English National Opera auditorium

ENO has missed its deadline for submitting accounts to Companies House because it was awaiting confirmation of ACE subsidy

Photo: Colin/Wikimedia Commons

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ENO: Compulsory dissolution dropped

Latest English National Opera accounts yet to be submitted, resulting in move to have it closed down by government agency overseeing UK companies.

Neil Puffett
3 min read

A move by the government body overseeing UK companies to dissolve English National Opera (ENO) has been dropped, it has emerged.

A notice for compulsory strike-off of ENO from the Companies House register was issued yesterday (10 October), meaning it faced being struck off the register and "forcibly dissolved" by 10 December at the earliest.

However, an update provided by Companies House today (11 October) says the compulsory strike-off action has been "discontinued".

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Companies can face compulsory strike-off if company documents, such as annual accounts, are outstanding and it has had no response to its letters. Compulsory strike-off can also be pursued if letters sent by Companies House are returned undelivered, or the company has no directors.

According to the Companies House website ENO's accounts for the year to 31 July 2022 had been due by 31 July 2023.

A statement issued by ENO said: “The filing of the ENO’s accounts has been delayed as we awaited confirmation of our Arts Council England (ACE) subsidy. 

“Having now received this, our accounts are now being audited and should be filed shortly. 

“Companies House have been updated on the delay throughout this process and have confirmed that this will be resolved as soon as the accounts are filed.”

Turbulent 12 months

The situation comes against a backdrop of a turbulent 12 months for the organisation.

In November 2022, ACE took the decision to remove ENO from the National Portfolio, offering it £17m over three years to relocate outside London.

Subsequently ACE has agreed a funding package of £11.46m for 2023/24, with a further £12m set aside for 2024/25 and 2025/26, once it relocates.

This would bring ENO's total funding for the 2023-26 period to £35.46m, or £11.82m a year, close to the £12.38m a year it received as part of the National Portfolio for 2018-22.

In July, ACE extended the deadline for ENO to move its headquarters out of London by three years from March 2026 to March 2029.

In a statement, an ACE spokesperson said: “Arts Council England are focused on working closely with the ENO to agree how they could use the £24m grant available for 2024-26 to develop a range of activity linked to their move to a new base outside London, alongside their programme at the Coliseum.

"This work with the ENO is going well, and we look forward to them announcing their new base by the end of this year.”