participated in week-long creative projects with Candoco Dance Company, Joshua ‘Vendetta’ Nash, and Temujin Gill.

The Place’s Youth Dance Companies, Shuffle and Shift, performed at 10 platforms, including British Library and U.Dance, with Shift premiering Up the Wall, choreographed by Joshua Nash, filmed at Coal Drops Yard.

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New engagement opportunities, particularly for young people

National Touring

In January 2024 our latest co-production with Extended Play, How To Build A Universe, premiered at the Leicester Curve. The show includes local participants in each touring location. The show toured to Gloucester, Birmingham, and London where members of The Place’s over 60s classes joined the show. We also took Extended Play’s first production DONUTS on a rural tour around the UK which reached 316 audience members across 9 performances in community centres, town halls and libraries.

We continued touring SAY’s children show, the album: skool edition, now in its fourth year of touring. This 15-minute high-energy and interactive piece was performed in Oldham, Northwich, Somers Town, and at Fluxus festival in Rotherham.

We ran another edition of our flagship programme for primary schools, The Playground Tour. This year’s commissioned artists were Vanhulle Dance Theatre and Sonia Sabri Company, and the tour reached a record number of 9624 children.

“ WE ARE SO LUCKY THAT WE WERE ABLE TO BE ONE OF THE SCHOOLS THAT YOU VISITED AND THANK YOU FOR CREATING THIS OPPORTUNITY FOR US.” TEACHER AT GUSFORD PRIMARY SCHOOL

Rural Touring

We have exceeded our expectations for this year’s touring figures and delivered a target-smashing 78 shows in total to audiences of 3,032 people across 56 venues around the country including local arts centres, libraries, schools, village halls and care homes. Alongside the shows, we led 25 workshops attended by 553 children and adults. This year our wraparound offers included Rangoli painting workshops and post-show ‘meet the artist’ dinners, which proved popular with our adult audiences.

In January 2024, we launched our 2024-25 menu for touring in Autumn 2024 and Spring 2025. This upholds our commitment to supporting diverse artists to reach rural audiences by featuring two global majority led productions (Alethia Antonia and Pagrav Dance Company) and a disability-led family production (SLiDE). We have just begun a planned sector consultation process to identify demand and sharpen focus for future small-scale touring initiatives.

International Touring

This year was marked by a significant amount of international touring that has showcased our productions to new audiences worldwide. Associate Artists Igor x Moreno teamed up with The Place and top venues across Europe to co-produce and premiere their stunning new show Karrasekare at Roma Europa festival. The show then embarked on a tour across seven countries: Italy, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Croatia, and the UK.

LAVAELO’s captivating children’s show Is This A Dance? delighted audiences at the Krokus Festival in Belgium and is set to tour to Barcelona’s El Mercat Festival in 2025. Meanwhile, we built on our partnership with La Merce festival when SAY brought their popular show the album: live to the stage in September 2023.

For the first time, The Place collaborated with commercial producer Realscape to license the innovative Future Cargo for a run at the Adelaide Fringe in January 2024. Artists Extended Play, SAY, and Keisha Raithata also lit up the stage in Paris as part of the vibrant Fresh from The Place showcase at La Villette. With performances spanning continents and genres, this year has highlighted the bold and innovative spirit of The Place on the global stage.

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London Contemporary Dance School programme

This year, LCDS students took their performances beyond The Place, reaching live audiences of 4600 and showcasing a wide range of dance styles that have been added to the curriculum in recent years.

In January 2024, our third-year BA students restaged Until We Stand with James Cousins for six spectacular immersive shows at Wilton’s Music Hall. The third-years also worked with Vicky ‘Skytilz’ Mantey, Divya Kasturi and Liam Francis on Percolator, a two-night mixed bill of new scratch works featuring diverse dance forms, bold costumes and live music. Some of our BA3 students took to the British Museum for Dance Through Time on International Dance Day, performing in the iconic Nereid Temple room and sharing insights about contemporary dance history.

Our Graduation Shows this year went above and beyond in showcasing the quality of artists and artistry we are developing at The Place. Graduating students worked with guest choreographers Simone Mousset, dance duo SAY (Sarah Golding and Yukiko Matsui), Holly Blakey, and Sung Im Her on four phenomenal pieces.

“…THIS GRADUATION SHOW HAS LEFT ME WITH A GENUINE HOPE THAT THE NEXT GENERATION OF DANCERS WILL TRANSFORM UNEQUAL RELATIONS AND ROLES IN THE DANCE INDUSTRY” DANCE ART JOURNAL

Outside of The Place, LCDS students were involved in Super Normal Extra Natural at the Whitgift shopping centre in Croydon, Fresh from The Place at La Villette in Paris, and the What Can Dance Do project. Second year BA students performed to over 700 people at 10 primary schools in Camden as part of their LC2 schools tour, and third year students performed at the Peggy Hawkins gala in March 2024, impressing an audience of existing and new donors and the wider public.

Postgraduate students on the inaugural year of MA Dance: Performance presented works ranging from repertory piece Ring by Jenna Jalonen in The Place Theatre, to a verbatim physical theatre show directed by Hannes Langolf at Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club; while the MA Screendance students curated their annual Screendance festival Frame Rush including screenings of work by alumni and a range of international film makers.

Students from all four of our MA courses presented their own works at Fish Tank, an exhibition showcase in the unique gallery, installation and studio spaces of Studio Wayne McGregor for two days of performances, talks, film screenings, hybrid events and exhibits. Fish Tank attracted audiences mostly new to The Place.

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Access and Participation

LCDS is committed to widening access to dance education through our Centre for Advanced Training (CAT) and undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. We’re currently updating our Access and Participation Plan (APP) for submission to the Office for Students in 2025.

To make our programmes more accessible we have increased the number of undergraduate and postgraduate Open Days held at The Place and expanded the places where admission workshops are held outside of London to Belfast, Newcastle, and Nottingham, offering travel bursaries to those who face financial barriers.

Our National Partnership Programme of schools and organisations across the UK whose participants fall within our APP target groups has gained significant momentum this year, working with over 300 students in schools, colleges and dance organisations. Regionally these include areas across North Norfolk, Herne Bay, Barking, Newcastle and Nottingham while in London we have worked in partnership with Artistry Youth Dance, Barking Abbey School, BRIT School, and The Big Creative. This work is further underpinned nationally through LCDS’s newly developed partnership with One Dance UK.

This year, our Head of Widening Participation and Recruitment Andrea Barzey has set up a pilot mentoring scheme with the (CAT) Programme to increase the number of male students entering dance higher education. We also presented on our whole provider approach to widening participation and student wellbeing at major events like SEER (Symposium on Experiential Education Research) and TASO (Transforming Access and Student Outcome).

Our postgraduate recruitment focuses on hosting international information sessions, which has attracted students from around the world, with students coming from Tasmania to Hong Kong on our MA Screendance course, and from Mexico to South Africa on our MA in Dance: Participation Communities Activism.

Alumni Engagement and Graduate Success

In January, we appointed Blue Makwana to the newly created role of Alumni Engagement Manager. A successful alumna herself boasting a rich portfolio career, Blue is leading the first Alumni Engagement Strategy, aimed at uniting our global alumni community through support services, events, and communications.

As part of this strategy, The Place launched two initial Propeller projects across the school, Artist Development and Theatre and Programming teams, to help propel our students to a flying start in their first year after graduation. Four LCDS 2024 graduates took part in a new Graduate residency, as part of our annual Choreodrome programme, while another four graduates travelled to Taipei for the ArtsCross choreographic research project. Additionally, MA Screendance alumni have taken on roles as Graduate Technical Teachers, mentoring the next cohort of students to develop camera techniques and editing skills.

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AIM 2 – MOVING DANCE: PURSUE WORLD-LEADING QUALITY ACROSS DANCE EDUCATION, CREATION, RESEARCH AND KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE

The Place continues its pursuit of world-leading excellence in dance education, creation, research, and knowledge exchange through innovative strategies and forward-thinking initiatives. In 2023-24, a number of key developments and partnerships were launched to enhance LCDS’s reputation and our student experience, and to support artists to be ambitious and innovative in their practice and research.

Our innovative strategies and global partnerships are shaping the future of dance, and we are committed to fostering creativity, collaboration, and a supportive environment for both students and professionals.

World-leading Creative Pedagogy

In the 2023-24 academic year, we deepened our focus on quality enhancement, implementing a comprehensive suite of strategies developed, implemented and monitored through the Academic Board. We introduced Student Recruitment and Learning Resources Strategies; implementing the recently developed Alumni Engagement Strategy will be the next area of focus. A robust evidence base is being prepared for our next Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) submission in 2027, supported by the full rollout of a new Educational Gains Evaluation Framework.

A key area of innovation is the integration of periodisation into the LCDS curriculum, supported by a PhD researcher investigating the implementation process. The findings from this research will be disseminated at faculty faculty continuing professional development (CPD) days and will inform future curriculum development. This academic year marks the first full implementation of periodisation strategies in the curriculum planning and dance science education for all undergraduate cohorts. LCDS will share its findings on this front at an international conference in October 2024, showcasing its leadership in this field. Collaboration with researchers from the University of Chichester will further enhance understanding of periodisation’s impact on dance training.

