OpenCharities

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

2025-03-31-accounts

Royal Academy of Engineering Annual report and accounts 2024/25 l A •6 ,,Il

02

04

Who are we?

A CHARITY

We deliver public benefit from engineering excellence and technology innovation.

A NATIONAL ACADEMY

We provide progressive leadership for engineering and technology, and independent expert advice to government, in the UK and beyond.

A FELLOWSHIP

We bring together an unrivalled community of leading businesspeople, entrepreneurs, innovators and academics from every part of engineering and technology.

Values

In everything we do, we are guided by our five values:

PROGRESSIVE LEADERSHIP

Embody the courage and commitment to drive positive change for engineering and society.

EQUITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

Create a culture where everyone feels valued, and can thrive and strive for excellence.

EXCELLENCE FOR IMPACT

OUR VISION

is engineering and technology in the service of society.

OUR CHARITABLE MISSION

is to deliver public benefit through engineering excellence and technology innovation.

COLLABORATION FIRST

Work in collaboration and partnership with our community and stakeholders to improve outcomes.

CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION

Pursue opportunities to think differently, try novel approaches and test new ideas.

Contents

Foreword

Building a sustainable society and an inclusive economy 2024/25

Our impact nationally
and internationally 2024/25 06
Our impact over the past five years 08
Talent and diversity 10
Innovation 18
Policy and engagement 26
People and operations 34
Future plans 42

Instil a mindset where evidence, expertise, integrity and passion deliver meaningful impact.

Royal Academy of Engineering Incorporated by Royal Charter

HM King Charles III OM KSO

Patron

HRH The Princess Royal KG KT GCVO QSO Royal Fellow

HRH The Duke of Kent KG GCMG GCVO Royal Fellow

Sir John Lazar CBE FREng President

HRH The Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh KG KT OM GBE Late Founding Senior Fellow

KEY CONTACTS

Fellowship: membership@raeng.org.uk | 020 7766 0600 Events: events@raeng.org.uk Awards: awards@raeng.org.uk Awardee Excellence Community: awardees@raeng.org.uk

Front cover photo:

Engineers work with medical robotic equipment © Rolls-Royce

Acknowledgement: Our work is enabled by funding from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, corporate and university partners, charitable trusts and foundations, and individual donors.

Report of the Trustee Board 48 Consolidated statement of
Royal Academy of Engineering cash fows 62
(parent charity of group) structure, Notes to the accounts 64
governance and management 56 Legal and
Auditor’s report – administrative information 79
To Be Updated 58 Partners, supporters and donors 80
Consolidated statement
of fnancial activities 60 Events highlights 2024/25 82
Balance sheets 61 Products 83
Awards 84

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering

01

Foreword

Sir John Lazar CBE FREng President Royal Academy of Engineering

Dr Hayaatun Sillem CBE CEO Royal Academy of Engineering

CEO

Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation

This annual report not only marks the end of another financial year, but the end of a five-year strategy period, and the completion of Professor Sir Jim McDonald GBE FREng FRSE’s term as President.

Over his five-year tenure, Sir Jim brought enormous energy to the Academy’s activities and led us through a period of significant growth, as well as one that saw complex challenges for society as a whole.

When our last strategy was launched in 2020, we had just started feeling the effects of COVID-19. From providing advice to government and facilitating the contribution of engineers to the pandemic response, to supporting African engineering entrepreneurs to develop personal protective equipment (PPE), we played our part in mobilising the global engineering community.

Since then, the Academy has continued to deliver meaningful impact through both planned programmes of activity and agile responses to emerging societal need. In the last year, we have made some of the most significant contributions to our twin goals for the 2020 to 2025 strategy period: a sustainable society and an inclusive economy.

For example, in September 2024, we launched our Green Future Fellowships, a £150 million programme in partnership with government to accelerate climate innovation. Delivered via a fund that is expected to be applied over 20 years, this novel approach will support leading engineers and scientists to develop solutions to reduce carbon emissions across the UK and the world. That government was willing to fund us

in this way reflects the high level of confidence they have in the excellence of our programmes. And the programme itself has received unprecedented interest, reflected in over 800 initial applications from around the world.

Our grantmaking activities to advance a sustainable society have been complemented by the work of the National Engineering Policy Centre (NEPC). Over the last year it has published expert advice on: retrofitting buildings to make them safer and more sustainable; reducing our reliance on critical materials; minimising public health risks from wastewater pollution; and rapid decarbonisation of the energy system. The wastewater and energy system reports were both important commissions that reflect the strong reputation of the Academy and NEPC, built up over many years, for delivering expertinformed and practical policy advice, and attracted significant media and government engagement.

The last year also saw the Academy become a partner in the Sustainable Markets Initiative, which was founded by His Majesty King Charles III in 2020. The partnership will help connect Academy expertise to over 250 global companies and follows His Majesty becoming the Academy’s patron last year. We are, as always, honoured to have ongoing endorsement from members of the Royal Family, who support many of our events and activities.

Over the last strategy period, we’ve also prioritised building and mobilising regional, national and global networks of innovators. The continued development of our Enterprise Hub has resulted in it being identified by the FT/Statista as a top three startup hub in the UK, and opening bases in five regions across the UK, with plans for further expansion. Meanwhile, our international programmes have enabled awardees and alumni to build connections, commercialise their innovations and benefit their local communities. This is something that we will continue to build on with our new strategy’s place-based approach, to ensure that engineering is really delivering for the needs of people in different contexts.

Ensuring the UK has a world-leading, diverse engineering workforce has been a key pillar in our efforts to build an inclusive economy, and we’re seeing the Academy’s leadership over the last five years reap results. Data has shown that our longstanding This is Engineering campaign to inspire teenagers, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds, to consider engineering careers has measurably influenced young people’s decision to choose engineering degrees and contributed to an uplift in applications to engineering courses. We’ve also relaunched our schools programmes as This is Engineering: Schools in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, and the West Midlands to align with the campaign and build on learnings and best practice from our previous support for schools and teachers.

As the financial year drew to an end, we launched our strategy for the next five years – Engineering better lives – building on the successes of the last strategy period and responding to the ever more complex global challenges and rapid technological developments of this era. As our 50[th] anniversary approaches, we’ll be applying the experience and expertise we’ve built, not only to the continuing challenges of sustainable and secure energy and the need to attract a new generation into engineering, but to the impacts of AI on society, increasing needs around security and resilience, and how engineering education, at every career stage, can support these needs well into the future.

Our new strategy draws on the most extensive consultation we’ve ever carried out, and we cannot emphasise enough how crucial the involvement and guidance of the Academy’s Fellows, awardees and partners has been and will continue to be to our ability to deliver impact. This is reflected in the very simple description of our role in the new strategy: we create and lead a community of outstanding experts and innovators to engineer better lives. None of the progress described in this report would happen without the generosity, commitment and expertise of our community, and we hope that you will be inspired to join us in our ambition to engineer better lives in the years ahead.

02 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering

03

Building a sustainable society...

120

We partnered with Google DeepMind and HG Foundation to support up to 120 undergraduate students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds by offering AI research placements at leading UK universities.

600

30

Alongside the UK’s other National Academies, we hosted a parliamentary showcase focused on our work in climate and sustainability, which was attended by Lords and MPs from across Westminster.

We launched a report recommending upgrades needed in wastewater infrastructure to protect public health that received over 600 pieces of media coverage.

We hosted almost 30 consultation events for our new strategy with Fellows, awardees, stakeholders and staff at locations across the UK and online.

In partnership with Imperial College London, we announced a new Science and Technology Venture Capital Fellowship, funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, to help investors identify and invest in high-potential, scalable, life science and deep-tech ventures.

Our Rapid Decarbonisation of the GB Energy System report, was launched at an event within Parliament where Energy Minister, Michael Shanks, spoke on its importance and timeliness. The report was widely reported in the media.

10

We worked with Formula 1 to develop a Diversity and Inclusion Charter, signed by all 10 Formula 1 teams and the sport’s governing body, the FIA, which was one of the key recommendations of The Hamilton Commission.

£150m

We launched Green Future Fellowships, a novel £150m programme to accelerate climate innovation in partnership with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

Top 3

The Enterprise Hub was named number three in the UK in the Financial Times and Statista’s 2025 ranking of startup hubs, and first in the UK for networking.

250

£1.35m

We joined the Sustainable Markets Initiative as an official partner to collaborate with its network of over 250 global companies on engineering-led projects that will accelerate the transition to a sustainable, resilient and inclusive economy.

in grants awarded across seven countries through our Africa programmes to projects helping to strengthen professional engineering institutions and address skills shortages via academia–industry collaborations.

... and an inclusive economy in 2024/25

04 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering

05

Our impact nationally…

We welcomed over 100 Academy awardees and alumni to our first Awardee Excellence Community conference, which celebrated our diverse community and encouraged networking, collaboration and building new partnerships.

We kicked off This is Engineering: Schools – Scotland with 20 schools across Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire. This follows the success of This is Engineering: Schools – Welsh Valleys , which this year received significant funding from the Welsh Government Tech Valleys programme and the Panasonic Trust to boost the number of schools it supports to over 70.

Our MSc in Motorsport Scholars spent a day with Sir Lewis Hamilton HonFREng at Silverstone, sharing the positive impact of the scholarships. The five awardees have since all secured roles in motorsport and continue to be ambassadors to inspire the next generation hoping to enter the industry.

We launched regional Enterprise Hubs in both Glasgow and Newcastle to support local engineering and technology entrepreneurs, boosting investment and growing businesses in the areas.

The Bhattacharyya Award, which recognises an industry– academia partnership that has benefited society, was awarded to the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, a collaboration between the University of Sheffield and The Boeing Company that has led to £350m of inward investment, 2,500 jobs and 2,000 apprenticeships trained.

The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering was awarded to the seven innovators behind modern machine learning, announced by Lord Patrick Vallance of Balham KCB HonFREng FRS FMedSci, Chair of the QEPrize Foundation and Science Minister, at a reception at the Science Museum.

We hosted a delegation of nuclear energy experts from across industry and academia from the National Academy of Engineering of Korea to discuss shared goals, challenges and collaboration opportunities. The UK delegation then paid a return visit to attend the Korea–UK Clean Energy Workshop on nuclear energy in Seoul.

We led a UK delegation to China, which included experts from policy, academia and industry, for a bilateral exchange exploring advances in carbon capture utilisation and storage.

The Leaders in Innovation Fellowships Global programme held six in-person events in nine countries, bringing four days of training, mentoring and networking to over 75 awardees, to strengthen their entrepreneurial mindsets to commercialise impactful research.

We joined our Danish counterpart, Akademiet for de Tekniske Videnskaber, in Copenhagen for an event celebrating 2024 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Laureates, Andrew Garrad CBE FREng and Henrik Stiesdal, who spoke about wind power’s place in the global energy mix.

We hosted a successful workshop in Cape Town with awardees from across four of the Academy’s programmes who are undertaking research, working with industry to update engineering curricula, and strengthening the engineering profession on the African continent.

We held a Frontiers symposium in Australia for the first time, in partnership with the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, which brought together over 60 researchers and engineers from 19 countries to talk about fostering resilience, sustainable communities and climate adaptation.

Our Frontiers and Engineering X programmes came together to focus on a transition to sustainable energy in Colombia at a three-day symposium. UK and Colombian partners from academia, government, industry, civil society, and financial institutions discussed their roles in the energy transition in the country.

…and internationally in 2024/25

06 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering

07

Our impact over the past five years…

We launched our MSc Motorsports Scholarship in direct response to The Hamilton Commission report, which made recommendations to improve representation of Black people in motorsport .

Innovators supported by the Leaders in Innovation Fellowships programme have created almost 7,000 jobs and formed 225 new companies .

As we come to the end of our 2020 to 2025 strategy period, our activities have achieved significant impact, which has shaped our strategy to 2030.

Our This is Engineering campaign films have been viewed over 65m times , and have contributed to a measurable increase in the number of students studying engineering.

Researchers supported by our Chairs in Emerging Technologies programme have raised £140m in additional funding; supported 357 team members ; created 14 spinout companies; and fostered 205 UK and

Created a novel £150m programme in partnership with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) to accelerate climate innovation over a 10-year period through Green Future Fellowships.

We launched the Awardee Excellence Community to unite more than 3,000 current and past awardees and prize winners from our UK and international programmes, and build a powerful, vibrant, connected, and diverse community of engineers to work with each other and the Academy.

165 international collaborations.

Our education programmes supported over 10,500 teachers across 7,500 schools to engage 970,000 students in engineering.

Recommendations from our governmentcommissioned review of the UK 2019 National Security Risk Assessment methodology have been implemented by the Cabinet Office and we continue to support their commitment to an alternative approach to risk assessment.

The Enterprise Hub has been named a leading European startup hub for two years running by the Financial Times , having supported more than 500 entrepreneurs

More than 10m people in over 40 countries have benefited from products and services developed by Africa Prize alumni, who have raised $39m in grants and equity while 71% of their businesses are now generating revenue.

The National Engineering Policy Centre shaped public messaging on COVID-19.

The Regional Talent Engines programme has supported 151 earlystage founders across Northern England, Northern Ireland and Wales, who together have gone on to raise £19 million in further funding.

Through a multistakeholder partnership, Engineering X secured a resolution to end open burning in Africa by 2040, signed by 54 African Ministers at the 2022 African Ministerial Conference on Environment.

Over £1m in funding has been awarded through Amazon Future Engineer Scholarships since 2021 to support women from lowincome backgrounds study engineering or a computerscience related degree.

Over 4m members of the public have engaged with engineers and engineering through our Ingenious programme.

08 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering 09

----- Start of picture text -----
Attendees at the inaugural Awardee
Excellence Community conference
in Manchester participate in team
building workshops
----- End of picture text -----

Talent and diversity

In the face of complex, evolving and interconnected global challenges, we need more engineers and technicians than ever, with a wider range of skills and perspectives.

It is important this workforce is fit for the future – reflecting society in its diversity and committed to creating inclusive cultures that enable excellence – and has the skills to meet future needs safely, securely and ethically, while keeping pace with innovation.

One of our key goals over the past five years has been helping to build this workforce – both in the UK and internationally – and ensuring that it is supported in its ongoing development.

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering

11

Supporting tomorrow’s engineers

Our new This is Engineering: Schools programme supports STEM education across Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and the West Midlands in both rural and inter-city areas of high socio-economic deprivation. Closely aligned with the This is Engineering campaign, the schools programme builds on the learnings and best practice from our previous education programmes and aims to change learners’ perceptions of engineering, inspire their participation in STEM subjects, and boost teacher knowledge and confidence – while reflecting the regional context of all the areas we work in. It also focuses on increasing participation from students who are women and from other groups underrepresented in engineering.

This is Engineering: Schools – Welsh Valleys secured

significant funding from partners the Welsh Government Tech Valley programme and the Panasonic Trust this year, meaning that an additional 20 primary and secondary schools in Caerphilly joined the project. Formerly the Welsh Valleys Engineering Programme, more than 15,000 school pupils and 3,000 college students have participated since 2018. Seventeen businesses supported the employer engagement strand between 2021 and 2024, developing STEM challenge projects with teachers that focused on building careers awareness and employability skills. These projects engaged 4,650 pupils across primary, secondary and special educational needs schools.

In March, we launched the Scotland strand of the project with primary and secondary schools in Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire, supported by Boeing, the Royal Air Force, SGN, Venterra, and the estate of the late Mr John Gozzard. A launch event at Aberdeen Science Centre allowed students aged between 9 and 14 to enjoy hands-on engineering activities and hear from some of today’s young engineers about why they chose engineering as a career. Teachers and students also met local representatives from engineering businesses and local employers who shared insights into what it takes to be an engineer and the wide range of job and career opportunities engineering offers.

----- Start of picture text -----
12 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25
----- End of picture text -----

90 women suppor[+] ted to study STEMrelated degrees at UK universities through the Amazon Future Engineers Scholarships .

4[,6][5][0]

pupils engaged by the This is Engineering: Schools – Welsh Valleys programmes, across primary, secondary and special educational needs schools.

Attendees try out the activities on offer at Aberdeen Science Centre at the launch of This is Engineering: Schools – Scotland .

We also awarded grants to our second cohort of students

participating in the MSc Motorsport Scholarships Programme ,

run in partnership with Sir Lewis Hamilton HonFREng’s charitable foundation Mission 44. The three women and five men in the cohort joined the programme at a special event in November at the Formula 1[®] Exhibition at Excel London, hosted by Ariana Bravo, Formula 1 presenter for Channel 4 and F1 TV. The latest scholars had a Q&A session with engineers from Formula 1[®] and the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 team. They also met some Our second cohort of the scholars from the first year of the programme who have of MSc Motorsport graduated and successfully secured jobs in F1 and the wider Scholars at the Formula 1 sector and will also act as mentors, to further strengthen the Exhibition at Excel community of emerging motorsports professionals. London in November.

