We invested in our brand, grew our Precious Metal and Commemorative Coin businesses, and attracted new customers. When coronavirus hit, it meant we were already well-placed to mitigate the impact on cash use.

This commitment to reinvention has transformed the business and safeguarded our future, and I’m delighted to announce that in 2021–22 we delivered The Royal Mint’s largest profit since becoming a limited company in 2009.

During the financial year, we reported an operating profit of £17.9 million, up from £12.7 million in 2020–21. This transformation is a credit to the Executive Board who made bold decisions, the support of shareholder HM Treasury and The Royal Mint’s employees – who embraced change and consistently delivered results.

The biggest success story of the transformation is our Precious Metals division. During the three-year reinvention strategy, it saw contribution to operating profit grow from £3.7 million in 2018–19 to £20.3 million in 2021–22.

Whilst it is undeniable that market conditions have favored gold and silver investment over recent years, our growth has outperformed many of our competitors and helped to fundamentally change the appeal and perception of The Royal Mint’s brand.

Innovative products such as Little Treasures and DigiGold, making it easy and accessible for customers to invest in precious metals online, have attracted thousands of new customers to The Royal Mint. In the wholesale market, our gold-backed exchange-traded commodity (ETC) and Gold for Pensions products are raising our status amongst institutional investors.

The enduring appeal of precious metals also helped us identify new opportunities and focus on what is at the core of our brand. Over 1,100 years ago, The Royal Mint began making coins in gold and silver, and we’ve honed our expertise in design and craftsmanship ever since.

In 2021–22, we announced that we had partnered with Canadian tech firm Excir to bring pioneering new technology to the UK capable of recovering precious metals from electronic waste. We are now building a full-scale plant to develop this technology and provide a sustainable source of precious metals directly into the business. The first of this sustainably sourced gold will be used in a new luxury jewelry collection called ‘886 by The Royal Mint’ in celebration of our symbolic founding date.

Coins remain central to our strategy and during the Platinum Jubilee year, historic and collectible coins contributed over half of the Group’s total profit. Royal-themed coin collections, larger coins, and historic coin auctions helped to increase the Consumer division’s contribution to operating profit to £26.9 million (£21.3 million in 2020–21). Our Commemorative Coin and Collector Services businesses continued to see overseas growth, particularly in the US and Asia. Across the business, international revenue increased to £939.8 million (£615.7 million in 2020–21), as we strategically grew into markets outside the UK.

This record performance was set against the continued disruption of the coronavirus pandemic. Our procurement team has been instrumental in mitigating the operational impact of this, working with nearly 1,000 suppliers globally. This means we maintained the supply of gold and silver throughout the year despite challenging circumstances, and this is a credit to the collaborative approach of our teams and partners.

As we look ahead, we are building from a stronger financial base than ever – with a portfolio of established businesses alongside promising new ventures. This year, we unveiled our new five-year plan, focused on sustainable growth – both financially and environmentally. It will see us pioneer new ways to provide sustainable precious metals, champion British craftsmanship, and grow the appeal and value of The Royal Mint for the future.

Graham Love
CHAIRMAN

NB: Please note that The Royal Mint’s Annual Report 2021–22 was produced before the passing of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. As a result, it does not reference the sad event or any changes to the Royal Family.

This record performance was driven entirely by our customer-facing Consumer and Precious Metals businesses and is testimony to the success of the strategy we put in place.

Our Precious Metals division now accounts for almost half of our total profit. Our highly successful Commemorative Coin and Collector Services divisions delivered a contribution to operating profit of £26.9 million (£21.3 million in 2020–21), demonstrating the continued strong demand for coins as collectible and investment pieces – particularly during the historic Platinum Jubilee year.

Our outstanding performance allows us the opportunity to continue to transform the business from a secure financial base – and importantly remain one of the largest employers in Wales whilst we continue to grow our global appeal as a premium British brand and contribute to communities across the UK.

Our Currency division has been adjusted to mirror the decline in cash, and this has enabled The Royal Mint to safeguard long-term employment and reinvest in our future.

The trust placed in The Royal Mint over the centuries and our expertise in coin making and design provides the platform for us to expand our role in leading the way in precious metals and craftsmanship and enter new categories.

