The Trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2025.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the financial statements and comply with the charity's governing document, the Companies Act 2006 and "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019)".
The main activity of the Charity is the publication and distribution of religious material for both the Catholic Church and Anglican Communion. All activities are faithful to Church teaching for the purposes of the advancement of the charitable objectives, and the advancement of religion. The nature of this religious material is regularly reviewed so as to continually meet the needs of the people who access it: Catholic priests, Clergy and practitioners from other Christian faiths, the laity and also individuals with no explicit religious faith drawn to publications which fall into the categories of Spirituality and Wellbeing. In addition to Church and parish communities the Charity’s activities aims to support families and those at the margins of society. Some of the publications are translated through foreign rights agreements so as to make them accessible to speakers of other languages.
In identifying and setting the aims and objectives for the Charity’s priorities for 2025, the Charity gave careful consideration to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit. The objects for which the Charity was established, as set out in the Memorandum and Articles of Association, are “The charitable purposes which advances the religious and other charitable work for the time being carried out by, or under the direction of the Society, being the voluntary association of men known as The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer.
Despite anticipated challenges at the beginning of 2025 following a product-mix remodelling together with a workforce restructure at the end of the previous year, achievements for 2025 exceeded expectations on many fronts.
Customer feedback throughout the year affirmed our continued focus on delivering our mission through the publication of quality resources, books and support materials. Sales of Your New Sunday Missal continued to be strong through 2025 together with sales of existing publications, including the Palm Sunday and Triduum booklets which needed to be updated with the new ESV-Catholic Bible text.
The on-line Garden Mass once again made an extraordinary contribution to the delivery of RP’s mission to reach those on the margins of society including the housebound and those unable, for whatever reason, to attend Sunday Mass in their own parishes. The 23rd March 2025 saw the fifth anniversary of the weekly Garden Mass with the Mass team having delivered more than 270 Masses including some additional Masses to mark specific occasions eg a Requiem Mass, Christmas Day and Easter Sunday. In 2025 the Garden Mass had up to 4.5k weekly views. The core Mass team, led by Father Denis McBride CSsR has remained active throughout with the addition of employees from RP attending the Mass every other week. This formidable commitment to the delivery of the charity’s mission has seen engagement via YouTube of subscribers based in the UK, USA, Europe, Asia, South Africa, Australia and the Philippines.
RP continues to be the largest supplier of Sunday Sheets in the UK and includes two publications each week for children and young people.
There were a number of new publications to support parishes and individuals alike including a new publication God’s Story by Raymond Friel OBE, CEO of Caritas Social Action network (CSAN), the agency of the Bishops’ Conference for England and Wales focused on tackling poverty and exclusion.
RP has received further affirmation from customers following the publication of its first Your New Sunday Missal for Year A. This publication has been warmly welcomed by customers who have emphasised ease of use being a particular highlight.
Due to customer demand, the decision was taken to return to publishing the annual Diary by Father Denis McBride CSsR. For 2025 RP did not publish a diary, however, in the Autumn of 2025 Father Denis’ 2026 Diary was published and rapidly became one of the publisher’s best-seller for 2025. RP hosted on-line retreats in 2025 directed by Sister Janet Fearns FMDM and once more worked in partnership with an American partner for the delivery of the Advent Retreat which included access to support materials including a suite of video materials.
Providing free of charge access to video interviews and support materials all focussed on helping visitors to our website to explore their faith and deepen their understanding of church teaching. One of the highlights of our charitable work includes the weekly offer of Prayers of Intercession to support parishes in the preparation of their weekly celebrations of Mass. In 2025 there were over 19k views from visitors to the site accessing the Prayers of Intercession.
