General Optical Council

Analysis

General Optical Council is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in London. It was registered in December 2012, 14 years ago. Its declared purposes cover education/training and the advancement of health or saving of lives, which this site groups under health and saving lives. It says it provides services, provides advocacy/advice/information and sponsors or undertakes research.

In the financial year ending March 2025, General Optical Council reported income of £12.2m and spending of £13.1m, spending 108% of what it took in. Across the 5 years on record, from March 2021 to March 2025, income grew from £11.7m to £12.2m (+4.2%), an average of +1.0% a year. Over the whole period it spent 97% of the income it received.

Among 24,651 England and Wales charities whose main cause is health and saving lives and that reported income, General Optical Council sits at the 98th percentile: it is larger than about 98% of them. 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 Abbeyfield Wey Valley Society Limited (£12.2m), Julia's House Limited (£12.2m) and Effective Ventures Foundation (£12.1m).

In its latest detailed accounts, income came from charitable activities 96% and investments 3.9%. Charitable activities took 94% of spending and raising funds 0.3%. Reserves of £8.0m would cover about 7 months of spending at that rate. It employed 112 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.