“A shortage of skilled engineers is one of the key challenges to growing the renewables industry. This schools programme seeks to encourage 9- to 14-yearolds to pursue engineering, which is the ideal age to embrace the engineering discipline. It is a pivotal time for young people when they are gaining clarity on their career paths and seeking opportunities for meaningful impact. Venterra is delighted to be supporting this initiative aiming to empower the next generation of engineers and innovators.”

Gwen Folland , Head of External Affairs at Venterra, one of the companies supporting This is Engineering: Schools – Scotland

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering

13

Graduate Engineering Engagement Programme:

Peer-to-peer mentoring

This year, two of our programmes that aim to enhance the learning, teaching and skills of engineering students came together to develop a unique peer-to-peer mentoring network.

Our Engineering Leaders Scholarship (ELS) programme supports ambitious undergraduates in UK higher education institutions who display the potential to become leaders and innovators in engineering. Meanwhile, the Visiting Professors scheme allows industrial engineers and entrepreneurs to participate in university teaching. With support from Visiting Professor Dr Emma Taylor and external peer mentors from across industry and academia, ELS awardees have developed their own peer-to-peer mentoring community to support one another in accelerating career impact.

A dedicated mentoring group has created and managed the network over the past 12 months in response to an ELS-led proposal at the 2023 annual conference. The network aims to bridge age and knowledge gaps and help break down barriers to opportunity. The core activity for this first year of peer-to-peer mentoring has been supporting one another with developing personal development plans, in line with the ELS programme’s aim of awardees moving into engineering leadership roles early in their careers.

One impact project already delivered was a Google-hosted hackathon as part of the Engineers for Deaf Awareness Project (E-DAP), an initiative established by Dr Taylor that focuses on making deaf awareness standard practice in engineering. ELS scholars visited Google’s Accessibility Discovery Centre for a tour of the technology at the centre, before taking part in the hackathon. This was aimed at developing integrated technology support for deaf individuals in professional and academic settings. The team heard a keynote talk and benefited from valuable advice provided by the RNID (the Royal National Institute for Deaf People), a Google Accessibility Discovery Centre partner. Members of the group have also joined career workshops and delivered a workshop at the Awardee Excellence Community conference.

Members of the mentoring network at the 2024 ELS annual conference.

Creating an inclusive workforce

In 2024, the Graduate Engineering Engagement Programme

1,3k

(GEEP) celebrated 10 years . Run in partnership with engineering employers including Amey, Rolls-Royce, bp, Johnson Matthey, National Grid, COWI and BAM, GEEP aims to increase the numbers of engineering graduates from diverse backgrounds entering the profession and has worked with over 300 volunteers from more than 50 companies. In the 10 years that it has been running, more than 1,300 students from over 70 universities have taken part, 30% of whom were women and over 90% from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. The programme has led to at least 320 engineering employment opportunities including internships, graduate placements and jobs. In recent years, we have delivered the programme in partnership with the Windsor Fellowship and with support from the Association for Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers and the Women’s Engineering Society.

students

70

universities

30%

Early in 2025, we celebrated the graduation of our very first

cohort of Inclusive Leadership Programme awardees – 48 engineering and HR professionals across all levels from 12 companies including Hitachi Rail, Mott MacDonald, Rolls-Royce, The Manufacturing Technology Centre, and Zurich Engineering. This marks a significant milestone in our efforts to create a truly inclusive UK engineering workforce. The three-year pilot programme aims to develop a scalable, practical and evidencebased model for building inclusive leadership mindsets in engineering industry, which we can scale to upskill engineering leaders at all levels and support them to create a more inclusive engineering culture and more impactful engineering products, services and outcomes for society.

women

90%

from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.

“The Inclusive Leadership Programme has helped me develop the awareness to be more considerate, more articulate when addressing issues and more confident to call out micro-aggressions or raise objections to bias experienced at work. I’d like to see the engineering industry cultivate an inclusive culture from the top and embed it into the training and career development of new and existing engineers as they grow.”

Matt Thomas , Chief Engineer, The Manufacturing Technology Centre

14 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering

15

Investing in talent

Training, supporting, mentoring and funding the most

talented and creative researchers and innovators is at the core of the Academy’s objectives. This year, with Technopolis, we carried out an evaluation of three of our well-established programmes – Research Fellowships, Research Chairs/Senior Research Fellowships, and Chairs in Emerging Technologies (CiET) – to monitor our progress. The findings showed that all of the programmes have contributed to their four key impact areas: research capability, career progression and leadership, innovation in engineering businesses, and social and policy impact. Over three quarters of awardees surveyed reported that the research award contributed to their career progression ‘to a great extent’. One highlight in the findings is demonstration of the Academy’s strong ability to effectively link engineering research with industry needs, as shown by high levels of collaboration with industry in published articles, significant levels of follow-on funding gained from industry, and substantial economic value created by spinouts that have emerged from the research. 97% of awardees agreed that their award has enhanced their ability to collaborate with industry and research users, while industry partners said that Academy research programmes have led to the development of new products

The 2024 Research Forum brings together Academy Fellows, awardees, researchers and industry partners from all career stages and disciplines. The cutting-edge research represented highlights the vital role that the Academy plays in supporting the development of successful engineering breakthroughs and collaborating with business to deliver economic and social benefit to the UK.

or services and patents. These innovations have resulted in significant financial benefits: industry partners estimate that financial gains accumulated so far from those developments equate to £2.4 million. More than 80% also stated that the relationship with the academic partner will continue or has continued after the end of the project.

Successes from some of our supported researchers this year include Chair in Emerging Technologies Professor Timothy Denison FREng closing a $100 million Series A financing for his work with Amber Therapeutics on breakthrough neuromodulation therapy for mixed urinary incontinence in women. Dr Andrew Lamb, an alumnus of the UK Intelligence Community Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, was also awarded a £2.4 million Small Business Research Initiative contract through his spinout company Delta g to develop the next generation of gravity gradient sensors and support the strategic growth of the UK as a quantum authority.

2025 also saw the launch of our Engineers for Africa report on World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development. The report follows on from the 2012 report authored by the Academy and Engineers Against Poverty, who joined us again along with consulting firm Dalberg to publish a comprehensive update. The 2012 report led to the launch of Academy programmes to strengthen engineering capacity in sub-Saharan Africa, including Africa Catalyst, Higher Education Partnerships in subSaharan Africa and the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation. While not primary research, the 2025 report aims to serve as a helpful resource for people working on capacity development for the engineering community in sub-Saharan Africa. It takes into account a range of perspectives to collate trends on what has worked and can be replicated or scaled, as well as the challenges that remain. It has also been translated into French to increase its accessibility for a wider audience.

Engineers for Africa

£3.77 / £1

2.4m

financial gains accumulated so far from innovation developments.

For every £1 of Academy funding awarded, Research Fellows secured an additional £3.77 in UK research funding.

16 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering

17

----- Start of picture text -----
Enterprise Hub member Ben Crowther
of LettUs Grow, which has developed
aeroponic farming technology for vertical
farms. Since receiving support from the
Shott Scale Up Accelerator in 2018, the
company has grown rapidly, closed a
£2.35 million seed investment round and
received funding from Innovate UK.
----- End of picture text -----

Innovation

Innovative industries and engineering enterprise have the power to improve productivity, public health, sustainability, safety and security.

Over the past five years, we have focused on supporting engineering innovators to thrive and develop commercially scalable solutions, while encouraging increased and closer links between industry and academia – from supporting entrepreneurs directly and investing in research to working towards an evidence-based and supportive policy environment.

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering

19

Engineering a greener future

After receiving a £150 million endowment-style fund from

government in early 2024 – the first time in 25 years that government has funded this way – we launched Green Future Fellowships, the largest, most adventurous call for applications we have ever made. The programme will support engineers, scientists, researchers and innovators to accelerate their critical technologies into scalable, commercially viable products that will have a significant and lasting impact on global climate resilience. The programme received over 800 expressions of interest – our highest number of applications to a programme by a large margin.

At our Awards Dinner, the 2024 MacRobert Award was

presented to Google DeepMind for GraphCast . Its AI-powered

technology uses cutting edge machine-learning algorithms and vast data sets to provide highly accurate and more timely weather predictions that, among other advantages, could help mitigate the impact of severe weather events and, ultimately, save lives. The announcement received coverage in several outlets, including on Radio 4 and in the Telegraph and the New York Times . It was also the subject of a MacRobert Award special Innovation Incoming event in October, Weather Warnings from AI – a panel discussion hosted by BBC weather forecaster Tomasz Schafernaker that featured insights from Dr Peter Battaglia, who headed up the GraphCast team; Professor Penelope Endersby CBE FREng, CEO of the Met Office; Sir Richard Friend FREng, Chair of the MacRobert Committee; and catastrophe risk modelling expert Dr Joshua Macabuag FREng.

The Google DeepMind team behind GraphCast with their MacRobert Award certificate at the Awards Dinner.

Transforming Systems through Partnership

In February, we kicked off celebrations for the 10[th] anniversary of Engineering X’s Transforming Systems through Partnership (TSP) programme, which catalyses and supports industry– academia partnerships between the UK and partner countries to address the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The celebrations began with a three-day event in London, where we were joined by 40 TSP awardees from eight countries. During the event the awardees reflected on the achievements over the last 10 years, built their networks, explored the UK ecosystem with a visit to the Maxwell Centre at the University of Cambridge, and helped plan the programme’s future.

Over the 10 years, 82% of awardees said that TSP was a very good or excellent use of their time, noting that it has helped them develop new skills and access new knowledge, and opened up opportunities to build professional networks and apply tech solutions in the real world. On a wider scale, organisations involved in the programme have built new partnerships, accessed new funding sources, and developed new technology, patents, prototypes and proof of concepts.

In Colombia, three TSP projects resulted in a peer-to-peer energy trading pilot, giving local communities access to renewable energy for the first time and creating cost savings. In April 2023, the President of Colombia posted an article about the project to his 7.1 million followers on X. In Thailand, a project explored how to prevent hazardous waste being released when dismantling and recycling offshore structures, leading to the drafting of Thailand’s first-ever decommissioning law and enhanced waste management regulations in the country.

40

Transforming Systems through Partnership awardees joined the celebrations for its 10[th] anniversary.

82%

of awardees said that TSP was a very good or excellent use of their time.

Attendees at the TSP 10-year celebration take part in a workshop.

20 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering

21

Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation overall:

Support for innovators, everywhere

Across the past year, our regional footprint has continued

to grow. In May 2024, we launched Enterprise Hub Scotland. Based in Glasgow and with support from Glasgow City Council, Glasgow City Innovation District, National Manufacturing Institute Scotland and Scottish Enterprise, the Hub is addressing the current opportunities and challenges facing Scotland’s innovation ecosystem. Through collaboration with other organisations, it is supporting engineers and innovators to develop their commercial skills, offering mentoring and profiling deep tech talent within Scotland. In March 2025, this was followed by Enterprise Hub Newcastle, which – along with an upcoming Hub in Liverpool – will support the work of the Regional Talent Engines programme across the north of England to support innovation and grow businesses in the local areas. These actions continue to build on the findings of our Engineering, Economy and Place analysis from 2023, which found that the UK’s engineering economy contributes nearly a third of total economic output and more than a quarter of UK jobs, but action is needed to address geographic inequality.

“Harnessing the talent and the research base in the North East is crucial to both the region’s and the nation’s industrial strategy, growth ambition and productivity agenda. The North East has the ambition, energy and talent to create the great companies of tomorrow, and Enterprise Hub Newcastle will strive to support them to make that happen.”

Dr Ian Ritchey FREng, Independent Adviser and former Group Chief Engineer, Rolls-Royce

Hub members:

3.4bn

raised in additional funding.

5.6k

jobs created.

Further afield, we continue to support innovators globally. This year saw the Academy hold its first Frontiers symposium in Australia. It brought together over 60 researchers and engineers from 19 countries in Perth, in partnership with the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. The Leaders in Innovation Fellowships (LIF) programme also successfully welcomed 80 innovators to the UK over the summer, drawing a close to seven months of training, mentoring and networking designed to support those commercialising a novel technology (LIF Global), or scaling and internationalising a customer-validated product (Advance). Since then, the innovators from the LIF Global cohort have already gone on to raise over $10.5 million in further funding; create 10 functional prototypes; and create two new companies and 18 skilled jobs. Meanwhile those from the Advance cohort have already created five new companies and 106 skilled jobs; raised over $3.8 million in further funding; and established 11 partnerships between innovators on the programme, plus 20 partnerships with UK organisations.

This year also saw a President’s Special Medal for Engineering in the Service of Society awarded to His Majesty’s

Government Communications Centre (HMGCC) for its exceptional and long-standing contributions to engineering innovation and national security over the last 80 years. HMGCC works on the latest technological challenges, from cybersecurity and AI to creating tech to help with intelligence gathering or secure communications, in often dangerous or hostile locations. The President’s Special Awards celebrate only exceptional achievements representing excellence in engineering, having previously been presented to innovators responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2024 Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation was awarded to Esther Kimani from Kenya. Her early crop pest and disease detection device can swiftly detect and identify agricultural pests and diseases, reducing crop losses for smallholder farmers by up to 30% while increasing yields by as much as 40%.

149

businesses supported.

22

African countries represented.

28k

people employed.

10m+

people who have benefited from the innovative products and services developed.

Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering 23

22

Deep-tech investment

Early in 2025 we officially launched our Science and

Technology Venture Capital (VC) Fellowship , delivered in partnership with Imperial College London and funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. The Fellowship is designed to enhance investor capability in identifying and deploying capital into high-potential, scalable life science and deep-tech ventures. A launch event brought together representatives from government, industry, and the VC and investment community to outline the vision and celebrate the start of this pioneering new programme, with a keynote speech by Science Minister Lord Vallance of Balham HonFREng FRS FMedSci. This first cohort features 22 outstanding fellows, selected from a strong pool of applicants. The programme provides knowledge and leadership development, experiential learning, mentoring, and networking to help develop a strong talent pipeline in UK science and technology VC investment – and has so far received positive feedback.

“Imperial is proud to be delivering this unique fellowship programme in partnership with the Academy. By helping to develop the specialised talent that is needed to deploy greater risk capital into the UK’s life science and deep tech sectors, this fellowship will play an important part in supporting the UK’s ambition to be at the frontier of building impactful life science and deep tech ventures that deliver jobs, economic growth and tackle the most pressing global challenges.”

Professor Ramana Nanda , Associate Dean for Enterprise, Imperial College Business School and Director of Imperial’s Institute for Deep Tech Entrepreneurship

On the same day, we also launched our annual report on

the state of UK deep tech , which highlights the need for more deep-tech expertise in VC. The report is a comprehensive overview of the deep-tech sector and this year flagged a slowdown in the UK’s overall VC activity in deep tech since a peak in 2021. It also highlighted, however, that key sectors such as healthcare and AI continue to drive significant deals: each sector secured more than £1 billion in investment in the first half of 2024. Other findings include that deep tech consistently attracts over £5 billion in annual VC, with a smaller group of companies now receiving bigger cheques as investors become more selective, and global interest in the UK’s deep-tech sector is increasing, with foreign firms participating in over 300 deals annually since 2021. However, the report also highlighted that investors need specialised training, as the UK faces a shortage of investors with relevant expertise, which negatively impacts domestic investment.

Upon launch, The Times published an extensive interview with President Sir John Lazar, covering the report and the launch of the new fellowships. Both news items were also covered in other engineering trade and business news outlets.

State of UK Deep Tech 2024

----- Start of picture text -----
Royal Academy of Engineering
State of UK
Deep Tech
2024
----- End of picture text -----

----- Start of picture text -----
Data provided by
----- End of picture text -----

The first cohort of the Science and Technology Venture Capital Fellowship, with Professor Peter Todd (front row, third from left), Dr Hayaatun Sillem CBE (front row, centre), and Lord Vallance (front row, third from right)

24 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering 25

----- Start of picture text -----
Rizwan Wadan (right) of
Mr Helix demonstrates
the company’s camera
stabilisation technology
to an attendee at the
National Engineering
Day Innovation Late.
----- End of picture text -----

Policy and engagement

To help drive prosperity and increase progress towards a sustainable, inclusive future, engineering expertise should be at the heart of decisionmaking – across government, within communities and internationally.

