Registered number:
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
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EC ENGLISH LONDON LIMITED
COMPANY INFORMATION
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EC ENGLISH LONDON LIMITED
CONTENTS
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EC ENGLISH LONDON LIMITED
DIRECTORS' REPORT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
The directors present their report and the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2022.
The directors who served during the year were:
The directors are responsible for preparing the Directors' Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.
Company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the directors have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice), including Financial Reporting Standard 102 ‘The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland'. Under company law the directors must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Company and of the profit or loss of the Company for that period.
In preparing these financial statements, the directors are required to:
∙select suitable accounting policies for the Company's financial statements and then apply them consistently;
∙make judgments and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
∙prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Company will continue in business.
The directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the Company's transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Company and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
Under section 487(2) of the Companies Act 2006, Price Bailey LLP will be deemed to have been reappointed as auditors 28 days after these financial statements were sent to members or 28 days after the latest date prescribed for filing the accounts with the registrar, whichever is earlier.
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EC ENGLISH LONDON LIMITED
DIRECTORS' REPORT (CONTINUED)
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
In preparing this report, the directors have taken advantage of the small companies exemptions provided by section 415A of the Companies Act 2006.
This report was approved by the board on
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EC ENGLISH LONDON LIMITED
INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF EC ENGLISH LONDON LIMITED
We have audited the financial statements of EC English London Limited (the 'Company') for the year ended 31 December 2022, which comprise the Statement of Income and Retained Earnings, the Balance Sheet and the related notes, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 ‘The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditors' responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the Company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the United Kingdom, including the Financial Reporting Council's Ethical Standard and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
We draw attention to note 2.2 in the financial statements, which discusses the directors' assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on the Company's ability to continue as a going concern. The Company's projected financial results, cash flows and financial position, as well as the adequacy of funding, are dependent on the extent and timing of recovery from the adverse conditions currently being experienced. As stated in note 2.2, these events or conditions, along with the other matters as set forth in note 2.2, indicate that a material uncertainty exists that may cast significant doubt on the Company's ability to continue as a going concern. Our opinion is not modified in respect of this matter.
In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the directors' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.
Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the directors with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.
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EC ENGLISH LONDON LIMITED
INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF EC ENGLISH LONDON LIMITED (CONTINUED)
The other information comprises the information included in the Annual Report other than the financial statements and our Auditors' Report thereon. The directors are responsible for the other information contained within the Annual Report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.
We have nothing to report in this regard.
In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:
∙the information given in the Directors' Report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
∙the Directors' Report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the Company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Directors' Report.
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EC ENGLISH LONDON LIMITED
INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF EC ENGLISH LONDON LIMITED (CONTINUED)
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an Auditors' Report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:
We gained an understanding of the legal and regulatory framework applicable to the company and the industry in which it operates and considered the risk of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations. This included those regulations directly related to the financial statements, including financial reporting, tax legislation and distributable profits and industry regulations including GDPR, employment law and health and safety. We communicated the identified laws and regulations with the audit team and remained alert to any indications of non-compliance throughout the audit. We carried out specific procedures to address the risks identified. These included the following: - agreeing the financial statement disclosures to underlying supporting documentation to assess compliance with provisions of relevant laws and regulations described as having a direct effect on the financial statements; - enquiries of management including those responsible for key regulations; and - performing analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships that may indicate risks of material misstatement due to fraud. In addressing the risk of management override of controls, we carried out testing of journal entries and other adjustments for appropriateness, assessing whether the judgements made in making accounting estimates are indicative of a potential bias and evaluating the business rationale of significant transactions outside the normal course of business. Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.
A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council's website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our Auditors' Report.
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EC ENGLISH LONDON LIMITED
INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF EC ENGLISH LONDON LIMITED (CONTINUED)
This report is made solely to the Company's members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Company's members those matters we are required to state to them in an Auditors' Report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Company and the Company's members, as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
for and on behalf of
Chartered Accountants
Statutory Auditors
Tennyson House
Cambridge Business Park
CB4 0WZ
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EC ENGLISH LONDON LIMITED
STATEMENT OF INCOME AND RETAINED EARNINGS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
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EC ENGLISH LONDON LIMITED
REGISTERED NUMBER: 03482623
BALANCE SHEET
AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2022
The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the board and were signed on its behalf by:
The notes on pages 9 to 21 form part of these financial statements.
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EC ENGLISH LONDON LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
EC English London Limited is a private company limited by shares incorporated in England in the United Kingdom. The registered office is Tennyson House, Cambridge Business Park, Cambridge, CB4 0WZ.
The principal activity of the Company throughout the year continued to be that of the provision of English language courses and related travel services to foreign students.
2.Accounting policies
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention unless otherwise specified within these accounting policies and in accordance with Section 1A of Financial Reporting Standard 102, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and the Republic of Ireland and the Companies Act 2006.
The following principal accounting policies have been applied:
EC English London Limited forms part of the EC Group.