We have only achieved this through the dedication shown and the contribution of our fantastic employees and suppliers. I have been so impressed with how they have grabbed the opportunity to do their part in creating The Royal Mint’s future. It is such a privilege to lead such a great team.

As we enter the next phase of our vision, we are committed to becoming famous and trusted, as The Original Maker, making metals precious to our customers, and championing British craftsmanship.

THE NEXT STAGE OF OUR TRANSFORMATION

Building on our success to date, we have launched a new ambitious, but achievable, five-year plan to ensure we maintain our trajectory. We have aligned our portfolio of businesses across eight strategic areas to ensure they are aligned to the vision of The Royal Mint Group whilst making the right choices for all of our customers and markets.

The next five years will focus on what makes The Royal Mint unique – our expertise in precious metals, the caliber of British craftsmanship, and our commitment to a sustainable and inclusive future.

SETTING THE STANDARDS FOR SUSTAINABILITY

As we continue to grow, we are determined to be financially and environmentally sustainable. Climate change is the biggest challenge facing the world, and I firmly believe that businesses that fail to take action now will struggle to retain customers and employees in the future.

We have already made significant strides in our environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitment. We are finalizing our net zero commitment and the path to reach it whilst also taking a lead on sustainably sourced and recycled precious metals. A full summary of our ESG update and commitments is available to read within the Sustainability Report.

During the financial year, we announced a partnership with Canadian clean technology start-up Excir. Together we are introducing pioneering new chemistry to the UK. The chemistry can recover precious metals from electronic waste in minutes at an ambient temperature – reducing the need to ship waste overseas and smelt at high temperatures.

To safeguard jobs and make the UK a leader in the circular economy of electronic goods and precious metals, we are now developing a multimillion-pound plant to process thousands of tonnes of electronic waste per week, and this is set to begin operating in 2023.

The first division to make use of the gold recovered from electronic waste is our recently announced ‘886 byThe Royal Mint’. I’m delighted that is the first luxury jewelry brand in the world to use gold recovered from electronic waste and uses our ability to craft precious metals combined with classic and enduring designs to attract new customers to The Royal Mint.

‘886 by The Royal Mint’ is the first consumer business to launch within our five-year strategy and offers customers the opportunity to own precious metals lifestyle products and jewelry produced in Llantrisant with specially selected partners.

CHAMPIONING BRI T ISH CRAFTSMANSHIP

The Royal Mint is Britain’s oldest business and the original maker of coins and precious metals. Our five-year plan is committed to continuing to champion British craftsmanship. Through the continued expansion of our business, we will retain the unique skills we have whilst becoming a center of excellence for wider British craftsmanship.

The Royal Mint is one of the largest employers in South Wales and retaining employment is crucial to our decision-making. As our Currency division declines over the long term, we are working hard to reskill and transfer employees into our other businesses. We have already seen a number of employees transfer into commemorative coin and precious metal production roles, and the introduction of an e-waste plant in 2023 will create more opportunities.

Our long-term aim is for The Royal Mint to spearhead the resurgence of jewelry manufacture in the UK, providing a viable manufacturing alternative to international suppliers. Our new luxury jewelry division – 886 by The Royal Mint – currently employs 14 people, spanning metal fabricators, marketing, and product design. A targeted recruitment and reskilling drive will ensure that by 2023, 75% of our jewelry production occurs in-house, helping to forge new careers and skills in South Wales.

A Great Place to Work

The Royal Mint has undergone a seismic change over the last three years and ensuring we support our employees and foster a great place to work is integral to our success.

I was delighted when The Royal Mint made the Best Companies ‘One to Watch’ index this year in recognition of our employee engagement and proposition. We strive for an inclusive workplace and the appointment of Caroline Webb as our Chief Marketing Officer means that our Executive team has achieved 50/50 representation.

As our employees return to the office we have focused on peer-to-peer support, and encouraged our people to form groups and organizations where they can share experiences and knowledge in a safe space. This has included The Royal Mint’s first-ever LGBTQ+ group Enfys (rainbow in Welsh), an Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion champions group, menopause seminars, and a gardening club, which created a recreational space for employees on-site – as well as providing fresh fruit and vegetables. Our non-executive directors also continued to hold communication forums with the workforce to enhance and encourage two-way communication.

