RIBA reports major trading deficit for third year in a row

The figure appears in the RIBA’s draft annual report and financial statement for the year ending 31 December 2022, an early version of which has been seen by the AJ. It is due to be signed off at the ins،ute’s AGM on Thursday (28 September).

The latest trading deficit follows s،rtfalls of £8 million in 2021 and £8.2 million in 2020.

In its latest financial year the ins،ute earned £23.2 million, an 11 per cent increase on the previous 12 months. Its annual turnover included £8.2 million from member،p fees and £7.1 million from ‘trading activities’, such as venue hire.

But the RIBA spent £29.5 million, including £1 million on the ‘president and group executive’ and £3.45 million on premises and communications.

This total expenditure figure does not include an additional one-off £1.7 million payment for pension finance costs. The draft report also s،ws that redundancy and termination payments totalling £564,000 were made in 2022 on top of the £548,000 redundancy costs accrued in 2021 and £407,000 in 2020. The ins،ute’s wage bill dropped from £12.5 million to £10.9 million over the reporting period.

The do،ent states that the RIBA’s net worth decreased by £1o million in 2022, to £402.9 million.

However, since the trading year ended, the ins،ute has sold its lease on 76 Portland Place, the office building close to its main 66 Portland Place headquarters, swelling its coffers by nearly £12 million.

Last month the RIBA’s outgoing president, Simon Allford, insisted the ins،ute’s ongoing money problems had already been addressed and predicted substantially improved figures when the 2023 accounts are reported next year.

In an interview in August, Allford told the AJ: ‘The board has stopped the financial rot and we have gone from losing around £7 million a year to moving to breaking even and building the ،isational structure that allows for ،ential future financial growth.

‘We have also protected the NBS monies – which were being m،ively eroded – in an endowment; reduced our property footprint by selling 76 Portland Place for close to £12 million; and are now sharing Mann Island, Liverpool, in a creative partner،p with the Tate.’

The RIBA has been approached for comment on the latest figures.