BYM publishes financial accounts
Britain Yearly Meeting made a deficit of £2m in 2023
Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) made a loss of £2 million in 2023, according to the financial statement released during Yearly Meeting (YM).
The report, says that ‘total income in 2023 was £13.0m, and our total spend was £15.6m; an increase of £3.6m (income) and an increase of £3.6m (spend) respectively compared to the previous year. Net income before investment gains was… a deficit of £2.7m.’
After investment gains of £0.7m, the deficit was £2.0m, which BYM said was in line with expectations. ‘The sizeable uplift in spend (30%) demonstrates the organisation’s commitment to maintain the provision of key services for those we serve and seek to serve,’ the report adds.
BYM’s primary source of income is contributions from individual and Quaker Meetings, legacies, grants, investment income and revenue from the Quiet Company, BYM’s trading company, which saw its income increase this year from £2.7 million to £4.3 million. The total income for the year was £13.0 million, an increase of £3.6 million compared to the previous year (2022: £9.4 million). Expenditure also rose thirty per cent from the previous year (2022: £12.0 million) to £15.6 million, which was mostly related to staff costs. ‘It has been imperative for the organisation to scale up its operations to undertake the breadth of our charitable services,’ the report adds.
General reserves have also decreased, from 2022’s: £12.1 million to £5.8 million, predominantly due to two new designated funds. Despite the deficit, BYM said ‘the underlying robustness of the organisation’s business model continues to be steady’. The financial statements have been prepared on ‘a going concern basis’, which is deemed appropriate as trustees have prepared cash flow forecasts for a period of at least twelve months from the date of approval of these financial statements, which considered the inherent risks to the group’s business model.