RP continued to prioritise its service standards for customers evidenced by affirming comments from customers and an excellent Trustpilot score (which indicates a high level of customer service satisfaction). A summary of the Trustpilot reviews contributing to this rating includes:
‘…Reviewers overwhelmingly had a great experience with this company. Customers consistently praise the high standard and user-friendly nature of the products, finding them well-laid out and helpful for both worship and personal prayer. The ordering process is frequently described as straightforward and easy, with many appreciating the clear and simple website for making purchases. Reviewers are particularly impressed with the prompt delivery service, noting that orders are often dispatched the same day and arrive quickly, well-packaged, and intact. Customers praise the reasonable prices, good quality and wide range of books and journals available…’
In recent years RP has developed its infrastructure to extend its appeal to enquirers who are seeking spirituality in their lives but do not necessarily attend church. In addition, the charity has developed tools to offer digital marketing and publishing so as to appeal to a new generation of customers.
As part of the 2024 organisation restructure and product-mix remodelling at the end of 2024, RP outsourced its payroll arrangements to an external payroll broker. This proved to be a highly successful business decision with a seamless transition to the new arrangements in August 2025. There were two redundancies and one retirement in 2025 and three new employees joined the workforce.
Working closely with our Distribution Partners in 2025 enabled RP to refine its product-mix to better meet the needs of customers. Being the exclusive distribution partner for a number of American publishers positioned RP as the ‘go to’ publishing house for titles from some leading US publishers of religious materials.
In order to adapt to the changing economic environment, RP, in late 2024, finalised an organisation restructure and comprehensive product mix review which came into effect on 1st January 2025. The principal objective of these initiatives was to streamline RP’s sales activity to provide a more customised service for our core customers and to ensure the future financial viability of the charity. 2025 was the first full year post restructure with operating profits and total sales comfortably exceeding budget. As a result of the product mix review, total income in 2025 was £1,285m (2024: £1,446m). This was an extremely encouraging result given the challenges that RP faced bedding-in the new structure. The workforce remained exceptionally loyal and resilient which is a true testament to RP’s culture and strength of mission.
The Charity continues to actively monitor its stock levels and revalue its stock in line with a robust provisioning policy, taking into account historical sales activity and volume of stock held. The value of stock held as at December 2025 was £160k (2024: £92k).
The Charity has closely monitored its cash position throughout the year to ensure it has sufficient flexibility to perform its mission and deliver its objectives. During 2025 RP experienced non-recurring exceptional expenditure and a further refinement of the organisation structure – these cost items did not form part of the 2025 budget. RP was able to meet these costs from existing cash flow. At the start of the year cash balances were £193k which decreased to £137k by year end.
The Charity’s fixed assets predominately comprise of its land and buildings. In 2023 the Charity commissioned an independent valuation to assess their value in relation to that which is recorded in these accounts. The market value was deemed to be c£2.3M dependent upon whether the whole site is available for redevelopment. Subsequent informal assessments have led to a reduction in this value due to planning restrictions to c£1.3M which is still comfortably above the £360k recorded in the balance sheet.
The Charitable Company's has reserves of £1,999k, (2024 £2,003k) all of which are unrestricted.
It is the policy of the Charitable Company to hold reserves in its unrestricted general funds which have not yet been committed or designated for any particular purpose. These reserves are designed to be between one year and 18 months of annual turnover. This is to protect the Charity against risk in the market and to ensure the continuation of the Charitable mission.
Within these reserves, the sum of £519k has been designated to St Clements, £250k for office buildings and £1m as working capital to support the business.
Much of the general reserves are available to provide the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer with a financial cushion as it seeks to maintain some of its apostolic ventures and ensure proper provision can be made for its elderly and sick priests and brothers.
The investment policy is to have a diverse and cautious portfolio of investments in order to minimise risk or capital loss. The Trustees have the power to invest in such assets as they see fit in keeping with the Charity's ethical and moral principles. The policy is to maintain income whilst preserving the real value of investment assets for use in meeting the Charity's objectives.
The investment fund is regularly monitored and reviewed with the Financial Advisor. In keeping with good practice, the Trustees endeavour, by the prudent investment of assets, to:
a) supplement the income of Redemptorist Publications; to help the Charity carry out its purposes effectively in the short term and,
b) to maintain and, if possible, to increase the value of the invested funds to secure the long-term future of Redemptorist Publications.
