Former headteacher and DfE adviser Ruth Miskin sees her phonics company’s value climb to £19 million

Post-tax profits at Ruth Miskin Literacy, whose sole shareholder is Dame Ruth, have approached £10 million in the past four years. The company turns 20 years old on Sunday. It plans to invest in an expansion drive overseas, say the accounts.

England’s most well-known phonics company has built up nearly £19 million of assets for its single shareholder, the former headteacher Ruth Miskin, though it plans to pump almost two thirds of that into expanding overseas.

The latest accounts for Ruth Miskin Literacy Ltd, which runs the phonics scheme and associated training Read Write Inc, show that it posted post-tax profits of £2.3 million in the year to March 2025. This took the amount of cash it holds to £15.3 million, with overall assets taking its “shareholders’ funds” to £18.9 million.

This is an increase on the £16.6m shareholder fund figure for 2023-24. Staggeringly, perhaps, the company has posted post-tax profits of £9.9 million  in total over the past four years.