Our actions over the past five years have ensured that engineering expertise is easily accessible to policymakers – through the National Engineering Policy Centre (NEPC) – and that engineers engage with wider society to increase awareness of engineering’s relevance and impact, building excitement to inspire young people to join the profession. Our work with international networks and collaborations is also aiding understanding of how engineers can contribute to solving complex global challenges.

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering

27

Policy to benefit society

Our policy activities this year have been closely aligned to

Engineering a resilient and prosperous future

key events and important issues in wider society. This was particularly evident in the run up to July’s General Election, when we worked with our partners in the NEPC to put engineering issues on the new government’s radar. This included our policy priorities for the next UK Parliament, Engineering a resilient and prosperous future , which were underpinned by a call to take a systems approach across government policy. Following the launch of this manifesto, we presented these priorities at a parliamentary briefing that included speeches from Lord Mair CBE FREng FRS, Baroness Brown of Cambridge DBE FREng FRS FMedSci and Energy Minister Michael Shanks. One key topic at the event was our recently released report outlining the radical approach the government must take to decarbonise the UK’s electricity system and provide clean power by 2030. Compiled by an independent working group led by the Academy, the report drew insights from NEPC partners, including the Institution of Engineering and Technology and Institution of Civil Engineers, who also hosted a roundtable. We also briefed key individuals at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero on the work, including Chris Stark, Head of Mission Control, Jeremy Pocklington, Permanent Secretary, and Professor Paul Monks, Chief Scientific Adviser, as well as leading figures at the National Energy System Operator (NESO) and Ofgem.

JUNE 2024 Engineering a resilient and prosperous future Policy priorities for the next UK parliament ENGINEERING A RESILIENT AND PROSPEROUS FUTURE | 1

(L–R) Simon Harrison FREng ,Baroness Brown, Michael Shanks, Lord Mair, and Academy CEO Dr Hayaatun Sillem at the breakfast briefing at Parliament

“Minimising human faecal organisms in fresh water is a public health priority as well as an environmental one. While there will always be challenges with the efficient management of sewers and sewage treatment works, this report provides clear technical options for how this can realistically be achieved.”

Professor Chris Whitty KCB HonFREng FRS , Chief Medical Officer for England

As well as gaining significant national media coverage, we have shared the key messages from the report – including the importance of rapid digitalisation and data sharing to enable a future decarbonised system – in a response to a consultation by Ofgem on its proposals for Digital Sharing Infrastructure. And it has formed the basis of a briefing on the issues that will need to be dealt with in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. We have also delivered two workshops: one directly for the Clean Power Unit to provide engineering insights and perspective on how to move into delivery mode following publication of the Clean Power Action Plan; and one in collaboration with NESO to provide cross-sector input into its Sector Digitalisation Plan.

Testing the waters: priorities for mitigating health risks from wastewater pollution

In May, we published Testing the waters: priorities for mitigating health risks from wastewater pollution . To launch the report, Chief Medical Officer for England, Professor Sir Chris Whitty KCB HonFREng FRS, spoke at our press conference, while working group chair Professor David Butler FREng and contributor Professor Barbara Evans were both interviewed on BBC Radio, as well as by many other outlets including broadcast media. This report is the first to assess how to reduce the public health risk for recreational users of open water contaminated with human faecal matter and received widespread national news coverage. Since publication, it continues to influence the research agenda in Defra and the Department of Health and Social Care. It also informed the framing of the Independent Water Commission, where we continue to support policy development, as well as our input to reviews of Bathing Waters Regulation by the Office for Environmental Protection and Defra.

May 2024 Testing the waters Priorities for mitigating health risks from wastewater pollution

----- Start of picture text -----
TESTING THE WATERS PRIORITIES FOR MITIGATING HEALTH RISKS FROM WASTEWATER POLLUTION | 1
----- End of picture text -----

28 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering 29

In October, our report on critical materials advised the government to develop an integrated materials strategy to reduce demand for, reuse and recycle critical materials essential for the UK’s current Net Zero Strategy . One key policy recommendation from the report was recommitting to banning single use vapes, which the government confirmed plans for later that month. After the report’s launch at a Science Media Centre briefing to journalists, the Academy hosted a panel event chaired by Professor Mark Miodownik MBE FREng to further promote the report and its key findings to policymakers, industry stakeholders, academics, and regulators. It received coverage from outlets including Top Gear , The Times , and The Chemical Engineer . Academy representatives also met with numerous policy teams across Whitehall to discuss key findings and policy recommendations from the report, as well as arm’s length bodies such as the National Infrastructure Commission and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority. This report is part of an ongoing body of work on materials and net zero. A further output that has been developed following this report is a commissioned analysis on the amount of neodymium permanent magnets available in existing and upcoming UK offshore wind stocks, and their potential for circular use of the critical materials within.

The MacRobert Award exhibition showcased some of the most recent winners and photos by Ted Humble-Smith, which were commissioned to celebrate the Award’s 55[th] anniversary in 2024.

Critical materials: demand-side resource efficiency measures for sustainability and resilience

----- Start of picture text -----
October 2024
Critical materials:
demand-side resource
efficiency measures for
sustainability and resilience
CRITICAL MATERIALS : DEMAND-SIDE RESOURCE EFFICIENCY MEASURES FOR SUSTAINABILITY AND RESILIENCE | 1
----- End of picture text -----

(L–R) Academy President Sir John Lazar; Science Minister Lord Vallance; Chair of the MacRobert Award Judges Dr Alison Vincent CBE FREng; 2022 MacRobert Award winner Professor Clive Buckberry MBE FREng of Quanta Dialysis; and Dr Hayaatun Sillem visit a special MacRobert Award exhibition at DSIT.

Engineering responsible AI

Early in 2025, we published a report outlining the foundations for sustainable AI, as part of the NEPC’s Engineering Responsible AI series. Delivered in partnership with the Institution for Engineering and Technology (IET) and BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, it describes the environmental impacts of AI systems and services.

The report was timed to coincide with the AI Action Summit, which took place in Paris on 1 February and was a major international event in the AI calendar. We held a discussion at the AI Fringe in London on how technology, engineering, data, and multidisciplinary conversations can help build more sustainable AI, with Dame Dawn Childs DBE FREng, Professor Marina Jirotka and Loïc Lannelongue. The report also responded to the UK government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan, noting that as government looks to accelerate AI adoption in the UK, it is critical we embed the principle of sustainability in how we design, build and use AI.

There has been strong engagement with the report since publication. The Academy has been corresponding with policymakers in the UK, Scottish and Welsh governments, offering support to DSIT on its AI Growth Zones and participating in the Government Digital Sustainability Alliance working group. The Academy has also joined the Coalition for Sustainable AI.

The report received extensive media coverage, with mentions from the BBC, the Guardian , and ITV in the UK, as well as BBC Arabia and CBS in the US.

Our Engineering Responsible AI work is supported by our Futures and Dialogues programme, through which we have hosted ‘People’s AI Stewardship Summits’ in partnership with the Regional Enterprise Hubs. Following the first summit in Belfast in early 2025, we have hosted a further two in Glasgow and Liverpool. The summits bring together innovators, researchers, entrepreneurs and policymakers with local community members to explore hopes, fears and expectations for safe and responsible AI. The events have prompted wideranging discussions about AI’s role in society and how benefits can be more equitably shared in the places and communities where innovations arise.

With a further two planned in Swansea and London, the summits will contribute a valuable mix of perspectives to the growing ecosystem of public deliberations on AI taking place both in the UK and internationally.

Engineering Responsible AI

February 2025 Engineering Responsible AI: foundations for environmentally sustainable AI

ENGINEERING RESPONSIBLE AI: FOUNDATIONS FOR ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE AI | 1

30 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering

31

Engaging the public in engineering

With the theme of ‘Engineering role models’, 2024’s National

Engineering Day aimed to inspire a new generation to see themselves reflected in engineering. To do this, we unveiled a striking new statue at Prince Philip House and a digital artwork of five inspiring engineers selected by the public. The statue of Macclesfield-born manufacturing engineer Alice Kan, who played a pivotal role in the manufacture of the COVID-19 vaccine and is now working on vaccines for Ebola, was designed in a modern and vibrant style by visual artist and designer Kelly Anna. To further inspire future engineers around the country, the statue has since been displayed at Edinburgh Science Festival and will tour other locations. The campaign came at a pivotal moment, as research commissioned for National Engineering Day showed the crucial role of representation in inspiring the next generation, with 80% of respondents aged 12 to 15 naming the importance of having a role model to look up to for personal and career goals.

Media highlights on the day included Sky News’ interview with This is Engineering protagonist and founder of sustainable materials company MarinaTex, Lucy Hughes, who spoke about the engineering skills gap, as well as pieces in The Engineer and The Chemical Engineer . A wave of social media activity saw #NationalEngineeringDay trending on X with over 32 million impressions on 13 November. On LinkedIn and Instagram, numerous engineers, influencers and supporters spread the word, including Sir Lewis Hamilton HonFREng, Sadiq Khan, Ferrari UK and DSIT. Several MPs and Peers visited Prince Philip House to see the statue, including Chi Onwurah MP who also posted a video message on X. Lord Vallance also celebrated his engineering role models in a video message.

The day was brought to a close with one of our popular

Innovation Late events , an evening of engineering-themed exhibits and talks aimed at raising the profile of engineering among adults without engineering backgrounds. The event welcomed more than 200 attendees, with 73% having never been to an Academy event before. This was the third in the series of Innovation Lates, with a second having been held in Scotland in April 2024 to coincide with Edinburgh Science Festival – as well as celebrate the legacy of Lady MacRobert and the 55[th] anniversary of the MacRobert Award. Photographer Ted HumbleSmith showcased a brand-new set of images at the event, commissioned to celebrate the Award’s anniversary. Professor Gordon Masterton OBE DL FREng, Trustee of the MacRobert Trust and MacRobert Award judge, and CEO Dr Hayaatun Sillem CBE were interviewed by journalist Matthew Parris for BBC Radio 4’s Great Lives programme, exploring the remarkable life of Lady MacRobert, the inspiration behind the prize. The programme inspired further coverage in The Times and Daily Mail .

3,5k

pieces of media coverage in 2024–25

80

events hosted

6 people at[k+] tended our events

32m impressions on X on #NationalEngineeringDay

“Being honoured in statue form is a very unique experience and not something many people can say. I really hope my statue encourages people to understand more about engineering, what engineers do and why it is a great career for anyone who’s got a curiosity for wanting to make things work better.”

Manufacturing engineer Alice Kan, with the vibrant wooden statue artist Kelly Anna designed to honour her technical contributions, tenacity, resilience and commitment to making the world a more inclusive and better place for future generations.

Alice Kan

32 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering 33

People and operations

As a charity, National Academy and Fellowship, we aim to deliver public benefit from engineering excellence and technology innovation.

To achieve the ambitions in our strategy over the past five years, as well as creating the best experience for everyone connected to the Academy, we have significantly improved our operational capacity and increased our team of staff, with a renewed focus on their development and wellbeing.

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering

35

Fellowship Fit for the Future

At our AGM in September, alongside electing 71 new Fellows under our Fellowship Fit for the Fellowship initiative, we also elected a new President – Sir John Lazar CBE FREng. Having been elected to the Academy in 2011, Sir John has been actively involved in much of its work, including as chair of the Enterprise Committee, member of the Education and Skills Committee, and judge and mentor for the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, and is the first tech entrepreneur to lead a UK National Academy. The AGM was also a sendoff for outgoing Academy President, Professor Sir Jim McDonald GBE FREng FRSE, who steered the Academy through complex challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the increasing impacts of climate change and the rapid advances in AI. Sir Jim was profiled in the Observer in September, reflecting on the progress made by the Academy over his five-year term in office.

Our Fellowship represents an unrivalled community of leading businesspeople, entrepreneurs, innovators, and academics

from every part of engineering and technology. Over the past year, Fellows have volunteered an estimated 25,000 hours to support the Academy in driving public benefit from engineering excellence and technology innovation. Our Fellows elected in 2024 reflect the Academy’s ongoing Fellowship Fit for the Future initiative, by electing our most diverse cohort to date of 68% from underrepresented groups, surpassing its aim of 50%. The initiative is driving more nominations of outstanding engineers from underrepresented groups ahead of our 50[th] anniversary in 2026. It sees the Academy striving for increased representation from women, disabled and LGBTQ+ engineers, those from ethnic minority backgrounds, nontraditional education pathways and emerging industries, and those who have achieved excellence at an early career stage.

“We are proud to say that many of our newly elected Fellows have come from underrepresented groups in engineering and related sectors and we hope this helps to tackle some of the issues around a lack of diversity within the profession. There is ample evidence that a wider pool of ideas and experiences helps to improve decisionmaking and develop novel solutions to global challenges.”

The Academy’s Trustee Board is also committed to forming a Board that is fit for the future, defined as a body that represents the full breadth and diversity of engineering excellence, as well as the skills and experiences needed to provide effective leadership for the Academy. To help achieve this, one of the main responsibilities of the Academy’s Nominations Committee is to actively seek and encourage people from different groups to stand for election. The Board is guided by the values of the Academy to create a culture in which everyone can thrive and diverse perspectives enrich its collective performance; in support of this commitment, the Trustee Board publishes its own diversity data (see opposite page).

Sir John Lazar CBE FREng , President

Trustee Board diversity data

----- Start of picture text -----
35–49 60–64
50–54 65–69 Man
55–59 Woman
AGE GENDER
ETHNICITY RELIGION
Any other ethnic White – English/Welsh/ Christian Jewish
group – Arab Scottish/Northern Irish/British Muslim Buddhist
Mixed/Multiple ethnic Any other white background No religion
groups – Asian and white
----- End of picture text -----

The figures represent all members of the Trustee Board. All respondents declared that they had no disability when asked and over 90% respondents stated that they were straight/ heterosexual when asked.

36 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering 37

Connecting Fellows

The AGM also saw the election of four new Trustees to the

Trustee Board , including Professor Nick Jennings CB FREng FRS as Vice President for Fellowship Engagement. A key focus of the Academy is boosting the engagement of all Fellows with the Academy’s work and delivering a wide range of Fellowship activities and events that are relevant and impactful. Ensuring opportunities are provided in all areas of the country is increasingly important to us.

This year we held several regional events for Fellows . In June, Fellows gathered in Sedgefield to visit to NETPark with a tour of local engineering businesses Kromek and Wootzano, followed by an evening dinner at Hardwick Hall. In October and November, Fellows gathered for two regional events in the Midlands to consult on our new strategy and enjoy lectures and networking. At the East Midlands event, Fellows and Academy awardees joined a closed consultation session for the Academy’s new 2025 to 2030 strategy. This was followed by a public lecture from Professor Nick Jennings CB FREng FRS on the topic of AI-powered universities, then a reception and evening dinner at Leicester’s Belmont Hotel. One month later marked the first time that a Fellows’ regional event has been held in the West Midlands. After a strategy consultation, Fellows engaged in an enjoyable and informative site visit at the University of Birmingham, taking in the Makerspace, the Space Environment and Radio Engineering facility, and the National Buried Infrastructure Facility. This was followed by a public lecture on the challenges of net zero, by Professor John Loughhead CB OBE FREng. Finally, Fellows, awardees and academics gathered at the Edgbaston Park Hotel for an evening drinks reception and dinner.

Our Royal Fellow, HRH The Princess Royal, presents the 2024 Prince Philip Medal to Dr Arogyaswami J Paulraj, the inventor of multipleinput, multiple-out technology, at the annual Prince Philip Dinner in June 2024.

Reducing our carbon footprint

£6.1 m

Our Environmental Sustainability Action Group is an

secured in new funding commitments by the Academy for its programmes from industry, charitable trusts and individual donors, in the last year.

employee-led group that is working to minimise the impact of the Academy’s activities on the environment. Modelling good practice as an Academy is an important step in helping to achieve our goal of a sustainable and innovative economy. The group continues to ensure that the Academy improves its environmental performance through a carbon benchmarking exercise with Planet Mark, which offers certification based on leading international standards. We’ve been working with them to establish a carbon baseline over the past five years, with the most recent exercise looking at the financial year 2022 to 2023.

As previous years covered the pandemic and the gradual move out of lockdown, the most recent results saw a significant increase in our overall footprint compared to the previous year, owing to a large increase in international travel as we returned to something close to pre-pandemic levels of overseas trips. Given the year-on-year fluctuations due to the pandemic, it is hard for us to draw clear conclusions on annual change. However, this continued data collection has been helping us to include more data into our measurements and, going forward, to get a better idea of our emissions trends. Once we have this understanding, we can start to implement changes with a view to reducing our carbon footprint.

