REGISTERED COMPANY NUMBER: 02269894 (England and Wales)

REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 800297

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES AND

UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2026

FOR

BATH INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE TRUST LIMITED

Page

Report of the Trustees

1

to

6

Independent Examiner's Report

7

Statement of Financial Activities

8

Balance Sheet

9

to

10

Notes to the Financial Statements

11

to

16

The trustees who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2026. The trustees have adopted the provisions of 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).

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

Objectives and aims

1 To advance education by the maintenance of a Museum known as "The Museum of Bath" (previously known as "The Museum of Bath at Work" and the "Camden Works Museum") for the preservation exhibition interpretation and promotion of its collections of items relating to the industrial and social history of Bath and the surrounding area, including the maintenance of the Grade II Listed Building that the Museum occupies for the preservation and interpretation of the building's history; and such other items of historic interest as may be acquired by the Charity;

2 To extend enhance conserve maintain and store the collections of the Museum.

The Objects (amended in 2024) provide for a change of operational name to "Museum of Bath", to reflect the Museum's wide remit. At the date of this report, this change has not yet been implemented; Bath Industrial Heritage Trust will introduce the change during 2026/27.

Financial review

The Trustees' Report covers the 12 months 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.

Total incoming resources for the year reduced from £217,434 to £169,218. This included donations over the year of £106,461 (£31,099 - 2024/25). Resources expended have increased from £103,538 to £169,934.The increase is largely through planned expenditure, and reflects the investment in the charity's future through the Museum Making project, which has been funded by the National Lottery. More details of this project following within the Achievements and Performance section of this Trustees' Report. Overall the funds of the charity decreased slightly from £236,694 to £235,978.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

PUBLIC BENEFIT

The company continued to provide activity for public benefit under its Charitable objects. In preparing this report, the Trustees have complied with their duty to have regard to the Charity Commission's public benefit guidance.

Visitor numbers and admissions income have remained stable with small increases for certain activities: further details about activities are given below.

Community groups which regularly hire the Museum for meetings and activities have continued to do so, and some new groups have started to use the Museum regularly or as one-off bookings. Room hire is an important source of income. During the November-mid February period, when the Museum is open weekends only or completely closed, we have been able to attract some whole-day room bookings for conferences.

Strategic business planning and Museum Making

The Museum Making project, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, completed 15 months of delivery by March 2026.

The project covers three years' work 2025, 2026, 2027 and has already made a huge impact in our organisation, enabling us to appoint one additional full-time member of staff to manage and deliver the project for three years, and two freelance roles to undertake community engagement activities.

As noted in last year's report, we wish to re-position the Museum to tell the wider stories of Bath as a working, living city with innovative interpretation and activity that will engage wider audiences and enable us to become more financially resilient. 'Museum Making - Transitioning the Museum of Bath at Work' is a community-focussed project that will build a new basis for what we do and how we do it, to enable us to move towards a future capital redevelopment project to re-think use of space in our historic building. It builds on our progressive development from a museum that focussed on technology and industry to celebrating working lives in Bath. We aim to become a community museum - for Bath and about Bath - embracing the concept of community 'co-curation' in our approach, and creating a different experience for the visitor that looks at the city's development from the Industrial Revolution to the present day through new interpretation of the collections.

The Lottery funding for an additional member of staff has also enabled us to significantly increase our promotion, especially on social media. We have analysed postcode data of visitors to obtain demographic analysis about the kind of people who visit, their lifestyles, tastes and leisure preferences. This data will inform planning of exhibitions and events in future, so that we can be responsive to what interests museum visitors - and, crucially, what appeals to the target demographics who we would like to visit but who currently do not.

In the coming year 2026/27 we will commission a Space Utilisation survey and design study, to consider options for how the building could be used to best effect. We will also commission an audit of carbon footprint and energy use, with recommendations for cost effective and carbon-reduced heating options

Museum Making is therefore about everything we do from 2025 onwards, including:

" One main/key exhibition per year

" Other smaller exhibitions, pop-ups, community projects, events, films, talks, etc

" Work on how we want to present the permanent collections in new and different ways, both their physical presentation and the story we tell about them (interpretation)

" New display infrastructure.

