The R&A: who owns it, who runs it and what the accounts show
R&A Championships Limited's person with significant control on the Companies House register is R&A Trust Company (No.1) Limited. In the year to December 2024 R&A Championships Limited reported turnover of £151m.
The R&A has filed accounts for the year to 31 December 2025 at Companies House. Those figures are not yet in Spark Intel's data, so this page shows the previous year, to 31 December 2024. It will update when they are.
- Registered name
- R&A CHAMPIONSHIPS LIMITED
- Company number
- SC247047
- Status
- Active
- Incorporated
- 2 April 2003
- Registered office area
- Kirkcaldy
- Industry code on the register
- 93199: Sports activities and amusement and recreation activities
- Accounts
- Single company accounts, this company only
- Latest accounts
- Year to December 2024, filed 19 August 2025
What does The R&A do?
The R&A is a golf governing body that stages The Open, the AIG Women's Open and leading amateur championships. Based in St Andrews, it sets the Rules of Golf, equipment standards and the handicap system and runs golf ranking systems. The Open, golf's original championship, has been played since 1860 on links courses, with qualifying events on every continent and its championships draw spectators and commercial partners. The R&A also runs Golf It!, a community golf and entertainment facility in Glasgow.
In brief: runs The Open and AIG Women's Open · Rules of Golf and equipment standards · based in St Andrews · amateur championships
Source: The R&A's own website, retrieved 25 September 2026.
Who owns The R&A?
The Companies House register records R&A Trust Company (No.1) Limited as the person with significant control of R&A Championships Limited, company number SC247047. R&A Trust Company (No.1) Limited is itself company number SC247045.
That places R&A Championships Limited inside a larger group. The accounts on this page are the company's own, not the wider group's.
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 The R&A?
The Companies House register lists 5 current officers for R&A Championships Limited.
All 5 current officers
| Officer | Appointed |
|---|---|
| John Fraser Murray | 30 April 2012 |
| John Daniel Brink | 15 March 2023 |
| Mark Robert Guy Darbon | 13 December 2024 |
| Johnnie Liston Cole Hamilton | 4 March 2026 |
| Neil Armit | 4 March 2026 |
Every current officer, with appointment dates, is on the Companies House register.
What did The R&A file?
R&A Championships Limited reported turnover of £151m in the year to December 2024. That was up 3.2% on £146m the year before.
It has no employees of its own: its accounts say the people who work for it are employed by other companies in its group, which charge it for their cost.
It filed a pre-tax profit of £5m for the year, against a pre-tax loss of £1.1m the year before.
It ended the year with £5m at the bank and net assets of £33m.
| Measure | Dec 2024 | Dec 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Turnover | £151m | £146m |
| Pre-tax profit | £5m (filed) | -£1.1m (filed) |
| Employees | None of its own | None of its own |
| Bank and cash | £5m | £6m |
| Net assets | £33m | £30m |
| Interest received | £0.8m | |
| Directors' pay | £0.2m |
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 The R&A?
R&A Championships Limited has registered 1 charge at Companies House, of which 1 is 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.
The outstanding charge
| Charge holder | Created |
|---|---|
| Glasgow City Council, as Local Authority for the City of Glasgow in Terms of the Local Government Etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 | 20 October 2021 |
Each charge, with its holder and dates, is on the Companies House register.
How The R&A compares
The R&A files as R&A Championships Limited, whose person with significant control is R&A Trust Company (No.1) Limited, with turnover of £151m in its latest filed year.
Questions about The R&A
What does The R&A do?
The R&A is a golf governing body that stages The Open, the AIG Women's Open and leading amateur championships. Based in St Andrews, it sets the Rules of Golf, equipment standards and the handicap system and runs golf ranking systems. The Open, golf's original championship, has been played since 1860 on links courses, with qualifying events on every continent and its championships draw spectators and commercial partners. The R&A also runs Golf It!, a community golf and entertainment facility in Glasgow.
Who owns The R&A?
The Companies House register records R&A Trust Company (No.1) Limited as the person with significant control of R&A Championships Limited.
How much does The R&A make?
R&A Championships Limited reported turnover of £151m in the year to December 2024. It filed a pre-tax profit of £5m.
How many people work at The R&A?
R&A Championships Limited has no employees of its own. Its accounts say the people who work for it are employed by other companies in its group, which charge it for their cost.
Who runs The R&A?
The Companies House register lists 5 current officers for R&A Championships Limited. The full list, with appointment dates, is on the Companies House register.
- Figures come from R&A Championships Limited's filings at Companies House, company number SC247047, for the period shown at the top of the page.
- These are single company accounts: they cover this company alone, not any wider group.
- 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, “The R&A: who owns it, who runs it and what the accounts show”, updated 28 September 2026. https://www.spark-intel.co.uk/companies/the-r-and-a/. Figures from Companies House filings for R&A CHAMPIONSHIPS LIMITED (SC247047).
More from Spark Intel
VS Series
The R&A v DP World Tour: turnover, profit and staff compared
Read →Company profile
Formula One Group: who owns it and what the accounts show
Read →Company profile
Mercedes F1: who owns it and what the accounts show
Read →Company profile
McLaren: who owns it and what the accounts show
Read →Company profiles
Every company profile, by sector
Read →VS Series
Every VS comparison: two businesses, settled with accounts
Read →Bright Sparks