Banham Zoo: who owns it, who runs it and what the accounts show
The Zoological Society of East Anglia Limited has no person with significant control recorded on the Companies House register. In the year to December 2024 it reported turnover of £6m.
- Registered name
- THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF EAST ANGLIA LIMITED
- Company number
- 08250951
- Status
- Active
- Incorporated
- 12 October 2012
- Registered office area
- Norwich
- Industry code on the register
- 91040: Libraries, archives, museums and other cultural activities
- Accounts
- Group accounts, covering the companies it owns
- Accounts type
- Full accounts
- Latest accounts
- Year to December 2024, filed 30 September 2025
What does Banham Zoo do?
The Zoological Society of East Anglia is the charity that runs Banham Zoo in Norfolk and Africa Alive in Suffolk. The two zoos keep animals from around the world and take part in conservation breeding and native species projects. The society earns income from tickets, memberships, animal experiences and adoptions, a charity lottery and donations, and puts it back into animal care and conservation.
In brief: zoo charity · Norfolk and Suffolk · tickets and memberships
Source: Banham Zoo's own website, retrieved 27 September 2026.
Who owns Banham Zoo?
The Zoological Society of East Anglia Limited, company number 08250951, has no person with significant control recorded on the register. The full record is linked below.
The full ownership record is on the Companies House register. Control is given in the bands the register uses, not as exact shareholdings.
Who runs Banham Zoo?
The Companies House register lists 7 current officers for The Zoological Society of East Anglia Limited.
All 7 current officers
| Officer | Appointed |
|---|---|
| Gerard Francis Smith | 27 August 2014 |
| Dr Andrew Gemmel Hassan | 16 November 2017 |
| Dr Kelly Louise Powley | 6 January 2023 |
| James John Gardiner | 6 January 2023 |
| Rebecca Jane Penny | 21 June 2024 |
| Edward John Bouckley | 13 June 2025 |
| Katherine Sarah Davison | 10 June 2026 |
Every current officer, with appointment dates, is on the Companies House register.
What did Banham Zoo file?
The Zoological Society of East Anglia Limited reported turnover of £6m in the year to December 2024. That was down 14.1% on £7m the year before.
It reported 172 employees. The year before it reported 117.
It filed a pre-tax loss of £0.5m for the year, against a pre-tax loss of £1.2m the year before.
Staff costs came to £2m. That is an average of £14,000 a head. It ended the year with £52k at the bank and net assets of £2m.
| Measure | Dec 2024 | Dec 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Turnover | £6m | £7m |
| Pre-tax profit | -£0.5m (filed) | -£1.2m (filed) |
| Employees | 172 | 117 |
| Staff costs | £2m | £4m |
| Average staff cost per head | £14,000 | £35,000 |
| Bank and cash | £52k | £0.4m |
| Net assets | £2m | £3m |
Read the accounts to December 2024 on Companies House, where every set of accounts the company has filed can be downloaded as a PDF.
Are there any charges against Banham Zoo?
The Zoological Society of East Anglia Limited has registered 3 charges at Companies House, of which 3 are still outstanding. A charge is security a lender takes over a company's assets; one is satisfied when the lending behind it is repaid or released.
All 3 outstanding charges
| Charge holder | Created |
|---|---|
| Lloyds Bank PLC | 11 May 2017 |
| Lloyds Bank PLC | 11 May 2017 |
| Lloyds Bank PLC | 25 April 2017 |
Each charge, with its holder and dates, is on the Companies House register.
Banham Zoo files as The Zoological Society of East Anglia Limited, with turnover of £6m in its latest filed year.
Questions about Banham Zoo
What does Banham Zoo do?
The Zoological Society of East Anglia is the charity that runs Banham Zoo in Norfolk and Africa Alive in Suffolk. The two zoos keep animals from around the world and take part in conservation breeding and native species projects. The society earns income from tickets, memberships, animal experiences and adoptions, a charity lottery and donations, and puts it back into animal care and conservation.
Who owns Banham Zoo?
The Zoological Society of East Anglia Limited has no person with significant control recorded at Companies House.
How much does Banham Zoo make?
The Zoological Society of East Anglia Limited reported turnover of £6m in the year to December 2024. It filed a pre-tax loss of £0.5m.
How many people work at Banham Zoo?
The Zoological Society of East Anglia Limited reported 172 employees in the year to December 2024.
Who runs Banham Zoo?
The Companies House register lists 7 current officers for The Zoological Society of East Anglia Limited. The full list, with appointment dates, is on the Companies House register.
- Figures come from The Zoological Society of East Anglia Limited's filings at Companies House, company number 08250951, for the period shown at the top of the page.
- These are group accounts: they include the companies it owns.
- Pre-tax profit is the figure the company filed, for both years.
- A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d. A zero in the filing is treated as not disclosed, never as nil.
- Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, from £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, from £2m to the nearest million.
- Ownership is shown in the control bands the register of people with significant control uses, not as exact shareholdings.
- Officers' names and appointment dates come from the Companies House register. Job titles come from the company's own website. The description of what the company does comes from its website, or is marked Spark Intel editorial where it is written from stable, checked facts, with the date either way.
Spark Intel, “Banham Zoo: who owns it, who runs it and what the accounts show”, updated 28 September 2026. https://www.spark-intel.co.uk/companies/banham-zoo/. Figures from Companies House filings for THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF EAST ANGLIA LIMITED (08250951).
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