Black Country Living Museum: who owns it, who runs it and what the accounts show
The Black Country Living Museum Trust has no person with significant control recorded on the Companies House register. In the year to December 2025 it reported turnover of £11m.
- Registered name
- THE BLACK COUNTRY LIVING MUSEUM TRUST
- Company number
- 01226321
- Status
- Active
- Incorporated
- 15 September 1975
- Registered office area
- Dudley
- Industry code on the register
- 91020: Libraries, archives, museums and other cultural activities
- Accounts
- Group accounts, covering the companies it owns
- Accounts type
- Full group accounts
- Latest accounts
- Year to December 2025, filed 20 August 2026
What does Black Country Living Museum do?
The Black Country Living Museum Trust is the charity that runs the Black Country Living Museum, an open-air museum in Dudley. Opened in 1978, the museum is made up of shops, houses and industrial workshops rebuilt on the site, where costumed staff show daily life and crafts in the Black Country. It earns money from admission tickets, which also work as annual passes, catering including its fish and chip shop, events, venue hire and filming, membership and donations.
In brief: open-air museum charity in Dudley · opened 1978 · rebuilt historic streets · tickets, events and filming
Source: Black Country Living Museum's own website, retrieved 27 September 2026.
Who owns Black Country Living Museum?
The Black Country Living Museum Trust, company number 01226321, 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 Black Country Living Museum?
The Companies House register lists 14 current officers for The Black Country Living Museum Trust.
All 14 current officers
| Officer | Appointed |
|---|---|
| Jonathan Badyal | 25 January 2018 |
| Duncan Peter Bedhall | 25 January 2018 |
| Ruth Marie Levesley | 30 January 2020 |
| Katy Baker | 18 June 2020 |
| Sally Elizabeth Bourner | 24 June 2021 |
| Louise Jones | 28 April 2022 |
| Tarlok Singh Mander | 28 April 2022 |
| Diane Harvey | 18 April 2025 |
| Dileep Singh Marway | 26 June 2025 |
| Hasan Afzal | 26 June 2025 |
| Caroline Southall | 26 June 2025 |
| Dr Nicola Claire Guy | 28 August 2025 |
| Emma Norris | 30 October 2025 |
| Cllr Philip Thomas Atkins | 25 June 2026 |
Every current officer, with appointment dates, is on the Companies House register.
What did Black Country Living Museum file?
The Black Country Living Museum Trust reported turnover of £11m in the year to December 2025. That was up 1.0% on £11m the year before.
It reported 194 employees. The year before it reported 207.
It filed a pre-tax loss of £0.4m for the year, against a pre-tax loss of £1.0m the year before.
Staff costs came to £7m. That is an average of £34,000 a head. It ended the year with £1.8m at the bank and net assets of £36m.
| Measure | Dec 2025 | Dec 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Turnover | £11m | £11m |
| Pre-tax profit | -£0.4m (filed) | -£1.0m (filed) |
| Employees | 194 | 207 |
| Staff costs | £7m | £6m |
| Average staff cost per head | £34,000 | £31,000 |
| Bank and cash | £1.8m | £1.9m |
| Net assets | £36m | £37m |
| Directors' pay | £1k |
Read the accounts to December 2025 on Companies House, where every set of accounts the company has filed can be downloaded as a PDF.
Are there any charges against Black Country Living Museum?
The Black Country Living Museum Trust 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 |
|---|---|
| The Trustees of the National Heritage Memorial Fund | 18 September 2019 |
| The Borough Council of Dudley | 17 January 2013 |
| Barclays Bank PLC | 1 April 2010 |
Each charge, with its holder and dates, is on the Companies House register.
Black Country Living Museum files as The Black Country Living Museum Trust, with turnover of £11m in its latest filed year.
Questions about Black Country Living Museum
What does Black Country Living Museum do?
The Black Country Living Museum Trust is the charity that runs the Black Country Living Museum, an open-air museum in Dudley. Opened in 1978, the museum is made up of shops, houses and industrial workshops rebuilt on the site, where costumed staff show daily life and crafts in the Black Country. It earns money from admission tickets, which also work as annual passes, catering including its fish and chip shop, events, venue hire and filming, membership and donations.
Who owns Black Country Living Museum?
The Black Country Living Museum Trust has no person with significant control recorded at Companies House.
How much does Black Country Living Museum make?
The Black Country Living Museum Trust reported turnover of £11m in the year to December 2025. It filed a pre-tax loss of £0.4m.
How many people work at Black Country Living Museum?
The Black Country Living Museum Trust reported 194 employees in the year to December 2025.
Who runs Black Country Living Museum?
The Companies House register lists 14 current officers for The Black Country Living Museum Trust. The full list, with appointment dates, is on the Companies House register.
- Figures come from The Black Country Living Museum Trust's filings at Companies House, company number 01226321, 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, “Black Country Living Museum: who owns it, who runs it and what the accounts show”, updated 28 September 2026. https://www.spark-intel.co.uk/companies/black-country-living-museum/. Figures from Companies House filings for THE BLACK COUNTRY LIVING MUSEUM TRUST (01226321).
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