Another significant achievement this year was the launch of the first ever digital Dance Art Journal x LCDS ResLAB publication, titled Forging Paths and New Narratives. This innovative new project featured contributions from LCDS students next to essays by DAJ writers, and provided a platform to showcase the students’ research and artistic journeys in written form. The publication was launched in June 2024, with a panel discussion that included the five student editors, highlighting the research conducted by their peers.

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Research and Knowledge Exchange across Arts and Education

This year, The Place has fostered innovative partnerships to expand our reach and facilitate knowledge exchange. In collaboration with Shechter II, we provided dance science consultancy to support dancers’ health and wellbeing on tour. Stephanie De’Ath, Head of Dance Science, led workshops on physical and psychological wellbeing, equipping dancers to meet the demands of their careers. Our international partnerships also flourished, with the British Council backing a residency exchange for six UK, Czech, and Ukrainian artists, reinforcing our commitment to global artistic connections.

In July 2024, we approved our first Research and Knowledge Exchange (RKE) Strategy, which sets out an ambitious five-year plan aligned with its strategic aims. This strategy leverages the school’s strengths and positions it as a leader in practice research, with an emphasis on public engagement and global impact. The strategy includes several new initiatives, as well as a new PhD programme co-supervised with University of the Arts London (UAL).

We have initiated a Social Prescribing project exploring the unique and powerful role dance has to play in public health by connecting people with activities that address their social and emotional needs. In June, we launched a new partnership with key figures, including Sunita Pandya Malik, NHS GP and broadcaster Dr. Radha Modgil, and James Sanderson, former Director of Community Health at NHS England. Together, we aim to harness our expertise to show how dance can help build stronger and healthier communities, locally, nationally, and globally.

Practice-led Research

The Place is capitalising on its unique ecology to build a world-leading culture of practice-led research. Research-active staff have been allocated time to pursue projects, develop publications, research bids and knowledge exchange projects with international partners, design the PhD programme and respond to REF2029 consultations. Two of our governors and Visiting Professor Chris Bannerman provided ongoing support and advice to our RKE leadership, while cross-organisation dialogue has been key in the strategic planning of new initiatives (e.g. the next stages of Work Place in connection to our PhD programme). We have also engaged in significant dialogue with the wider research community, hosting events such as the Dance Studies Association symposium and a meeting of the CoDa (Cultures of Dance) scientific research network.

We are also involved in three of the five Dance Research Matters network projects funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). These initiatives are helping to build The Place’s reputation as a hub for innovative dance research with a global impact.

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Artist Development

We continue to provide a creative environment where artists can thrive, as evidenced by the successful relaunch of Touch Wood returning this year after a pandemic related pause. Eight artists presented in-progress work developed during Choreodrome. The evenings ended with facilitated feedback sessions, led by the Artist Development team.

Our Work Place programme reached a key milestone with an offsite intensive held at Owl Pen Manor in January 2024 to mark the halfway point of the programme. The cohort had space to reflect and collaborate in a supportive setting with facilitated sessions from previous Work Place Artists Frauke Requardt, Urja Desai Thakore, Ben Duke and Rosemary Lee. OUTBOUND, a 12-month artist development programme led by The Place and partners, provided provocations, knowledge, and peer support to help participating artists expand their UK touring opportunities while identifying and addressing the challenges faced by independent artists.

We introduced Artist Led Labs, a new initiative where choreographers lead multi-day intensives for fellow artists to explore new choreographic concepts. The success of the programme was evident from the 52 applications it received, with two artists, Shivaangee Agrawal and Gillie Kleiman, selected to lead the first labs.

Producing Models for the Future

The Place is committed to developing producing models that are fit for the future. The Place is the host institution of the Future Ecologies: Producing Dance Network, a Dance Research Matters research network project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, in collaboration with HE and industry partners from across the UK. The network focuses on producing as a form of practice research and proposes futures models for dance producing.

To further support this work, in February LCDS held course development consultations with industry professionals and students on the development of an Arts Management and Producing pathway and sandwich placement year in preparation for the upcoming revalidation of the BA (Hons) Contemporary Dance Performance with University of the Arts London.

Through these initiatives, The Place continues to set the standard for excellence across dance performance and production, education, research, and knowledge exchange.

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AIM 3 – MOVING WITH CARE: ENSURE QUALITY, SUSTAINABILITY AND RESILIENCE, ULTIMATELY FUTURE-PROOFING THE PLACE

In striving to future-proof our institution, The Place is focused on ensuring quality, sustainability, and resilience, particularly as we prepare for the milestones of maintaining both our Office for Students World-leading status and our standing as an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation (NPO). Through a series of strategic initiatives and careful planning, we are working toward long-term sustainability across various aspects of our operation, including environmental responsibility, financial growth, and equity for all stakeholders.

Preparedness for World-Leading status 2027, ACE National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) 2027

In the first year of our Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) funding cycle, which spans from April 2023 to March 2027, we achieved 91.1% of our planned activities for the 2023-26 portfolio, with a huge 96.2% of our monitoring targets for outputs and participant numbers either met or exceeded. We are committed to sustaining this momentum through the entire funding cycle.

Highlights of the first year include our touring programme delivering a fantastic 43 shows - surpassing our initial target of 27 - to nearly 5,000 audience members. The Rural Touring Dance Initiative provided 62 shows to rural communities across the UK, bringing dance to areas that are often underserved by traditional arts programming. Our theatre programme attracted an impressive 20,294 audience members from April to March, surpassing our target for the year. These successes have set a solid foundation for the next three years of our funding period, giving us a clear trajectory for even more growth.

Commitment to Specialist Sector Leadership

The Place continues to establish itself as a leader within the specialist provider sector, as demonstrated by our academic contributions and partnerships. In October, Lecturer in Dance Vicky Mantey, Guest Lecturer Claire Hough, Director of Dance Studies Lise Uytterhoeven, and two of our BA3 students, Jess Yeo and Elvi Christiansen Head, presented at the Shared Campus Conference hosted by LASALLE College of the Arts in Singapore. Their presentation showcased our school’s experiences in integrating Groove and Krump methodologies into the curriculum, reflecting our ongoing dedication to evolving pedagogical practices. Another example of student-staff co-created sector leadership is the Dance Futures podcast episode ‘Dances of Resistance with Anno Bolender and Marilia Coelho’ in March, featuring two students of the inaugural cohort of the MA Dance: Participation, Communities, Activism, discussing how dance can be part of the solution to the global and local issues we face.

In another demonstration of sector leadership, Director of Dance Studies Dr Lise Uytterhoeven participated in a program accreditation procedure in Brussels in March, working with MusiQuE (Music Quality Enhancement) to ensure high standards in performing arts education across Europe and beyond.

Our international engagements further emphasize our commitment to leadership in the dance education sector. In May, we hosted Professor Xu Rui and his senior colleagues from Beijing Dance Academy at The Place. This meeting celebrated a long-standing and much valued relationship between our two institutions. We renewed our longstanding partnership through the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding to take us into a new era.

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Press Coverage and Media Engagement

Our programming has consistently gained attention from key media outlets, expanding our reach both nationally and internationally. The Guardian and Observer remains our most important press publication, reviewing 10 of our productions during the period, but this year The Place has seen an increased interest from other major national broadsheet publications such as The Times, The Financial Times, The Spectator, and our biggest industry publication the Stage. Emilyn Claid, Aerowaves artists PocketArt, and both Cheok and Burnt Offering – part of this year’s Korean Festival - received 5 star reviews, and Akshay Sharma, Northern Rascals, Chisato Minamimura, Mark Bruce Company. Igor x Moreno, Annie Hanauer and our family show Pirates! received multiple 4 star reviews, demonstrating the high quality of our productions.

With the extension of our Producing and Touring output, there is an increase in international coverage for our artists and productions from Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Canada, France and Australia. We are also increasingly working with dance and family influencers who are growing our visibility and reputation on social media platforms.

Participant and Staff Feedback

Maintaining a close connection with our participants and staff is central to our mission, and we regularly collect feedback to ensure continuous improvement. As part of our Classes & Courses programme, we conduct termly surveys with participants, tracking their experiences and using the data to make informed improvements. Additionally, we hold regular meetings with class teachers, musicians, and teaching assistants to review progress and develop strategies for future terms. An annual CPD day brings together our team to build community, offer training, and gather feedback, ensuring that we remain responsive to the needs of both staff and participants.

The feedback we receive highlights the profound impact our programmes have on participants. These stories, along with other testimonials, reinforce the importance of our work in fostering both artistic and personal growth.

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Chisato Minamimura in Mark of a Woman, image by Henry Curtis.
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“THE STAFF DEMONSTRATED CONSISTENTLY EVERY WEEK TO THE HIGHEST STANDARDS THAT THEY CARE AND WHAT IT MEANS TO BE INCLUSIVE.” PARENT OF CLASS PARTICIPANT

“IT HAS NOT ONLY IMPROVED MY DANCING, IT’S IMPROVED MY LIFE” OVER 60S PARTICIPANT

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“ WE NOTICED A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE CHILDREN’S ABILITY AND WILLINGNESS TO TAKE RISKS, COLLABORATE, LISTENING SKILLS AND CONFIDENCE. IT WAS JUST WONDERFUL.” PARTNER SCHOOLS PROGRAMME TEACHER FEEDBACK

“ COMING TO THE PLACE HELPS ME LEARN SO MUCH AND MAKES ME FEEL MORE CONFIDENT ABOUT EXPRESSING MY FEELINGS AND IDEAS IN DANCE.” CLASS PARTICIPANT, AGE 11

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Student Feedback

In the annual National Students Survey undergraduate students highly rated the academic support received throughout their course, as well as the mental wellbeing and physical support available, with both coming in above the sector average. Students also rated the teaching on the course, learning opportunities and resources to a high standard well above the sector average, and felt the Student Voice was strong within the school.