We continued to play an active role in our community and to mark Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee we joined in the national tree-planting program. During the year, we made 1,000 trees available to employees and donated 7,000 Platinum Jubilee coins to schoolchildren participating in the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative.

THE YEAR AHEAD

As we enter the first year of a new five-year plan we are excited to introduce two new businesses, continue to embed our ESG strategy across the Group, and review our employee value proposition to retain and attract leading talent.

We will continue to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and are proud to have made the largest coin in our history as part of the collection. The 15kg Masterwork was crafted from fine gold as a private commission and signals the direction our brand is moving towards. Our larger and historic coins bridge the gap between collector items and investors – standing as unique works of art, which epitomize British craftsmanship.

In early 2023, we will open our sustainable precious metals factory, providing a fresh source of precious metals for our business and helping to make the UK a leader in the circular economy of electronic waste. This is the first step in a commitment to being a leader in sustainable and recycled precious metals, and a key strand in our ESG commitments.

Anne Jessop
CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Precious Metals

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR

• Modernisation of production, effective pandemic resourcing, and working closely with suppliers helped to secure significant increases in capacity.
• Increased marketing activity is helping to attract new customers, with the volume of female investors increasing from 10% in 2019–20 to 22% in 2021–22.
• RMAU, The Royal Mint’s exchange-traded commodity (ETC) operated by HANetf, reached $600 million assets under management, becoming one of the fastest growing gold-backed ETCs in Europe.
• All of the physical gold bars backing DigiGold and RMAU now meet the LBMA’s 2019 good delivery standard – offering investors the highest ESG standard available.
• A dedicated Diwali range was developed in partnership with the South Wales Hindu Community, featuring the goddess Lakshmi on a range of gold bars.
• The Royal Mint collaborated with US-based New Direction Trust Company, allowing self-directed investors to use their tax-advantaged saving accounts (e.g. IRAs, Solo 401(k)s, HSAs) to invest in precious metals directly from The Royal Mint.

Commemorative Coin

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR

• Strong demand for Platinum Jubilee coin collection – attracting thousands of new customers in the UK and overseas and generating worldwide media attention.
• A new ten-coin series celebrating the Tudor Beasts was launched at a live event in Hampton Court Palace, attracting over 4,000 streams online.
• The Music Legends series continued, with The Who frontman Roger Daltry visiting The Royal Mint to strike his own coin.
• 7,000 Platinum Jubilee coins gifted to Young Foresters participating in the Queen’s Green Canopy Award.
• Over a third (37%) of the Commemorative Coin division’s revenue was driven by international sales during the year.

Collector Services

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR

• The implementation of an auction program, offering rare and historic numismatic works of art, with significant plans to grow over the coming years.
• Collect Week, The Royal Mint’s annual celebration of collectors and collectibles, reached a record audience of 20,000 visitors every day.
• The first ‘Trial pieces auction’ saw a total hammer price in excess of £370,000, with an extremely rare Kew Gardens Trial piece selling at £26,000.

Collect Week, The Royal Mint’s annual celebration of collectors and collectibles, reached a record audience of 20,000 visitors every day.

Currency

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR

• Investment in a new £8.4 million brass plating line, which will deliver operational and environmental benefits including recovery of raw material at source using evaporation and reduced water consumption.
• A special 50p design commemorating Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee was produced, with 1.3 million entering circulation via Post Offices.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2021 /22:

• Made Best Companies ‘One to Watch’ list.
• Disability Confident Committed and formally partnered with Inclusive Employers.
• 50% of our Executive Team are female.
• Various staff engagement and support activities, including mental health first aiders, EDI Champion group, Gardening Club, and ‘Beat the Blues’ Walking Challenge.
• Coinciding with International Women’s Day, launched a new Britannia collectible coin depicting three female figures in one design. Also celebrated our notable female figures, including Rosalind Franklin and Mary Anning.
• Launched the Lakshmi Bar – the first UK bullion bar range to celebrate Diwali – the festival of lights (see case study).

