Scope cut 54 roles as part of its corporate restructure and has closed 69 charity shops in an effort to tackle a growing deficit, it has confirmed.
The disability charity confirmed that 54 out of 326 colleagues working in its corporate division had left the organisation as part of a recent restructure, which it expects will save £1.9m a year.
The charity embarked on this restructure in April, putting 124 jobs at risk, but only 54 roles were axed.
Scope has also confirmed that 69 of its 138 charity shops had closed, after previously announcing plans to shut 77 shops overall by March next year, in a bid to save £4m a year in running costs from 2025 to 2026. A further four are in the process of transferring to other charity retailers.
“These changes will give Scope a retail estate that delivers reliable net income for the charity’s mission now and in the future,” it said.
Scope’s annual accounts, published this week, show that the charity recorded a 7 per cent fall in income in the year ending March 2025, to £44m.
Meanwhile, Scope’s expenditure rose by 9 per cent to £52.9m during the year, resulting in a deficit of £8.9m.
The accounts show that when restructure costs were taken into consideration, it recorded a £5m operating loss in the year ending 31 March 2025, compared with about £600,000 the previous year.
This was the charity’s sixth consecutive year recording an operating deficit, accounts show.
Over the past five years, Scope has had to reduce its reserves from £42.7m to £26.4m, it said, due to pressures of inflation, reduced income, rising demand, market disruption and rising energy and employment costs.
The accounts show a reduction in donations and legacy income, falling from £15.4m in 2023/24 to £12.9m in 2024/25.
The charity’s income from trading activities fell from £24m to £21m, while its income from investments fell from about £995,000 to £781,000.
Its income from fees fell from £1.3m in 2023/24 to about £654,000 in 2024/25 but grants income rose from £1.7m to £3.6m, while other income streams rose from £3.8m to £4.2m.
The accounts show the charity spent £18m on charitable activities, up from £17.5m in 2023/24.
The charity said this means 76 per cent of every pound spent was put towards charitable activities, up from 73 per cent the year before.
Mark Hodgkinson, chief executive of Scope, said the charity “needed to adapt to the additional pressures of a changing world”.
He said: “These decisions were not made lightly, and it is of course sad when colleagues leave us and shops close. But change was necessary in order to be in a much stronger position as a charity looking forward.”
Hodgkinson added that for 2025/26 so far, Scope’s net income was “ahead of budget”, adding that the charity had beaten its targets for supporter and fundraising net income.
“In terms of operating profits, we’ve seen a positive turnaround, with ecommerce at £700,000 and our high-street shops at £840,000 in the current financial year so far.”
He said: “The decision to use some of our reserves to fund the operating loss and implement change enabled us to make this transition while still increasing charitable spend.
“Our retained reserves combined with the changes we’ve made over the past year mean that Scope is in a stable financial position to move forward with our mission to deliver an equal future with disabled people.”
– This article was updated on 19 December 2025 after Scope amended the figures it had originally provided about shop closures