St John Ambulance reduced its workforce by more than 300 as it cut staff costs by more than £12m last year, latest accounts show.
The first aid charity’s total headcount dropped from 1,726 in 2023 to 1,418 last year, according to its accounts for the year to the end of December 2024.
St John Ambulance had costs of £105.8m in 2024, down from £123.9m the previous year, largely due to a reduction in staff costs from £59m in 2023 to £46.5m.
The charity’s total income decreased slightly to £106.8m in 2024 compared with £107.7m in the previous year.
But the charity, which embarked on a restructure last year after recording a deficit approaching £17m, recorded a £1m surplus over the course of the year after slashing its costs.
A spokesperson for St John Ambulance said: “These figures reflect some of the changes the organisation underwent in 2023 and 2024 in response to a number of challenges post-Covid-19.
“The headcount reduction was delivered in part through normal staff turnover and in part through redundancies.
“As the annual report and accounts make clear, the actions that St John Ambulance took resulted in a very significant improvement in its finances, and we are now in a strong position to move ahead to deliver our mission.”
Income from ambulance operations activity reduced by 20 per cent to £16m in 2024 due to the exit of “unprofitable” contracts at the end of their term and reduced funding available for the NHS auxiliary contract, the accounts say.
Fundraising income increased by 5 per cent to £15.6m in 2024 and the charity said its supporter base also went up by 3 per cent.
Costs related to first aid provision and youth development decreased by 12 per cent to £25.7m in 2024.
The accounts say this was due to a reduced headcount and tighter control over spend in the charity’s first aid provision.
“Despite the increase in revenue, expenditure on first aid training decreased by 10 per cent to £35.1m (2023: £38.9m) as we sought to consolidate training venues to reduce our running costs as part of the transformation programme,” the accounts say.