Students across the MA courses valued the range of visiting artists and experts working in the sector, as well as opportunities to collaborate with students across the other MA courses. The gathered Student feedback continues to help us develop the courses, and build clarity around assessment criteria.

Environmental Responsibility

In line with our commitment to environmental sustainability, we have made significant strides in reducing our carbon footprint. Over the course of 2023-2024, our energy consumption decreased by 8%, reducing our overall carbon footprint to 228 tonnes of CO2. Our efforts to reduce emissions include upgrading lighting to low-energy LED fixtures, installing PIR sensors to minimize unnecessary energy use, and replacing older café machinery with more efficient equipment. The refurbishment of our café, which will feature 100% recycled flooring and 50% recycled worktops, further exemplifies our commitment to environmental responsibility.

We will continue to implement initiatives that reduce our environmental impact. The next few months will see additional upgrades and improvements aimed at increasing our energy efficiency and reducing emissions, ensuring that environmental responsibility remains a core part of how we operate.

Our Commitment to Equity And Diversity

Equity and diversity are at the heart of our mission at The Place. To strengthen our commitment to inclusivity, we have partnered with Spotlight Inclusion to help us develop a new Equity, Diversity, and Access Plan. Through this partnership, we are conducting focus groups with students, staff, and artists to collect feedback and identify areas for improvement. The insights gathered will inform our new plan and guide our efforts to create a more inclusive environment for all.

Our accreditation as a Disability Confident Employer (Level 2) in early 2024 further solidifies our commitment to fostering a diverse and supportive workplace.

We continue to ensure that all staff are paid at or above the London Living Wage, and we are working toward achieving Living Wage Foundation accreditation by 2025. These actions reflect our belief in creating an environment where every individual is empowered to thrive, both within our organization and in the wider community.

Capital and Financial Strategy

Our financial strategy is closely aligned with our growth plans, and we are committed to making measured investments in our current estate while planning for future expansion. A significant milestone in this area was the decision to take on a three-year lease of the Camden Chinese Community Centre, accompanied by a £1 million investment to upgrade the facilities. This move provides us with the space to take stock of our long-term needs and develop a strategy that ensures our readiness for future growth.

Through strategic planning, environmental responsibility, and a commitment to inclusivity, we are building a foundation for growth that will support our world-leading status. Our efforts to engage with diverse communities, expand our reach, and strengthen our financial position will ensure that we continue to be a leader in dance education and performance for years to come.

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PRIDE IN OUR PEOPLE

Awards

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Achievements

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Keynotes and Publications

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FINANCIAL REVIEW – 2023-24

For the year ended 31 July 2024, The Place recorded a surplus on general unrestricted funds after taxation of funds and transfers of £432,947 (£1,065,174 in 2022-23).

The net movement of the restricted funds amounted to a deficit of £75,842 (deficit of £167,142 in 2022-23) as costs were allocated to grants received and recognised in previous years as well as the depreciation allocation to the Place for the Future Fund that was created in 2010.

The surplus of unrestricted funds is in line with the budget set by management and is a result of several measures and decisions taken by the management team in order to secure the organisation’s future.

The increase in unrestricted reserves is in line with the organisation’s five year plan which shows that later years are likely to show deficits with lack of inflationary increases expected on our large grants and student fees, countered with inflationary increases in costs.

We have seen total income increase significantly over the last three years. This year income is £10,595,462 - a rise of 13% on the prior year’s income of £9,363,886 which in turn was an increase of 25% on 21-22 income of £7,461,685. This growth in income is largely driven by growth in student numbers which grew again this year with two new postgraduate courses.

Grant income in 2023-24 was £4,718,803 (£4,577,757 in 2022-2023). Included in this income is ACE NPO funding which is awarded until March 2026, and OfS World-leading specialist provider funding, a five-year grant which runs until July 2027. Other grants income includes our MDS (Music and Dance Scheme) grant from the Department for Education to support our CAT (Centre for Advanced Training) students, and grants from Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and ACE (Arts Council England) to support our Rural Touring Dance Initiative. Last year’s grant income included some grants awarded to artists working with us which we have reclassified to “other charitable income” this year.

Student fee income was £4,265,852 (£3,602,318 in 2022-23) with increases in undergraduate income driven by the increases in undergraduate overseas student numbers, two new post graduate degrees from September 2024, and an increase in our classes and courses income which is nearly back to pre-Covid levels.

Performance income of £245,672 (£275,586 in 2022-23) and earned income of £325,300 (£311,814 in 2022-23) are much in line with prior years.

Fundraising income of £661,128 (£415,842 in 2022-23) includes funds donated to specifically support students and artistic programming as well as funds donated for our building refurbishments to changing rooms and cafe.

Total Income
(Restricted and Unrestricted)		 Year Ended July 2024
£000s
%		 Year Ended July 2023
£000s
%
Grants 4,719 45% 4,578 49%
Donations and Legacies 661 7% 416 4%
School Fees and Education 4,266 40% 3,602 39%
Performances 246 2% 276 3%
Other Charitable income 228 2% 127 1%
Earned income 325 3% 312 3%
Investments 151 1% 53 1%
Total Income 10,595 100% 9,364 100%

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Total expenditure in 2023-24 was £10,420,253 (£8,632,580 in 2022-23) with increases of 21% in all areas driven by inflationary increases and more activity in all areas of the organisation.

Total Expenditure
(Restricted and Unrestricted)		 Year Ended July 2024
£000s
%		 Year Ended July 2023
£000s
%
Cost of Raising funds
Fundraising 156 1% 120 1%
Premises relating to lettings and grants 607 6% 598 7%
Cost of Charitable Activities
School and Education 6,097 59% 4,835 56%
Theatre Productions 3,560 34% 3,079 36%
Total Expenditure 10,420 100% 8,633 100%

RESERVES

At the end of the financial year, the retained reserves of the charity were as follows:

2023-24
£000s		 2022-23
£000s
Unrestricted Funds 3,885 3,452
Restricted Funds 4,702 4,777
Total Reserves 8,586 8,229

Restricted funds include funds donated for a project to improve the building in 2000 and for this summer’s building improvements; funds raised for educational purposes; and funds raised to fund creative and artistic risks and support groundbreaking initiatives.

Further information concerning the amounts and purposes of the remaining restricted funds are contained within Note 14 of the Financial Statements.

RESERVES POLICY

In accordance with Charity Commission guidance and best practice, The Place maintains reserves to provide for contingencies that may arise in the future. This has been particularly necessary given the continuing challenges within the current funding environment and was heightened further with the cost of living crisis.

The Board reviewed its reserves policy in September 2023, and it was agreed that it was important that a realistic policy was set based on the five-year plan, taking into account uncertainties relating to specialist funding and fee income in Higher Education and the future levels of Arts Council England funding.

To ensure The Place can meet liabilities, if income were to be significantly reduced or delayed, and also to allow for appropriate decision-making regarding investment and growth during the budget setting process, the policy of a minimum of 2.5 month’s unrestricted expenditure (approx. £1.6m) being retained has been set.

The unrestricted reserves at 31 July 2024 are £3,884,779 , which comfortably exceeds this level. Free reserves (unrestricted reserves excluding fixed assets) total £3,061,196 (£2,651,232 in 2023).

While the reserve levels exceed the minimum level set by the reserve policy, they are in line with the budget set for 2023-24 and our five-year plan projections. The level of reserves we are holding at 31 July 2024 will allow us to comfortably maintain the reserves at a level above the minimum requirement for the next five financial years, enabling the organisation to respond to any unexpected events.

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GOING CONCERN

The activities of The Place together with the factors likely to affect its future development are set out within this report. The financial position of The Place, its cashflow and its liquidity, are described in the Financial Statements and the supporting notes.

Having made enquiries, the Board of Governors believe that it is appropriate to prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis. The Board consider The Place’s current and forecast cash resources to be sufficient to cover the working capital requirements of the charity for at least 12 months from the date of signing this report and financial statements. Cash flow forecasts are carried out monthly as are budget reviews by senior management and reforecasts take place to allow activity to be adjusted to respond to any unknown variations.

The budgets and forecasts have been prepared recognising future uncertainty of significant funding decisions as well as fixed student fees along with increasing higher than normal inflation. A number of scenarios were considered by management, and budgets have been set reflecting the most certain outcomes.

Having considered these budgets and forecasts, the Board of Governors remain satisfied that it is appropriate to prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis.

PRINCIPAL FUNDING SOURCES

The income of The Place is derived from grants from Arts Council England; grants from the Office for Students; grants from the Department for Education through the Music and Dance Scheme; grants from regional funding bodies; and sponsorship, grants and donations from trusts, companies and private individuals.

Income is also derived from student fees paid to London Contemporary Dance School; performances in our theatre; running courses and classes in dance; and letting space in our premises to other bodies engaged in the arts and consultation services.