TOTAL CARBON EMISSIONS 2022 TO 2023:

MEASURED EMISSIONS EQUIVALENT TO:

340.2 tCO2e 301 flights from 2.1 tCO2e London to New York total emissions per employee BUILDINGS TRAVEL WASTE WATER PROCUREMENT 156.1 tCO2e 183.3 tCO2e 0.4 tCO2e 0.4 tCO2e 9 sheets Used enough Travelled 58 Produced waste that 25 litres per of paper used electricity to power times around weighs the same as employee per day 97 UK homes for the world 2 London buses per day one year

tCO2e: metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent

38 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering

39

Focusing on EDI

In 2024/25, key actions from our Equity, Diversity and

Inclusion (EDI) One Action Plan started to take shape. Equity, diversity and inclusion is a critical thread that runs throughout all of the Academy’s work, and the EDI One Action Plan aim is to continuously upskill colleagues, embed EDI internally, share good practices in all our external activities to help progress D&I throughout engineering, and enable excellence in all of our activities. We have signed up to Business in the Community’s Race at Work Charter and are making progress against the actions and each of the commitments as defined by the charter. We voluntarily report and share gender pay gap analysis (see opposite page), as well as sharing data for the ethnicity pay gap as part of our commitment to the Race at Work Charter.

We’ve also been making progress, working with the Shaw

Trust, on improving our website’s accessibility. We are working towards technical standard Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2, and implementing the fixes required to meet it following an external audit in 2024. A full website accessibility statement is now available on the site, which will again be submitted for external auditing and testing against the standard in the new financial year.

Employees across the Academy are progressing and monitoring actions to embed EDI in all of our activities as part of the EDI One Action Plan.

GENDER PAY GAP REPORTING

At the ‘snapshot’ date of 31 March 2025, the mean gender pay gap was 4.5% and the median gender pay gap was -1.1%. On 31 March 2025, we employed 243 relevant employees (2024: 227).

All figures below are as at 31 March 2025:

----- Start of picture text -----
Number of employees:
----- End of picture text -----

Mean gender pay gap in hourly pay

Median gender pay gap in hourly pay

----- Start of picture text -----
4.5% difference -1.1% difference
30
25
£26.71
£25.52
20
£22.23 £22.47
15
10
5
0
Mean: men earn 4.5% more Median: women earn 1.1%
than women (2024: 6.1%) more than men (2024: -0.6%)
----- End of picture text -----

165 Women (2024: 154) 78

----- Start of picture text -----
Men (2024: 73)
----- End of picture text -----

PROPORTION OF MEN AND WOMEN IN EACH QUARTILE (%)

The difference between the mean pay of the men and women in each quartile is shown above each chart (a negative difference indicates that the mean pay of women was higher).

----- Start of picture text -----
1.2% difference 0.0% difference -1.6% difference -2.8% difference
Upper middle Lower middle
Upper quartile Lower quartile
quartile quartile
(2024: 34:66) (2024: 26:74)
(2024: 30:70) (2024: 39:61)
37% 63% 26% 74% 46% 54% 20% 80%
----- End of picture text -----

Note: gender pay gap percentages referenced in quartiles are based on mean calculations. The reported quartiles represent an equal number of employees in each quartile, from the highest paid to the lowest paid. The upper quartile represents the highest paid employees. Quartiles are based on mean pay and so there are different numbers of men and women in each quartile.

40 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering 41

----- Start of picture text -----
Attendees at Innovation
Late on National
Engineering Day in
November could try out
exhibits, including this one
where they could test how
they fare operating on an
‘eye’ compared to a robot
----- End of picture text -----

Future plans

April 2025 marks the start of a new fiveyear strategy period, to 2030 in which we will create and lead a community of outstanding experts and innovators to engineer better lives, with a focus on three goals: a sustainable and innovative economy, technology improving lives, and an engineering community fit for the future. In keeping with our values, much of our work towards these goals will be delivered through collaboration with key partners across the UK and around the world, and through our five flagship products:

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering

43

Sustainable and innovative economy

In 2025-26, we will undertake the following activities:

Research

workshops with NEPC partners and other experts from our network.

International

• Deliver new and existing Engineering X challenges, including

Entrepreneurship

entrepreneurship offer in line with the fastpaced market and growing competition. We will deliver ideation, startup, growth and ecosystem products in the UK and globally.

Regional engagement

• Continue to grow the network of Regional Enterprise Hubs and open three new Hubs.

Communications and engagement:

National Engineering Policy Centre

Technology improving lives

In 2025-26, we will undertake the following activities:

National Engineering Policy Centre

International

• Develop plans to co-host Euro-CASE in 2026 alongside the Irish Academy of Engineering as part of the Academy’s 50[th] birthday celebrations.

Communications and engagement

44 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering

45

Engineering community fit for the future

In 2025-26, we will undertake the following activities:

Skills Centre development and launch

National Engineering Policy Centre

• Bring all the existing programmes supporting further and higher education into the new Skills Centre, to simplify the opportunities for practitioners, lecturers and employers.

• Refresh and refocus our work on professional engineering ethics and thought leadership on globally responsible engineering, working with the Engineering Council.

• Publish research reports on the current status of higher education provision, the upskilling needs of engineering businesses around the UK.

• Build a communications and marketing campaign around the Skills Centre to highlight the skills development opportunities to further education colleges, higher education institutions and employers.

International

Scholarships

• Promote the 2025 Global Engineering Capability Review, showcasing the strength and breadth of engineering and weaknesses globally.

• Group all the current scholarships and placement activities under one ‘Academy scholarships and placements’ banner, to simplify the process for students and individuals to identify funding opportunities.

Communications and engagement

• Celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Bhattacharyya Award, promoting impactful and sustained industry–academic collaboration to create societal benefit.

Activities to enable delivery

In 2025-26 we will enable the Academy to achieve its goals by:

Increasing our focus on philanthropic funding and growing unrestricted revenue streams including launching an Engineering Leadership Programme in early 2026.

Ensuring the Academy’s organisational structure is designed to deliver on the strategic goals.

Continuing to embed digital capability in our operations, communications and culture.

• Producing an updated monitoring and evaluation framework, linking monitoring • closely to the goals of the new strategy and improving the consistency of our data definitions and collection methods to give a much more coherent picture of whole Academy impact.

Leveraging data to use the skills and experience of the Fellowship more effectively and create opportunities for Fellows to deliver charitable impact and connect with each other.

Completing a governance review that will include reviewing committee structures.

46 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Review 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering 47

Report of the Trustee Board

Group fixed assets

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Capital expenditure during the year amounted to £0.6 million, which was on computer systems and equipment and office fixtures and fittings.

Group results for the year

The Academy has produced group accounts for the year, having consolidated its accounts with those of its two subsidiaries: the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation and RAE Trading Limited. The annual report, incorporating the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2025, has been prepared in accordance with the Academy’s Royal Charter, and in compliance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice 2019, applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102) (effective 1 January 2019) – (Charities SORP (FRS102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102). The Academy meets the definition of public benefit entity under FRS102. These financial statements are prepared under FRS102. Group income for the year was £71.8 million (2023/24 208.2 million). The sharp decrease in funding was due to the £150 million funding for the Green Future Fellowship programme prior year which will be utilised over the next 16 years. During the year, income from grants and other contracts totalled £62.6 million (2023/24 £54.7 million). Donations totalled £1.1 million (2023/24 £150.7 million). Other major sources of income during the year were: investments, subscriptions, events, and facilities hire income at a total of £8.2 million compared to £2.8 million in the previous year. The increase was mainly due to £4.9 million investment income received from the restricted Green Future Fellowship portfolio

Reserves policy

The Academy’s intention is to maintain sufficient reserves to ensure financial resilience and sustainability, including protection against risks identified in the risk register. The reserves policy sets out the target reserves level and the key principles by which the Academy will manage any excesses or deficits compared to the target. The aim is to strike the appropriate balance between ensuring a sustainable financial position and using funds to fulfil the charitable objectives of the Academy and deliver public benefit. The reserves policy is reviewed regularly.

reserves policy is reviewed regularly.
Year ended 31 March 2025
£000		 2024
£000
Total funds as per group balance sheet
Exclude:		 224,390 220,143
Restricted funds
Unrestricted funds tied up in tangible		 189,240 185,088
fxed assets
Designated and special funds		 24,788
5,356		 25,327
4,595
Free Reserves 5,006 5,133

Free Reserves

Group expenditure on charitable activities was £65.5 million (2023/24 £58.4 million): 97% of total expenditure. Of this total, £59.0 million represented charitable activities and grants paid under various programmes and £6.4 million represented the costs of operating those programmes.

The small decrease in Free Reserves is driven by an additional allocation to designated funds. Free Reserves are available to be spent for any purpose that meets the Academy’s charitable objectives. Free Reserves would cover a short-term emergency or longer-term structural change. The reserves policy states that the recommended range for Free Reserves is £3.7 million to £6.0 million. Whenever the Academy’s Free Reserves fall below the recommended range, the intention is to build the level of Free Reserves to be within the recommended range within five years.

The cost of generating funds across the group was £2.2 million (2023/24 £1.7 million): 3% of total expenditure. The cost of generating funds consists of fees paid to investment managers, facilities hire and catering, and the staff costs and expenses associated with fundraising. The Academy is continuing with major fundraising activity aimed at obtaining funds for the enhancement and expansion of the Academy’s programmes to support talent and diversity, innovation, and policy and engagement, as well as central infrastructure.

ROYAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING (PARENT CHARITY OF GROUP)

Results for the year

The below figures are the results of the parent entity, the Royal Academy of Engineering, only, as an individual entity excluding the subsidiary entities results and year end balance sheets. The qualifying charitable donation to the Royal Academy of Engineering from its trading subsidiary RAE Trading Ltd is included in the results of the parent entity.

Group asset value

The carrying value of the group’s net assets was £224.4 million (2023/24 £220.1 million). Investments were valued at £201.3 million as at 31 March 2025, with the Academy holding £176.5 million and the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation holding £24.8 million. Tangible fixed assets valued at £24.8 million included the £10.7 million value of the Carlton House Terrace lease and the £12.2 million of leasehold improvements to Prince Philip House. The main liability was a bank loan of £11.5 million, which funded the extension of the Academy’s property lease, funded part of the lower ground floor extension and settled the previous loan.

Total income for the year was £70.4 million (2023/24 £206.7 million). The Academy is grateful to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) for providing the government core grant to support activities aimed primarily at promoting engineering research in the UK. The core grant at £42.9 million (2023/24 £39.4 million) represented 60% of total group income.

Income from other grants and contracts increased by 29% to £19.7 million. Included in this amount were grants received from DSIT of £7.9 million from the International Science Partnerships Fund and £2.9 million from the Global Challenges Research Fund.

Expenditure on charitable activities was £63.8 million compared to £56.2 million in the previous year. An analysis based upon the principal objective of each activity shows that, of the total charitable expenditure: 75% was on innovation; 12% on policy and engagement; and 13% on talent and diversity. Employment costs increased from the previous year by 19% to £15.1 million due to additional resources required to deliver the increased scale of programmes.

Investments

Investment valuations do not include cash held by investment managers or accrued interest associated with investments.

The Academy’s investments are held in a managed investment fund and index funds. The value of the Academy’s investment portfolio decreased over the year by £2.3 million to £176.5 million. Realised and unrealised investment losses during the year were £0.7 million (2023/24 investment gains of £3.2 million).

Investments in the general fund consist of UK government gilts segregated to cover the loan liability repayable in February 2027, the remaining portfolio is placed in securities listed on global stock markets (65% of portfolio) and fixed interest bonds/diversified assets (35% of portfolio). The general fund underperformed versus the composite benchmark by 3%. The composite benchmark for the portfolio was set as 70% FTSE All World and 30% FTSE Actuaries UK Conventional Gilts up to 10 years.

Green Future Fellowship (GFF) investments are placed in fixed interest bonds/diversified assets (74% of portfolio) and securities listed on global stock markets (26% of portfolio). The bond portfolio element of GFF investments were compared to a number of passive tracker funds (screened and unconstrained) with a similar duration, it was found that this element of the portfolio achieved higher return. The equities element of the GFF investments underperformed versus the benchmark by 4%.

Designated investments consist of funds invested in line with the general fund (charity) investment strategy to support the MacRobert Award and funds invested in securities listed on global stock markets to support the Colin Campbell Mitchell Award.

Investment policy

The Academy has adopted the following sustainable policy within its Investment Policy:

  1. The Academy’s assets should be invested in line with its aims.

  2. The Academy aims for the best possible financial return from its investments. However, the Academy understands the importance of sustainable investing practices that are compliant with the United Nations Principles of Responsible Investments (UN PRI). The Trustees believe that the two considerations are not contradictory and that sustainable investing principles should not lead to lower return expectations over the long term.

  3. The Academy requires its fund managers to pay appropriate regard to relevant corporate governance, social, ethical and environmental considerations in the selection, retention and realisation of all fund investments. The Academy requires all investment managers to be signatories to UN PRI.

  4. Academy fund manager(s) will apply screens to filter out issuers with environmental or social concerns without restricting the investment universe to an extent that may impact financial performance.

  5. Investments will exclude tobacco, gambling, controversial weapons, and place very restrictive revenue screens for nuclear weapons, civilian firearms, alcohol, adult entertainment, predatory lending, thermal coal, oil sands and high carbon intensity. Equity investments will consist of companies with the highest 25% of ESG ratings in their sector. Corporate bonds investments use ESG enhanced portfolios.

  6. These principles will be reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that they are in-sync with the broader ethical and sustainability policies of the Academy.

The Trustees’ general powers of investment derive from and are restricted by the Trustee Act 2000. These powers are not restricted by the Academy’s Royal Charter, which states that “the Board may invest any monies of the Academy not immediately required for the purposes of the Academy”. The investment objective is to generate a total return of inflation (Consumer Price Index) plus 4% per annum over the long term, after expenses. This will allow the Academy to maintain the real value of the assets, while funding annual expenditure at the level generally not exceeding 4% per annum.

The funds have been invested in a diversified portfolio of assets. The core of the portfolio has been invested in the income and return generating assets. Asset classes include domestic and international equities, fixed income instruments, property, commodities, cash, and any other assets deemed suitable for the Academy.

Designated Funds

A strategic development fund of £1.8 million is available to deliver impactful charitable activities over the next five years and/or strengthen the Academy for the longer term and fund non-recurring costs of major projects without impacting annual operating budgets.

Capital building fund

Within designated funds there is a fund of £2.3 million to cover major capital improvements to Prince Philip House.

Prince Philip fund

Within designated funds there is a fund of £1.3million to enable us to respond to evolving challenges, drive impact across a wide range of engineering disciplines, and ensure resilience in a rapidly changing world, thereby honouring the legacy of our late founding Senior Fellow, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.

The specific uses and needs of the restricted and designated funds held by the Academy are detailed separately in the notes to the accounts referred to above. The Academy’s reserves are available and adequate to fulfil the current obligations of the Academy.

Risk management and appetite

The Trustees have agreed a risk appetite statement and associated risk management policy. The Audit and Risk Committee reviews the risk register four times a year. The Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee provides updates to the Trustee Board. Risk management is supported by the work of the Audit and Risk Committee as well as various operating committees. The Academy’s overall approach to risk is illustrated by the following table:

48 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering

49

Risk appetite table

Risk appetite table
Risk area Very low Low Some Acceptance
Health, Safety and Security
Safeguarding		 •
•
Compliance and Governance
Data Protection and Cybersecurity		 •
•
Reputation for credibility, integrity, and quality •
Reputation for thought leadership, progressive thinking, •
and campaigning
IT Infrastructure and Development
People and Culture		 •
•
Environment and Sustainability
Financial		 •
•
Programme Delivery •
Impact
Programme Innovation		 • •

See table below for description of risk appetite classification

Risk appetite classification

Risk appetite classifcation
Classifcation
Description
Very low
As low as reasonably possible.
Low
Preference for safe options that have a low degree of residual risk.
Some
Willing to consider all potential options and choose one that is most likely to result in successful
delivery, despite the potential for some degree of risk.
Acceptance
Eager to innovate and to choose options offering potentially higher reward, despite greater
inherent risk.
The most signifcant risks currently faced by the Academy and managing actions are shown in the table below.
Academy Funding:
• A fundraising cultivation and stewardship programme is in place.
non-government
Risk of insuffcient funding
raised from non-government
•
•		 Financial strategy in place which sets out purpose of and appropriate levels of
reserves.
Development Advisory Board will transition to a Fundraising Committee this year.
sources
•		 RAE Trading with AV upgrade completed.
• Business Development Group meeting regularly to discuss commercial
opportunities.
• Investment strategy in place with new investment fund manager.
Cyber attack
•		 Up-to-date technology including third-party daily monitoring, malware protection,
Risk of serious cyber attacks regular patching, and email and web fltering.
that impacts business
•		 Encryption on laptops, two-factor authentication for core Academy services, and
continuity enforced use of Academy devices in place.
• Annual penetration testing.
• Specifc mitigation solution in place against distributed denial of service attacks.
• Two business continuity exercises complete.
National Security Risks
•		 Internal National Security Risks Group formed and meet regularly.
Risk of unethical or security-
•		 Ongoing dialogue with government stakeholders on evolving risks.
compromising partner activity
•		 New Academy National Security Related Risk policy and procedures.
Government Funding
Risk of insuffcient government
•		 Extensive programme of government engagement in place including at CEO and
funding caused by a change President level.
in government priorities or
•		 Focus on delivering and demonstrating impact in areas of national need.
funding capacity
•		 Trustee Board sub-group oversees development of Spending Review bids.

