The Alexandra Palace and Park Board met on 18 September 2025 to discuss the chief executive's report, the annual report and financial statements, and the Alexandra Palace and Park Charitable Trust's finances. The board was also scheduled to receive verbal updates from the Advisory Committee, the Consultative Committee, and the Chair of the Finance, Risk, Resource and Audit Committee (FRRAC). Certain items, pertaining to individuals, business affairs and legal privilege, were marked to be discussed in exclusion of the public and press.

Chief Executive's Report

Emma Dagnes OBE, Chief Executive of Alexandra Park & Palace, prepared a report for the board to update them on the progress made in the financial year 2025/26, in line with the Trust's vision to Create a Sustainable Home for All That We Do.

The report highlighted progress towards the Trust's goals:

• Great Entertainment and Culture: The Summer Series in July featured acts such as the Teskey Brothers and The Kaiser Chiefs, and the Kaleidoscope festival. Alexandra Palace and Wise Children co-produced Alfred Hitchcock's North by North West, adapted by Emma Rice, which ran for two weeks. Other theatre events included family productions such as The Dinosaur That Pooped, and Ministry of Science. Market research was conducted by Savanta to understand audiences and donors, and Premier PR was appointed as the new PR agency. The ice rink, boating lake, and pitch and putt remained open, and the Boathouse café was scheduled to reopen in the autumn. The Phoenix bar and Pizzeria aimed to maximise sales during good weather and summer events.
• Climate Change Resilience: Discussions were ongoing with the Zero Carbon Accelerator (ZCA) to achieve net zero emissions¹. The government closed the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, and the ZCA team was helping to develop a delivery program and find funding. Two projects, funded by the Haringey Community Carbon Fund, involved installing solar panels on the boat house and secondary glazing in the CUFOS (old station) building.
• Heritage Assets: Repair, refurbishment, and modernisation works were underway. Essential repairs to the Boating Lake jetty were completed to ensure safety for boating activities. The East Court Cafe was undergoing a refurbishment to improve visitor facilities while preserving the building's historic fabric.
• Green Lung for London: The hot and dry weather impacted the park, reducing water levels in the lakes and ponds. Aerators in the boating lake were serviced to maintain oxygen levels. New 'no BBQ' signs were placed to manage fire risk. The park team collected 14 tons of rubbish in June 2025. Michael Conway, the John O'Conner contract manager, celebrated 30 years working at Alexandra Palace and raised the park's 18th Green Flag. Maintenance was planned for the play area and skate park in September, and tree safety work and oak processionary moth control were ongoing. A colony of bee orchids flowered near the paddock car park, and hummingbird hawk-moths were spotted near the pitch and putt course. The Savanta market research included questions for park users.
• Archives and Stories: Three new archive volunteers enlisted, and one completed the listing of Val Paley's collection. An application was submitted for the Business Archives Council cataloguing grant. The archives were used for external queries and maintenance projects. Volunteers were working on articles for the Hornsey Historical Society and the Ham & High paper. A project plan was submitted to celebrate 35 years of the Ice Rink, and a virtual tour of the historic BBC Wing was being commissioned from Headbox to replace the previous BBC Taster app.
• Communities: Projects delivered included an outdoor Shakespeare performance, Green Creates, the PAS end-of-year showcase, the YAC performance, and Palace Uncovered. The Young Creatives Network participated in DJ Masterclasses and led the Skate Jam festival. Community Focus sessions were delivered in the outdoor learning area, and the Biblio Buzz Library Ceremony was held. A pop-up camera obscura installation was set up on the south terrace. Preparations were underway for La Feria and the Haringey Age Well Festival. Volunteers supported the Fundraising & Development department's Summer Celebration, Green Creates, and Palace Uncovered, and were involved in archive projects and the Open House Festival.
• Overall Resilience: The new individual giving program was launched, including the Founding Ally Pally Patrons scheme. Promotion for Name a Bench and Name a Seat dedication schemes and Gifts in Wills was planned for autumn 2025, followed by the relaunch of the regular donors' program as Ally Pally Supporters in spring 2026. Trust and Statutory fundraising continued for Creative Learning programming and small-scale capital projects. Potential capital projects were scoped and prioritised for the next phase of restoration, focusing on community, climate, conservation, and commercial aspects. Work was underway to develop the charity's Strategic Plan. EE was deploying 5G infrastructure across the site, and construction had begun for the Summit, Alexandra Palace Rooftop Adventure. The event planning system Artifax was being replaced by Infor, and the HALO reporting and checking system was improved. The organisation was migrating to SharePoint/OneDrive, and a project was established to gain Cyber Essentials accreditation.
• Derelict Spaces: Phase One of the Boating Lake improvement program was completed, including rewiring the boat hire facilities and refurbishing the public toilet facilities. Work continued to build the case for an Expression of Interest application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund for the North East Office Building Project.
• New Partnerships: Mark Civil, Head of Creative Learning, and Louise Johnson, Head of Strategic Planning and Projects, were finalising lease arrangements for the relocation of Haringey Music Service, with a move-in date confirmed for 30th October 2025. Dan Early, Head of Haringey Music Service, toured the site with the Haringey Council lease team. A strategic meeting was scheduled between AP, North London Music Hub, and BBC Concert Orchestra to explore joint programming opportunities. Mark Civil and Melanie Fry from BBC CO were set to join the North London Music Hub Board. Haringey Music Service was named as a secondary partner in a capital funding application submitted to Arts Council England for the redevelopment of the Transmitter Hall.