INVESTMENT

As at 31 July 2024 The Place held an investment in a unit trust with a market value of £195,505 (£181,852 in 2023).

The investment is managed by McInroy and Wood and held within their Balanced Fund (as noted and approved at the Finance and General Purposes committee meeting of 12 June 2024). The investment objective of the Balanced Fund is to maximise the total return to investors, by preserving and growing the real value of investors’ capital and income, placing an equal emphasis on the generation of income and on capital growth. Real value is defined as the value of capital and income after adjusting for the impact of inflation.

The fund was initially set up with money received from a legacy donation made in support of postgraduate students and a capital donation made in support of artistic commissions. Income and gains earned in the year are allocated to the restricted Student Hardship Fund and Pioneering Fund.

DATA QUALITY

The Place is required to operate in accordance with the guidance of Office for Students on the management of data.

In 2023-24 Kingston City Group (KCG), a specialist risk assessment and internal auditor to the Higher Education sector in England, conducted their annual review focusing on areas highlighted and prioritised by the Audit Committee.

The Audit Committee oversees the adequacy and effectiveness of The Place’s arrangements for the management and assurance of data submitted to the Office for Students, the Student Loan Company, the Higher Education Statistics Agency and other bodies. The Board has overall responsibility for the fulfilment of the legal and regulatory obligations.

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FUNDRAISING

As a registered charity, The Place seeks support from statutory organisations, trusts and foundations, individuals and companies in a variety of ways ranging from small online donations, through to significant restricted grants and partnerships. We communicate with supporters and potential supporters through email, telephone and by post, where we have permission to do so. We do not cold-call or collect money in the street. We have a dedicated team of fundraisers who work directly with supporters and potential supporters to raise funds for our work, and we do not currently work with any third-party or professional fundraisers. We respect the privacy of the individuals we have relationships with and never swap details without explicit permission. We never put pressure on individuals to donate.

The Place is registered with the Fundraising Regulator and has subscribed to its Fundraising Code of Practice. Our Board has overall responsibility for our fundraising strategies and plans. Our designated Data Protection Officer has overall responsibility for ensuring that The Place complies with the requirements of the relevant data protection legislation. We received no complaints about our fundraising practices in 2023-24 (nor in 2022-23).

The Board take their responsibilities under the Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Act 2016 seriously and have considered the implications on our fundraising activities.

CAPITAL FUNDRAISING

This year we spent time prioritising raising funds for the capital upgrade – the first significant project in over 20 years to improve the café, artist dressing rooms, changing rooms and toilets. Clear empathy for the case for support resulted in 20% of the total cost of the project being raised through fundraising efforts.

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OUR HEARTFELT THANKS

We would like to take this opportunity to thank every single person and organisation that has supported The Place in 2023-24. Our supporters are an integral part of The Place’s journey, and every contribution helps us to enable dance artists to unlock their potential, support the creation of new work and give the widest possible access to opportunities for everyone to enjoy dance, regardless of age, background or experience. Thank you.

While it is not possible to mention each supporter here, we wish to give special recognition to those whose contributions exceeded £5,000:

Backstage Trust Cockayne – Grants for the Arts Chelsea Arts Club Trust Esmée Fairbairn Foundation Garfield Weston Foundation John Ellerman Foundation

John Lyon’s Charity Lord Marks of Broughton Phoenix Court Works The Foyle Foundation

The Headley Trust The Leverhulme Trust South Square Trust Anna Claire Breuss-Burgess Anthony Van Laast CBE Gail Ellisdon Judy Craymer Nick Grace

PATRONS

We are extremely fortunate to have a loyal group of Patrons who support our work, primarily through advocacy, fundraising, lobbying and student engagement. We are truly grateful for the ongoing support of this noteworthy group and would like to express particular gratitude to Anthony Van Laast CBE who curated and hosted a phenomenal gala in benefit of the Peggy Hawkins Fund. The generosity of those who attended the event made it the most successful Peggy Hawkins fundraising event in LCDS history.

2023-24 Patrons:

Farooq Chaudhry OBE Paloma Faith Blomfield Bonnie Greer OBE Lord Hall of Birkenhead CBE Dr Haruhisa Handa Sir Tim Lankester Sir Wayne McGregor CBE Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp CBE Lord and Lady Russell of Liverpool Anthony Van Laast CBE

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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND INTERNAL CONTROL

CHARITABLE OBJECTIVES

The charitable objects of The Place identified in the Articles of Association are:

To foster, promote and increase the interest of the public in the knowledge, understanding and practice of the art of contemporary dance and to promote and assist presentation of contemporary dance and the training of contemporary dance practitioners.

PRINCIPAL OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITY OF THE CHARITY

The principal objective of The Place is to be of service to and through dance. The Place seeks to transform and enrich the lives of dance artists, students, young people, audiences and the public through training, creating, performing and sharing contemporary dance.

The principal activity of The Place is the development of contemporary dance through a higher education establishment, producing and touring work, a theatre and other artistic and educational activities.

In considering the strategies and policies of the charity, the charity trustees (who are also the Board of Governors) have had due regard to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission, in accordance with the Charities Act 2011. The core elements of public benefit are:

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LEGAL STRUCTURE

The Place, a company limited by guarantee (company number: 883094), is governed as described in the Articles of Association and is a registered charity in England and Wales (charity number: 250216). The Board of Governors are the directors for the purposes of company law, and charity trustees for the purpose of charity law. All Governors are non-executive and considered to be independent.

The Place continues to be a National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) funded by Arts Council England; and following a review of NPO funding in January 2024, the current funding cycle has been extended to the end of March 2027. Our current five-year strategic plan, approved by the board in April 2024, has been created in accordance with Arts Council England’s ten-year strategy Lets Create, and with the four Investment Principles introduced with the strategy: Ambition and Quality; Dynamism; Inclusivity and Relevance; and Environmental Responsibility.

Since 9 June 2022, The Place has been a higher education provider directly registered with the Office for Students and reports directly to the OfS regarding all ongoing conditions of registration.

Our current degree validation partnership with University of the Arts London (UAL) began in the 2021-22 academic year, and our first cohort of undergraduate students graduated with UAL as the awarding institution in July 2024 in a joyful ceremony at the Southbank Centre Royal Festival Hall, London. We look forward to working with UAL as the validating partner of our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes into the future.

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RESPONSIBILITIES AND DELEGATED AUTHORITY

The primary responsibility for The Place is vested in the Board of Governors, in accordance with the Articles of Association. Governors:

The Board meets four times a year to monitor the operations of The Place. The Board delegates specific authority to committees as determined in the approved Scheme of Delegation and Committee Terms of Reference, which are updated each year. To aid transparency, key governing documents, including Terms of Reference for all committee are made publicly available on The Place’s website. The committees comprise:

Each Committee (other than the Academic Board) is chaired by an independent board member. In addition, effective use has been made of smaller Board Working Groups, established to address specific issues, enabling rapid decision making. In 2023-24 this has included a Capital Working Group, established to provide strategic oversight of planned or proposed future capital developments; and a Research and Knowledge Exchange working group, providing support for the development of a new Research and Knowledge Exchange strategy for the organisation as one of the aims outlined in our five-year strategic plan.

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LCDS Graduation Show 2024, image by Camilla Greenwell.
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In support of good governance, the Nominations Committee of The Place commissioned an external governance review in Spring 2024, conducted by consultant Aaron Ross Porter. The review, which comprised interviews with governors and senior leadership, review of documentation and observation of board and committee meetings, took into account The Place’s unique hybrid status as both a small and specialist Higher Education Provider and a cultural organization; and our ambitions for quality, sector leadership and commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.

Overall the review found the arrangements for governance at The Place to be highly effective, with clear evidence that the organisation has thought proactively and thoughtfully about governance arrangements in support of our distinctive mission, as well as compliance with regulatory and funding expectations from the Office for Students (OfS) and Arts Council England (ACE). The review particularly noted an impressive culture of healthy constructive challenge, and a high degree of emphasis on equality, diversity and inclusion ensuring these matters are comprehensively considered and discussed at all meetings. The final report includes nine recommendations for further development of the board; three of these recommendations have already been actioned, and the remainder are now in progress.

The Company Clerk, Dr Lise Smith, works closely with the Chief Executive, the Chair, the Vice Chair and the Committee Chairs to provide effective administrative support and advice to ensure the Board and Committees are properly constituted and that information is managed in accordance with legal requirements. This includes maintaining a corporate workplan and regularly updated register of Board of Governors’ interests. Governors’ attendance at The Board and at its committees is indicated in the table on page 41.

Day to day management of The Place has been delegated to the Chief Executive, Clare Connor. Clare is the designated Accountable Officer for (and reports to) the Office for Students, Department for Education and Arts Council England. As Chief Executive, Clare is also responsible for managing the partnership with the validating institution, the University of the Arts London (UAL). Clare is supported by a Senior Leadership Team comprised of Chief Financial Officer, Artistic Director and Director of Dance Studies.

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ANNUAL REMUNERATION STATEMENT

Remuneration of the Chief Executive and other members of the senior leadership team is reviewed annually. In the 12 months to July 2024 the Chief Executive’s (Head of Institution) basic salary was £99,301 (£92,150 in 2022-23) which is 2.58 times the median pay of staff (2.67 in 2022-23). The Chief Executive’s total remuneration was £116,182 including pension (£107,756 in 2022-23), which is 2.95 times the median remuneration of staff (2.95 in 2022-23) (page 57).