QUEEN ELIZABETH PRIZE FOR ENGINEERING FOUNDATION

The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation is governed by the Articles of Association for a private company limited by guarantee. These were agreed by Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation trustees on 21 May 2012 and amended on 4 March 2013. The sole member of the charitable company is the Royal Academy of Engineering.

The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation Trustee Board consists of at least two (and no more than six) nominated Trustees, who are appointed by ordinary resolution or by a decision of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation trustees and one Ex-Officio Trustee who is holder of the office of the President of the Royal Academy of Engineering. All material decisions in relation to the Foundation are taken by Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation Trustees.

Royal Academy of Engineering Trustees meet periodically with Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation Trustees. The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation formally reports to the Royal Academy of Engineering Trustee Board once per annum.

Results for the year

Total income for the year was £0.6 million (2023/24 £0.9 million). Expenditure on charitable activities was £2.1 million compared to £2.6 million the previous year. The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering is awarded on an annual cycle. The Foundation pays a management fee to the Academy for services, which includes staff employed and office space. A CEO is shared across the Royal Academy of Engineering and Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation group entities.

Investments

The value of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation investment portfolio decreased by £0.6 million (2024: £0.8 million increase). Investments were valued at £24.8 million (2024: £25.4 million).

Investment policy

The overall investment objectives are to create both income and capital growth such that the real capital value of the portfolio is maintained over the long term, thus allowing the prize to be awarded in perpetuity. The portfolio is managed on a total return basis with a medium risk profile. The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation ensures that portfolio performance is measured against a customised benchmark. The investments are maintained with a long-term investment time horizon of over 10 years.

The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation does not invest in organisations which conflict with the charity’s purpose. The Trustees do not wish to invest in companies or funds that derive their income from the sale or manufacture of tobacco products. No initial investment to exceed 10% of the value of the fund. Bonds held will “BBB” or better classification.

Reserves policy

Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation Trustees consider the level of the Foundation’s reserves as part of their risk assessment review process. These reserves are restricted within the group balance sheet.

RAE TRADING LIMITED

Results for the year

The commercial activity undertaken by the company during the year was the provision of rooms and catering services within Prince Philip House, primarily to corporate customers. Catering services are also provided to the Academy at cost. Revenue for the year was £1.5 million (2023/24 £1.2 million). Operating expenditure, including the cost of providing a service to the Academy, was £1.2 million (2023/24 £0.8 million). In addition a commercial offer of professional development training was initiated which generated development costs of £77,000. The net profit for the year was £274,000 compared to £238,000 in the previous year.

There are no reserves held by RAE Trading Limited as all profit arising is donated to the Academy through a qualifying charitable donation.

50 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering

51

Report of the Trustee Board

The Academy made over 1,300 grants and awards to organisations and individuals in 2024/25 totalling £31.5 million. The first 25 organisations, in order of total amount of funds paid to recipients, are listed below.

Recipients of Policy and Talent and
Academy grants Innovation engagement diversity Total
£000 £000 £000 £000
University College London 2,128 19 37 2,184
Imperial College London 2,013 – 28 2,041
University of Oxford 1,859 – 5 1,864
University of Glasgow 1,412 – 14 1,426
University of Southampton 1,170 – 9 1,179
University of Edinburgh 1,135 – 18 1,153
University of Cambridge 1,100 12 1 1,113
University of Manchester 1,024 – 49 1,073
University of Bristol 879 19 33 931
University of Nottingham 878 – 29 907
Heriot-Watt University 864 – 10 874
University of Newcastle 802 – 60 862
University of Strathclyde 659 2 53 714
King's College London 662 – 38 700
Loughborough University 422 20 67 509
University of Liverpool 412 – 39 451
University of Sheffeld 409 – 5 414
University of Exeter 300 – 28 328
University of Surrey 298 – – 298
University of Warwick 289 – – 289
University of South Wales 278 – – 278
University of York 241 – 30 271
University of Leeds 234 3 21 258
Cranfeld University 224 7 25 256
Swansea University 162 19 55 236
Total 19,854 101 654 20,609

The Academy awarded grants across the United Kingdom and internationally. A heatmap of awards made across the United Kingdom is shown below by ITL2* region. The map shows only grant funding and does not include other regionally based Academy activities

52 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering 53

A heatmap of directly related expenditure made across Official Development Assistance (ODA) programmes by country is shown above.

Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering

54

55

Royal Academy of Engineering (parent charity of group) structure, governance and management

Election to the Trustee Board

Audit and Risk Committee

objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty, and leadership. Fellows who are working for or on behalf of the Academy must act in accordance with Academy policies on conduct and behaviour covering items such as conflicts of interest, equality, diversity and inclusion, anti-bullying and harassment, and anti-bribery. The Conduct Committee, chaired by the Vice-President for Committee Coordination, oversees the Code and its implementation.

Trustee Board members are elected for a term of three years with the exception of the President who is elected for a term of up to five years. With the exception of the President, Trustees are eligible for re-election for a further three-year term. The Trustee election is by a ballot of Fellows each year. The Nominations Committee helps to ensure that there is an appropriate candidate slate for election to the Trustee Board and the associated governance roles.

The Audit and Risk Committee is mandated by and reports to the Trustee Board on the following issues:

• The review of the Academy’s main risks and their management, particularly strategic risks and control processes concerns, and assessment of the level of assurance on the controls in place.

INTERNAL CONTROL

Induction and training of Trustee Board members

Finance Committee

The Finance Committee is mandated by and reports to the Trustee Board on the following issues:

Following election, Trustees are provided with an information pack comprising the Academy’s Charter, Statutes and Regulations, a Charity Commission publication on the responsibilities of charity trustees and the Academy strategy. Trustee Board members receive a full induction briefing from senior staff and the Academy’s legal advisor and are encouraged to attend recommended external training courses for charity trustees.

• The review of the external auditor’s findings and in particular any problems, reservations and observations arising during the audit.

Charity Governance Code

The Trustees have previously undertaken a review of current Academy practice mapped against the recommended practice of the Charity Governance Code. The vast majority of Academy practices correspond with the recommended practices set out in the Code.

The Audit and Risk Committee meets at least four times during each financial year. Included in the items considered by the Committee during the year were the review of the external audit findings, oversight of digital programmes, the Corporate Risk Register, and the results of internal audit assignments.

Detailed management accounts are prepared monthly within 10 working days of the month end and submitted six times a year to the Finance Committee. Summarised accounts are submitted at each Trustee Board meeting.

Code of Conduct

A Code of Conduct is in place to cover the conduct and ethical behaviour expected of Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering. Fellows are ambassadors for the Academy and should therefore conduct themselves in a manner that supports the Academy’s aims and that upholds and enhances the reputation of the Academy and its Fellows. Fellows are expected to follow the Nolan principles of selflessness, integrity,

Fundraising statement

The Finance Committee meets at least six times during each financial year. Included in the items considered by the Committee during the year was the implementation of the Academy’s investment strategy following the £150m receipt in March 2024 of Green Futures Fellowship funding and the performance of RAE Trading Limited.

Section 162a of the Charities Act 2011 requires charities to make a statement regarding fundraising activities. Although the Academy does not undertake widespread fundraising from the general public, the legislation defines fundraising as “soliciting or otherwise procuring money or other property for charitable

purposes”. Such amounts receivable are presented in the Academy’s accounts as ‘voluntary income’ and include legacies and grants. The day-to-day management of all income generation is delegated to the executive leadership team, who are accountable to the Trustees.

The charity adheres to the Chartered Institute of Fundraising Code of Fundraising Practice, which outlines standards expected of all charitable fundraising organisations in the UK. The Academy has received no complaints in relation to fundraising activities. Its terms of employment require staff to behave reasonably at all times.

Grant-making policy

The grant and award programmes are run by committees or steering groups of Fellows of the Academy, and where appropriate other experts, chosen based on their experience and expertise. Fellows of the Academy offer their time freely; no remuneration was paid in the year beyond the reimbursement of reasonable expenses. There is a policy of strict impartiality and no Fellow may participate in a group/ award decision if there is a conflict of interest.

Grant awardees are issued with agreements and progress is monitored and recorded utilising a grant management system.

Remuneration policy

The Academy’s policy is to pay staff salaries at the market midpoint. Salaries are reviewed in alternate years following a market benchmarking exercise conducted by an independent consultancy. The last independent review was undertaken during 2024 to inform the salary review implemented with effect from 1 April 2025.

The remuneration of the Chief Executive, Chief Operating Officer, Executive Director Programmes, and directors is set annually by the Remuneration Committee. In setting appropriate levels of senior management pay, the Remuneration Committee considered the skills, experience and competencies required for each role, and the remuneration level for those roles in sectors where suitable candidates would be found.

Executive leadership team

• Executive leadership team state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been Day-to-day management of the followed, subject to any material Academy is the responsibility of departures disclosed and explained the Chief Executive who, with the in the financial statements Chief Operating Officer, Executive Director Programmes and two • prepare the financial statements on directors, comprise the executive the going concern basis unless it is leadership team listed below, which inappropriate to presume that the meets regularly. Strategy is set by charity will continue in business. the Trustee Board, and implemented The Trustees are responsible for by the executive leadership team, keeping adequate accounting records with oversight provided by Academy that are sufficient to show and explain committees.

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charity’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the provisions of the Royal Charter. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The executive leadership team who served during the period of the report are as follows:

CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Dr Hayaatun Sillem CBE

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Chris Boyle

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PRODUCT Dr Andrew Clark

DIRECTOR, POLICY AND INTERNATIONAL Dr Nick Starkey

DIRECTOR, COMMUNICATIONS AND ENGAGEMENT Joanna Trigg

Financial statements are published on the charity’s website in accordance with legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements, which may vary from legislation in other jurisdictions. The maintenance and integrity of the charity’s website is the responsibility of the trustees. The Trustees’ responsibility also extends to the ongoing integrity of the financial statements contained therein.

Trustees’ responsibilities

The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Charity law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law). Under charity law the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the group and charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the group and charity for that period.

Signed on behalf of the Trustee Board on 11 August 2025

Sir John Lazar CBE FREng

President

In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

David Eyton CBE FREng

Chair of the Finance Committee

56 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering 57

Independent Auditor’s Report to the Trustees of The Royal Acaddemy of Engineering

We have nothing to report in this regard.

OPINION ON THE FINANCIAL CONCLUSIONS RELATED TO GOING STATEMENTS CONCERN In our opinion, the financial In auditing the financial statements, statements: we have concluded that the Trustees’

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

MATTERS ON WHICH WE ARE REQUIRED TO REPORT BY EXCEPTION

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion;

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the Group and the Parent Charity’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.

• the information given in the Trustees’ Report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is inconsistent in any material respect with the financial statements; or

• adequate accounting records have not been kept by the Parent Charity; or

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

We have audited the financial statements of the Royal Academy of Engineering (“the Parent Charity”) and its subsidiaries (“the Group”) for the year ended 31 March 2025 which comprise the consolidated statement of financial activities, the consolidated and charity balance sheets, the consolidated 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).

Opinion on other matter

• we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.

In our opinion, in all material respects, the Core and Investment in Research Talent Funding grant payments received from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (“DSIT”) have been applied for the purposes set out in the grant letter and in accordance with the terms and conditions of the grant.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF TRUSTEES

As explained more fully in the Trustees’ responsibilities statement, the Trustees are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the Trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

OTHER INFORMATION

The Trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the Annual Report and Accounts, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. 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 themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

BASIS FOR OPINION

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

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 believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

AUDITOR’S RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE AUDIT OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Independence

We remain independent of the Group and the Parent Charity in accordance with the ethical requirements 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 have been appointed as auditor under section 151 of the Charities Act 2011 and report in accordance with the Act and relevant regulations made or having effect thereunder.

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.

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

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:

Non-compliance with laws and regulations Based on:

The Group is also subject to laws and regulations where the consequence of non-compliance could have a material effect on the amount or disclosures in the financial statements, for example through the imposition of fines or litigations. We identified such laws and regulations to be relevant tax legislation, employment law, data protection and fundraising regulations. We also considered the risks of con-compliance with other requirements imposed by the Charity Commission and we considered the extent to which non-compliance might have a material effect on the Group financial statements.

Fraud

We assessed the susceptibility of the financial statements to material misstatement, including fraud. Our risk assessment procedures included:

• Performing analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships that may indicate risks of material misstatement due to fraud;

Based on our risk assessment, we considered the areas most susceptible to fraud to be management override of controls, completeness of grant income, grant income and expenditure matching and cut-off of conference income.

Our procedures in respect of the above included:

We also communicated relevant identified laws and regulations and potential fraud risks to all

engagement team members and remained alert to any indications of fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations throughout the audit.

Our audit procedures were designed to respond to risks of material misstatement in the financial statements, recognising that the risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery, misrepresentations or through collusion. There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures performed and the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely we are to become aware of it.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located at the Financial Reporting Council’s (“FRC’s”) website at:

https://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 Charity’s trustees, as a body, in accordance with Part 4 of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Charity’s trustees 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 Charity and the Charity’s trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

BDO LLP, statutory auditor London, UK Date 14 August 2025

BDO LLP is eligible for appointment as auditor of the charity by virtue of its eligibility for appointment as auditor of a company under section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006.

BDO LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales (with registered number OC305127).

