THE NATIONAL LIFE STORY COLLECTION
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Next accounts due
2026-09-30 (in 4mo)
Last filed for 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement due
2026-06-30 (in 1mo)
Last made up 2025-06-16
Watchouts
None on the register
Cash
£78K
-39.9% vs 2023
Net assets
£930K
-1.6% vs 2023
Employees
4
0% vs 2023
Profit before tax
—
Period ending 2024-12-31
Net assets
2-year trend · vs Consumer Discretionary median
Accounts
2-year trend · latest reflected 2024-12-31
| Metric | Trend | 2023-12-31 | 2024-12-31 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turnover | — | — | |
| Operating profit | — | — | |
| Profit before tax | — | — | |
| Net profit | -£58,729 | -£19,767 | |
| Cash | £129,026 | £77,518 | |
| Total assets less current liabilities | £945,448 | £930,474 | |
| Net assets | £945,448 | £930,474 | |
| Equity | £945,448 | £930,474 | |
| Average employees | 4 | 4 | |
| Wages | £150,424 | £156,127 |
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
Ratios
Computed from the line items above — sparklines read oldest → newest
| Ratio | Trend | 2023-12-31 | 2024-12-31 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current ratio | 3.57x | 5.50x |
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.
Audit & accounting basis
- Accounting basis
- FRS 102
- Reporting scope
- Standalone (parent only)
- Auditor
- Parker Cavendish
- Audit opinion
- Unqualified (clean)
- Going concern
- Affirmed
“The Trustees consider that the charity has sufficient reserves to continue its activities for the foreseeable future and, accordingly, the financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis.”
Significant events
- “Founding Trustee Jennifer Wingate retired as a Trustee in 2024 her contribution to the charity is immeasurable. Jennifer will remain as an NLS Advisor.”
- “In late October 2023 the British Library experienced a cyber-attack, resulting in major technology outage and ongoing disruption to the Library's website, online systems and services. This has affected access to the charity's data held on British Library networked storage and access to digital collection material. There has been no significant effect on ongoing interviewing projects, and the NLS team continue to work with British Library colleagues as access to data is restored: In the opinion of the Trustees this event does not adversely affect the preparation of the financial statements on the going concern basis.”
Auditor, going-concern and subsidiary information is drawn from the narrative of the latest annual accounts. About these numbers
People
13 active · 32 resigned
| Name | Role | Appointed | Born | Nationality |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| STEWART, Mary Joy | Secretary | 2021-09-20 | — | — |
| ABRAMSKY, Jennifer Gita, Dame | Director | 2015-05-14 | Oct 1946 | British |
| AGAR, Jonathan Edward, Professor | Director | 2017-05-25 | Mar 1969 | United Kingdom |
| BANDA, Fareda, Professor | Director | 2021-12-07 | Sep 1966 | Zimbabwean |
| BOAS, John Robert Sotheby | Director | 1995-06-12 | Feb 1937 | British |
| CORNELIUS, Nelarine Estella, Professor | Director | 2021-09-20 | Sep 1957 | British |
| FLINN, Andrew David, Dr | Director | 2019-06-06 | Dec 1965 | British |
| KNIGHT, William John | Director | 2011-05-11 | Sep 1945 | British |
| PERKS, Robert Brian, Dr | Director | 1998-06-26 | Mar 1958 | British |
| RAVEN, Julia Amanda | Director | 2017-05-25 | Aug 1958 | United Kingdom |
| STEWART, Mary Joy | Director | 2021-09-20 | Nov 1980 | British |
| THOMPSON, Paul Richard, Professor | Director | 1987-10-22 | Aug 1935 | British |
| TOPP FARGION, Janet Constance, Dr | Director | 2020-07-16 | Feb 1963 | Italian |
Show 32 resigned officers
| Name | Role | Appointed | Resigned |
|---|---|---|---|
| DE BELLAIGUE, Eric | Secretary | 1996-06-26 | 2005-06-09 |
| PERKS, Robert Brian, Dr | Secretary | 2005-06-09 | 2021-09-20 |
| THOMPSON, Paul Richard, Professor | Secretary | — | 1996-06-26 |
| BRIGGS, Professor Lord | Director | — | 2004-06-02 |
| CHAMBERLAIN, Mary Christina, Professor | Director | 1992-06-30 | 2004-06-02 |
| CRAVEN, John Anthony, Sir | Director | 2000-05-17 | 2012-12-12 |
| DE BELLAIGUE, Eric | Director | 1996-06-26 | 2005-06-09 |