The Chief Executive’s performance is reviewed annually through an appraisal by the Chair of the Board of Governors. The Chief Executive’s remuneration is considered fair in consideration of the hybrid nature of The Place as both an arts organisation and a higher education provider. In comparison to other small and specialist Higher Education Providers in London it is below average. Due regard is given to good practice as set out in relevant guidance, including the Committee of University Chairs Higher Education Senior Staff Remuneration Code.

In relation to income derived from external sources, The Place’s Secondary Employment Policy states that where the work is related to a staff member’s role at The Place and occurring in normal working time, any income should be received directly by The Place.

The Remuneration Committee is required to approve any individual changes in remuneration that represent more than a 5% increase in salary rate unless the change is required by a statutory requirement. Non-contractual salary increases for all staff are considered annually by the Remuneration Committee. The principal factors that are considered are affordability, inflation and relevant industry guidelines. In autumn 2023, The Place participated in a benchmarking exercise with 27 arts organisations run by pay and reward consultants QCG, which has informed subsequent salary adjustments.

As of July 2024 the Remuneration Committee consists of five governors, who are also members of the Finance and General Purposes Committee. The Chief Executive and Head of HR attend Remuneration Committee meetings but are not members of the committee. In line with the committee terms of reference, no employee of The Place (including the Chief Executive) attends any section of the meeting involving the discussion of their own salary or remuneration package.

Since December 2022 all permanent staff, trainees and hourly paid staff have been paid at least the London Living Wage. Changes to the London Living Wage are implemented within 6 months of being announced.

In August 2024 an increase of 4% was agreed for all salaries and hourly rates from 1 August 2024 (5% in August 2023). The exception was for staff members receiving the London Living Wage or on salaries and rates adjacent to it who received an increase of 4.8% in April 2024 and a further 3% increase in August 2024. In summary staff on the lower wages received the larger percentage increase.

Governors are not remunerated but are entitled to recover expenses as outlined in the notes to the Financial Statements. In 2023-24, £0 was paid to Governors in expenses (£0 in 2022-23)

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RETIREMENTS FROM AND APPOINTMENTS TO THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS

The members of the Board of Governors who served during the year and up to the date of the report are listed on page 41.

The policy on the Appointment and Retirement of Governors states that Governors are elected to serve on the Board for a period of three years and that this may be extended by re-election every three years, usually to a maximum of nine years. The term of the Chair is usually limited to a maximum of six years. The maximum number of Governors is 15; as at 1 August 2024, there are 13 Governors currently serving on the board.

Governor Chris Rowland retired in November 2023 as a governor and as Chair of the Finance and General Purposes and Renumeration Committees following the maximum nine years of service. Lisa Baglin took over as Chair of the two committees following the November 2023 Board meeting. Catherine Ward also stepped down in March 2024 from the Board of Governors and as Co-Chair of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee after nine years’ service. David Blackburn, appointed to the Board in March 2023, took over as co-chair of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee after the April meeting of the board; the committee was subsequently renamed to the Equity, Diversity and Access Committee.

As of 1 August 2024 the composition of the Board was 62% female and 38% male (60/40 in 2022-23). The Board included 24% ethnically diverse members (20% in 2022-23) and 16% identifying as LGBTQ+ (not reported in 2022-23); the mode average age was 35-49 years (50-64 in 2022-23). 62% of board members report primary or secondary caring responsibilities. At the time of survey, no individual had disclosed a disability or neurodivergence (0 in 2022-23) but it is an ongoing priority for new appointments to represent a diversity of lived experiences.

GOVERNOR INDUCTION

The Nominations Committee is responsible for reviewing the process of inducting new Governors as well as seeking feedback from those who have experienced the process first-hand. An induction pack is shared which includes the Committee of University Chairs and Charity Commission Governance Codes, Articles of Association, Terms of Reference and minutes for Committees, previous Annual Report and Financial Statements as well as other useful information. A series of meetings to explain the role of a Governor and introducing the work of The Place is arranged, and new Governors are appointed a mentor (a more experienced member of the Board of Governors) who can be approached with any questions. No new governors were appointed in the financial year 2023-24; the three governors appointed in the previous financial year completed their induction processes in the calendar year 2023.

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GOVERNOR ATTENDANCE AT COMMITTEE MEETINGS (1 AUGUST 2023 – 31 JULY 2024)
Board
(includes
Away Day)		 Audit Equality,
Diversity &
Inclusion		 Finance &
General
Purposes		 Nominations Remuneration
Committee
Alan Bishop
(Chair)		 4/4 4/4 1/2 4/4
Jane Alexander
(Vice Chair)		 4/4 2/3 2/2
Michael ‘Mikey J’
Asante		 3/4 2/3 1/2
Lisa Baglin*** 3/4 3/3 Observer 4/4 4/4
Helen Bailey 2/4 2/2
David Blackburn**** 2/4 3/3 2/4 2/4
Derek Hicks 4/4
Shaparak Rahimi 4/4 4/4 4/4
Chris Rowland* 1/1 1/1 Observer 1/1 1/1
Eva Sarma 3/4 3/3
John G Stewart 4/4 3/3 4/4 Observer 2/2
Elizabeth Varley 2/4 2/4 2/4
Catherine Ward 2/2 2/2 2/2 1/1 2/2
Liz Wilson 2/4 2/3
Rosalind Wynn 3/4 1/3

**** co-Chair of EDI Committee from March 2024

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THE PLACE KEY RISKS AND MITIGATIONS
Key Risk Timeframe Mitigation
Financial challenges
because of high inflation
against a backdrop of
low investment in the
arts and frozen
student fees.		 Medium
term		 Implementation of five-year strategic plan in the context of the ten-year vision and
mission. Focus on investment in key areas, “right-sizing” delivery of programmes,
managed growth in relation to demand/opportunity while making capacity for
staff salary increases.
Concerted with development team to raise funds for
A) Student hardship and promoting the benefits of living in London
via the Study London campaign via our London Higher partnership.
B) Artistic programme through a range of sources
C) Exploration of Knowledge Exchange initiatives
Lk f t ii Oi Iltti f fi tti l ith i itt i
ac o ars provson,
especially dance studies
in statutory education
impacting student
recruitment and putting		 n-gong mpemenaon o ve-year sraegc pan w accompanyng nvesmen n
Research and Knowledge Exchange alongside campaign efforts to promote the
value of dance which capitalise on policy changes with a new Labour government
Attentive review of Student Recruitment Strategy spearheaded by Head of

access and widening
participation targets
at risk
Widening Participation and Recruitment working in close collaboration with
the Marcoms team and Alumni Engagement Manager
LCDS short course provision with subsequent evolution of the offer to stimulate
interest and explore options
Insufficient space in
our building impacting
our ability to increase
revenues		 Medium to
long term		 In line with the five-year Strategic Plan:
Review use and impact of The Place 2 in 2024-25
With the Capital Working Group pursue local capital options and make decision on
direction of travel.
Reputational risk of
working with artists
and individuals whose
behaviours and/or
values do not align with
the organisation.		 On-going
 Proactive use of Know Your Principles guidelines and Risk Management Framework
Use communications crisis playbook to manage communication as appropriate
Partnership with external provider to source specialist resource such as external
investigations
Annual Review of complaints to review trends over time and inform interventions
Malware; Ransomware;
Virus attack		 On-going As identified in Risk Register – mitigations include working closely with outsourced
IT provider to continue to improve practice in Cybersecurity fostering organisation
awareness and proactive behaviour.

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RISK MANAGEMENT

The Board recognises that the identifying and managing of risk assists the organisation in achieving its objectives. The following processes have been established in respect of risk management:

The schedule of business provides for risk management and internal control to be considered on a regular basis during the year. Risk management has been incorporated fully into the corporate planning and decision-making processes of the organisation.

The Board receives periodic reports from the Audit Committee concerning internal control and regular reports are received from managers on the steps they are taking to manage risks in their areas of responsibility, including progress reports on key projects.

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INTERNAL CONTROL

The Board of Governors acknowledges that it is responsible for ensuring that a sound system of internal control, supporting the achievement of policies, aims and objectives, while safeguarding the public and other funds and assets of the organisation is maintained and confirms that it has reviewed the effectiveness of these arrangements. The system of internal control is designed to manage rather than eliminate the risk of failure to achieve policies, aims and objectives. It can only provide reasonable and not absolute assurance of effectiveness.

The Board of Governors has taken reasonable steps in the period 1 August 2023 to the date of signing these financial statements to:

The key elements of The Place’s system of internal control, which is designed to discharge the responsibilities set out above, include the following:

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STATEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS

The Governors are responsible for preparing the report of the Governors and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice.)

Company law requires the Board of Governors 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 income and expenditure, of the charitable group for that year. In preparing these financial statements, the Governors are required to:

The Governors are responsible for keeping proper 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.

In so far as the Governors are aware:

there is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company’s auditor is unaware; and

the Governors have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditor is aware of that information.

The Report of the Board of Governors, incorporating the Strategic Report, was approved by the Board on 20 November 2024.