58 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering

59

Consolidated statement of financial activities

Unrestricted Restricted Totals Unrestricted Restricted Totals
Year Ended 31 March 2025 Notes funds funds 31 March funds funds 31 March
2025 2025 2025 2024 2024 2024
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Income and endowments from:
Donations and legacies 2 589 489 1,078 144 150,558 150,702
Charitable activities 3,4,5 – 62,560 62,560 – 54,697 54,697
Other trading activity 6a 1,590 – 1,590 1,475 – 1,475
Investments 6 968 5,609 6,577 596 685 1,281
Total income 3,147 68,658 71,805 2,215 205,940 208,155
Expenditure on:
Raising funds 1,889 323 2,212 1,547 158 1,705
Charitable activities 7 972 64,488 65,460 329 58,111 58,440
Other 8 70 63 133 91 53 144
Total expenditure 2,931 64,874 67,805 1,967 58,322 60,289
Net gains/(losses) on
investment		 11 (435) 682 247 2,519 2,939 5,458
Net (expenditure)/income (219) 4,466 4,247 2,767 150,557 153,324
Transfers between funds 16 314 (314) – 477 (477) –
Net movement in funds 95 4,152 4,247 3,244 150,080 153,324
Fund balances brought
forward 1 April 35,055 185,088 220,143 31,811 35,008 66,819
Fund balances carried forward
31 March 16,17 35,150 189,240 224,390 35,055 185,088 220,143

All the above results are derived from continuing activities. There are no gains and losses other than those stated above The notes on pages 64 to 78 form part of theses financial statements

Balance sheets

At 31 March 2025 Group Charity
Notes 2025 2024 2025 2024
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Tangible fxed assets 10 24,788 25,327 24,788 25,327
Investments 11 201,328 204,203 176,481 178,768
Total fxed assets 226,116 229,530 201,269 204,095
Current assets:
Debtors 12 13,809 7,712 14,200 7,859
Stock 13 2 2 2 2
Short term deposits 5,119 359 4,861 175
Cash at bank 3,718 3,754 2,815 2,800
22,648 11,827 21,878 10,836
Liabilities
Creditors (amounts falling due within one year) 14a (12,874) (9,714) (12,121) (8,650)
Net current assets 9,774 2,113 9,757 2,186
Total assets less current liabilities 235,890 231,643 211,026 206,281
Creditors (amounts falling due beyond one year) 14c (11,500) (11,500) (11,500) (11,500)
Total net assets 224,390 220,143 199,526 194,781
The funds of the charity:
Restricted income funds 16 189,240 185,088 164,101 159,825
Unrestricted income funds
Designated Fund 5,356 4,595 5,356 3,880
General fund 29,794 30,460 30,069 31,076
Total unrestricted funds 35,150 35,055 35,425 34,956
Total charitable funds 224,390 220,143 199,526 194,781

The notes on pages 64 to 78 form part of theses financial statements

These financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the President and Chair of the Finance Committee under delegated authority from the Trustee Board. Signed of behalf of the Trustee Board on 11 August 2025

Sir John Lazar CBE FREng, President

David Eyton CBE FREng, Chair of the Finance Committee

60 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering

61

Consolidated statement of cash flows

Year ended 31 March 2025 2025 2024
£'000 £'000
Cash fows from operating activities:
Net cash (expended)/provided by operating activities (4,394) 148,199
Cash fows from investing activities:
Dividends, interest and rents from investments 6,577 1,281
Purchase of property, plants and equipment (582) (781)
Proceeds from the sale of investments 173,909 36,422
Purchase of investments (170,786) (185,062)
Net cash provided/(expended) by investing activities 9,118 (148,140)
Change in cash and cash equivalents in the reporting period 4,724 59
Cash and cash equivalents at 1 April 4,113 4,054
Cash and cash equivalents at 31 March 8,837 4,113
Reconciliation of net income to net cash fow used in operating activities
Net income for the reporting periods (as per the statement of fnancial activities) 4,247 153,324
Net gains on investments (247) (5,458)
Adjustments for:
Depreciation charges 1,120 939
Dividends, interest and rents from investments (6,577) (1,281)
Decrease in stocks – 1
(Increase)/decrease in debtors (6,097) 1,419
Increase/(decrease) in creditors 3,160 (745)
Net cash (used in)/provided by operating activities (4,394) 148,199
Analysis of cash and cash equivalents
Cash in hand 3,718 3,754
Notice deposits 5,119 359
Total cash and cash equivalents 8,837 4,113

Consolidated statement of cash flows (continued)

Analysis of changes in net debt 2024 Cash fows 2025
£'000 £'000 £'000
Cash and cash equivalents
Cash in hand 3,754 (36) 3,718
Notice deposits 359 4,760 5,119
4,113 4,724 8,837
Borrowings
Debt due within one year – – –
Debt due after one year (11,500) – (11,500)
(11,500) – (11,500)
Total (7,387) 4,724 (2,663)

The notes on pages 64 to 78 form part of theses financial statements

62 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering 63

Notes to the accounts

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

for on a receivable basis, gross of related expenditure. Income is only recognised where there is evidence of entitlement, where it is probable that income will be received and recognised only when income can be measured.

NOTE 1 – ACCOUNTING POLICIES

(a) Basis of preparation of the accounts

The annual report, incorporating the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2025, has been prepared in accordance with the Academy’s Royal Charter, and in compliance Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice 2019 applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102) – (Charities SORP (FRS102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102). The Academy meets the definition of public benefit entity under FRS102.

• For legacies, entitlements is taken as the earlier of the date on which either: the Academy is aware that probate has been granted, the estate has been finalised and notification has been made by the executor(s) to the Academy that a distribution will be made; or when a distribution is received from the estate. Receipt of a legacy, in whole or in part, is only considered probable when the amount can be measured reliably and the Academy has been notified to the executor’s intention to make a distribution.

(b) Historical cost convention

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, as modified for the inclusion of investment assets at market value.

(c) Consolidation

The financial statements consolidate the results of the Academy and its own wholly owned subsidiaries, RAE Trading Limited and The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation, on a line-by-line basis. Transactions and balances between the Academy and its subsidiaries have been eliminated from the consolidated financial statements. Balances between the Academy and the subsidiaries are disclosed in the notes of the Academy’s balance sheet. A separate statement of Financial Activities and Income and Expenditure Account for the Academy has not been presented because the Academy has taken advantage of the exemption afforded by FRS 102.

(e) Donated services and facilities

Donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised as income when the Academy has control over the item, any condition associated with the donated

item has been met, the receipt of economic benefit from the use by the Academy of the item is probable and that economic benefit can be measured reliably. On receipt, donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised on the basis of the value of the gift to the Academy which is the amount the Academy would have been willing

(d) Income

The specific bases for accounting for income are described below. In general terms, income is accounted

to pay to obtain services or facilities of equivalent economic benefit on the open market; a corresponding amount in then recognised in expenditure in the period of receipt.

(f) Expenditure

Expenditure is recognised on an accruals basis, gross of any related income. Costs are allocated to activities as described below. Indirect costs are apportioned to activities on a basis consistent with the use of the resources.

• Charitable activities – other. Other charitable expenditure includes all direct expenditure, including irrecoverable VAT and staff costs, which is directly attributable to activities. Indirect costs are allocated to each charitable activity based on the number of staff directly supporting the activity.

(g) Grants payable

Grants payable are recognised when entitlement to the grant is approved and communicated, and also include returned grants that are accounted for on receipt.

(h) Support costs

Support costs are those functions that assist the work of the Academy and mainly comprise of staff costs and overheads. Support costs, which include irrecoverable VAT, are assigned to the Academy’s charitable objectives in line with the direct expenditure under each heading.

(i) Operating leases

Rental costs under operating leases are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities evenly over the term of the lease.

(j) Tangible fixed assets

Depreciation is provided on all tangible fixed assets at rates calculated to write off the cost of each asset over its expected useful life, as follows:

(k) Investments

Listed investments are included in the financial statements at market value at the balance sheet date. Gains/ losses on disposal of investments and revaluation of investments are recognised in the year of gain or loss and are allocated to the funds to which the investments relate. Investments in subsidiaries are included in the financial statements at cost. Investment manager fees are recognised as raising funds expenditure.

(l) Pensions

The Academy operates a defined contribution pension scheme. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the Academy in independently administered funds. The pensions cost charge represents contributions payable to the scheme in the year. The Academy has no liability under the scheme other than the payment of those contributions.

(m) Funds

General funds are those that are available for use at the Trustee Board’s discretion in the furtherance of the Academy’s objectives. Designated funds are unrestricted funds set aside for unrestricted purposes and which would otherwise form part of general funds. Details of the nature and purpose of each designated fund are set out in note 16. Restricted funds are funds that are subject to restrictions imposed by donors and are applied in accordance with these restrictions. Details of the nature and purpose of each restricted fund are set out in note 16.

(n) Debtors

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.

(o) Stock

Stock is included at the lower of cost or net realisable value.

(p) Cash and cash equivalents at bank

Cash and cash equivalents at bank includes cash and short term highly liquid investments obtainable within 3 months.

(q) Creditors

Creditors are recognised where the Academy has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.

(r) Financial instruments

The Academy only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value with the exception of bank loans which are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

(s) Corporation taxation

The Academy is exempt from tax on income and gains falling within section 505 of the Taxes Act 1988 or section 252 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 to the extent that these are applied to its charitable objectives.

(t) Going Concern

No material uncertainties that may cast significant doubt about the ability of the charity to continue as a going concern have been identified by the Trustees and therefore these accounts have been prepared on a going concern basis.

Royal Academy of Engineering’s senior leadership team monitor the Group and Charity’s cash position on a monthly basis by looking at the cash flow forecast for the next twelve months, broken down by month. This forecast, combined with an assessment of the future reserves position, forms the basis of our assessment of going concern. It has been stress tested to reflect a number of possible scenarios. In doing so, we have particularly considered the impact of a global economic recession that results austerity measures and the reduction of the Charity’s government funding being reduced over and above our key risk assumptions (set out in the report of Trustee Board).

Based on these forecasts, and the Group’s net asset position of £224.0 million, which is comprised primarily of cash and investments, we believe that the going concern basis of accounting remains appropriate for our accounts.

(u) Critical accounting judgements and estimations

In the application of the accounting policies, which are described in this note, the Trustees are required to make judgments and assumptions leading to financial estimates about the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The assumptions and associated estimates are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

64 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering

65

Notes to the accounts

Year Ended Totals Totals
31 March 2025 Unrestricted Restricted 31 March Unrestricted Restricted 31 March
Notes funds funds 2025 funds funds 2024
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Note 2 - Donations and legacies
Green Future
Fellowships – – – – 150,000 150,000
ERA Foundation
Enterprise Fellowships 63 – 63 63 – 63
This is Engineering – 486 486 – 371 371
Prince Philip Fund 526 – 526 80 – 80
Queen Elizabeth Prize
for Engineering – 3 3 – 188 188
Total donations
and legacies 589 489 1,078 143 150,559 150,702
Note 3 - Grants
Government grant 3 – 42,874 42,874 – 39,434 39,434
Note 4 - Government
Grant
Grant was expended on:
Programme expenditure – 39,944 39,944 – 36,511 36,511
Costs of managing
programmes		 – 2,930 2,930 – 2,922 2,922
– 42,874 42,874 – 39,433 39,433
Note 5 - Other grants and contracts
International Science
Partnerships Fund – 7,928 7,928 – 4,966 4,966
Global Challenges Research Fund
UK Intelligence Community		 – 2,872 2,872 – 3,152 3,152
(IC) Postdoctoral Research
Fellowships – 1,803 1,803 – 1,165 1,165
Amazon Future Engineer
Bursaries – 1,241 1,241 – 582 582
Global Talent Visas – 1,169 1,169 – 1,003 1,003
Research Ready Internships – 989 989 – – –
Engineering skills where they are
most needed
End of engineered life		 –
–		 535
458		 535
458		 –
–		 328
352		 328
352
The Motorsport MSc Scholarships – 417 417 – 257 257
Sainsbury Management
Fellowships – 396 396 – 597 597
Other awards and contracts – 274 274 – 108 108
1851 Royal Commission
Enterprise Fellowships – 334 334 – 278 278
Leverhulme Fellowships – 265 265 – 325 325
Year Ended Totals Totals
31 March 2025 Unrestricted Restricted 31 March Unrestricted Restricted 31 March
Notes funds funds 2025 funds funds 2024
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Science and Technology Venture
Capital Fellowships – 199 199 – – –
Engineering FE – 169 169 – 30 30
Welsh Valleys Bursaries Scheme – 160 160 – 94 94
Global Disability
Innovation Hub – 132 132 – – –
Africa Programmes – 116 116 – 122 122
United Nations
Environment Programme 101 101
RAEng/EPSRC Research
Fellowships – 59 59 – – –
Enterprise Hub – 58 58 – 25 25
MacRobert Award – 27 27 – 26 26
Africa Prize for
Engineering Innovation – 18 18 – 43 43
Engineering Leadership
Scheme - Buro Happold – 5 5 – – –
Newton Fund – (39) (39) – 232 232
Programme for safer complex
industrial and engineered systems – – – – 739 739
Decarbonised Grid Policy
Delivery Programme – – – – 649 649
D&I Charter – – – – 136 136
Tactical fund – – – – 55 55
– 19,686 19,686 – 15,264 15,264
Total charitable activities – 62,560 62,560 – 54,697 54,697
Note 6 - Investment income
Dividends and income
from equity investments
and fxed interest bonds 850 5,604 6,454 501 681 1,182
Interest on bank
deposits 117 6 123 95 4 99
Total investment
income 967 5,610 6,577 596 685 1,281
Note 6a - Other trading activities
Sponsorship and events 156 – 156 175 – 175
Subscription income 400 – 400 424 – 424
Advertising income and
merchandising 2 – 2 3 – 3
Conferencing business 1,032 – 1,032 873 – 873
Total other trading activities 1,590 – 1,590 1,475 – 1,475

66 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering

67

Notes to the accounts

Queen
Elizabeth
Prize for		 Total Total
Talent and Policy and Engineering 31 March 31 March
diversity Innovation engagement Foundation 2025 2024
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Note 7 - Charitable expenditure
Unrestricted
Charitable activities – 13 252 – 265 102
Charitable grants – 105 – – 105 112
Direct salaries – – 514 – 514 –
Support costs – 12 76 – 88 115
– 130 842 – 972 329
Restricted
Charitable activities 1,781 8,674 1,385 1,314 13,154 9,987
Charitable grants 3,701 29,897 453 – 34,051 31,416
Direct salaries 2,097 4,552 4,022 262 10,933 10,266
Support costs 843 4,799 652 56 6,350 6,442
8,422 47,922 6,512 1,632 64,488 58,111
Total charitable activities 8,422 48,052 7,354 1,632 65,460 58,440
Total support costs of £6,438,000 are made up of indirect staff costs totalling £2,436,000 and accommodation costs and overheads
totalling £4,002,000
2024 Total charitable
activities		 7,646 42,620 6,048 2,126 58,440

In 2024 £329,000 of charitable activities expenditure related to unrestricted funds and £58,440,000 related to restricted funds

2025
£'000		 2024
£'000
Note 8 - Other costs
Auditor's fees:
- Audit		 64 80
- Other Services 8 12
Legal and professional fees 61 52
133 144

Note 9 - Staff and pensions costs

Note 9 - Staff and pensions costs
2025 2024
£'000 £'000
Gross salaries 11,842 9,958
Employer's National Insurance less NI Allowance 1,337 1,128
Benefts in kind 103 57
Pension charge 1,268 1,000
Recruitment costs 104 179
Temporary staff costs 148 149
Training costs 112 11
Other costs 175 199
15,089 12,680
Average number of staff in the year by activity Number Number
- Engineering and education 31 26
- Programmes and fellowship 101 81
- Policy and external affairs 55 52
- Executive, development, fnance and administration 55 48
- Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation 5 4
247 212

No remuneration is paid to the President or members of the Trustee Board of the Academy. Travelling expenses to attend Trustee Board meetings were nil in 2024/25 (2023/24 nil).

Ex gratia payments of £57,000 were made in 2024/25 (2023/24 £29,000)

The emoluments of higher paid staff within the following scales were: Number Number
£60,000–£70,000 9 13
£70,001–£80,000 12 5
£80,001–£90,000 8 6
£90,001–£100,000 4 2
£100,001–£110,000 3 3
£110,001–£120,000 1 1
£120,001–£130,000 – 1
£130,001–£140,000 1 1
£140,001–£150,000 2 –
£190,001–£200,000 – 1
£200,001–£210,000 1 –

Emoluments include salary, bonuses and benefits in kind but exclude pension scheme contributions. Staff numbers are based on full time equivalent.

The executive leadership team comprises a chief executive, chief operating officer, executive director product, and two directors (2023/24 two directors), who manage the day-to-day operations of the charity. Their aggregate remuneration in the year was £745,000 (2023/24 £765,000).

Note: There were no resignations and no appointments among the executive leadership team during the year.

68 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering

69

Notes to the accounts

Note 9(b) - Pensions

The Academy operates a defined contribution pension scheme for staff that joined after 1 January 2000 that is compliant with auto-enrolment legislation. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the Academy in independently administered funds. The Academy has no liability under the scheme other than the payment of contributions.

Note 10 Computer
systems and
equipment		 Offce
fxtures
and fttings		 Leasehold Carlton
House
Terrace
Improvement		 Total
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Tangible fxed assets (group and charity)
Cost
At 1 April 2024 3,056 2,713 12,510 13,997 32,276
Additions
Transfers
At 31 March 2025		 372
–
3,428		 212
–
2,925		 –
–
12,510		 –
–
13,997		 584
–
32,860
Depreciation
At 1 April 2024 (2,164) (1,392) (1,741) (1,652) (6,949)
Charge for the year (524) (381) (92) (126) (1,123)
At 31 March 2025 (2,688) (1,773) (1,833) (1,778) (8,072)
Net book value
At 31 March 2025 740 1,152 10,677 12,219 24,788
At 31 March 2024 892 1,321 10,769 12,345 25,327

All assets are used for charitable purposes

Medal collections

These medal collections are not held on the balance sheet, the Trustees consider that it is not practicable to obtain a valuation, but are satisfied that the value of the medals collections is not material.