All of this work, and especially the focus on presenting the permanent collections, uses a 'co-curation' approach. We have been fortunate in recruiting a group of individual volunteers who undertake research on topics of interest to them, and have worked with several community groups where we have established good relationships.

Exhibitions and Events

In the main gallery space, 2025's exhibition was 'On Court': Bath and Tennis from Indoor to Outdoor - drawing attention to our unique building, built in 1777 as a Real Tennis Court at the height of Bath's fame as a fashionable destination.

Playing Real Tennis was just one of the pass-times on offer in the city, along with dancing, gambling, eating and drinking, and costume balls. The exhibition traced the development of tennis in Bath over 250 years, with particular emphasis on its social context, the development of lawn tennis clubs in the later 19th century, and how local businesses encouraged tennis as a healthy leisure activity for their employees. Examples of clothing for tennis were on show, including the tennis corset, and we showed the manufacture of tennis balls by local firm Price's of Box near Bath. Many archive items, including match trophies, contributed by generous lenders and local tennis clubs were on display. A programme of events included a tennis match in Victorian costume in Sydney Gardens. The exhibition was curated by three Trustees (Ann Sumner, June Hannam and Sara Frears) and was rewarded with the National Sporting Heritage Award for Research in 2025.

In the Hudson gallery space, we showed the entries from children and young people for the Bath Bottled project. Inspired by our displays about Bowler's carbonated mineral waters, for this project they invented a name for a fizzy drink and designed a bottle label. The results were inventive and colourful and filled the walls of the space.

Other events and activities this year included:

World Heritage Day in April, an opportunity to reach large numbers of people

Heritage Open Days in September (free entry day)

Participation in 'Rail 200' in August with a walk and talk with local historian Andrew Swift

Friends of Museum of Bath at Work had a stall and activities at the Avon Valley Railway weekend at Bitton in September

The annual Cross Lecture in October was given by David Beardmore, an expert on the history of traffic planning in Bath - this was a fascinating exploration of how planners in the 1960s wanted to develop the city centre

The 'Futures Research Festival' in collaboration with the University of Bath was held in September as a late-night opening event.

In February 2026 the Director of the Association of Independent Museums (AIM) Lisa Ollerhead visited the museum and said that she was very impressed with what we have achieved over the years on limited means.

Building improvements

Improvement projects this year have focussed on improving building facilities management especially with regard to fire safety.

Thanks to very skilled maintenance volunteers, a thorough fire safety review and risk assessment was undertaken. Recommendations were made and two qualified volunteers drew up the specification for new fire safety installation and safe systems of work and worked out all logistics and signage. Weekly testing is monitored and a comprehensive spreadsheet record of actions is maintained.

All toilets and washing facilities have been completely replaced with upgraded sanitary ware, and tiled floor improved. This considerably enhances visitors' experience of a museum visit.

Safety-critical issues such as issuing and record-keeping for keys have been improved, and volunteers on front desk have received fire safety training.

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE

We are sincerely grateful to Bath & North East Somerset Council's Heritage Services for their ongoing support subsidising 50% of our rent, and the encouragement, advice and support of senior officers.

Grants received 2025/26:

Restricted

The Medlock Charitable Trust £5,000

Purpose: installation of a stairlift (to be installed in 2026/27)

Unrestricted

Roper Family Charitable Trust £10,000

The Stephen Clark Charitable Settlement 1965 £10,000

Legacy giving

At the beginning of the year, we were advised of an exceptionally generous legacy from the estate of the late Geoffrey Dust to be used as the Friends of Museum of Bath at Work think fit. We have been careful to invest this money in appropriate interest accounts and, in consultation with the Friends committee, the Trustees/ Directors are making decisions on a case by case basis for how resources can be allocated to various improvement projects.