| DODGSON, Elyse | Director | 1988-06-13 | 2001-05-17 |
| FISHER, Mark | Director | 1993-06-04 | 2003-05-22 |
| GAVIN, Roger John | Director | 2009-04-01 | 2022-08-31 |
| GOFF, Martyn | Director | 1992-06-04 | 2004-06-02 |
| GOODISON, Nicholas Proctor, Sir | Director | 2000-05-17 | 2015-05-14 |
| HANDS, Peter Warwick | Director | — | 1994-03-31 |
| HENNESSY, Peter John, Baron Hennessy Of Nympsfield | Director | 2012-10-09 | 2018-09-04 |
| HOWARD, Stephen | Director | 2007-04-18 | 2009-04-01 |
| JEWITT, Anselm Crispin | Director | 1994-07-06 | 2007-04-18 |
| JOHNSON, Sharon Christine | Director | 2005-06-09 | 2007-04-18 |
| KNOX, Lesley | Director | 2014-05-20 | 2016-12-05 |
| LIVELY, Penelope Margaret | Director | 1989-06-30 | 2013-05-15 |
| MCKENDRICK, Scot, Dr | Director | 2011-05-11 | 2015-03-01 |
| PERETZ-BROWN, Stephen Paul Woodroff, Dr | Director | 1994-07-06 | 1995-09-30 |
| RANFT, Richard Damian | Director | 2015-05-14 | 2020-01-08 |
| REILLY, Joanne, Dr | Director | 2012-06-24 | 2025-06-03 |
| SHERIDAN, Dorothy Elizabeth, Professor | Director | 1994-07-06 | 2016-12-11 |
| SOLOMON, Harry, Sir | Director | 2005-06-09 | 2013-12-11 |
| TAYLOR, Jonathan Francis | Director | 1997-06-19 | 2008-04-17 |
| THOMPSON, Paul Richard, Professor | Director | — | 1996-06-26 |
| THORNBER, Edgar Hodson, Dr | Director | 2017-05-25 | 2020-05-13 |
| UNWIN, Rayner Stevens | Director | 1998-06-26 | 2000-11-21 |
| WALDEGRAVE, Caroline, Lady | Director | 2005-06-09 | 2012-05-24 |
| WEBSTER, David Gordon Comyn | Director | 2005-06-09 | 2015-03-10 |
| WINGATE, Jennifer | Director | — | 2024-05-20 |
Ownership
Persons with significant control
| Name | Kind | Nature of control | Notified | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ms Mary Joy Stewart | Individual | Significant influence | 2021-09-20 | Active |
| Dr Robert Brian Perks | Individual | Significant influence, significant-influence-or-control-as-firm | 2016-04-06 | Ceased 2021-09-20 |
Filing timeline
Last 20 of 167 total filings
| Date | Type | Category | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-07-28 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full | |
| 2025-07-11 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2025-07-11 | TM01 | officers | Termination director company with name termination date | |
| 2024-07-24 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2024-07-24 | CH01 | officers | Change person director company with change date | |
| 2024-07-24 | TM01 | officers | Termination director company with name termination date | |
| 2024-07-22 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full | |
| 2023-07-27 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full | |
| 2023-07-25 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2022-09-20 | TM01 | officers | Termination director company with name termination date | |
| 2022-07-27 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full | |
| 2022-07-21 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2022-07-21 | PSC01 | persons-with-significant-control | Notification of a person with significant control | |
| 2022-07-21 | PSC07 | persons-with-significant-control | Cessation of a person with significant control | |
| 2022-01-25 | AP01 | officers | Appoint person director company with name date | |
| 2021-11-01 | AP01 | officers | Appoint person director company with name date | |
| 2021-10-29 | TM02 | officers | Termination secretary company with name termination date | |
| 2021-10-29 | AP03 | officers | Appoint person secretary company with name date | |
| 2021-10-29 | AP01 | officers | Appoint person director company with name date | |
| 2021-10-04 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full |
Public-record activity
Raw counts from Companies House — last 12–24 months
- Filings
- 3
- Capital events
- 0
- Officers appointed
- 0
- Officers resigned
- 1
last 12 months
last 24 months
last 12 months
last 12 months
Direct counts from the register. No score, no rating — see the Filing timeline for the underlying events.
Year-on-year
FY2023 → FY2024 · period ending 2024-12-31 vs 2023-12-31
-
Turnover
—
Not reported
-
Cash
-39.9%
£129,026 £77,518
-
Net assets
-1.6%
£945,448 £930,474
-
Employees
0%
4 4
-
Wages
+3.8%
£150,424 £156,127
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