To this end and after considering global economic and political uncertainty, the risk profile of the portfolio was reduced during the year. During 2025 the portfolio performed well and increased in value by £70k.
Risk Management
The risks to which the charity is exposed, as identified by the RPTC and Trustees, have been reviewed and systems and procedures have been established to manage these risks. The Management Team reviewed the risk register regularly throughout 2025, especially when considering changes to agreed plans or potential new opportunities. For 2025, the following potential risks were identified together with actions to mitigate the risks: Lack of sufficient human resource following the 2024 quarter 4 workforce restructure, IT infrastructure review on a regular basis to ensure robust and appropriate IT systems were available throughout the year, sufficient resource was made available for the monitoring and management of health and safety requirements, cash balances were regularly monitored and quarterly financial reports presented to the trustees and RPTC.
A major external risk factor for RP is its exposure to the national and international (English speaking) decline in numbers attending weekly Mass and parishes in general. This decline has a direct impact on the weekly demand for Sunday Sheets. RP continues to work closely with parishes to identify opportunities to welcome new parishioners and those exploring a faith journey.
During 2025, the management team commenced work on the new strategic plan for delivery from 2026 to end 2028. The plan includes a focus on continuing to grow brand awareness through social media tools, new publications for core customers and diversifying product-mix in response to customers’ emerging needs.
Wherever possible, the charity will continue to be responsive and flexible to meet demand from customers for new support material, whilst at the same time identify opportunities for individuals to deepen their faith through existing publications.
As the Charity continues to be the largest Redemptorist Publishing House in Western Europe, resources will be made available to develop opportunities to build relationships with Redemptorist parishes in the new Redemptorist Federation.
An upgrade to the Charity’s IT infrastructure will be rolled out together with a review of systems and digital tools to support the Charity to continue to fulfil its mission through growing its multiple content forms including text, audio and video. The upgrades will include the Charity’s website to ensure the customer experience is at the heart of its approach to continuous improvement.
Fundraising
Overall income from fundraising activities in 2025 totalled £25k (2024: £28k). The majority of donations received were linked to the online celebrations of Sunday Mass. Through the Garden Mass the Charity has built an online community of regular supporters and more than 20,000 subscribers (2024: 14,000).
The Charity’s fundraising activities do not incur costs. The Charity does not engage with external professional fundraisers or commercial participators to carry out fundraising activities nor does it engage in face-to-face or telephone fundraising actions. The Charity has never received complaints about its fundraising activities.
Redemptorist Publications is a Charitable Company limited by guarantee, having no share capital. The objects for which the Charitable Company is established are set out in the Memorandum and Articles of Association dated 11 July 1996. The Charitable Company was incorporated on 10 October 1996.
All the Trustees are priests of The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, which was authorised by the Roman Catholic Church as a religious order in 1749 and which has spread to most countries throughout the world. The Congregation for the Most Holy Redeemer has been working in the UK since 1845 and has been developing its publication work since 1960.
Trustees are elected by members of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer for a term of four years; the Provincial Superior (Chairman) cannot hold office for more than three terms unless permission is granted by the Congregation’s General Superior, Rome. Trustees are trained within the ordinary procedures of the Roman Catholic Church and are subject to the laws of the Church. For finance and civil law matters the Trustees are aware of the importance of seeking appropriate professional advice.
The Trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:
In addition to the three OPC (Ordinary Provincial Council) post-holders, three Trustees are appointed every four years by all the confreres of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, London Province. The Trustees delegate the daily running of the Charity to the Redemptorist Publications Trustees’ Committee (RPTC). Two members of the OPC are part of the RPTC. The Trustees named in this report form the Directors of the Charitable Company. The power to appoint or elect Trustees of the Charitable Company rests with the board of Trustees. Appointing new members of the Redemptorist Publications Trustees Committee (RPTC) rests with this committee.
