ST ANDREWS BOTANIC GARDEN TRUST

• ⚠

  Material uncertainty over going concern

  The charity's ability to continue operating is highly dependent on the successful approval and receipt of grant funding which, at the date of approval of the financial statements, had not yet been formally confirmed. While the trustees are actively engaged with funders and confident that the charity's activities align with funder priorities, there can be no assurance that such funding will be secured within the required timeframe.

• ◆

  3 officer resignations in last 12 months

  Multiple officers have left the board recently — see the People section for who.

Values shown as filed in the company's annual accounts. — indicates the figure wasn't present under that line item in that period. About these numbers

• Turnover

  -25%

  £89,916 → £67,470

• Cash

  -77%

  £151,392 → £34,789

• Net assets

  -51.6%

  £479,443 → £231,970

• Employees

  -5%

  20 → 19

• Wages

  +0.3%

  £397,119 → £398,262

Each % is (latest − prior) ÷ |prior| for the line item as filed. The comparison is only shown when the latest and prior accounts cover broadly equal-length periods — short or long stubs (typical around incorporation or a year-end change) are suppressed rather than misrepresented. Lines a company doesn't report are omitted. About these numbers

Margins divide P&L lines by turnover. Gearing is liabilities over total assets. Current ratio is current assets over creditors falling due within one year. Interest cover is operating profit over absolute finance costs. Margin ratios are hidden where reported turnover is too small relative to profit to yield a meaningful figure — typical of holding companies whose income is mostly subsidiary dividends rather than trading revenue. Sector-distribution context coming next.

1. ST ANDREWS BOTANIC GARDEN TRUST 2014-06-12 → present
2. ST. ANDREWS BOTANIC GARDEN EDUCATION TRUST 2005-07-15 → 2014-06-12

Accounting basis

FRS 102

Reporting scope

Standalone (parent only)

Auditor

Findlays Audit Limited

Audit opinion

Unqualified (clean)

Going concern

Material uncertainty disclosed

“The charity's ability to continue operating is highly dependent on the successful approval and receipt of grant funding which, at the date of approval of the financial statements, had not yet been formally confirmed. While the trustees are actively engaged with funders and confident that the charity's activities align with funder priorities, there can be no assurance that such funding will be secured within the required timeframe.”

Significant events

• “2024/25 marks the fourth year in the 2021/26 business plan, with notable successes (in particular infrastructure investment, research and industry impact, and Garden development) alongside areas for review and development.”
• “This year marked the first full year of implementing the Trust's strategic plan for biodiversity, "Plants on the Move", with the completion of the Generator Garden in May 2024, and new projects initiated in the Temperate House and Herb Garden (to create polycultural meadows) and the 'B' Beds (to remove overstood trees and enhance biodiversity).”
• “Throughout the Garden conservation programmes continued, albeit with a lean team, and offsite conservation projects were trialied through the Nature Networks project (funded by Nature Scot) at the North Haugh and Observatory, where the SABG team designed and constructed a series of meadows, biodiversity enhancements and wetlands.”
• “Following the refresh of the Education programme in Spring 2022 in response to the changing visitor demographics and emerging policy context, we saw growth in curriculum-linked education as well as a review of the audiences and communities that the Trust engages with.”
• “2024 saw three artist in residencies in the Garden, each focusing on different themes but with a common thread of site specificity and engaging with the Garden's strategic plans for biodiversity.”
• “2024/25 saw a very successful year for research and industry impact, with highlights including: The presentation of three research papers at the RHS Greener Cities Symposium 2024, The initiation of an industry partner relationship with Imperial College, London and RBG Kew for a PhD project, Three student internships working on the Herbarium and trait data collection in the Garden, Participation in the BIRCH internship scheme, Membership of the University of St Andrews Centre for Critical Sustainabilities, Baseline botanical surveys at 34 sites carried out across Scotland as a scoping exercise for the Tangled Bank project followed by a highly successful workshop in November 2024 that brought together industry bodies, conservationists government policy teams, researchers and students, Publication of three peer reviewed journal articles, Contributions to the Angus Glens research partnership, Commissioned research for the Fife Climate Forest, Plant Health Centre Scotland, BBSRC, International Plant Sentinel Network and the Fund 4 Trees, and The initiation of a long term experiment into the microsignals of evolution in horticultural plants in the place of the China and Chile borders in the Botanic Garden.”
• “Retail performance through the year was slightly down against the previous year but generally is constrained by the limited capacity for catering and hospitality. To this end, a new shelter at the Visitor Centre was constructed, offering improved visitor amenity and welcome, marketing expertise was engaged to promote the Garden from April 2024, the website was refreshed in May 2024, and a Senior Management position was created in January 2025 with a brief to improve trading activity.”
• “Following the decommissioning of the glasshouses, construction work on the Boiler House was completed under budget in August 2024, providing 115m2 of floorspace (replacing the Glass Class which was removed in March 2024).”
• “Further, long term plans for the Kernel area were agreed with St Andrews Environment Network with interim usage of the containers until 2028, and restoration of the car park as a Walled Garden began in January 2025 with sustainable drainage installed and the central island opened up for a plant nursery to be created in May 2025.”

Auditor, going-concern and subsidiary information is drawn from the narrative of the latest annual accounts. About these numbers

Filings

6

last 12 months

Capital events

0

last 24 months

Officers appointed

0

last 12 months

Officers resigned

3

last 12 months

Direct counts from the register. No score, no rating — see the Filing timeline for the underlying events.