20 NOVEMBER 2024

Signed on behalf of the Board of Governors by Alan Bishop , Chair Date

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INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS

OPINION

We have audited the financial statements of Contemporary Dance Trust Limited (operating as The Place) for the year ended 31 July 2024 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, the cash flow statement and 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 Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).. In our opinion, the financial statements:

BASIS FOR OPINION

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the 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 Governors’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

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

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

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OTHER INFORMATION

The Governors are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the Governors’ Report (incorporating the strategic report). Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard.

OPINIONS ON OTHER MATTERS PRESCRIBED BY THE COMPANIES ACT 2006

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

MATTERS ON WHICH WE ARE REQUIRED TO REPORT BY EXCEPTION

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Governors’ Report (which incorporates the strategic report and directors’ report).

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

MATTERS ON WHICH WE ARE REQUIRED TO REPORT IN RESPECT OF THE OFFICE FOR STUDENTS

In our opinion, in all material respects:

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matter in relation to which the Office for Students requires us to report where:

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RESPONSIBILITIES OF GOVERNORS FOR THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As explained more fully in the Statement of Governors’ Responsibilities statement set out on page 45, the Governors (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the Governors 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 Governors are responsible for assessing the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Governors either intend to liquidate the 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

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 is detailed below:

Based on our understanding of the charitable company and the environment in which it operates, we identified that the principal risks of non-compliance with laws and regulations related to the regulatory requirements of the Office for Students and the Charity Commission, and we considered the extent to which non-compliance might have a material effect on the financial statements. We also considered those laws and regulations that have a direct impact on the preparation of the financial statements such as the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities Act 2011.

We evaluated management’s incentives and opportunities for fraudulent manipulation of the financial statements (including the risk of override of controls), and determined that the principal risks were related to the potential for management to post inappropriate journal entries and to manipulate accounting estimates. Audit procedures performed by the engagement team included:

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 non-compliance 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.

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

USE OF OUR REPORT

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

Richard Weaver Senior Statutory Auditor

27 November 2024 Date

For and on behalf of HaysMac LLP, Statutory Auditors 10 Queen Street Place London EC4R 1AG

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FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

(INCORPORATING AN INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2024

Notes Unrestricted
Funds
£		 Restricted
Funds
£		 Total
2024
£		 Total
2023
£
Income from:
Donations and legacies 2 208,882 452,246 661,128 415,842
Charitable activities
Grants 3 2,430,506 2,288,297 4,718,803 4,577,757
School fees and education 4 4,265,852 - 4,265,852 3,602,318
Performances 245,672 - 245,672 275,586
Other 147,615 80,081 227,696 127,410
Other trading activities
Lettings 259,174 - 259,174 248,845
Other 66,126 - 66,126 62,969
Investments 146,808 4,203 151,011 53,159
Total income 7,770,636 2,824,826 10,595,462 9,363,886
Expenditure on:
Raising funds
Donations and sponsorships 156,233 - 156,233 119,882
Costs of premises maintenance
relating to lettings and grants		 419,396 187,584 606,980 598,494
575,629 187,584 763,213 718,376
Charitable activities
School and education 5,804,890 291,667 6,096,557 4,834,862
Theatre productions 1,159,380 2,401,104 3,560,483 3,079,342
6,964,270 2,692,770 9,657,040 7,914,204
Total expenditure 5 7,539,899 2,880,354 10,420,253 8,632,580
Net income / (expenditure)
before investment loss		 230,737 (55,528) 175,209 731,306
Net gain/(loss) on investments - 9,450 9,450 (5,096)
Net income / (expenditure) 230,737 (46,078) 184,659 726,210
Taxation 172,446 - 172,446 171,822
Net income/ (expenditure) and net
movement in funds for the year after taxation		 403,183 (46,078) 357,105 898,032
Transfer of Funds 29,764 (29,764) - -
Net movement in funds 432,947 (75,842) 357,105 898,032
Total funds at 1 August 2023 3,451,832 4,777,410 8,229,242 7,331,210
Total funds at 31 July 2024 14 3,884,779 4,701,568 8,586,347 8,229,242
There were no recognised gains or losses other t han those reflected above.
The notes on pages 53 to 65 form part of these fi nancial st atements.

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BALANCE SHEET AT 31 JULY 2024

BALANCE SHEETAT 31 JULY 2024
Notes 2024
£		 2023
£
Fixed assets
Tangible assets 9 5,334,306 5,288,557
Intangible assets 9 105,328 131,730
Investments 10 1,798,337 1,701,155
Total fixed assets 7,237,971 7,121,442
Current assets
Debtors 11 551,700 676,812
Cash at bank and in hand 2,394,548 1,614,166
Total current assets 2,946,248 2,290,978
Liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year 12 1,597,872 1,183,178
Total current liabilities 1,597,872 1,183,178
Net current assets/(liabilities) 1,348,376 1,107,800
Creditors: amounts falling due in more
than one year		 -
-		 -
-
Net assets 8,586,347 8,229,242
Financed by:
Income Funds
Restricted 14 4,701,568 4,777,410
Unrestricted 14 3,884,779 3,451,832
8,586,347 8,229,242
Total charity funds 8,586,347 8,229,242

The notes on pages 53 to 65 form part of these financial statements.

Approved and authorised for issue by the Board of Governors on 20th November, 2024 and signed on its behalf by

Alan Bishop Chair, The Place

Clare Connor Chief Executive, The Place

CONTEMPORARY DANCE TRUST LIMITED. A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE.

Company Number: 883094 Charity Number: 250216

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CASH FLOW STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2024

Note 2024 2023
£ £
Net cash inflow from operating activities 1 972,701 1,170,113
Cash flows from Investing activities
Bank interest 146,808 49,184
Investment in bank deposit - (1,500,000)
Purchase of tangible fixed assets (339,126) (109,508)
Purchase of intangible fixed assets - -
Cash outflow from investing activities (192,318) (1,560,324)
Increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalent in the year 780,382 (390,211)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year 1,614,166 2,004,377
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year 2,394,548 1,614,166

Notes to the Cash flow statement

Reconciliation of net incoming resources to net cash flow from operating activities Reconciliation of net incoming resources to net cash flow from operating activities Reconciliation of net incoming resources to net cash flow from operating activities
Net movement in funds 357,105 898,032
Depreciation charges 319,779 368,185
Bank interest (146,808) (49,184)
Investment income (87,731) (23,278)
(Increase)/decrease in fair value of investments (9,450) 5,096
(Increase)/decrease in debtors 125,112 (83,312)
Increase/(decrease) in creditors 414,695 54,574
Net cash inflow from operating activities 972,701 1,170,113

The notes on pages 53 to 65 form part of these financial statements.

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

BASIS OF PREPARATION

The financial statements are prepared in accordance with 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), second edition effective from 1 January 2019); the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102); the Companies Act 2006; and the Accounts Direction issued by the Office for Students (OfS). Contemporary Dance Trust Limited (“The Place”) meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy note(s).

Having made due enquiries, the Board believes that it is appropriate to prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis. This view is based, on the review of the reserves position referred to in the Financial Review section of the Annual Report, and also an examination of the budget for the current year and the business plan and forecast cashflows for future years.

The preparation of the financial statements in accordance with FRS 102 requires the Board to make estimates and assumptions concerning the future. The estimates and assumptions that could have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next financial year include accruals, depreciation, revenue recognition and debtor recovery. Accounting in these areas requires management to use judgement. In relation to accruals this is with regards to a best estimate of costs that will be incurred based on contractual requirements. For depreciation these estimates are driven by the useful economic life of the associated assets. For revenue recognition management apply judgements in concluding on the point at which revenue should be recognised. Debtors are provided for when it is more likely than not that the payment will not be received.

TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS AND DEPRECIATION

All assets costing more than £750 are capitalised at historical cost and stated at cost less depreciation. Assets with a value of less than £750 are written off in the financial statements in the year of purchase.

No depreciation is provided on freehold land.

Depreciation is provided on freehold buildings at a rate calculated to write off this cost over fifty years on a straight-line basis. Capital expenditure on building improvement is written off over ten years.

Furniture, IT hardware and equipment assets are depreciated over a three-year period.

INTANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS

Major IT systems and software development are classed as intangible fixed assets and are depreciated over a tenyear period.

FIXED ASSET INVESTMENTS

Investments are a form of financial instrument and are initially recognised at their transaction value and subsequently measured at their fair value as at the balance sheet date using the closing quoted market price. The Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) includes the net gains and losses arising on revaluation and disposals throughout the year.

CASH AT BANK AND IN HAND

Cash at bank and in hand includes cash and short-term deposits with a maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.

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INCOME

All income is recognised once the charity has entitlement to the income, when it is more likely than not that the income will be received, and the amount of the income receivable can be measured reliably.

Grants and donations are, where appropriate, brought into the financial statements in the year in which they are receivable. Income is classified as a grant where it funds an entire stream of work. Income is recognised as a donation where it helps to fund our work.

Donated services and facilities are recognised when received, based on the estimated value of the donation to the charity. An equivalent amount of expenditure is also recognised.

GRANTS PAYABLE

Grants payable are recognised in the financial statements in the year in which they are paid.

EXPENDITURE

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required, and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. All expenses including support costs and governance costs are allocated or apportioned to the applicable expenditure headings. Irrecoverable Value Added Tax (VAT) is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.

Support costs are those functions that assist the work of the charity but do not directly undertake charitable activities. Support costs include administration, finance, premises and communications departments, which support The Place’s artistic programmes and educational activities. Support costs are allocated based on space used, to fairly recognise the demands on the building and support costs.