Note 11 - Investments (group and charity)

2025 2025 2025 2025 2025 2025
Restricted Designated Total Restricted Total
General income funds income funds funds fund Portfolio
fund (Charity) (Charity) (Charity) (Charity) (Subsidiary) (Group)
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Market value at 1 April 26,554 150,344 1,870 178,768 25,435 204,203
Add acquisitions at cost 8,467 155,512 866 164,845 5,941 170,786
Less: sales proceeds (8,206) (157,324) (896) (166,426) (7,483) (173,909)
Net investment gains for
the year (435) (238) (33) (706) 954 248
Market value at 31 March 26,380 148,294 1,807 176,481 24,847 201,328
Investments in the general fund The restricted income funds (charity) The restricted income funds (charity) Award and funds invested in securities Award and funds invested in securities
(charity) consist of UK government consists of the Green Future Fellowships listed on global stock markets to support
gilts segregated to cover the loan fund placed in fxed interest bonds/ the Colin Campbell Mitchell Award.
liability repayable in February 2027, diversifed assets (74% of portfolio) and Investments in the restricted fund
the remaining portfolio is placed securities listed on global stock markets (subsidiary) consists of funds to
in securities listed on global stock (26% of portfolio). support the Queen Elizabeth Prize
markets (65% of portfolio) and fxed
interest bonds/diversifed assets
(35% of portfolio).		 The designated income funds (charity)
consists of funds invested in line with
the general fund (charity) investment
strategy to support the MacRobert		 for Engineering placed in securities
listed on global stock markets (66%
of portfolio) and fxed interest bonds/
diversifed assets (34% of portfolio).
Group Charity
2025 2024 2025 2024
Notes £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Note 12 - Debtors
Grants and sponsorship receivable 10,139 6,497 10,139 6,497
Prepayments 295 216 295 216
Other debtors 3,375 999 3,209 766
Amounts due from subsidiary
undertakings – – 557 380
13,809 7,712 14,200 7,859
Note 13 - Stocks (Group and Charity)
Publications, Academy ties,
presentation plates and medals 2 2 2 2
Note 14a - Creditors (amount falling due within one year)
Committed grants and prizes
Deferred income		 (10,189)
14b
(664)		 (6,629)
(557)		 (10,189)
(664)		 (6,629)
(557)
Subscriptions in advance (247) (227) (247) (227)
Other creditors
Amounts due to subsidiary		 (1,399) (1,963) (620) (889)
undertakings – – (26) (10)
Social security and other costs (375) (338) (375) (338)
(12,874) (9,714) (12,121) (8,650)

Award and funds invested in securities listed on global stock markets to support the Colin Campbell Mitchell Award. Investments in the restricted fund (subsidiary) consists of funds to support the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering placed in securities listed on global stock markets (66% of portfolio) and fixed interest bonds/ diversified assets (34% of portfolio).

70 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering

71

Notes to the accounts

Notes Group
2025
£'000		 2024
£'000		 Charity
2025
£'000		 2024
£'000

Note 14b - Deferred income

Deferred income comprises of advance funding for the Connecting STEM Teachers Programme, Enterprise Fellowships and Research Fellowships.

Balance at 1 April (557) (557) (557) (557)
Amount released to income earned
from charitable activities 414 450 414 450
Amount deferred in year (521) (450) (521) (450)
Balance as at 31 March (664) (557) (664) (557)
Note 14c - Creditors (amount falling beyond one year)
Bank loan*
- Due one to two years
- Due within two to fve years
- Due after fve years		 (11,500)
–
–
(11,500)		 –
(11,500)
–
(11,500)		 (11,500)
–
–
(11,500)		 –
(11,500)
–
(11,500)

*The Academy has a secured loan of £11.5 million with Aviva, the capital sum is repayable February 2027, an interest rate of 3.11% fixed being applied. The loan is secured against 3 Carlton House Terrace which was valued at £32.25 million on 29 January 2025. There is currently a 36% loan to value ratio. There is a maximum 45% loan to value ratio set out in the terms of the loan.

Note 15 - Future commitments

Total minimum commitments under operating leases
Rent
not later than one year
Equipment
not later than one year		 240
–
240		 240
–
240		 240
–
240		 240
–
240

Note 16 – Statement of changes in funds

• Green Future Fellowship the government has provided funding of £150 million to support Green Futures Fellowships for at least 50 leading engineers and scientists to develop practical, breakthrough green technologies and climate changes solutions.

(a) Restricted funds

international partners on some of the most pressing themes of our time.

The Academy’s restricted funds consist of the monies received under grants, corporate donations and contracts to support specific schemes as follows:

Innovation and Technology • International Science Partnerships (DSIT) provides a government Fund (ISPF) is designed to enable grant to fund programmes in the potential and foster prosperity. areas of engineering research It supports UK researchers and promoting the public and innovators to work with understanding of engineering.

by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, delivered through Engineering X.

• Enriching Engineering Education accessing STEM education and Programme is centred on continuing onto STEM careers. a combination of two way secondments and collaborative • Shott Scale Up Accelerator focuses workshops. These secondments on leadership skills development and workshops lead to improved and carefully tailored support industry-academia links and result designed in collaboration with in wide-ranging benefits for both industry experts and leading parties. engineering and technology business leaders.

donations and contracts by a • Frontiers connects and empowers number of companies for specific enthusiastic researchers, innovators programmes each year. and practitioners from the UK and around the world to work together • Global Challenges Research on new ways to solve complex Fund is part of a £1.5 billion UK global challenges. government fund to support cutting-edge research that • Africa Programmes provide addresses the challenges faced funding and training to individuals by developing countries through and institutions in Africa in order collaborative research and to strengthen the engineering innovation, and research and profession and demonstrate innovation capacity building the importance of engineering within both the UK and developing in improving quality of life and countries. economic development.

(b) Designated funds

Fellowships are offered by the • Strategic Development Fund is Government Office for Science with used to deliver impactful charitable the Academy acting as academic activities over the next five years engagement partner. They support and strengthen the Academy for outstanding early- career science or the longer term. engineering researchers to promote unclassified basic research in areas • The Capital Building Fund has been used to create a base for the of interest to the intelligence, Academy’s enterprise activities and security and defence community.

been used to create a base for the Academy’s enterprise activities and develop 3 Carlton House Terrace into a national forum of engineering excellence.

• Northern Ireland Engineering Education Programme is working with schools and colleges across Northern Ireland to encourage more young people, particularly young women and those from socially disadvantaged backgrounds and other under-represented groups, to progress towards careers in engineering.

enable us to respond to evolving challenges, drive impact across a wide range of engineering disciplines, and ensure resilience in a rapidly changing world, thereby honouring the legacy of our late founding Senior Fellow, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.

Bursaries is a national bursary programme aimed at supporting women A-level and BTEC/OCR (or Scottish equivalent) students from low-income households who wish to study computer science or related engineering courses at UK universities.

72 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering 73

Notes to the accounts

Note 16 Continued

Note 16 Continued
Balance at Transfers Net Balance at
1 April between investment 31 March
2024 Income Expenditure funds gains 2025
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Restricted funds
Government grant – 42,875 (42,875) – – –
Green Future Fellowships 150,423 4,931 (754) – (240) 154,360
International Science
Partnerships Fund – 7,928 (7,928) – – –
Decarbonised Grid Policy Delivery
Programme 611 – (450) – – 161
D&I Charter 45 – (45) – – –
Tactical fund – – – – – –
End of engineered life 584 458 (477) – – 565
Programme for safer complex
industrial and engineered systems 1,512 – (479) – – 1,033
Engineering skills where
they are most needed 76 535 (359) – – 252
Sainsbury Management Fellowships – 396 (396) – – –
RAEng/EPSRC Research Fellowships – 59 (59) – – –
Leverhulme Fellowships – 265 (265) – – –
Engineering Leaders Scholarships 177 – – – – 177
Connecting STEM Teachers
Social Mobility Pilot 143 – (131) – – 12
Amazon Future Engineer Bursaries 640 1,241 (485) – – 1,396
Northern Ireland Engineering
Education Programme		 40 26 (66) – – –
Sir Ralph Robins Scholarships 294 – (24) – – 270
Welsh Valleys Bursaries Scheme 29 160 (116) – – 73
Engineering FE 185 169 (127) – – 227
Enterprise Hub 130 58 (136) – – 52
Shott Scale Up Accelerator 328 – (155) – – 173
Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation 265 18 (20) – – 263
Colin Campbell-Mitchell Award 461 2 (21) – (6) 436
Newton Fund – (39) 39 – – –
This is Engineering 607 486 (381) – – 712
This is Engineering - Schools
Engagement – – – – – –
Enriching Engineering Education
Programme 306 – (41) – – 265
Research Ready Internships – 989 (306) – – 683
Science and Technology Venture
Capital Fellowships
Global Disability Innovation Hub		 –
–		 199
132		 (199)
–		 –
–		 –
–		 –
132
United Nations Environment Programme 101 (101) –

Note 16 Continued

Note 16 Continued
Balance at Transfers Net Balance at
1 April between investment 31 March
2024 Income Expenditure funds gains 2025
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
MacRobert Award 1,270 59 (88) – (27) 1,214
Other awards and contracts 80 248 (253) – – 75
1851 Royal Commission Enterprise
Fellowships 15 334 (315) – – 34
Global Challenge Research Fund – 2,872 (2,872) – – –
Global Talent Visas – 1,169 (1,169) – – –
Wikipedia Project 47 – (2) – – 45
UK Intelligence Community (IC)
Postdoctoral Research Fellowships 1,160 1,803 (1,687) – – 1,276
Africa Programmes 171 116 (49) – – 238
The Motorsport MSc Scholarships 110 417 (274) – – 253
Engineering Leadership Scheme - Buro
Happold 16 5 (21) – – –
Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering 25,363 646 (1,787) (314) 955 24,863
Total restricted funds 185,088 68,658 (64,874) (314) 682 189,240
Designated funds
Strategic Development Fund 1,548 – – 254 – 1,802
Capital Building Fund 2,280 – – (20) – 2,260
Prince Philip Fund 767 – – 527 – 1,294
Ingenia Designated fund – 2 (2) – – –
Total designated funds 4,595 2 (2) 761 – 5,356
General fund 30,460 3,145 (2,929) (447) (435) 29,794
Total funds 220,143 71,805 (67,805) – 247 224,390

The general fund surplus of £216,000 is the difference between income of £3,144,792 and expenditure of £2,928,792 All other funds, other than the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, are funds of the parent charity. Capital Building Fund transfer relates to fixed asset additions. Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering transfer relates to the management fee charged by the charitable parent.

Note 16 Continued (prior year note)
Balance at Transfers Net Balance at
1 April between investment 31 March
2023 Income Expenditure funds gains 2024
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Restricted funds
Government grant – 39,432 (39,432) – – –
Green Future Fellowships – 150,033 – – 390 150,423
International Science Partnerships
Fund – 4,966 (4,966) – – –
Decarbonised Grid Policy Delivery
Programme – 649 (38) – – 611
D&I Charter – 136 (91) – – 45
Tactical fund – 55 (55) – – –
End of engineered life 1,063 352 (831) – – 584
Programme for safer complex
industrial and engineered systems 1,122 739 (349) – – 1,512

74 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering

75

Notes to the accounts

Note 16 Continued (prior year note)

Note 16 Continued (prior year note)
Balance at Transfers Net Balance at
1 April between investment 31 March
2023 Income Expenditure funds gains 2024
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Engineering skills where they are most
needed
BEIS UK-DE Energy Systems		 473 328 (725) – – 76
Symposium – (19) 19 – – –
Sainsbury Management Fellowships – 597 (597) – – –
RAEng/EPSRC Research Fellowships – – – – – –
Leverhulme Fellowships – 325 (325) – – –
Engineering Leaders Scholarships
Connecting STEM Teachers		 177
158		 –
–		 –
(158)		 –
–		 –
–		 177
–
Connecting STEM Teachers Social
Mobility Pilot 251 – (108) – – 143
Amazon Future Engineer Bursaries 443 582 (385) – – 640
Northern Ireland Engineering
Education Programme 299 6 (265) – – 40
Sir Ralph Robins Scholarships 320 – (26) – – 294
Welsh Valleys Bursaries Scheme 71 94 (136) – – 29
Engineering FE 245 30 (90) – – 185
Enterprise Hub 215 25 (110) – – 130
Shott Scale Up Accelerator 551 – (223) – – 328
Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation 278 43 (56) – – 265
Colin Campbell-Mitchell Award 378 14 (15) – 84 461
Newton Fund – 232 (232) – – –
Capital Building Fund 178 – – (178) – –
This is Engineering 651 371 (415) – – 607
Enriching Engineering Education
Programme 305 – 1 – – 306
Education Studies and Support – 1 (1) – – –
MacRobert Award 1,141 53 (82) – 158 1,270
Other awards and contracts 307 121 (348) – – 80
1851 Royal Commission Enterprise
Fellowships		 – 278 (263) – – 15
Global Challenge Research Fund – 3,152 (3,152) – – –
Global Talent Visas – 1,003 (1,003) – – –
Wikipedia Project 50 – (3) – – 47
UK Intelligence Community (IC)
Postdoctoral Research Fellowships 1,298 1,165 (1,303) – – 1,160
Frontiers IIED 30 – (30) – – –
Africa Programmes 121 122 (72) – – 171
The Motorsport MSc Scholarships 9 257 (156) – – 110
Engineering Leadership Scheme - Buro
Happold 18 – (2) – – 16

Note 16 Continued (prior year note)

Note 16 Continued (prior year note)
Balance at Transfers Net Balance at
1 April between investment 31 March
2023 Income Expenditure funds gains 2024
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering 24,856 798 (2,299) (299) 2,307 25,363
Total restricted funds 35,008 205,940 (58,322) (477) 2,939 185,088
Designated funds
Strategic Development Fund 1,828 – – (280) – 1,548
Capital Building Fund 2,052 – – 228 – 2,280
Prince Philip Fund – – – 767 – 767
Ingenia Designated fund – 3 (3) – – –
Total designated funds 3,880 3 (3) 715 – 4,595
General fund 27,931 2,212 (1,964) (238) 2,519 30,460
Total funds 66,819 208,155 (60,289) – 5,458 220,143

The general fund surplus of £248,000 is the difference between income of £2,211,833 and expenditure of £1,963,833 All other funds, other than the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, are funds of the parent charity. Capital Building Fund transfer relates to fixed asset additions. Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering transfer relates to the management fee charged by the charitable parent.

Note 17 - Analysis of net assets between funds

Tangible fxed
assets Investments Current assets Liabilities Total net assets
2025 2025 2025 2025 2025
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Restricted Funds 24,788 174,948 4,801 (15,297) 189,240
Special and designated funds – – 5,356 – 5,356
General funds – 26,380 12,491 (9,077) 29,794
Total 24,788 201,328 22,648 (24,374) 224,390

Note 17 - Analysis of net assets between funds (prior year note)

Tangible fxed
assets Investments Current assets Liabilities Total net assets
2024 2024 2024 2024 2024
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Restricted Funds 25,327 177,649 2,118 (20,006) 185,088
Special and designated funds – – 4,595 – 4,595
General funds – 26,554 5,114 (1,208) 30,460
Total 25,327 204,203 11,827 (21,214) 220,143

76 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering 77

Notes to the accounts

Legal and administrative information

Note 18 - Subsidiary activities

charity via a qualifying charitable donation.

education of the public in the subject of engineering by awarding an annual high-profile and internationally recognised prize for engineering.

The Academy has one wholly owned subsidiary, RAE Trading Limited (registered company number 08038360) and a charitable subsidiary company, the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation (registered charity number 1147743, registered company number 8077332). RAE Trading Limited was formed in April 2012 and manages a conferencing business at Prince Philip House; all available trading profits are donated to the

RAE Trading Limited and the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation are registered in the UK and have the same year end date as the charity.

Foundation are registered in the UK All activities have been consolidated and have the same year end date as on a line-by-line basis in the statement the charity. of financial activities and these results have been adjusted to eliminate The Academy owns all 100 £1 shares in income and expenditure relating to RAE Trading Limited. conferencing activities to the Academy The Queen Elizabeth Prize for and the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation was formed Engineering, and management fees in May 2012 and advances the payable to the Academy.

The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation was formed in May 2012 and advances the

Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering
At 31 March 2025 RAE Trading Ltd Foundation
2025 2024 2025 2024
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Total income 1,471 1,226 646 798
Total expenditure (1,197) (988) (2,101) (2,598)
274 238 (1,455) (1,800)
Total investment gains – – 955 2,307
Net surplus/(defcit) before qualifying
charitable donation 274 238 (500) 507
Qualifying charitable donation to Royal
Academy of Engineering (274) (238) – –
Retained net (defcit)/surplus for the year – – (500) 507
The aggregate of the assets and liabilities was:
Assets 783 588 25,415 26,227
Liabilities (509) (350) (552) (864)
Funds 274 238 24,863 25,363

The parent charity’s results for the year are disclosed as follows:

Academy
2025 2024
£'000 £'000
Gross income 70,401 206,722
Retained net surplus/(defcit) for the year 4,745 152,818

Note 19 - Related party transactions

The Academy had the following transactions within its subsidiaries during the year:

Management
Sales Salary recharges charges Debtors Creditors
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Queen Elizabeth Prize for
Engineering Foundation – 330 314 0 –
RAE Trading Limited 439 – 227 557 26

NAME AND REGISTERED OFFICE

The Royal Academy of Engineering is a registered charity No. 293074. It is a corporate body governed by Royal Charter. The registered office is Prince Philip House, 3 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5DG.

