The Fair Tax Foundation’s 2025 Annual General Meeting marked the beginning of a new era. Our community share offer in 2024 exceeded its target, raising £493k investment and bringing in 96 new shareholder members. We anticipated an increase in member engagement as a result, and we were pleased to have a record number of members participate in the AGM, making thoughtful inquiries and contributions about the Foundation’s performance, goals, and social impact.

The members received our 2024 annual report and accounts and discussed our business review for the year. Highlights included:

• An eleventh year of steady income growth, the first time revenue exceeded half a million pounds, and an eighth successive year of surplus.
• Continued growth of the Fair Tax Mark (FTM), with new FTM certified businesses including our first in Spain, Iberdrola and Repsol, which were also the largest FTM certified companies to date on a number of metrics.
• The launch of a new product, the Tax Responsibility & Transparency Index, which we co-produced with CSR Europe, at the European Parliament in April 2024. The Index enables businesses to benchmark themselves against civil society frameworks, legislation and pioneering companies, and offers an excellent entry point for businesses who wish to progress their tax responsibility programmes.
• Engagement with several institutional investors, asset managers and ratings agencies following the publication of our white paper, “Key performance indicators of responsible corporate tax conduct – and their green and red flags”.
• Public policy advocacy including support for public Country-by-Country Reporting, which was introduced in the EU and Australia in 2024, and for public procurement reform to make responsible tax conduct an allowable factor.
• The success of the share offer, which has us looking forward to the next stage of the Fair Tax Foundation’s growth with excitement.

Our share offer success has set the stage for the next phase of growth, and discussions at the AGM centred around the ambitious goal of leveraging the new investment to level up the Fair Tax Foundation and its impact.

The AGM also introduced three new board members: Rebecca Hurford, Head of Tax at Watches of Switzerland; Penny Hogan, Chief Financial Officer at Unity Trust Bank plc; and Hannah Wickes, marketing advisor and former Chief Marketing Officer at Ecosia. Their appointments align closely with the Foundation’s mission to establish the FTM as a globally recognised standard for responsible tax conduct. Rebecca, Penny and Hannah were warmly received and unanimously approved by the members as non-executive directors.

“It’s always a good sign when the AGM is one of the highlights of the year. This year’s AGM was held during Fair Tax Week, and reflected the week’s positive and constructive spirit. Having such an engaged membership sharing our ambitions stands us in good stead to put our growth plans into practice and amplify our impact fivefold.” Tom Skinner, Chief Operating Officer 

As we move forward, the Fair Tax Foundation remains committed to recognising and celebrating the businesses demonstrating responsible tax practices, and to making the case for fair tax contributions to be made by business around the world. We look forward to continuing our work with our certified businesses and our dedicated members to drive positive change and uphold the highest standards of tax responsibility.