Governance costs comprise all costs involving the public accountability of the charity and its compliance with regulation and good practice.

TAXATION

Contemporary Dance Trust Limited is a charity registered in England and Wales and is not liable to United Kingdom income tax or corporation tax on its charitable activities. The charity claims theatre tax relief in respect of its productions, the benefit of which is recorded in the SOFA. The charity is unable to recover all of its Value Added Tax (see note 7).

FOREIGN CURRENCIES

Assets and liabilities in foreign currencies are translated into sterling at the rate of exchange ruling at the balance sheet date. Transactions in foreign currencies are translated at the rate ruling in the month the transaction takes place. All differences are taken to the SOFA.

PENSION FUNDING

The charity has a stakeholder pension scheme in place for all staff, which makes provision for an employer contribution. The annual cost of the pension scheme is charged to the SOFA.

FUND ACCOUNTING

Restricted funds are created where a donor specifies the intended future use of their donation. These are spent in accordance with the donor’s wishes. Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the Board in furtherance of the general objects of the charity.

FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

Basic financial assets, including trade and other receivables, cash and bank balances, and receivables from the subsidiary are recognised at the transaction price less any provision for non-recoverability. Investments, which are a form of financial instrument, are initially recognised at their transaction value and subsequently at fair value as explained above. Basic financial liabilities, including trade and other payable, are recognised at the transaction price.

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2. INCOME FROM DONATIONS AND LEGACIES
Unrestricted
Funds
£		 Restricted
Funds
£		 Total
2024
£		 Unrestricted
Funds
£		 Restricted
Funds
£		 Total
2023
£
Donations and legacies 142,892 452,246 595,138 63,791 275,492 339,283
Donated services 65,990 - 65,990 76,559 - 76,559
Total 208,882 452,246 661,128 140,350 275,492 415,842

3. GRANT AND FUNDRAISING INCOME
Unrestricted
2024
£		 Restricted
2024
£		 Total funds
2024
£		 Unrestricted
2023
£		 Restricted
2023
£		 Total funds
2023
£
Grant Income
Office for Students 2,106,975 35,164 2,142,139 1,787,475 39,422 1,826,897
Arts Council England Grant - 1,826,994 1,826,994 - 1,827,000 1,827,000
Arts Council England
Other Grants		 - 259,885 259,885 - 178,151 178,151
Department for Education Grant 323,531 - 323,531 263,557 - 263,557
Conservatoire for Dance
and Drama		 - - - 271,008 - 271,008
Other Grants and Fundraising - 66,254 66,254 35,658 35,486 71,144
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation - 100,000 100,000 - 140,000 140,000
Total 2,430,506 2,288,297 4,718,803 2,357,698 2,220,059 4,577,757
4. FEE INCOME BREAKDOWN
2024 2023
£ £
UK Undergraduates 1,213,285 1,291,755
Overseas Undergraduates 1,235,123 1,091,750
UK Postgraduates 257,305 69,483
Overseas Postgraduates 424,822 219,610
Part-time students 36,900 -
Short classes and courses 531,906 429,766
Centre for Advanced Training 566,511 499,954
Total paid by or on behalf of individual students 4,265,852 3,602,318

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5. EXPENDITURE

5. EXPENDITURE
Staff costs
£		 Other direct
costs
£		 Support
costs
£		 Allocation of
other costs
£		 Total
2024
£
Raising funds
Donations and sponsorships 124,615 31,618 - - 156,233
Costs of premises maintenance relating
to lettings		 356,641 187,584 62,755 - 606,980
481,256 219,202 62,755 - 763,213
Charitable activities
School and education 2,445,091 1,364,724 350,763 1,935,979 6,096,557
Theatre productions 1,341,772 1,169,315 95,854 953,542 3,560,483
Other costs of premises maintenance 1,204,378 1,685,142 - (2,889,520) -
4,991,241 4,219,182 446,617 - 9,657,040
Total expenditure 5,472,497 4,438,384 509,372 - 10,420,253

Prior Year Comparative - Expenditure 2022/23
Staff costs
£		 Other direct
costs
£		 Support
costs
£		 Allocation of
other costs
£		 Total
2023
£
Raising funds
Donations and sponsorships 114,412 5,470 - - 119,882
Costs of premises maintenance relating
to lettings		 307,391 238,725 52,378 - 598,494
421,803 244,195 52,378 - 718,376
Charitable activities
School and education 1,845,854 1,024,215 250,223 1,714,570 4,834,862
Theatre productions 1,155,883 987,097 53,099 883,263 3,079,342
Other costs of premises maintenance 1,090,238 1,507,595 - (2,597,833) -
4,091,975 3,518,907 303,322 - 7,914,204
Total expenditure 4,513,778 3,763,102 355,700 - 8,632,580

Other costs of premises maintenance staff cost figure inclues support staff costs of £777,587 (£724,831 in 2023).

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6. PARTICULARS OF STAFF AND THE COST OF KEY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL

The average number of employees employed during the year was 282 (2023: 275). This includes full-time and part-time employees and casual staff.

2023
No.
23
11
44
20
98
£
3,886,491
322,025
226,353
4,434,869
Full time equivalent 2024
No.
Administration 24
Services 10
Educational 46
Theatre 18
Total 98
Total staff costs were: £
Wages and salaries 4,744,791
Social security costs 382,973
Other pension costs 261,622
Total 5,389,386

Redundancy costs paid during the year were £4,750 (2023: £0)

The key management personnel comprise the Governors and the Directors

The total employee benefits of the key management personnel were £732,611 (2023: £721,770). *prior year figure reinstated to include Employer’s NI.

During the year the following employees were paid in the following bands:

12 months to July 2024 12 months to July 2023
£60,001 - £70,000 1 3
£70,001 - £80,000 2 0
£80,001 - £90,000 1 1
£90,001 - £100,000 1 1

The Chief Executive (Head of the Institution) was paid:

12 months to July 2024 12 months to July 2023
Salary 99,301 92,150
Pension Contributions 16,881 15,606
Total 116,182 107,756

The Chief Executive’s basic salary is 2.58 (2.67 in 2023) times the median pay of staff, where the median pay is calculated on a full-time equivalent basis for the salaries paid by the charity to its staff.

The Chief Executive’s total remuneration is 2.95 (2.95 in 2023) times the median total remuneration of staff, where the median total remuneration is calculated on a full-time equivalent basis for the total remuneration by the charity to its staff.

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7. NET INCOME

7. NET INCOME
2024
£		 2023
£
This is stated after charging:
Depreciation 319,779 368,185
Auditors remuneration:
– Current year audit 37,400 39,400
– Prior year audit - -
– Non-audit services 19,500 21,600
Irrecoverable VAT 306,647 198,312
Total 683,326 627,497

8. ACCESS AND PARTICIPATION EXPENDITURE

8. ACCESS AND PARTICIPATION EXPENDITURE
2024
£		 2023
£
Access Investment 176,330 154,323
Financial Support 112,054 100,845
Support for disabled students 15,443 21,216
Research and Evaluation 15,910 15,600
Total 319,736 291,984

Included in the above are costs of £91,046 (2023: £77,800) relating to staff who were intrinsic to the delivery of the organisation’s access and participation activities during the year.

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9. TANGIBLE AND INTANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS FOR CHARITY USE
Freehold
land and
buildings
£		 Plant
replacement
and IT
equipment
£		 Furniture
and
equipment
£		 Building
improvements,
fixtures and
fittings
£		 Total
tangible
fixed assets
£
At Cost 31 July 2023 8,766,737 269,307 537,391 886,491 10,459,926
Additions - 16,281 81,670 241,175 339,126
Disposals - (26,707) (5,770) - (32,477)
Transfers - - - - -
At 31 July 2024 8,766,737 258,881 613,291 1,127,666 10,766,575
Depreciation
At Cost 31 July 2023 3,742,668 226,117 458,431 744,153 5,171,369 116,307
Provided this year 170,307 34,357 50,405 38,308 293,377
Depreciation on Disposals - (26,707) (5,770) - (32,477)
Transfers - - - - -
At 31 July 2024 3,912,975 233,767 503,066 782,461 5,432,269
At 31 July 2023 5,024,069 43,190 78,960 142,338 5,288,557 131,730
At 31 July 2024 4,853,762 25,114 110,225 345,206 5,334,306 105,328

All fixed assets are used for direct charitable purposes.

A deed of covenant signed by the Board in 2014/15 in respect of the capital grant of £581,518 from Arts Council England contracts The Place to register a further charge and not, without written consent of Arts Council England, to assign, transfer or charge the Land.

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10. INVESTMENTS

£
Fund Value as at 31 July 2023 181,852
Investment Income: re-invested in fund 4,203
Increase/(decrease in investment value) 9,450
Fund Value as at 31 July 2024 195,505
95 day deposit account 1,602,831
Total investment valuation at 31 July 2024 1,798,336

11. DEBTORS

2024
£		 2023
£
Trade debtors
157,739		 166,648
Other debtors
13,939		 9,893
Prepayments and accrued income
380,022		 500,271
Total
551,700		 676,812

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12. CREDITORS

12. CREDITORS
2024
£		 2023
£
Amounts falling due within one year:
Trade creditors 497,635 85,379
Other taxes and social security 92,251 100,255
Accruals and deferred income 1,007,986 997,544
Total 1,597,872 1,183,178

Deferred income

Deferred income comprises fees receivable in advance

Deferred income comprises fees receivable in advance
2024
£		 2023
£
Opening balance 182,904 150,467
Amount released to income (182,904) (150,467)
Amount deferred in period 266,659 182,904
Closing Balance 266,659 182,904

A contract with Novex Solutions Ltd was in place at 31st July 2024 for building and refurbishment works. The total value of the contract is £603,960. £217,425 of this amount was reflected in 2023/24, the remainder of the contract, £386,536 will be payable in 2024/25.

