National Theatre: who owns it, who runs it and what the accounts show
The Royal National Theatre has no person with significant control recorded on the Companies House register. In the year to March 2025 it reported turnover of £129m.
- Registered name
- THE ROYAL NATIONAL THEATRE
- Company number
- 00749504
- Status
- Active
- Incorporated
- 8 February 1963
- Registered office area
- South East London
- Industry code on the register
- 90010: Creative, arts and entertainment activities
- Accounts
- Group accounts, covering the companies it owns
- Accounts type
- Full group accounts
- Latest accounts
- Year to March 2025, filed 23 December 2025
What does National Theatre do?
The Royal National Theatre is the charity behind the National Theatre, which produces and stages plays at its three theatres on London's South Bank. Founded in 1963, it also tours productions across the UK and abroad, broadcasts them to cinemas through NT Live and streams them online through NT at Home. Its income comes from ticket sales, donations and memberships, public funding, corporate support, restaurants and bars, and venue hire.
In brief: theatre charity · plays on the South Bank · touring and NT Live
Source: National Theatre's own website, retrieved 27 September 2026.
Who owns National Theatre?
The Royal National Theatre, company number 00749504, 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 National Theatre?
The Companies House register lists 13 current officers for The Royal National Theatre.
All 13 current officers
| Officer | Appointed |
|---|---|
| Sir Damon Marcus Buffini | 9 June 2016 |
| Dr Timothy Score | 31 July 2017 |
| Louise Elizabeth Durant | 31 January 2019 |
| Simon Minty | 20 November 2020 |
| Melanie Jane Richards | 3 February 2021 |
| Amanda Kate Pritchard | 2 October 2023 |
| Dame Marit Mohn | 25 September 2024 |
| Cate Blanchett | 27 November 2024 |
| Sarah Maria Wiggins | 27 November 2024 |
| James Matthew Graham | 27 November 2024 |
| Deborah Weinstein | 2 July 2025 |
| Baroness Beeban Kidron | 25 September 2025 |
| Luke Bradley-Jones | 25 June 2026 |
Every current officer, with appointment dates, is on the Companies House register.
What did National Theatre file?
The Royal National Theatre reported turnover of £129m in the year to March 2025. That was up 6.0% on £121m the year before.
It reported 931 employees. The year before it reported 840.
It filed a pre-tax loss of £3m for the year, against a pre-tax loss of £4m the year before.
Staff costs came to £51m. That is an average of £54,000 a head. It ended the year with £37m at the bank and net assets of £89m.
| Measure | Mar 2025 | Mar 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Turnover | £129m | £121m |
| Pre-tax profit | -£3m (filed) | -£4m (filed) |
| Employees | 931 | 840 |
| Staff costs | £51m | £48m |
| Average staff cost per head | £54,000 | £57,000 |
| Bank and cash | £37m | £31m |
| Net assets | £89m | £82m |
Read the accounts to March 2025 on Companies House, where every set of accounts the company has filed can be downloaded as a PDF.
Are there any charges against National Theatre?
The Royal National Theatre has registered 5 charges at Companies House, of which 4 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 4 outstanding charges
| Charge holder | Created |
|---|---|
| The Arts Council of England | 6 February 2025 |
| The Trustees of the National Heritage Memorial Fund | 13 June 2013 |
| The Arts Council of England | 22 December 2012 |
| The Arts Council of England | 16 December 2010 |
Each charge, with its holder and dates, is on the Companies House register.
How National Theatre compares
National Theatre files as The Royal National Theatre, with turnover of £129m in its latest filed year.
Questions about National Theatre
What does National Theatre do?
The Royal National Theatre is the charity behind the National Theatre, which produces and stages plays at its three theatres on London's South Bank. Founded in 1963, it also tours productions across the UK and abroad, broadcasts them to cinemas through NT Live and streams them online through NT at Home. Its income comes from ticket sales, donations and memberships, public funding, corporate support, restaurants and bars, and venue hire.
Who owns National Theatre?
The Royal National Theatre has no person with significant control recorded at Companies House.
How much does National Theatre make?
The Royal National Theatre reported turnover of £129m in the year to March 2025. It filed a pre-tax loss of £3m.
How many people work at National Theatre?
The Royal National Theatre reported 931 employees in the year to March 2025.
Who runs National Theatre?
The Companies House register lists 13 current officers for The Royal National Theatre. The full list, with appointment dates, is on the Companies House register.
- Figures come from The Royal National Theatre's filings at Companies House, company number 00749504, 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, “National Theatre: who owns it, who runs it and what the accounts show”, updated 28 September 2026. https://www.spark-intel.co.uk/companies/national-theatre/. Figures from Companies House filings for THE ROYAL NATIONAL THEATRE (00749504).
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