VS Series
Royal Opera House v National Theatre
Two national stages, paid for by the box office and the public purse
Royal Opera House leads on 4 of the five measures that matter most: turnover, pre-tax profit, profit margin, growth and net assets. Royal Opera House is the biggest by turnover at £182m, against £129m at National Theatre. Royal Opera House keeps more of every £100 it takes, £4.08 as pre-tax profit.
The year ends are close enough to compare like for like.
Accounts compared: Royal Opera House to Aug 2025 · National Theatre to Mar 2025
Who they are
Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House Covent Garden Foundation · 00480523The Royal Opera House Covent Garden Foundation is the charity that runs the Royal Opera House, home of The Royal Opera and The Royal Ballet.In brief: arts charity · opera and ballet · tickets, donations and cinemaFull profile →National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre · 00749504The Royal National Theatre is the charity behind the National Theatre, which produces and stages plays at its three theatres on London's South Bank.In brief: theatre charity · plays on the South Bank · touring and NT LiveFull profile →The Numbers
| # | Company | Turnover | Change | Pre-tax profit | Margin | Employees | Pay per head | Turnover per head | Net assets | Bank and cash | Accounts to | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal Opera HouseRoyal Opera House Covent Garden Foundation | £182m | +0.1% | £7m | 4.1% | 1,162 | £64,000 | £157,000 | £304m | £91m | Aug 2025 | Group |
| 2 | National TheatreThe Royal National Theatre | £129m | +6.0% | -£3m | -1.9% | 931 | £54,000 | £138,000 | £89m | £37m | Mar 2025 | Group |
Ranked by turnover. Click any column to sort. The leader on each measure is highlighted. Movements are against each company's own prior year. Pre-tax profit is filed except where marked (est.).
Category winners
Biggest by turnover
Royal Opera House
£182m
Most pre-tax profit
Royal Opera House
£7m
Highest profit margin
Royal Opera House
4.1%
Fastest-growing turnover
National Theatre
+6.0%
Biggest employer
Royal Opera House
1,162 staff
Highest pay per head
Royal Opera House
£64,000
Most turnover per head
Royal Opera House
£157,000
Largest net assets
Royal Opera House
£304m
Most cash
Royal Opera House
£91m
The Takeaway
- Royal Opera House converts the most of its turnover. Of every £100, £4.08 reaches pre-tax profit, against a loss of £1.94 at National Theatre.
- Royal Opera House is the largest on the top line, £182m of turnover, 1.4x National Theatre's £129m.
- National Theatre is growing fastest, turnover +6.0% on its own prior year.
- Royal Opera House is the biggest employer with 1,162 people; Royal Opera House pays the most per head, an average staff cost of about £64,000.
- Royal Opera House has the largest balance sheet, net assets of £304m.
Who keeps the most of every £100 of sales?
Royal Opera House keeps the most: £4.08 of every £100 of turnover becomes pre-tax profit. National Theatre does worst, losing £1.94.
Every profit figure here is the one the company filed.
The chart splits each company's turnover into £100: what goes on people, on interest and on everything else, and what is left as profit.
Out of every £100 of turnover
Each column is £100 of that company's own turnover, so companies of any size compare on one scale; the figures are pounds out of each £100, not millions. Companies run from the best margin to the worst. Payroll is staff costs, other running costs are everything else, and profit is pre-tax profit, filed or estimated as marked in the table. A loss is not an extra cost: it is the part of the costs that runs past the £100 line, marked with a red bracket. Hover over any segment for its figure.
Who is the biggest, and does the comparison hold?
By turnover the order is Royal Opera House (£182m), National Theatre (£129m).
By headcount, Royal Opera House leads with 1,162 employees.
The accounting periods all end within 5 months of each other. All are on the same filing basis.
Turnover on the latest filing
Who is growing fastest?
National Theatre grew fastest, turnover +6.0% on its own prior year, ahead of Royal Opera House (+0.1%).
Turnover change on each company's own prior year
Who employs the most, who pays the most, and who brings in the most per head?
Royal Opera House employs the most, 1,162 people, against 931 at National Theatre.
Royal Opera House has the highest average staff cost, about £64,000 a head; National Theatre the lowest, about £54,000.
Royal Opera House brings in the most turnover per employee, about £157,000, against £138,000 at National Theatre. It says as much about the business model as the workforce: a marketplace or a wholesaler needs far fewer people per pound than a restaurant or a gym.
Who owns each one?
Ownership as recorded on the Companies House register of people with significant control, in the bands the register uses.
No controller recorded
The register shows no person with significant control. 5 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns Royal Opera House →
The Royal National Theatre · 00749504No controller recorded
The register shows no person with significant control. 4 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns National Theatre →
What does the full ledger show?
| Measure | Royal Opera House | National Theatre |
|---|---|---|
| Registered name | ROYAL OPERA HOUSE COVENT GARDEN FOUNDATION | THE ROYAL NATIONAL THEATRE |
| Company number | 00480523 | 00749504 |
| Incorporated | 1950 | 1963 |
| Accounts filed | 4 June 2026 | 23 December 2025 |
| Turnover, prior year | £182m | £121m |
| Pre-tax profit, prior year | £10m | -£4m |
| Staff costs | £74m | £51m |
| Payroll share of turnover | 40.9% | 39.4% |
| Employees, prior year | 1,096 | 840 |
| Dividends paid | n/d | n/d |
| Charges outstanding | 5 | 4 |
A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d; a zero in a filing is treated as not disclosed. Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, above that to the nearest million.
Royal Opera House v National Theatre: common questions
Who is the biggest of Royal Opera House or National Theatre?
Royal Opera House, with turnover of £182m in the year to August 2025.
Which makes the most profit?
Royal Opera House: £7m pre-tax in the year to August 2025.
Which employs the most people?
Royal Opera House, with 1,162 employees in its latest accounts.
Royal Opera House or National Theatre: which is bigger?
Royal Opera House, with turnover of £182m against £129m at National Theatre on their latest filings. On margin, Royal Opera House keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit. The full head to head is in the VS Series. Read the VS page →
Where do these figures come from?
Each company's latest accounts filed at Companies House. Each links to its full Spark Intel profile, which names the filing it comes from.
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