The Trustees of Redemptorist Publications are also Trustees of The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Registered Charity number 252041, Scotland Registration number SCO39359) and The Ace of Clubs (Registered Charity number 1055187, Registered Company number 03080066). Both charities share similar objectives to Redemptorist Publications; to spread the Christian Gospel message and to help those in society who are in greatest need. The work of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer is managed by fundraising and donations. It does not receive any grants for the education of students or the administration of the parishes.
The Redemptorist Publications Trustee Committee (RPTC)
In accordance with Article 42 of the Articles of Association, the Trustees of Redemptorist Publications generally delegate their powers to a committee on an annual basis. In 2025, the RPTC included three trustees; two OPC trustees and the Publishing Director (EPC) and four other lay men and women advisors, providing specialist business acumen. The skills mix of the advisors is regularly reviewed with new members being appointed as and when appropriate. The RPTC aims to meet quarterly to review activities including monitoring performance against key objectives, strategic and operational. In 2025 all meetings were organized using Zoom software except for the AGM – this was held in Chawton, Hampshire. Regular reports include: year-to-date Publishing Director and Finance Director reports which cover Editorial projects, Workforce updates, Estates and Health & Safety matters, Sales and Cost reviews together with updates on IT infrastructure.
Strategic business management is delivered by the Publishing Director and members of the management team. This team came into place as part of the workforce restructure of 2024. The management team oversees RP’s day-to-day operational activities.
The organisation structure now sees the management team as the Publishing Director, Deputy Publishing Director, the Finance Director and two Operational Managers. Publishing Director (who is always an ordained Redemptorist Priest of the London Province), supported by the Deputy Publishing Director and Finance Director is responsible for agreeing the pay and remuneration for all employees. Salaries are benchmarked to appropriate specialist salaries for similar posts within the Charitable and publishing sectors.
Trustees do not receive payment for their services although they are entitled to submit travel expenses for attending meetings. In 2025, expenses for the RPTC advisors totaled £200 (£nil 2024).
Risk management
The Trustees are responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charity and hence, for taking responsible steps for the detection and prevention of fraud and other irregularities.
During 2025 the Trustees have assessed the major risks to which the company is exposed, in particular those related to the operations and finances of the company and are satisfied that through the Redemptorist Publications Trustees Committee, systems and procedures are in place to mitigate exposure to the major risks.
The Trustees, who are also the directors of Redemptorist Publications for the purpose of company law, are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that year.
In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
- observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; and
- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.
The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that 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 Companies Act 2006. 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.
Trustees are inducted and trained as and when they are appointed.
In accordance with the company's articles, a resolution proposing that Fiander ETL be reappointed as auditor of the company will be put at a General Meeting.
The Trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
Opinion
We have audited the financial statements of Redemptorist Publications (the ‘charity’) for the year ended 31 December 2025 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, the statement of cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
In our opinion, the financial statements:
Basis for opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the Trustees' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.
Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the 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.
Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the Trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.
Other information
The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor's report thereon. The Trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the 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 course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.
We have nothing to report in this regard.
Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006
In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of our audit:
the information given in the Trustees' report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared, which includes the directors' report prepared for the purposes of company law, is consistent with the financial statements; and
the directors' report included within the Trustees' report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charity and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the directors' report included within the Trustees' report.
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:
adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
certain disclosures of trustees' remuneration specified by law are not made; or
we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or
the Trustees were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies' exemptions in preparing the Trustees' report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report.
As explained more fully in the statement of Trustees' responsibilities, the Trustees, who are also the directors of the charity for the purpose of company law, are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the Trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. In preparing the financial statements, the Trustees are responsible for assessing the 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 charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
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.
The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, is detailed below.
Our approach to identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, was as follows:
the engagement partner ensured that the engagement team collectively had the appropriate competence, capabilities and skills to identify or recognise non-compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
we identified the laws and regulations applicable to the company through discussions with directors and other management, and from our commercial knowledge and experience.
we focused on specific laws and regulations which we considered may have a direct material effect on the financial statements or the operations of the company, including the Companies Act 2006, taxation legislation, data protection, employment, environmental and health and safety legislation.
we assessed the extent of compliance with the laws and regulations identified above through making enquiries of management.