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13. MEMBERS’ GUARANTEES

The charity is a company limited by a guarantee not exceeding £5 per member. The number of members as at 31 July 2024 was 13 (15 in 2023) and the total of such guarantees amounted to £65 (£75 in 2023). The Governors are the members of the charity.

14. FUNDS

a) Fund movements

a) Fund movements
Movements in
Balance as at
31 July 2023
£		 Income/

Investment
gains
£		 Expenditure
£		 Taxation
£		 Transfers
in/(out)
£		 Balance as at
31 July 2024
£
Unrestricted funds 3,451,832 7,770,636 (7,539,899) 172,446 29,764 3,884,779
Total unrestricted funds 3,451,832 7,770,636 (7,539,899) 172,446 29,764 3,884,779
Restricted funds
Student Hardship Fund 62,514 242,418 (260,450) - (29,764) 14,718
Pioneering Fund 37,046 45,381 (38,136) - - 44,291
Place for the Future 4,587,640 180,000 (187,584) - - 4,580,056
Other Theatre Grants 1,615 165,251 (156,302) - - 10,564
Other Educational Grants 32,047 35,164 (31,216) - - 35,995
Arts Council of England - 1,826,994 (1,826,994) - - -
Rural Touring Dance Initiative 56,548 339,069 (379,672) - - 15,945
Total restricted funds 4,777,410 2,834,276 (2,880,354) - (29,764) 4,701,568
TOTAL funds (2023/24) 8,229,242 10,604,912 (10,420,253) 172,446 - 8,586,347
Movements in
Balance as at
31 July 2022
gains
£		 Income/
Investment
losses
£		 Expenditure/
Investment
£		 Taxation
£		 Transfers
in/(out)
£		 Balance as at
31 July 2023
£
Unrestricted funds 2,386,658 6,864,360 (5,971,008) 171,822 - 3,451,832
Total unrestricted funds 2,386,658 6,864,360 (5,971,008) 171,822 - 3,451,832
Restricted funds
Student Hardship Fund 51,037 226,987 (215,510) - - 62,514
Pioneering Fund 18,647 51,449 (33,050) - - 37,046
Place for the Future 4,826,365 - (238,725) - - 4,587,640
Other Theatre Grants 34,618 211,337 (244,340) - - 1,615
Other Educational Grants 13,885 37,657 (19,495) - - 32,047
Arts Council of England - 1,827,000 (1,827,000) - - -
Rural Touring Dance Initiative - 140,000 (83,452) - - 56,548
Total restricted funds 4,944,552 2,494,430 (2,661,572) - - 4,777,410
TOTAL funds (2022/23) 7,331,210 9,358,790 (8,632,580) 171,822 - 8,229,242

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Student Hardship Fund

Funds raised that are to be used for educational purposes are held in this fund. The fund is used to encourage and support current students at the Board’s discretion.

Pioneering Fund

The Pioneering Fund has been established to help provide The Place with the financial resources necessary to allow it to take creative and artistic risks and support ground-breaking initiatives, and to support those ideas which push contemporary dance into previously unexplored territory.

The Place for the Future Fund

This fund represents the income and expenditure on the Lottery and King’s Cross Partnership funded project to undertake the rebuilding and improvement of The Place in 2000 and additional capital works completed with the aid of further grant income. Depreciation is charged against this fund every year.

Other Educational Grants

This fund represents the income and expenditure relating to educational projects for which specific grants have been received.

Arts Council England

This fund represents funding received from the Arts Council England relating to non-school activities which they fund.These grants have been treated as restricted expenditure for activity.

Rural Touring Dance Initiative

The Rural Dance Touring Initiative is a national dance project working in rural areas funded by Esmee Fairburn and Arts Council England over 4.5 years.

b) Analysis of net assets between funds

2024 2024 2024
Unrestricted Funds
£		 Restricted Funds
£		 Total Funds
£
Fund balances at 31 July 2024 are represented by:
Intangible fixed assets 105,328 - 105,328
Tangible fixed assets 718,255 4,616,051 5,334,306
Investments 1,793,556 4,781 1,798,337
Current assets 2,865,512 80,736 2,946,248
Current liabilities (1,597,872) - (1,597,872)
Total 3,884,779 4,701,568 8,586,347
2023 2023 2023
Unrestricted Funds
£		 Restricted Funds
£		 Total Funds
£
Fund balances at 31 July 2023 are represented by:
Intangible fixed assets 131,730 - 131,730
Tangible fixed assets 668,870 4,619,687 5,288,557
Investments 1,690,246 10,909 1,701,155
Current assets 2,144,164 146,814 2,290,978
Current liabilities (1,183,178) - (1,183,178)
Total 3,451,832 4,777,410 8,229,242

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15. OPERATING LEASE COMMITMENTS

2024
£		 2023
£
In 1 year 3,733 5,639
In 2 to 5 years 0 3,733
Outstanding Leasing commitments 3,733 9,372

16. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

The Charity received donations without conditions or restrictions from members of the Board during the year of £2,000 (£11,600 in 2023).

Michael Asante who served as a Governor (charity trustee) in the year, has his own company MikeyJDotNet Ltd. The company provided DJs as part of the LCDS Undergraduate programme totalling £197 for the year. All amounts due to MikeyJDotNet Ltd were fully paid during the year. Michael Asante was employed as Artistic Director of Boy Blue Entertainment Ltd. The company provided dance artists for the Classes and Courses summer intensives programme, totalling £1,200 for the year. The cost of this service provided at the end of July was accrued, the invoice has been recieved since and due to be paid within the 30 day payment terms.

Rosalind Wynn who served as a Governor (charity trustee) in the year, is also the Executive Producer at Dickson MBi Company. The company provided a speaker for the LCDS BA3 ceremony totalling £150 for the year. All amounts due to Dickson MBi Company were fully paid during the year.

Clare Connor, who served as Chief Executive Officer in the year, is also a trustee of Dance Umbrella. She left the Board on the 12th December 2023. The Charity paid £4,500 to Dance Umbrella Ltd during the year for services rendered. Income from performances by Dance Umbrella came to £1,400. Clare is a member of One Dance UK Honours Advisory Group. The charity paid £4,067 to One Dance UK for services rendered. All amounts were fully paid during the year.

Eddie Nixon who is the Artistic Director at The Place, is also the Co-Chair for Pavilion Dance South West. The company provided tea trolley services for a Producing and Touring sharing event totalling £54 for the year. All amounts due to Pavillion Dance South West were fully paid during the year.

During the year £113 was paid to one trustee as a gift.

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17. STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE PREVIOUS PERIOD (31 JULY 2023)
Notes Unrestricted
Funds
£		 Restricted
Funds
£		 Total
2023
£		 Total
2022
£
Income from:
Donations and legacies 2 140,350 275,492 415,842 376,781
Charitable activities
Grants 3 2,357,698 2,220,059 4,577,757 3,197,835
School fees and education 4 3,602,318 - 3,602,318 3,299,076
Performances 275,586 - 275,586 251,815
Other 127,410 - 127,410 99,543
Other trading activities
Lettings 248,845 - 248,845 190,493
Other 62,969 - 62,969 40,547
Investments 49,184 3,975 53,159 5,595
Total income 6,864,360 2,499,526 9,363,886 7,461,685
Expenditure on:
Raising funds
Donations and sponsorships 119,882 - 119,882 106,637
Costs of premises maintenance
relating to lettings and grants		 359,769 238,725 598,494 540,887
479,651 238,725 718,376 647,524
Charitable activities
School and education 4,599,857 235,005 4,834,862 3,808,914
Theatre productions 891,500 2,187,842 3,079,342 3,130,341
5,491,357 2,422,847 7,914,204 6,939,255
Total expenditure 5 5,971,008 2,661,572 8,632,580 7,586,779
Net income / (expenditure) before investment loss 893,352 (162,046) 731,306 (125,094)
Net gain/(loss) on investments - (5,096) (5,096) 4,138
Net income / (expenditure) 893,352 (167,142) 726,210 (120,956)
Taxation 171,822 - 171,822 132,368
Net income/ (expenditure) and net movement in
funds for the year after taxation		 1,065,174 (167,142) 898,032 11,412
Transfer of Funds - - - -
Net movement in funds 1,065,174 (167,142) 898,032 11,412
Total funds at 1 August 2022 2,386,658 4,944,552 7,331,210 7,319,798
Total funds at 31 July 2023 14 3,451,832 4,777,410 8,229,242 7,331,210

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CONTEMPORARY DANCE TRUST LIMITED. A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE. Company Number: 883094 Charity Number: 250216

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Percolator 2024, work by Liam Francis, image by Rocio Chacon. Front cover image: The Place Adult Classes, image by Roswitha Chesher.
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