Twentieth Century Society

What Twentieth Century Society does

The Twentieth Century Society (C20 Society), founded in 1979 originally as the Thirties Society and rebranded as its scope expanded to all twentieth and twenty-first century architecture from 1914 onwards, is a UK-registered charity (no. 1110244) headquartered at 70 Cowcross Street, London. It is the only organisation in the UK with a statutory role in the planning process for twentieth century buildings, being formally consulted on every application for listed building consent involving demolition in England and on church faculty applications in England and Wales. The Society operates a specialist casework team backed by an expert Casework Committee that has handled more than 600 cases in a single year and has a forty-year track record of successful campaigns, including the listing of more than 3,000 telephone boxes and the saving of buildings such as Battersea Power Station, Preston Bus Station, and the Plymouth Western Morning News headquarters.

Its core 'product' portfolio centres on editorial and research assets rather than technology products: the award-winning bimonthly C20 Magazine, the annual Risk List, the long-running Building of the Month feature (250+ entries across 30+ countries since 2001), the Coming of Age initiative, and a growing suite of online databases covering post-war murals, pithead bath buildings, twentieth-century churches, and war memorials. The Pithead Baths database is part of a formal academic research partnership with Queen's University Belfast, the Paul Mellon Centre, and UKRI/AHRC. The Society is led by Director Catherine Croft and Chairman Hugh Pearman.

The business model is a multi-stream charity revenue structure. Income is generated through individual memberships (price undisclosed), Affiliate memberships at £10/year for universities, libraries, museums, and community groups, Professional Patron subscriptions starting at £3,000/year and Premium Patron subscriptions starting at £6,000/year for architectural practices, donations (including SMS giving, payroll giving, and a free will-writing service to encourage legacies), small annual grants from Historic England and Cadw (the Welsh historic environment service), and revenue from publications and ticketed events (lectures, walking tours, workshops, and patron-exclusive building visits). Distribution is primarily direct via the Society's own secure portal and C20 Shop, with C20 Magazine also stocked through retailer Antenne Books. The Society operates a regional entity, C20 Cymru, and maintains seven active local groups across Britain.

Name

Twentieth Century Society

Legal name

The Twentieth Century Society

Website

https://c20society.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1979

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Twentieth Century Society is a UK-registered charity founded in 1979 that campaigns to protect twentieth and twenty-first century architecture through casework, listings advocacy, publications, and a statutory consultation role on demolition of listed buildings in England.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Heritage Preservation Services

NAICS

Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Museums (71211), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Cultural Heritage Institutions (Archives, Historic Houses, Monuments Foundations) (THAJADAI)

Keywords

• Heritage preservation charity
• Modern architectural advocacy
• Listed building casework
• Building conservation campaigns
• Cultural heritage membership

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership subscriptions: Revenue from individual members, professional patrons (architects, developers, practices), and premium patrons (larger practices). Individual membership provides benefits such as advance event booking, member discounts, and a free copy of the C20 Magazine. Patron levels start at £3,000 annually for patrons and £6,000 for premium patrons.
2. Donations and legacies: One-off and recurring donations from members and supporters, including text-to-donate SMS giving, payroll giving, and bequests in wills. Legacies are a highlighted income stream, with the society offering free will-writing services and inheritance tax advantages for legacy donors.
3. Grants from Historic England: C20 Society receives a small annual grant from Historic England, a UK government body. This constitutes a minority of total funding.
4. Publications and events: Revenue from the C20 Magazine (sold via Antenne Books to retailers and directly via the C20 Shop), books, and event tickets. Events include lectures, walking tours, and workshops, some offered free to members and at discounted rates for patrons.
5. Patron programme benefits: Patrons receive CPD lectures, acknowledgment, season tickets, event invitations, books, and magazine copies in return for their support — a quasi-commercial revenue stream tied to membership tier.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

The Twentieth Century Society is a UK registered charity that campaigns for and researches the protection of 20th and 21st century architecture, design, and built heritage. Its core offerings include statutory planning casework (it must be consulted on listed building consent for demolition in England), public-facing advocacy campaigns such as the annual Risk List and Coming of Age, the award-winning C20 Magazine, specialist online databases (murals, pithead baths, churches, war memorials), and a year-round programme of lectures, walking tours, and building visits for its members and the wider public.

Product overview

The Twentieth Century Society (C20) operates as a membership-based charitable organization focused on protecting 20th and 21st century architectural heritage. Its core offering comprises advocacy campaigns, casework services, and educational publications. The product portfolio centers on C20 Magazine (a twice-yearly award-winning publication), the annual Risk List publication highlighting threatened buildings, the Building of the Month editorial feature, and several specialized databases documenting murals, pithead baths, and churches. The Society also runs the Coming of Age initiative for buildings turning 30 years old, organizes regular events and lectures, and maintains an active website providing news, campaign information, and membership services. These offerings are interconnected through the Society's mission to identify, document, and campaign for the protection of outstanding modern architecture and design.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Individual and Affiliate Membership
• Professional Patron Membership
• C20 Magazine
• Risk List
• Murals Database
• Pithead Baths Database
• C20 Churches Database
• War Memorials Database
• Events and Lectures Programme
• Cooling Towers Book

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 600 cases handled in a single year; thousands of cases over decades
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and flagship.

