GENERAL COUNSEL SUSTAINABILITY FORUM CIC

Company limited by guarantee

Company Registration Number:
13643713 (England and Wales)

Unaudited statutory accounts for the year ended 30 September 2024

Period of accounts

Start date: 1 October 2023

End date: 30 September 2024

GENERAL COUNSEL SUSTAINABILITY FORUM CIC

Contents of the Financial Statements

for the Period Ended 30 September 2024

Directors report
Profit and loss
Balance sheet
Additional notes
Balance sheet notes
Community Interest Report

GENERAL COUNSEL SUSTAINABILITY FORUM CIC

Directors' report period ended 30 September 2024

The directors present their report with the financial statements of the company for the period ended 30 September 2024

Principal activities of the company

The principal activity of the company continued to be that of supporting the rapid transition to net zero greenhouse gas emissions to help retain a liveable planet for all. This was done via advocacy to the whole legal sector and our Leaders Programme for General Counsel. This programme empowers General Counsel via a peer-to-peer process to champion legitimate net zero and deliver rapid practical climate action. The company changed its name from Lawyers for Net Zero CIC to General Sustainability Forum CIC on 26th June 2024.



Directors

The directors shown below have held office during the whole of the period from
1 October 2023 to 30 September 2024

Mr Adam Peter Woodhall
Mr Kris De Meyer
Ms Jane Louise Airth Pittaway


Secretary Ms Jane Louise Airth Pittaway

The above report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions in part 15 of the Companies Act 2006

This report was approved by the board of directors on
22 June 2025

And signed on behalf of the board by:
Name: Mr Adam Peter Woodhall
Status: Director

GENERAL COUNSEL SUSTAINABILITY FORUM CIC

Profit And Loss Account

for the Period Ended 30 September 2024

2024 2023


£

£
Turnover: 94,741 45,872
Gross profit(or loss): 94,741 45,872
Administrative expenses: ( 79,471 ) ( 69,687 )
Other operating income: 1,200 8,400
Operating profit(or loss): 16,470 (15,415)
Interest payable and similar charges: ( 412 )
Profit(or loss) before tax: 16,058 (15,415)
Profit(or loss) for the financial year: 16,058 (15,415)

GENERAL COUNSEL SUSTAINABILITY FORUM CIC

Balance sheet

As at 30 September 2024

Notes 2024 2023


£

£
Fixed assets
Tangible assets: 3 574 1,033
Total fixed assets: 574 1,033
Current assets
Debtors: 4 1,960 9,125
Cash at bank and in hand: 15,194 3,702
Total current assets: 17,154 12,827
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year: 5 ( 17,499 ) ( 29,689 )
Net current assets (liabilities): (345) (16,862)
Total assets less current liabilities: 229 ( 15,829)
Total net assets (liabilities): 229 (15,829)
Members' funds
Profit and loss account: 229 ( 15,829)
Total members' funds: 229 (15,829)

The notes form part of these financial statements

GENERAL COUNSEL SUSTAINABILITY FORUM CIC

Balance sheet statements

For the year ending 30 September 2024 the company was entitled to exemption under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit in accordance with section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.

The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Act with respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts.

These accounts have been prepared and delivered in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime.

This report was approved by the board of directors on 22 June 2025
and signed on behalf of the board by:

Name: Mr Adam Peter Woodhall
Status: Director

The notes form part of these financial statements

GENERAL COUNSEL SUSTAINABILITY FORUM CIC

Notes to the Financial Statements

for the Period Ended 30 September 2024

  • 1. Accounting policies

    Basis of measurement and preparation

    These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions of Section 1A (Small Entities) of Financial Reporting Standard 102

    Turnover policy

    Income is included in the financial statement as it becomes receivable.

    Tangible fixed assets depreciation policy

    IT equipment owned by the company is depreciated monthly on a straight line basis consistently over a deemed useful life of 36 months.

    Other accounting policies

    Cash and cash equivalents Cash and cash equivalents are basic financial assets and include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities. Financial instruments The company has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments. Financial instruments are recognised in the company's balance sheet when the company becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument. Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously. Basic financial assets Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised. Classification of financial liabilities Financial liabilities and equity instruments are classified according to the substance of the contractual arrangements entered into. An equity instrument is any contract that evidences a residual interest in the assets of the company after deducting all of its liabilities. Basic financial liabilities Basic financial liabilities, including creditors, bank loans, loans from fellow group companies and preference shares that are classified as debt, are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised. Debt instruments are subsequently carried at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method. Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of business from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method. Taxation The tax expense represents the sum of the tax currently payable and deferred tax. Employee benefits The costs of short-term employee benefits are recognised as a liability and an expense unless those costs are required to be recognised as part of the cost of stock or fixed assets. The cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee’s services are received. Termination benefits are recognised immediately as an expense when the company is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.

