An administrative error in the accounts of the National Theatre led to a compulsory strike-off notice being issued by Companies House, Third Sector has learned.
Companies House records show a notice was issued under a header that stated: “First Gazette notice for compulsory strike-off.”
The charity said an administrative error automatically triggered the strike-off notice after its latest accounts were filed.
Guidelines on the Companies House website say that the registrar can issue such a notice if it has not received company documents that should have been sent to them, mail that the registrar has sent to a company’s registered office is returned undelivered, or if the company has no directors.
The latter does not appear to be the case as the charity has appointed three directors since November last year.
Organisations can apply to have the strike-off notice withdrawn for a number of reasons, including if it has changed its name, or continues to trade or carries on its business.
To remain on the register an organisation must reply to any correspondence it has received and deliver any outstanding documents.
The Companies House website says a failure to deliver the necessary documents could also result in the directors of an organisation being prosecuted.
The charity said: “After filing our accounts we were alerted to an administrative issue that triggered this notice: Companies House have asked us to use ‘The Royal National Theatre’ in full throughout the body of the accounts documents rather than abbreviations such as ‘The NT’ which were accepted in previous years.
“We have resubmitted our accounts and are waiting for these to be processed but we have been assured that the automatic notice will not be taken any further, and the National Theatre’s entry on the Companies House website should be updated accordingly soon.”
The strike-off notice is being processed and will be available to view in 10 days, according to the Companies House website.
The charity’s total income for 2019/20 was just under £107m, while total spending was £114.8m.