• Historic EnglandcoreOthersHistoric England is the UK government body responsible for the historic environment. It provides C20 Society with an annual grant and is the primary authority on listed building designations. C20 Society must be consulted on all listed building consent applications involving demolition in England. The two organisations work closely on listing applications and heritage protection.
• CadwminorOthersCadw is the Welsh historic environment service and a grant funder of C20 Society. It operates independently from Historic England for Welsh heritage decisions.
• Queen's University BelfastflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerC20 Society is collaborating with Queen's University Belfast on the research project 'Miners' Modernism: Pithead Baths – Past, Present and Future', funded by the Paul Mellon Centre and UKRI/AHRC, and supported by national mining museums of England, Scotland, and Wales. This is the society's most significant formal research partnership, combining academic research with heritage advocacy.
• BDPminorGTM or Marketing PartnerArchitectural practice listed as a Professional Patron of C20 Society. Provides financial support and CPD hosting opportunity.
• Foster + PartnersminorGTM or Marketing PartnerInternationally renowned architectural practice listed as a Professional Patron of C20 Society. Provides financial support and alignment with heritage stewardship values.
• GrimshawminorGTM or Marketing PartnerArchitectural practice listed as a Professional Patron of C20 Society. Provides financial support and may host CPD lectures.
• Hopkins ArchitectsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerArchitectural practice listed as a Professional Patron of C20 Society. Provides financial support.
• Eric Parry ArchitectsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerArchitectural practice listed as a Professional Patron of C20 Society. Provides financial support.
• WilkinsonEyreminorGTM or Marketing PartnerArchitectural practice listed as a Professional Patron of C20 Society. Provides financial support.
• Mica ArchitectsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerArchitectural practice listed as a Professional Patron of C20 Society. Provides financial support.
• ManserminorGTM or Marketing PartnerArchitectural practice listed as a Professional Patron of C20 Society. Provides financial support.
• MCR HotelsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerHospitality company listed as a Professional Patron of C20 Society. Provides financial support.
• WJEminorGTM or Marketing PartnerEngineering firm listed as a Professional Patron of C20 Society. Provides financial support.
• Studio PartingtonminorGTM or Marketing PartnerArchitectural practice listed as a Professional Patron of C20 Society. Provides financial support.
• Architectural AssociationminorOthersListed as an affiliate of C20 Society. Architectural school offering discounted events access to C20 members and collaborating on built heritage education.
• Victoria & Albert MuseumminorOthersListed as an affiliate of C20 Society. Major museum with overlapping interests in design and architectural heritage.
• Cardiff UniversityminorOthersListed as an affiliate of C20 Society. Academic institution with related research interests in architecture and heritage.
• National Mining Museum (England)minorOthersOne of three national mining museums (England, Scotland, Wales) supporting the Pithead Baths research project alongside C20 Society, Queen's University Belfast, and the Paul Mellon Centre.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Ancient Monuments Society: The Ancient Monuments Society campaigns for the protection of historic churches, ruins and monuments through casework and planning-consultation responses. Operating model, advocacy focus and reliance on architectural expertise closely mirror C20 Society's approach for a different asset class.
• The Victorian Society: The Victorian Society is a UK heritage charity that campaigns for the appreciation and protection of Victorian and Edwardian architecture — the closest structural parallel to C20 Society, just focused on an earlier period. Both operate statutory-consultation casework, run lecture programmes, sell publications and depend on member subscriptions and architectural patrons.
• Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB): SPAB is the UK's oldest building-preservation charity, founded by William Morris. It runs a parallel membership, lecture and casework model focused on traditional buildings, making it a strong functional and operational peer to C20 Society despite focusing on older fabric.
• SAVE Britain's Heritage: SAVE is an independent UK architectural preservation trust that campaigns against demolition of historic buildings and is consulted on listed-building consent cases. Directly comparable in advocacy model, planning-process influence and reliance on architect/donor patronage.
• The Georgian Group: The Georgian Group is the UK statutory consultee for Georgian listed-building demolitions — the structural twin of C20's post-1914 consultation role. Both are period-defined, casework-driven heritage charities with architects and members as their core supporters.

Others

• Council for British Archaeology: The Council for British Archaeology is a UK-wide heritage research and advocacy charity with a comparable membership, publication and grant-funded research footprint to C20, focused on archaeological rather than modern architectural heritage.
• National Lottery Heritage Fund: The National Lottery Heritage Fund is the largest dedicated heritage grant-maker in the UK. It is a primary funding ecosystem for many of the same heritage-charity activities C20 Society supports, and is comparable as a peer in scale and mission, though not a direct campaigner.
• The Heritage Alliance: The Heritage Alliance is the umbrella body for UK heritage organisations and C20 Society is a member. It does not directly campaign on building cases but coordinates sector-wide policy, lobbying and advocacy on funding, planning and heritage legislation.

Emerging players

• Civic Voice: Civic Voice is the UK charity for civic societies, working to influence local planning, conservation areas and design quality. It is smaller and earlier-stage in scope but overlaps with C20 on community-driven planning advocacy and member-led campaigns around significant buildings.

Broad incumbents

• Historic England: Historic England is the UK government's principal historic-environment body and C20 Society's primary grant funder and statutory partner. It is the broader, publicly-funded incumbent in the same space, with statutory listing powers that C20 influences through consultation responses.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/C20Society
• Facebookfacebook.com/C20Society
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/thetwentiethcenturysociety
• Instagraminstagram.com/c20society

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Twentieth Century Society