CASE STUDY: LAKSHMI GOLD BAR –
CELEBRATING DIWALI

As part of its ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion, The Royal Mint launched the first UK bullion bar range to celebrate Diwali – the festival of lights.

The ‘Lakshmi’ bar – a 20-gram gold bar with the Goddess of Wealth engraved intricately into the precious metal – was designed by Royal Mint designer Emma Noble, through close collaboration with the Shree Swaminarayan Temple in Cardiff to ensure accuracy and cultural authenticity in design.

The Lakshmi Bar sees The Royal Mint’s expansion of diverse cultural celebrations, following the success of the 1g and 5g gold bars in henna-inspired packaging that launched last year and proved incredibly popular with customers celebrating Diwali.

Within our sustainability ambitions to be a Great Place to Work we aim to address and positively impact the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:

WHAT’S NEXT FOR 2022/23?

• As we celebrate differences for an inclusive future we will continue to develop and deploy our internal Diversity & Inclusion program with a focus on process (e.g. measuring, benchmarking, and target setting) and specific topics (e.g. neurodiversity, ethnicity, gender, and disability).
• Further celebrating diversity and inclusion through our products and services, including the 50th anniversary of Pride UK where we will issue a 50p coin, marking the first time Britain’s LGBTQ+ community has been celebrated on a UK coin.
• Supporting the health and wellbeing of our staff, including the continuation of our Employee Assistance Portal, the training of additional mental health first aiders, and promoting volunteering opportunities.

It is a privilege to join The Royal Mint as it forges an exciting new future for Britain’s oldest company. Today’s employees and consumers demand trust, authenticity and ethics, and The Royal Mint is ideally placed to deliver this as a premium British brand. I have been impressed by the diversity already present on The Royal Mint’s board and will build on that to help them meet the needs of more diverse customer and employee groups.

SHIMI SHAH, NON - EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

As we transform for the future, a focus on sustainability sits at the heart of our business. As we strive to become leaders in sustainable precious metals, we are investing in our operations, our people, supply chains, and communities, and always with our customers in mind.

ANNE JESSOPP, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

THE IMPORTANCE OF ACTION

Sustainability is a journey and, now more than ever, there is an urgency for organizations to respond in an agile, collaborative way.

The Royal Mint has a 1,100-year history and being sustainable is integral to our operations. Directly aligned with our overall vision for the organization is our sustainability vision, which involves ‘investing in a sustainable future for all our stakeholders – customers, the precious metals industry, employees, communities, and the environment’.

From climate change, resource scarcity, and supply chain volatility to employee retention, public perception, and corporate governance, organizations in the United Kingdom and across the world are facing a number of environment, social and governance (ESG) risks, and related business challenges. If managed appropriately, some of these risks can also present opportunities – for the organization and its stakeholders. Here at The Royal Mint we are actively working to understand and manage our ESG risks and opportunities so we can provide authentic, premium products and services in the most sustainable way possible

TAKING INSPIRATION FROM OUR ORIGINS IN PRECIOUS METALS TO DELIVER SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS PRACTICES

This year, our sustainability reporting reflects a broader range of key ESG topics, enabling us to celebrate our successes while continuing to look ahead. We made significant strides on our ESG commitments over the last financial year and have also introduced a new five-year plan in which sustainability sits at the heart.

As we strive to become leaders in the production of sustainable precious metals we have developed a formal sustainability framework to guide the decisions we make and the way we operate. Built around key ESG considerations, we have identified four pillars and related strategic drivers that are critical to helping us achieve our overall business and sustainability ambitions. Below we provide a summary within each of these four pillars of some of our key achievements and selected case studies for FY21/22, as well as an insight into what’s next in FY22/23. We also highlight which of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals our activities aim to address and positively impact.