We assessed the susceptibility of the company’s financial statements to material misstatement, including obtaining an understanding of how fraud might occur, by:
making enquiries of management as to where they considered there was susceptibility to fraud, their knowledge of actual, suspected and alleged fraud.
considering the internal controls in place to mitigate risks of fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations.
To address the risk of fraud through management bias and override of controls, we:
performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships.
tested journal entries to identify unusual transactions.
tested a sample of BACS payments to identify payments being made to unexpected bank accounts.
performed transactional testing on payroll costs in respect of those employees with responsibility or authority in connection with the payroll function.
assessed whether judgements and assumptions made in determining the accounting estimates were indicative of potential bias.
investigated the rationale behind significant or unusual transactions.
In response to the risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, we designed procedures which included, but were not limited to:
agreeing financial statement disclosures to underlying supporting documentation.
enquiring of management as to actual and potential litigation and claims.
There are inherent limitations in our audit procedures described above. The more removed that laws and regulations are from financial transactions, the less likely it is that we would become aware of non-compliance. Auditing standards also limit the audit procedures required to identify non-compliance with laws and regulations to enquiry of the directors and other management and the inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any.
Material misstatements that arise due to fraud can be harder to detect than those that arise from error as they may involve deliberate concealment or collusion.
A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: https://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor's report.
This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
Redemptorist Publications is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is Wolfes Lane, Chawton, Alton, Hampshire, GU34 3HQ.
The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the charity's memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Act 2006 and “Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)” (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2016). The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, modified to include the revaluation of freehold properties and to include certain financial instruments at fair value. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.
At the time of approving the financial statements, the Trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the Trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.
The unrestricted funds of the Charitable Company are divided into designated funds and general reserves. Designated funds are determined by the trustees from time to time and are held for specific purposes.
Restricted funds are subject to specific conditions by donors or grantors as to how they may be used. The purposes and uses of the restricted funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements.
All incoming resources are included in the statement of financial activities when the Charitable Company is entitled to the income and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy. The following specific policies are applied to particular categories of income:
Incoming resources from charitable trading activity are accounted for when earned. Income relating to publications for dates after the year end is deferred until the period to which it relates.
Investment income is recognised on a receivable basis.
Cash donations are recognised on receipt. Other donations are recognised once the charity has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount. Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid or deeds of covenant is recognised at the time of the donation.
Expenditure is recognised on an accruals basis when a liability is incurred.
Charitable expenditure comprises expenditure by the Charitable Company in furtherance of the general objectives of the Charity.
Support costs include central functions and have been allocated to the activity cost categories on a basis consistent with the use of resources within these activities.
Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.
Depreciation is calculated to write down the cost, or valuation, less estimated residual value of all tangible fixed assets, other than freehold land, held for charity use. Single items costing less than £1,000 are not capitalised.
The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset, and is recognised in the statement of financial activities.
St Clements is not depreciated on the basis that the residual value is considered to be in excess of cost and therefore the depreciable amount is £nil. The asset is reviewed for impairment on an annual basis.
Fixed asset investments are initially measured at transaction price excluding transaction costs, and are subsequently measured at fair value at each reporting date. Changes in fair value are recognised in net income/(expenditure) for the year. Transaction costs are expensed as incurred.
At each reporting end date, the charity reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible assets to determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss. If any such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in order to determine the extent of the impairment loss (if any).
Stocks are stated at the lower of cost and estimated selling price less costs to complete and sell. Cost comprises direct materials and, where applicable, direct labour costs and those overheads that have been incurred in bringing the stocks to their present location and condition. Items held for distribution at no or nominal consideration are measured at the lower of replacement cost and cost. Stock is accounted for on an average cost basis.
Net realisable value is the estimated selling price less all estimated costs of completion and costs to be incurred in marketing, selling and distribution.
