Plymouth Marine Laboratory

Analysis

Plymouth Marine Laboratory is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in Plymouth. It was registered in March 2002, 24 years ago. Its declared purposes cover education/training, arts/culture/heritage/science and environment/conservation/heritage, which this site groups under arts, culture, heritage and science. Legally it is a charitable company (Companies House number 04178503). It says it provides advocacy/advice/information and sponsors or undertakes research.

In the financial year ending March 2025, Plymouth Marine Laboratory reported income of £16.4m and spending of £17.2m, spending 105% of its income. Across the 5 years on record, from March 2021 to March 2025, income grew from £14.3m to £16.4m (+15%), an average of +3.5% a year. Over the whole period it spent 100% of the income it received.

Among 17,634 England and Wales charities whose main cause is arts, culture, heritage and science and that reported income, Plymouth Marine Laboratory sits at the 100th percentile: it is one of the largest 1% in its cause. Against every charity in England and Wales with reported income it ranks in the 99th percentile. Charities of a similar size with the same main cause include Brighton Dome and Festival Ltd (£16.3m), The Royal Ballet School (£16.6m) and Newcastle Theatre Royal Trust Limited (£16.3m).

In its latest detailed accounts, income came from charitable activities 90% and trading 8.9%. Charitable activities took 95% of spending and raising funds 5.0%. Reserves of £7.6m would cover about 5 months of spending at that rate. It employed 179 people.

Data notes from the register: Spending has exceeded income in each of the last three reported years, so the charity has been drawing on reserves or other funds.