Risk management

The Board maintains a Risk Register which is reviewed at every Board meeting, and the leading risk to be managed is stability of income and the need for increased income to cover costs. We are determined to generate increased income from all sources, including: increased visitor numbers and ticket yield, increased shop sales, and individual giving.

Visitor Numbers

Visitor numbers:

2025/26

2024/25

2023/24

2022/23

2021/22

2020/21

Adult full price

2,572

3,371

3,071

2,396

2,342

2,069

Group

490

Concession tickets

102

522

556

207

519

158

Family tickets

276

Included above

Included above

Included above

Included above

Included above

Residents Discovery Cardticket (£1 off)

275

341

254

212

301

256

Events attendance, inc. film screenings

630

579

339

440

688

0

School children and young people

306

474

479

257

98

0

Friends (free entrance) and room hire users attendance*

3,269

4,353

6,433

3,375

38

0

Museum Making project engagement

583

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

Total

8,503

9,640

11,076

6,887

3,986

2,736

* Since 2022/23 we have counted people attending the various groups who hire the museum for meetings, because they use and benefit from the Museum.

Adult full-price ticket for 2025/26 was retained at £10.00, the same level as 2024/25.

Visitor numbers are low during the winter period. We are open weekends only in November, then closed in December, January and the first half of February; open for February half-term; and open weekends only in March. This means a small loss of admissions income, but this is offset by the amount saved on heating. We will keep this under review.

Visitor numbers are lower than the previous two years. Discussion with other museums in Bath indicates that they have experienced similar challenges, which are very largely to do with the increase in overall cost of living and energy costs: people have less disposable income for leisure activities. However, events attendance (talks and film screenings) has increased, suggesting that this is an aspect of our overall offer that should be developed.

The 2025/26 count includes the Museum Making project for the first time: 583 participants in various activities and 10 engagement events at the Museum and off-site.

GOVERNANCE

The Trustees gratefully thank the Museum Director, Stuart Burroughs, for his ongoing passion and commitment to the Museum and its collection, and the Museum Making team: Ellie Bowes, Coordinator, and Helen Daniels and Holly Wallis, community engagement facilitators.

During the year here reviewed, we welcomed two new Trustees to the Board: Matteo Russo and Aiden Wiffen. Each brings very welcome professional expertise to the Board, in marketing & individual giving and legal, respectively.

Two long-standing Trustees resigned during the year: Euel Lane and Geoff Wallis. We thank them for their commitment and service to the Museum.

Trustees contribute very significant time and expertise, especially on financial administration, business planning and project management. In particular, Andy Keith has led on significant improvements to financial administration.

The Friends of Museum of Bath at Work continue to play a crucial role in fundraising and volunteering, and we record our thanks to the volunteers on the Friends committee. At least 30 other volunteers run the front desk, assist with cleaning and maintenance of machinery and other exhibits, and undertake research and cataloguing.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Governing document

The charity is controlled by its governing document, a deed of trust, and constitutes a limited company, limited by guarantee, as defined by the Companies Act 2006.

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Registered Company number

02269894 (England and Wales)

Registered Charity number

800297

Registered office

Museum of Bath at Work

Julian Road

Bath

BA1 2RH

Trustees

Mr E H Cross

Dr S L Frears

Dr T J Turpin

Mr G J O Wallis (resigned 26.9.25)

Professor A B Sumner (resigned 29.5.26)

Mr E Lane (resigned 25.6.25)

Ms A Cullis

Professor J B Hannam

Mr A J Keith

Ms C A Newcombe-Jones

Mr M Russo (appointed 15.10.25)

Mr A J Wiffen (appointed 6.12.25)

Company Secretary

Ms A Cullis

Independent Examiner

Matt Small

Berkeley Hall Marshall Limited

6 Charlotte Street

Bath

BA1 2NE

Approved by order of the board of trustees on 16 October 2026 and signed on its behalf by:

Dr T J Turpin - Trustee

Independent examiner's report to the trustees of Bath Industrial Heritage Trust Limited ('the Company')

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Company for the year ended 31 March 2026.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity's trustees of the Company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 ('the 2006 Act').

Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the Company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity's accounts as carried out under Section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 ('the 2011 Act'). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under Section 145(5) (b) of the 2011 Act.

Independent examiner's statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe:

1.	accounting records were not kept in respect of the Company as required by Section 386 of the 2006 Act; or

2.	the accounts do not accord with those records; or

3.	the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of Section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or

4.

the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities (applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)).

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Matt Small

Berkeley Hall Marshall Limited

6 Charlotte Street

Bath

BA1 2NE

22 October 2026

2026

2025

Unrestricted

Restricted

Total

Total

fund

funds

funds

funds

Notes

£

£

£

£

INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM

Donations and legacies

106,241

220

106,461

31,099

Charitable activities

Charitable activity

26,707

-

26,707

25,095

Other trading activities

2

6,621

-

6,621

3,289

Investment income

3

6,373

697

7,070

1,992

Other income

22,385

(26

)

22,359

155,959

Total

168,327

891

169,218

217,434

EXPENDITURE ON

Raising funds

38,891

14,792

53,683

31,327

Charitable activities

Charitable activity

65,621

44,162

109,783

66,035

Other

2,197

4,271

6,468

6,176

Total

106,709

63,225

169,934

103,538

NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)

61,618

(62,334

)

(716

)

113,896

RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS

Total funds brought forward

100,994

135,700

236,694

122,798

TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD

162,612

73,366

235,978

236,694

2026

2025

Unrestricted

Restricted

Total

Total

fund

funds

funds

funds

Notes

£

£

£

£

FIXED ASSETS

Tangible assets

8

17,453

-

17,453

8,035

CURRENT ASSETS

Stocks

9

1,000

-

1,000

1,000

Debtors

10

(150

)

-

(150

)

1,788

Cash at bank and in hand

149,737

74,451

224,188

228,412

150,587

74,451

225,038

231,200

CREDITORS

Amounts falling due within one year

11

(5,428

)

(1,085

)

(6,513

)

(2,541

)

NET CURRENT ASSETS

145,159

73,366

218,525

228,659

TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES

162,612

73,366

235,978

236,694

NET ASSETS

162,612

73,366

235,978

236,694

FUNDS

12

Unrestricted funds

162,612

100,994

Restricted funds

73,366

135,700

TOTAL FUNDS

235,978

236,694

The charitable company is entitled to exemption from audit under Section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 for the year ended 31 March 2026.

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2026 in accordance with Section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.

The trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for

(a)	ensuring that the charitable company keeps accounting records that comply with Sections 386 and 387 of the Companies Act 2006 and

(b)

preparing financial statements which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company as at the end of each financial year and of its surplus or deficit for each financial year in accordance with the requirements of Sections 394 and 395 and which otherwise comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 relating to financial statements, so far as applicable to the charitable company.

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to charitable companies subject to the small companies regime.

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on 16 October 2026 and were signed on its behalf by:

Dr T J Turpin - Trustee

1.	ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of preparing the financial statements

The financial statements of the charitable company, which is a public benefit entity under FRS 102, have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) '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)', Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' and the Companies Act 2006. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.

Income

All income is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities once the charity has entitlement to the funds, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.

Expenditure

Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

Tangible fixed assets

Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates in order to write off each asset over its estimated useful life.

Short leasehold

-

10% on cost

Equipment

-

15% on reducing balance

Stocks

Stocks are valued at the lower of cost and net realisable value, after making due allowance for obsolete and slow moving items.

Taxation

The charity is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities.

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees.

Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes.

Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements.

Pension costs and other post-retirement benefits

The charitable company operates a defined contribution pension scheme. Contributions payable to the charitable company's pension scheme are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in the period to which they relate.