Stock provisions are considered for items meeting the policy shown in note 2. Provisions are also considered in respect of slow moving or obsolete product lines on an individual basis.
Cash and cash equivalents 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.
The charity 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 charity's balance sheet when the charity 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, 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.
Basic financial liabilities, including creditors and bank loans 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 operations 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.
Financial liabilities are derecognised when the charity’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.
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 charity is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.
The Charitable Company operates a money purchase pension scheme. Contributions are charged to the statement of financial activities as incurred. The pensions scheme's assets are held separately from those of the Charitable Company and are managed by independent fund managers, who are responsible for matters of the investment policy and the actual payment of pensions to the persons so entitled to it.
Transactions in currencies other than pounds sterling are recorded at the rates of exchange prevailing at the dates of the transactions. At each reporting end date, monetary assets and liabilities that are denominated in foreign currencies are retranslated at the rates prevailing on the reporting end date. Gains and losses arising on translation are included in net expenditure for the period.
Debtors
Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid.
Creditors and provisions
Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity 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 and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount.
Government grants
Government grants are recognised at the fair value of the asset received or receivable when there is reasonable assurance that the grant conditions will be met and the grants will be received.
In the application of the charity’s accounting policies, the Trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.
The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.
The total stock provision for the year is £179,709 (2024 - £23,157). This has been calculated based on management’s judgment, comparing the stock held against the number of units sold in the last 12 months, with a provision included accordingly.
Publication sales
Royalties
Postage, carriage and sundry costs
All charitable activity income is in relation to unrestricted funds.
Support costs are allocated between activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources within these activities.
Included in the audit fees is £2,200 (2024: £2,100) which relates to other financial services.
None of the Trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration during the year.
There were also no travel expenses reimbursed to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, a related charity, regarding the trustees during the year.
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
No redundancy payments were made in the year. Prior year redundancy costs of £24,270 relating to a cost reduction initiative were included in wages and salaries.
The charity 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 objects.
Impairment losses of £156,552 were recognised during the year (2024: impairment losses of £81,970 were reversed).
The Charitable Company operates a defined contribution pension scheme for all qualifying employees. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the Charitable Company in an independently administered fund.
At the balance sheet date £nil (2024 - £nil) was payable in respect of these costs.
These are unrestricted funds which are material to the charity's activities.
St Clements fund
This fund is the value of the St Clements property owned by the Charitable Company that is provided for use by the Redemptorist community.
Office buildings reserve
This fund represents the premises used by the Charitable Company in the course of its normal operations. The depreciation related to the revalued part of the 'cost' in the accounts is adjusted against the revaluation reserve.
Working capital reserve
This fund represents the working capital designated by the Trustees as being required to maintain the Charitable Company's normal operational capacity.
The income funds of the Charitable Company include the following designated funds which have been set aside out of unrestricted funds by the trustees for specific purposes:
At the reporting end date the charity had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases, which fall due as follows:
The Charitable Company is controlled by its members who are also directors and trustees.
During the year, no expenses were reimbursed trustees (2024 - none).
The Charitable Company is related to The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (CMHR), a registered charity, by virtue of the common control by the same group of persons. All transactions during the year were on an arm's length basis.
Charitable donations of £21,500 (2024 - £172) were paid and pledged to CMHR during the year.
As part of its charitable support for CMHR the Charitable Company provides payroll and administrative services including the payment of salaries in advance of reimbursement.
The Charitable Company is related to Ace of Clubs (Clapham), a registered charity, by virtue of the common control by the same group of persons.
As part of its charitable support for Ace of Clubs (Clapham) the Charitable Company provides payroll and administrative services including the payment of salaries in advance of reimbursement.
Residential property owned by Redemptorist Publications is occupied by one of the officers, who is entitled to live there by virtue of his role in the organisation. Living expenses £43,500 (2024: £nil) had been paid in the year in relation to this accommodation.
The charity had no material debt during the year.