KEW BRIDGE ENGINES TRUST AND WATER SUPPLY MUSEUM LIMITED(THE)

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

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. Sector-distribution context coming next.

Accounting basis

FRS 102 §1A

Reporting scope

Consolidated group

Auditor

COLLARDS

Audit opinion

Unqualified (clean)

Going concern

Affirmed

“We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the ISAs (UK) require us to report to you where: the trustees' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is not appropriate”

Group structure

1. KEW BRIDGE ENGINES TRUST AND WATER SUPPLY MUSEUM LIMITED(THE) · parent
   1. Historic Steam Limited 100% · England · Trading activities of the museum at Kew Bridge Pumping Station

Significant events

• “The museum continued on its transitional journey in 2024 with Museum Director Hannah Harte now firmly established at the helm.”
• “The operating environment remained challenging in 2024 but there were some positive signs that the reset of objectives and the structural changes instigated by Hannah were starting to bear some fruit.”
• “Having returned to steam at the end of 2023, the museum was able to run 'Steam Up' events throughout 2024, boosting the visitor offer.”
• “A successful crowd-funder campaign instigated towards the end of 2023 helped to stave off the immediate threat of closure in early 2024.”
• “The Museum's financial position continued to be the main issue of concern in 2024 as visitor numbers were again lower than anticipated. ... changes to the Museum's pricing structure helped to raise the average yield which was an encouraging development.”
• “There was a meticulous focus on cost reduction, including IT spend where migrations to a new ticketing system and new museum archive management system were completed and costs of supporting legacy on-premises servers and software avoided.”
• “Financial losses were incurred in connection with the theft of lead flashings, and a larger than expected gas bill due to a smart meter failure. The entrance doors also suffered a serious structural failure, necessitating their replacement.”
• “In February and March 2024 the Museum undertook a restructure programme. Two staff members accepted voluntary redundancy and their posts were removed, allowing us to reshape the team with a stronger focus on commercial activity, including marketing, café, retail and venue hire.”
• “In June 2024 the museum appointed a Finance & Development Lead to support financial planning going forward but unfortunately the postholder was unable to continue in the role for more than a few months. At the time of writing this post remains vacant.”
• “The Museum was given notice that it had been bequeathed a 15% share of an individual's private estate, however this money was subject to a house sale that has not yet occurred.”
• “A legacy sum of £1000 was also received from another source in 2024.”
• “In Autumn 2024 Our Barn served notice of its intention to withdraw (in January 2025) from the long-standing catering partnership arrangement. ... Trustees subsequently approved a switch to an in-house catering service.”
• “The cleaning contractor service was not renewed - the museum opting instead to utilise freelance cleaners at lower cost, and the new bin emptying contract was awarded to Lampton (Local Authority contractors).”
• “Trustees were pleased that 2024 saw a rise in the number of school visits to the Museum - nine more than the previous year.”
• “Some good news was received from ACE in May 2024 that LMWS's MEND4 ‘Expression of Interest' application - to fund major repairs to the interior and exterior of the Great Engine House (GEH) - had been successful.”
• “A successful crowd-funding campaign called The Great Engine House Project raised £50K (plus Gift Aid) toward this target. A generous £10K donation was also made toward the GEH project by an anonymous donor.”
• “In November 2024 ... the 'Steaming into Sustainability' project ... facilitated the first test run of the 90 inch engine after a lay off of seven years, plus general maintenance and cleaning works to the Waddon, Easton and Amos and Dancers End engines.”
• “Trustee Mr Tom O'Leary stepped down in December 2024.”

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

Filings

3

last 12 months

Capital events

0

last 24 months

Officers appointed

0

last 12 months

Officers resigned

1

last 12 months

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

• Turnover

  —

  Not reported

• Cash

  +41.9%

  £158,944 → £225,570

• Net assets

  +44%

  £200,334 → £288,480

• Employees

  -9.1%

  11 → 10

• Profit before tax

  +682.6%

  -£15,131 → £88,146

• Wages

  +42.1%

  £148,969 → £211,755

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