A Sustainable Future

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2021 /22:

• Almost 3% of our energy is supplied by on-site renewables and 100% of our grid electricity is from certified renewable sources.
• Installation of additional electric vehicle charging points in The Royal Mint Experience visitor car park.
• Recycling of gold coins into new bars, achieving a world first within our investment services.
• Only working with refiners on the LBMA’s ‘Good Delivery List’ or that are full LBMA members. All physical gold backing our digital investment products met LBMA’s latest (2019) Good Delivery Criteria.
• Understanding our organizational greenhouse gas footprint as a key step in our journey to net zero.
• We continue to monitor our performance related to the management of resources on-site, including energy consumption, water use, and waste generation. More details are provided at the end of the report, including information required to comply with the Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) regulations.
• Investing in the development of our new sustainable precious metals business (see case study).

CASE STUDY: E-WASTE INITIATIVE

As part of The Royal Mint’s ambition of becoming a leader in sustainably sourced precious metals and the circular economy, we have partnered with Excir to recover precious metals from e-waste.

This pioneering new technology will enable The Royal Mint to recover precious metals from discarded electronic devices such as mobile phones and laptops. It will also provide a source of high-quality precious metals while offering a solution to significant and growing environmental challenges. This initiative forms part of The Royal Mint’s reinvention strategy, and is an important step in our ambitions to increase the use of recycled metals, and decrease our reliance on mined metals.

99%

Amount of gold recovered from e-waste, using patented new chemistry developed by Canadian firm Excir in partnership with The Royal Mint

Within our ambitions for A Sustainable Future we aim to address and positively impact the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:

WHAT’S NEXT FOR 2022/23?

• Deep dive into our Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as part of our decarbonization ambitions.
• Starting construction of a Local Energy Centre (LEC), which when operational will significantly increase our production of renewable electricity.
• Commissioning a new brass-plating line, delivering energy savings, integrated wastewater treatment and better operational efficiencies.
• Expanding our capabilities to recover gold from e-waste, scaling up to an industrial level and being fully operational during 2023.
• Developing an enhanced responsible sourcing strategy that addresses a range of ESG topics, including decarbonization, British sourcing and precious metals recycling.
• Reviewing of transit and product packaging solutions across the business, with a focus on sustainable materials and circular business models.

The Royal Mint has thrived for over 1,100 years thanks to our entrepreneurial spirit, and the Excir technology complements our ambition to be a leader in sustainable precious metals. The chemistry is revolutionary and capable of recovering precious metals from electronic devices in seconds. It offers huge potential for The Royal Mint and the circular economy – helping to reuse our planet’s precious resources and creating new skills in the UK.

SEAN MILLARD, CHIEF GROWTH OFFICER

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2021 /22:

• Committed to remaining a major employer in South Wales – reskilling and transferring roles as our business evolves with a number of employees already benefiting from inter-departmental transfers.
• Continued fundraising and volunteering activities performed by our teams for our official charity partner, Cerebral Palsy Cymru, raising almost £15,000.
• The Royal Mint Museum continued to deploy and further enhance the Museum in a Box initiative, reaching almost 580 care homes since its launch.
• Ongoing partnership with the Welsh-based National Cyber Security Academy – recruited three graduates and supervised cyber-related dissertations of seven students from the University of South Wales.
• Supported learning and development within our local communities – from face-to-face and online engagement with schoolchildren to our continued participation in the Kickstart program (see case study).

£14,767

Total amount our team raised and donated to our official charity partner, Cerebral Palsy Cymru.

Within our ambitions for Enhancing our Community we aim to address and positively impact the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

WHAT’S NEXT FOR 2022/23?

• Launch of an exciting new jewelry and homewares range, created using traditional craftsmanship and cutting-edge sustainability.
• Promoting and showcasing British craftsmanship with a focus on skills, jobs, products, and events.
• Various community engagement activities, including those related to The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
• Forming a two-year partnership with our new formal charity partner, Mind Cymru.
• Enhanced entry-level talent program including work placements, apprenticeships, and graduate opportunities.

With no office experience in marketing I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I’m thoroughly enjoying and I’ve learned so much about the business and the different aspects of marketing in the time I’ve been here. I wasn’t expecting to be so involved with the team from the offset, but I’ve been lucky enough to work on some exciting projects and everyone is so keen to help and support me.”

EVE LEWIS , MARKETING ASSISTANT AND A ROYAL MINT KICKSTARTER