2.	OTHER TRADING ACTIVITIES

2026

2025

£

£

Shop income

6,621

3,289

3.	INVESTMENT INCOME

2026

2025

£

£

Deposit account interest

7,070

1,992

4.	NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)

Net income/(expenditure) is stated after charging/(crediting):

2026

2025

£

£

Depreciation - owned assets

848

1,393

Deficit on disposal of fixed assets

4,267

-

5.	TRUSTEES' REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS

There were no trustees' remuneration or other benefits for the year ended 31 March 2026 nor for the year ended 31 March 2025.

Trustees' expenses

There were no trustees' expenses paid for the year ended 31 March 2026 nor for the year ended 31 March 2025.

6.	STAFF COSTS

The average monthly number of employees during the year was as follows:

2026

2025

Curator

1

1

Employee

1

1

2

2

No employees received emoluments in excess of £60,000.

7.	COMPARATIVES FOR THE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

Unrestricted

Restricted

Total

fund

funds

funds

£

£

£

INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM

Donations and legacies

31,099

-

31,099

Charitable activities

Charitable activity

25,095

-

25,095

Other trading activities

3,289

-

3,289

Investment income

1,992

-

1,992

Other income

25,899

130,060

155,959

Total

87,374

130,060

217,434

EXPENDITURE ON

Raising funds

29,302

2,025

31,327

Charitable activities

Charitable activity

48,127

17,908

66,035

Other

5,195

981

6,176

Total

82,624

20,914

103,538

NET INCOME

4,750

109,146

113,896

RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS

Total funds brought forward

96,244

26,554

122,798

TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD

100,994

135,700

236,694

8.	TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS

Short

Office

leasehold

Equipment

Equipment

Totals

£

£

£

£

COST

At 1 April 2025

29,145

29,977

-

59,122

Additions

-

13,995

4,306

18,301

Disposals

-

(29,977

)

-

(29,977

)

At 31 March 2026

29,145

13,995

4,306

47,446

DEPRECIATION

At 1 April 2025

29,145

21,942

-

51,087

Charge for year

-

-

848

848

Eliminated on disposal

-

(21,942

)

-

(21,942

)

At 31 March 2026

29,145

-

848

29,993

NET BOOK VALUE

At 31 March 2026

-

13,995

3,458

17,453

At 31 March 2025

-

8,035

-

8,035

9.

STOCKS

2026

2025

£

£

Stocks

1,000

1,000

10.	DEBTORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

2026

2025

£

£

Trade debtors

(150

)

-

Prepayments

-

1,788

(150

)

1,788

11.	CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

2026

2025

£

£

Creditors

5,249

-

Accruals and deferred income

1,264

1,266

Accrued expenses

-

1,275

6,513

2,541

12.	MOVEMENT IN FUNDS

Net

movement

At

At 1.4.25

in funds

31.3.26

£

£

£

Unrestricted funds

General fund

100,994

61,618

162,612

Restricted funds

Restricted

135,700

(62,334

)

73,366

TOTAL FUNDS

236,694

(716

)

235,978

Net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:

Incoming

Resources

Movement

resources

expended

in funds

£

£

£

Unrestricted funds

General fund

168,327

(106,709

)

61,618

Restricted funds

Restricted

891

(63,225

)

(62,334

)

TOTAL FUNDS

169,218

(169,934

)

(716

)

Comparatives for movement in funds

Net

movement

At

At 1.4.24

in funds

31.3.25

£

£

£

Unrestricted fund

96,244

4,750

100,994

Restricted funds

Restricted

26,554

109,146

135,700

TOTAL FUNDS

122,798

113,896

236,694

Comparative net movement in funds included in the above are as follows:

Incoming

Resources

Movement

resources

expended

in funds

£

£

£

Unrestricted fund

87,374

(82,624

)

4,750

Restricted funds

Restricted

130,060

(20,914

)

109,146

TOTAL FUNDS

217,434

(103,538

)

113,896