(The Times) - The owner of Glastonbury festival has transferred most of his financial interest in the event to his daughter and a family trust, potentially avoiding a huge inheritance tax bill.
Sir Michael Eavis, 89, gave his entire shareholding in Glastonbury Festival Events Ltd, the operational company responsible for running the festival and selling tickets, to his daughter Emily, 45, in October.
Last year the company sold 145,000 tickets to the event at about £300 each. Pre-tax profits doubled to nearly £6 million after revenues jumped 20 per cent to £68 million.
At the same time, Eavis, who has long supported the Labour Party and in 2017 endorsed Jeremy Corbyn, describing him as “the hero of the hour”, also transferred three quarters of the shares he owns in the separate holding company, Glastonbury Festivals Limited, to a trust.
This company, which was set up in 1992, owns the rights to the festival and all trademarks, and distributes most of the profits generated by the operating company to charities, such as Oxfam, Greenpeace, and WaterAid.
Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, announced in the budget that from April next year, family businesses would be subject to an effective inheritance tax rate of 20 per cent on their value above £1 million.
The value of Glastonbury, which starts on Wednesday, is hard to assess given its unique status and charitable ethos. But experts believe it could be worth anything from £150 to £400 million.
By transferring the company that runs the festival to his daughter, and by transferring most of the shares in the holding company to a family trust, Eavis could therefore potentially save nearly £80 million in inheritance tax (IHT).
Glastonbury Festival described such a valuation as “wildly speculative”, adding that it and Michael Eavis “have always been, and will always be, happy to pay their due tax”.
Shares in a company given as a gift to a family member are not subject to IHT provided that the person making the gift survives for seven years, under a rule known as potentially exempt transfers. If the person making the gift survives three years, the level of IHT begins to fall.
Placing shares in a trust can also remove them from the valuation of an estate at death, potentially reducing IHT liability, although there may be tax charges due at the point the assets are transferred and every decade thereafter, depending on what reliefs may apply.
Moving shares into a trust also enables a gradual transition of control while maintaining structured governance and avoiding large estate transfers.
During his time as Labour leader, Corbyn supported increases in IHT as part of a broader agenda to redistribute wealth and reduce inequality. He also spoke out against trusts, emphasising the need for greater transparency and increased regulation.
In 2017 Eavis invited Corbyn to Glastonbury, allowing him to speak to tens of thousands of festivalgoers at the main Pyramid stage on the Saturday afternoon.
Financial experts suggested that Eavis may have decided to transfer the assets after tax advisers told him that HM Revenue & Customs would not accept a valuation of his companies for IHT purposes based upon the festival having some “quasi-charitable position”. While Glastonbury operates with a strong charitable ethos — last year it gave more than £5.9 million to good causes — it remains a private company and is not a charity, so HMRC is likely to value it as such when considering an IHT bill.
One source familiar with the situation, said: “The valuation question is an interesting one. Glastonbury is a global brand. The potential to commercialise is huge through international franchising, etc. It is exactly the sort of company that a Sony or Universal Music would buy. It may be that a £400 million valuation is possibly on the low side.”
There is no suggestion that the Eavis family had advance knowledge of the chancellor’s decision to impose death duties on family-owned businesses but there was intense speculation that Reeves would make such a move before it was announced.
The Eavis family is also facing a large IHT bill on Worthy Farm, the land on which the festival is held each year. The land is owned through a third company but the family will become liable for an effective 20 per cent IHT rate on its value above £1 million when Eavis dies because of the Reeves’ decision to bring farms into the scope of the tax in the autumn budget.
Given present market valuations and the size of Worthy Farm, which is approximately 1,500 acres (607 hectares), the land could be worth about £13.5 million, meaning a bill of about £2.5 million.
However, Eavis has made no efforts to mitigate against this tax bill. The farm is still majority owned by him with about a fifth split among his children.
Glastonbury said: “With his 90th birthday approaching, Michael Eavis has proceeded with his long-held plan to pass control of the festival over to his daughter, Emily. The past few years have already seen Emily take over the day-to-day organisation of the event, and this latest change was simply another part of that process.”
It added that the festival will “never be sold”.
By Andrew Ellson - Consumer Affairs Correspondent
June 23 2025