The report recommended that the Trustees note its contents.

Finance Report

Emma Dagnes OBE, Chief Executive, also presented a finance report, which included a forecast against the budget for 2025/26.

The report noted that Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust, like many charities in the cultural, heritage, and hospitality sectors, faced challenges such as economic uncertainty, rising operational costs, and labour market pressures. It stated that external shocks, such as war, climate change, and evolving customer expectations, required significant investment in innovation.

The Trust's vision is to create A Sustainable Home For All That We Do, with a mission to To Repair, Maintain, Restore for the enjoyment of the public. Its purpose is to Enrich lives, through great experiences, forever, and it has ten goals:

• Build Climate Change Resilience
• Safeguard Our Green Lung for London
• Protect Our Heritage Assets
• Restore Derelict Spaces
• Strengthen Our Overall Resilience
• Establish New, Exciting Partnerships
• Inspire, Engage Our Communities
• Create A Great Place To Work
• Provide Great Entertainment & Culture For All
• Protect our Archives and Share our Stories in Innovative Ways.

The Trust's values are: Collaborative, Passionate & Fun, Resourceful, Bold, and Open & Genuine.

The Operational Business Plan for 2025/26 included objectives such as achieving financial and fundraising targets, developing a structured process for strategic projects, implementing the Brilliant Basics framework, and embedding organisational strategies.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) included:

• achieving a sustainable budget
• revenue growth rate
• gross and net margin
• donations per paying customer
• basket donations
• staff turnover
• mandatory training completion rate
• Net Promoter Score

The report stated that achieving a sustainable budget position for the Trust was a key performance indicator, and that while the financial year 2024/25 indicated that the Charity was on track to meet this target, achieving a sustainable position for 2025/26 had proven challenging.

Financial challenges included increases in insurance premiums, national insurance contributions, estate guarding costs, and general cost inflation. Mitigation strategies included recognising the Restoration Levy in-year, increasing car park charges, increasing fundraising targets, and expanding estate tenancy opportunities. Operational efficiencies included resource amalgamation and cost reassignment. Strategic investments focused on people, technology, and repairs and maintenance.

The forecast for 2025/26 showed total income of £5,743,996 and total expenditure of £5,302,458, resulting in a surplus of £441,539.

The report included notes on the forecast, stating that income was ahead of target due to the operating profit for Alexandra Palace Trading Limited (APTL) for 2024/25 being higher than budgeted. The Restoration Levy remained as budgeted, and Gift Aid was forecast to increase. Car parking income was in line with the budget, and leases were ahead of budget due to the Cricket Club lease free period ending. Donations were an emerging income stream, and new licences and leases were up due to a one-off recharge to a tenant.

Overall expenditure was on target, with operating costs running slightly behind but offset by savings in other areas. Operating costs were higher than budgeted due to an unexpected increase in rates and additional investment in IT. Salaries were running behind budget due to agency staff covering vacant roles, and maintenance remained largely on target but faced challenges with inflationary increases. Security was slightly down versus budget, insurance had a small saving, and utilities were up due to a prior year credit note for gas.

Risks included income shortfalls, cost overruns, economic challenges, regulatory changes, and supplier dependencies.

The report recommended that the Board note the forecast against the budget for 2025/26.

Trustees' Annual Report and Financial Statements 2024 – 25

The board were scheduled to discuss the Trustees' Annual Report & Financial Statements 2024 – 25. The purpose of the report was to present the Trustees' with the Draft Annual Report and Financial Statements for signing and submission to the Charity Commission².

The end-of-year reports were presented to the Finance Resource, Risk and Audit Committee (FRRAC) and APTL Board at their respective meetings in September, where the Audit Partner also presented the audit findings report.

Feedback was provided in the FRRAC Chair's verbal update report including the recommendation that the respective letters of representation are signed by the APTL and Trustee Board Chairs following their consideration of the Financial Statements.

The APTL Chair's report was scheduled to be provided as a verbal update due to the proximity of the meetings, under the exempt section of this meeting.

The report recommended that the Board:

• Approve the Draft Annual Report and Financial Statements
• Delegate powers for a final approval and signing off the Annual Report and Financial Statements to the Chief Executive and Chairs of the Trustee and APTL Boards, in case of any further minor amendments
• Delegate powers for the Chair of the Trustees to sign the Letters of Representation