PROFESSIONAL ADVISERS

Bankers

National Westminster Bank plc Charing Cross, London Branch PO Box 113, Cavell House 2a Charing Cross Road London WC2H 0NN

Solicitors

Womble Bond Dickinson 4 More London Riverside London SE1 2AU

Auditor

BDO LLP

55 Baker Street London W1U 7EU

Investment managers

Goldman Sachs International

Plumtree Court, 25 Shoe Lane, London EC4A 4AU

TRUSTEE BOARD MEMBERS

The Academy’s Trustee Board comprises 13 members elected by and from the Fellowship with the discretion to co-opt up to two additional members. Trustee Board members are the Trustees of the Academy as defined under its status as a registered charity. The Trustee Board meets at least six times a year and is responsible for the governance of the Academy. At these meetings, the Trustee Board will discuss issues of strategy and policy and also matters referred to it by the governance committees for Finance, Audit and Risk, Conduct, Membership, Nominations, and Remuneration.

All Trustee Board members and committee members give their time freely; no remuneration was paid in the year beyond the reimbursement of reasonable expenses. The majority of Academy activities are controlled by committees primarily composed of Fellows. The members of the Trustee Board during the year were:

OFFICERS

President

Sir John Lazar CBE FREng (appointed 17 September 2024)

Vice-Presidents

Dr Steve Denton FREng Vice-President for Committee Coordination

Professor Nick Jennings CB FREng FRS Vice-President for Fellowship Engagement (appointed 17 September 2024)

Members of the Trustee Board at the date the report was approved:

Dr Enass Abo-Hamed MBE Jane Atkinson CBE FREng Dame Dawn Childs DBE FREng David Eyton CBE FREng Dr Luisa Freitas dos Santos FREng (appointed 17 September 2024) Dame Sue Gray DBE CB FREng Dr Carolyn Griffiths OBE FREng Dame Judith Hackitt DBE FREng (appointed 17 September 2024) Professor Sarah Hainsworth OBE FREng

Professor Ric Parker CBE FREng Paul Taylor CBE FREng

Other Trustees who served during the period of the report:

Professor Sir Jim McDonald GBE FREng FRSE (retired 17 September 2024)

Catriona Schmolke CBE FREng (retired 17 September 2024) Professor Sir Bashir Al-Hashimi CBE FREng FRS (retired 17 September 2024)

Professor Nilay Shah OBE FREng (retired 17 September 2024)

Chairs of Governance Committees

Audit and Risk – Dame Dawn Childs DBE FREng

Conduct – Dr Steve Denton FREng Finance and Investment – David Eyton CBE FREng

Membership – Dame Judith Hackitt DBE FREng

Nominations and Remuneration – Sir John Lazar CBE FREng

Chairs of Operating Committees

Awards – Luke Logan FREng Education and Skills – Dr Ian Ritchey FREng

Engineering Policy Centre – Professor Eleanor Stride OBE FREng Enterprise – Paul Taylor CBE FREng External Affairs – Rachel Skinner CBE FREng Diversity and Inclusion – Aleida Rios FREng International – Professor Dame Sarah Springman FREng Research – Professor Maire O’Neill OBE FREng

All transactions in respect of trustees is provided for in Note 9

78 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering

79

Partners, supporters and donors

CONTRIBUTORS TO ACADEMY PROGRAMMES

The Academy acknowledges the generosity of all its supporters who have enabled the continuing growth and development of its programmes and activities. In this financial year, support was received from the following individuals and organisations.

STRATEGIC PARTNERS

PRINCIPAL PARTNERS

MAJOR PARTNERS

Boeing City & Guilds Rolls-Royce

PARTNERS

BAE Systems Google DeepMind Royal Air Force

SPONSORS

MathWorks

Mathys & Squire MBDA Mott MacDonald

SGN

Venterra Viridien

GRADUATE ENGINEERING ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMME PARTNERS

AB Dynamics

Amey Atelier Ten

chapmanbdsp Evolito

Fugro

ITP Aero

Johnson Matthey

National Grid

Two Sigma Investments WSP Zurich Engineering

PRINCIPAL UNIVERSITY PARTNERS

Heriot-Watt University

MAJOR UNIVERSITY PARTNERS

University of Southampton

UNIVERSITY PARTNERS

King’s College London University of Cambridge University of Edinburgh University of Oxford University of Strathclyde

CHARITABLE TRUSTS AND FOUNDATIONS

David Family Foundation ERA Foundation Ezrah Charitable Trust Gatsby Charitable Foundation The Happold Foundation The Hg Foundation Leverhulme Trust

Lloyd’s Register Foundation The MacRobert Trust

Mission 44

The Panasonic Trust

Rosetrees Trust

Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851

UN Environment Programme Climate and Clean Air Coalition

Welsh Government Tech Valleys Programme Worshipful Company of Engineers

SUPPORT FROM OUR FELLOWS, FRIENDS, AWARDEES AND ACADEMY STAFF

MAJOR DONORS

Sir Peter Gershon CBE FREng Professor Peter Goodhew CBE FREng Dr Xudong Jing FREng Professor Sir Jim McDonald GBE FREng FRSE Hilary Mercer FREng Sir John Parker GBE FREng Dr Antony Trapp MBE FREng

With additional thanks to donors who wish to remain anonymous.

DONORS

Samantha Bagchi David Ball FREng Aklema Begum Martha Bell Charles Betts CB FREng Dr Fuzzy Bitar FREng Peter Blair OBE FREng Sir Peter Bonfield CBE FREng Professor John Bourne FREng Malcolm Brinded CBE FREng Sir Richard Brook OBE FREng Baroness Julia Brown DBE FREng FRS Annette Bullen Peter Chamberlain FREng Dr Andrew Charles FREng Professor David Clarke FREng FRS Allan Cook CBE FREng Edmund Crowdy VRD FREng Ed Daniels FREng Professor David Delpy CBE FREng FRS Barry Denham FREng Professor Yulong Ding FREng Nick Donofrio FREng Maria Dramalioti-Taylor John Durston FREng Peter East OBE FREng

Aleida Rios FREng

Professor Rodney Eatock Taylor FREng Aleida Rios FREng Professor William Fairney FREng Professor Ian Ritchie CBE HonFREng Dr John Ferrie CBE FREng John Robinson CBE FREng Dr Allan Fox FREng Stephen Robinson OBE FREng FRS Professor John Garside CBE FREng Sir Ian Robinson FREng FRSE Professor Peter Grant OBE Professor Elena Rodriguez-Falcon FREng FRSE FREng Philip Greenish CBE HonFREng Professor Phil Ruffles CBE RDI Professor Christopher Hall FREng FRS FREng FRSE Emeritus Professor Felix Schmid Sir Robert Hill KBE FREng FREng Professor Sir Tony Hoare FREng FRS Dr Hayaatun Sillem CBE Chad Holliday FREng Emeritus Professor Ian Smith FREng Nic Holt FREng Professor Martin Snaith OBE FREng Dr Mike Howse CBE FREng Professor Dame Sarah Springman Nigel Hughes FREng DBE FREng Professor Bernard Kelly FREng Dr Scott Steedman CBE FREng Derek Kingsbury CBE FREng The Late Air Marshal Sir Colin Terry Paul and Sue Kumleben KBE CB FREng Emeritus Professor Brian Launder Dr Simon Thomas FREng FREng FRS Keith Thrower OBE FREng Geoffrey Lomer CBE FREng Professor Charles Turner FREng Professor Malcolm Macleod FREng Hugh Varilly Professor Asad Madni Professor Peter Varnish OBE FREng FREng HonFRSE Professor Laurence Williams OBE Air Vice Marshal John Main FREng FLSW CB OBE FREng Professor Lord Robert Winston Professor Geoffrey Maitland HonFREng FMedSci CBE FREng Dr Richard Wylde FREng Dr Allan Mann FREng Professor John Yates FREng Professor Marie-Madeleine Martinet Professor Steve Young CBE Trevor Massey OBE FREng FREng FRS Reverend Dr Ian McEwan FREng FRSE Professor Zhibing Zhang FREng Dr Robert McKinlay CBE FREng Professor John McWhirter With additional thanks to donors who FREng FRS FLSW wish to remain anonymous. Dr John Menzies FREng The Late Sir Robin Nicholson FREng FRS Dr Ian Nussey OBE FREng Professor James O’Callaghan FREng The Reverend Patrick O’Ferrall OBE HonFREng

DONORS TO THE QUEEN Professor Ian Ritchie CBE HonFREng ELIZABETH PRIZE FOR John Robinson CBE FREng ENGINEERING Stephen Robinson OBE FREng FRS The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Sir Ian Robinson FREng FRSE Engineering is run by a charitable Professor Elena Rodriguez-Falcon company limited by guarantee and FREng called The Queen Elizabeth Prize Professor Phil Ruffles CBE RDI Foundation, which manages the prize FREng FRS and its funding. Emeritus Professor Felix Schmid The Queen Elizabeth Prize for FREng

The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering is run by a charitable company limited by guarantee and called The Queen Elizabeth Prize Foundation, which manages the prize and its funding.

The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering was funded by generous support from the following corporate donors:

BAE Systems

bp

GSK

Hitachi

Jaguar Land Rover National Grid Shell UK Siemens UK Sony

Tata Consultancy Services Tata Steel Europe Toshiba Nissan Motor Company

The Engineers gallery at the Science Museum is funded by generous support from the following donors:

Professor Frances Arnold FREng FRS Professor Andrew Blakers Professor Mary Boyce John Browne Charitable Trust Dr Jean-Lou Chameau and Dr Carol Carmichael

Professor Eric Fossum and family Siemens UK Surgo Foundation US Dr Aihua Wang Dr Jianhua Zhao

With additional thanks to donors who wish to remain anonymous.

Professor David Olver FREng Professor Jeom-Kee Paik OSTM FREng Professor Ric Parker CBE FREng Professor Arogyaswami Paulraj John Pilling FREng Christopher Price OBE FREng Mick Reeve FREng

80 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering

81

Events highlights 2024/25

SEPTEMBER

APRIL

• Critical Conversations – Energy: decarbonising equitably, effectively and democratically, online

• Technical Briefing – rapid decarbonisation of the GB electricity system, online

London

MAY

OCTOBER

• Critical Conversations – Transport: pathways to decarbonised mobility, online

• Frontiers symposium: Empowering resilience: integrating innovation, sustainable communities, and climate adaptation strategies, Australia

JUNE

• Royal Academy of Engineering and GBx Global – fireside chat and drinks, London

• Innovation Incoming: Weather warnings from AI – a MacRobert Award special, London and online

NOVEMBER

• Academy strategy consultation – stakeholder breakfast and town hall meeting

• Critical Conversations – Built environment: visions for greener healthier buildings, online

JULY

DECEMBER

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

Engineering announcement, London

• Frontiers symposium – Catalysing global healthcare: innovations and strategies for scalable impact, Kenya

MARCH

• Critical Conversations: What are complex challenges, and how can systems approaches be beneficial in tackling them? Online

• Engineering and Technology Business Leaders’ Forum inaugural event

• Critical Conversations: How can systems approach benefit capacity building? Online

Products

ENTERPRISE HUB

Support for UK and global entrepreneurs

Regional Enterprise Hubs Technology adoption

RESEARCH AND INVENTION

FELLOWSHIPS

Green Future Fellowships

Research Fellowships Chairs in Emerging Technologies Research Chairs

SKILLS CENTRE

Skills fit for the future

Scholarships

Equity, diversity and inclusion programmes This is Engineering

ENGINEERING X

Global missions

Sustainable development programmes

NATIONAL ENGINEERING

POLICY CENTRE

Independent policy advice

Systems approaches for policymakers Public dialogues International partnerships

To find out more and catch up on some of these events, please visit www.raeng.org.uk/events

82 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Royal Academy of Engineering

83

Awards

MACROBERT AWARD – the UK’s

longest-running and most prestigious national prize for engineering innovation. The presentation of the Award recognises outstanding innovation coupled with tangible societal benefit and proven commercial success.

2024 winner: Google DeepMind for GraphCast

BHATTACHARYYA AWARD – annual

award to celebrate collaboration between academia and industry, recognising the team or teams who best show how industry and universities can work together.

2024 winners: University of Sheffield and Boeing

COLIN CAMPBELL MITCHELL

AWARD – awarded to an engineer or small team of engineers who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of any field of UK engineering.

2024 winner: The Arm Architecture Formal Team

MAJOR PROJECT AWARD FOR

SUSTAINABILITY – awarded to

a team that has played a critical role in a major engineering project that has had substantial impact on society in any branch of engineering.

2024 winner: National Grid for Viking Link

PRESIDENT’S MEDAL – awarded to

an Academy Fellow who has greatly contributed to the Academy’s work and aims.

2024 winner: Dame Judith Hackitt DBE FREng

PRINCE PHILIP MEDAL – awarded biennially to an engineer of any nationality who has made an exceptional contribution to engineering through practice, management or education.

2024 winner: Dr Arogyaswami J Paulraj

PRINCESS ROYAL SILVER MEDALS –

awarded to an early- to mid-career engineer for outstanding personal contribution to UK engineering resulting in market exploitation.

2024 winners: Dr Katerina

Spranger, CEO and Founder of Oxford Heartbeat Ltd; Dr Daniel Jamieson, CEO of Biorelate Ltd; Dr Orr Yarkoni, CEO of Colorifix; Professor Jason Hallett, Professor of Sustainable Chemical Technology, Imperial College London

ROOKE AWARD – awarded to an individual, small team or project that has contributed to the Academy’s aims and work through their initiative in promoting engineering to the public.

2024 winner: Dr Shini Somara

RAENG ARMOURERS AND BRASIERS

COMPANY PRIZE – awarded biennially to an individual, for excellence in materials engineering.

RAENG ENGINEERS TRUST YOUNG ENGINEERS OF THE YEAR

– recognises the potential of younger UK engineers, who have demonstrated excellence in the early stage of their career.

2024 winners: Dr Ruben Doyle, CEO of Additive Instruments Ltd; Dr Ishara Dharmasena, Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) at Loughborough University; Jamie Serjeant, Senior Design Engineer at Occuity; Nikhila Ravi, Research Engineering Manager at Meta

SIR GEORGE MACFARLANE MEDAL

– awarded to the overall winner of the RAEng Engineers Trust Young Engineer of the Year.

2024 winner: Dr Alalea Kia, Advanced Research Fellow, UKRI Future Leaders Fellow and Royal Academy of Engineering Associate Research Fellow, Imperial College London

SIR FRANK WHITTLE MEDAL

– awarded to an engineer for outstanding and sustained achievement in any engineering discipline.

2024 winner: Tristram Carfrae

RDI FREng

PRESIDENT’S SPECIAL MEDAL FOR ENGINEERING IN THE SERVICE OF

SOCIETY – made to celebrate only the most unusual achievement of excellence in engineering.

2024 winner: His Majesty’s Government Communications Centre

To find out more about Academy awards and prizes, please visit: www.raeng.org.uk/ programmes-and-prizes

84 Royal Academy of Engineering Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Design and typesetting by Beyond the Surface beyondthesurfacestudio.com

The Royal Academy of Engineering creates and leads a community of outstanding experts and innovators to engineer better lives. As a charity and a Fellowship, we deliver public benefit from excellence in engineering and technology and convene leading businesspeople, entrepreneurs, innovators and academics across engineering and technology. As a National Academy, we provide leadership for engineering and technology, and independent, expert advice to policymakers in the UK and beyond.

The world is changing rapidly, with economies, supply chains and security critically dependent on engineering capability. Engineers are uniquely placed to respond to that change and innovate solutions to the challenges it presents.

We have three goals:

----- Start of picture text -----
Sustainable and Innovative Economy, where sustainability
drivers, innovative industries and resilient infrastructures are aligned
to drive growth and productivity that will support better lives for all.
Technology Improving Lives, where technology in all its forms
is used to meet the most important human needs, avoid harm,
support fairer societies and break down barriers to opportunity.
Engineering Community Fit for the Future, where our
community reflects society in its diversity, commits to creating
inclusive cultures to help drive engineering excellence, and has the
skills to meet future needs safely, securely and ethically, and to keep
pace with innovation.
----- End of picture text -----

Royal Academy of Engineering Prince Philip House 3 Carlton House Terrace London SW1Y 5DG

Tel 020 7766 0600 www.raeng.org.uk @RAEngNews

Registered charity number 293074