GENERAL COUNSEL SUSTAINABILITY FORUM CIC

Notes to the Financial Statements

for the Period Ended 30 September 2024

  • 2. Employees

    2024 2023
    Average number of employees during the period 1 1

GENERAL COUNSEL SUSTAINABILITY FORUM CIC

Notes to the Financial Statements

for the Period Ended 30 September 2024

3. Tangible assets

Land & buildings Plant & machinery Fixtures & fittings Office equipment Motor vehicles Total
Cost £ £ £ £ £ £
At 1 October 2023 1,377 1,377
Additions
Disposals
Revaluations
Transfers
At 30 September 2024 1,377 1,377
Depreciation
At 1 October 2023 344 344
Charge for year 459 459
On disposals
Other adjustments
At 30 September 2024 803 803
Net book value
At 30 September 2024 574 574
At 30 September 2023 1,033 1,033

GENERAL COUNSEL SUSTAINABILITY FORUM CIC

Notes to the Financial Statements

for the Period Ended 30 September 2024

4. Debtors

2024 2023
£ £
Trade debtors 1,960 9,125
Total 1,960 9,125

GENERAL COUNSEL SUSTAINABILITY FORUM CIC

Notes to the Financial Statements

for the Period Ended 30 September 2024

5. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year note

2024 2023
£ £
Trade creditors 2,100 5,995
Taxation and social security 6,300 9,130
Other creditors 9,099 14,564
Total 17,499 29,689

COMMUNITY INTEREST ANNUAL REPORT

GENERAL COUNSEL SUSTAINABILITY FORUM CIC

Company Number: 13643713 (England and Wales)

Year Ending: 30 September 2024

Company activities and impact

Company activities and impact During our third full financial year (12 months from 1st October 2023 to 30th September 2024) we have continued to make significant impact with a focus on two overarching areas: 1. Sectoral Advocacy: to build visibility and credibility we spoke on numerous platforms about the importance of influential in-house lawyers namely, General Counsels (GCs) and Chief Legal Officers (CLOs), regarding sustainability issues e.g. Economist GC Summit, LegalESG, GC100, Reuters, Solicitors Regulation Authority, WBCSD, Association of Corporate Counsel Chief Legal Officer Summit. We also featured in UK’s highest profile publications concerning the legal sector: The Financial Times, The Lawyer, Legal500, Law.com and Law Gazette. We posted regularly on social media and also met individual prospective participants for our Leadership Programme. Adam Woodhall, our inspirational CEO & Founder, was voted ‘Legal Personality of the Year’ for 2023 in the LexisNexis Awards. On 26th June 2024 we changed our trading name to “General Counsel Sustainability Forum CIC”. 2.GC Leadership Programme: our programme uses a bespoke process which has been developed entirely by our own team to support our GC and CLO participants, who are all highly influential inhouse lawyers, to enable them to help drive the sustainability transformation of their organisation. We’ve used change management tools, neuroscience, social science, psychology and behavioural insights to build this programme. During the year, we worked with a wide range of GCs and CLOs from organisations which had aggregated revenue of more than £150bn including Rolls Royce, ArcelorMittal, National Grid, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Specsavers, BUPA, Dentsu, and WPP. We also facilitated our Leadership Programme participants engaging in key consultation exercises with The Law Society of England and Wales on its Guidance on the Impact of Climate Change on Solicitors published in April 2023.

Consultation with stakeholders

Consultation with stakeholders Our key stakeholders are: - the influential GC/CLO participants in our Leadership Programme - the wider pool of GCs/CLOs from which future programme participants will be drawn - the broader legal sector including the wider community of lawyers, law firms, legal training organisations and legal regulators. Our other main stakeholders were our team, who are largely volunteers, aside from our CEO who was salaried. Current Forum members The Forum is a guided peer-to-peer process where we have regular meetings with the participants. We also run regular participant surveys to encourage feedback. Over 80% of participants who responded to our survey feel very strongly or strongly that the Leadership Programme is helping them accelerate taking meaningful action. We regularly made various iterative changes to our Leadership Programme to incorporate the feedback from participants and to maximise our, and their impact. Future Participants/Wider community of lawyers As part of our advocacy work to raise the profile of sustainability in the legal sector generally, we speak at many different events and meet many stakeholders from the wider community of lawyers. Any feedback we receive from such consultations is incorporated into our Leadership Programme as appropriate – it is a process of continuous improvement. Volunteers We have a large team of enthusiastic volunteers. Our CEO has regular meetings with all volunteers to consult with them on their role with us, their impact and to encourage feedback. We have volunteer team meetings twice a year and have a team WhatsApp group for the entire team including volunteers to ensure feedback can be given swiftly and directly.

Directors' remuneration

Directors' remuneration During the year, the director Adam Peter Woodhall received £50,000 in remuneration (2023: £50,000) in respect of his services to the company. The director Jane Louise Airth Pittaway received £10,500 in remuneration (2023: NIL) in respect of her services to the company.

Transfer of assets

No transfer of assets other than for full consideration

This report was approved by the board of directors on
22 June 2025

And signed on behalf of the board by:
Name: Mr Adam Peter Woodhall
Status: Director