The Group saw continued recovery during 2022, following the significant impact in recent years of the Covid-19 pandemic, and expects to further recover in 2023 and beyond. However, in common with businesses operating in the same or similarly impacted sectors, all forecasts reached at this stage remain subject to a significant degree of underlying uncertainty in a period of considerable macroeconomic and geopolitical volatility. The global economy has also witnessed a substantial rise in inflation rates over the past year. This inflationary trend has been driven by several factors, including increased commodity prices, supply chain disruptions, and changes in government policies. As a multinational company with operations spanning across various regions, the Group has not been immune to these inflationary pressures. To mitigate the potential risks associated with global inflation, management has intensified the focus on operational efficiency and cost control measures. The group has also reviewed the pricing strategies and adjusted them accordingly while aiming to maintain competitive pricing. The Directors and senior management continue to closely monitor developments in all areas of the business and to react in an agile and decisive manner to ensure the Group’s continued viability and to manage the Group’s liquidity demands within its resources. It is the Directors’ intention that EC English London Limited will continue to receive support from the group as required. Based on the above, and while there remains a material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt upon the ability of the company to continue as a going concern, the directors consider that it continues to be appropriate to adopt the going concern basis of accounting and the financial statements do not include any adjustments should this basis not be appropriate.
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EC ENGLISH LONDON LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
2.Accounting policies (continued)
Accommodation revenue - Accommodation revenue is recognised as the accommodation service is provided. Other revenue - Other revenue is recognised when the amount can be reliably measured and it is probable that future economic benefits will flow to the entity. Grants of a revenue nature are recognised in the Statement of Income and Retained Earnings in the same period as the related expenditure.
Functional and presentation currency
Transactions and balances
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EC ENGLISH LONDON LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
2.Accounting policies (continued)
All intangible assets are considered to have a finite useful life. If a reliable estimate of the useful life cannot be made, the useful life shall not exceed ten years.
Computer Software - 5 years straight line
Depreciation is charged so as to allocate the cost of assets less their residual value over their estimated useful lives.
Depreciation is provided on the following basis:
The assets' residual values, useful lives and depreciation methods are reviewed, and adjusted prospectively if appropriate, or if there is an indication of a significant change since the last reporting date.
Gains and losses on disposals are determined by comparing the proceeds with the carrying amount and are recognised in profit or loss.
Short term debtors are measured at transaction price, less any impairment.
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EC ENGLISH LONDON LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
2.Accounting policies (continued)
The Company has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 “Basic Financial Instruments” of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.
The Company has elected to apply the recognition and measurement provisions of IFRS 9 Financial Instruments (as adopted by the UK Endorsement Board) with the disclosure requirements of Sections 11 and 12 and the other presentation requirements of FRS 102.
Financial instruments are recognised in the Company's Balance Sheet when the Company becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.
Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.
Basic financial assets
Basic financial assets, which include trade and other receivables, cash and bank balances, are initially measured at their transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at their amortised cost using the effective interest method, less any provision for impairment, unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest.
Discounting is omitted where the effect of discounting is immaterial. The Company's cash and cash equivalents, trade and most other receivables due with the operating cycle fall into this category of financial instruments.
Other financial assets
Other financial assets, which includes investments in equity instruments which are not classified as subsidiaries, associates or joint ventures, are initially measured at fair value, which is normally the recognised transaction price. Such assets are subsequently measured at fair value with the changes in fair value being recognised in the profit or loss. Where other financial assets are not publicly traded, hence their fair value cannot be measured reliably, they are measured at cost less impairment.
Impairment of financial assets
Financial assets are assessed for indicators of impairment at each reporting date.
Financial assets are impaired when events, subsequent to their initial recognition, indicate the estimated future cash flows derived from the financial asset(s) have been adversely impacted. The impairment loss will be the difference between the current carrying amount and the present value of the future cash flows at the asset(s) original effective interest rate.
If there is a favourable change in relation to the events surrounding the impairment loss then the impairment can be reviewed for possible reversal. The reversal will not cause the current carrying amount to exceed the original carrying amount had the impairment not been recognised. The
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EC ENGLISH LONDON LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
2.Accounting policies (continued)
impairment reversal is recognised in the profit or loss.
Financial liabilities
Financial liabilities and equity instruments are classified according to the substance of the contractual arrangements entered into. An equity instruments any contract that evidences a residual interest in the assets of the Company after the deduction of all its liabilities.
Basic financial liabilities, which include trade and other payables, bank loans and other loans are initially measured at their transaction price after transaction costs. When this constitutes a financing transaction, whereby the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Discounting is omitted where the effect of discounting is immaterial.
Debt instruments are subsequently carried at their amortised cost using the effective interest rate method.
Trade payables are obligations to pay for goods and services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of business from suppliers. Trade payables are classified as current liabilities if the payment is due within one year. If not, they represent non-current liabilities. Trade payables are initially recognised at their transaction price and subsequently are measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method. Discounting is omitted where the effect of discounting is immaterial.
Other financial instruments
Derivatives, including forward exchange contracts, futures contracts and interest rate swaps, are not classified as basic financial instruments. These are initially recognised at fair value on the date the derivative contract is entered into, with costs being charged to the profit or loss. They are subsequently measured at fair value with changes in the profit or loss.
Debt instruments that do not meet the conditions as set out in FRS 102 paragraph 11.9 are subsequently measured at fair value through the profit or loss. This recognition and measurement would also apply to financial instruments where the performance is evaluated on a fair value basis as with a documented risk management or investment strategy.
Derecognition of financial instruments
Derecognition of financial assets
Financial assets are derecognised when their contractual right to future cash flow expire, or are settled, or when the Company transfers the asset and substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership to another party. If significant risks and rewards of ownership are retained after the transfer to another party, then the Company will continue to recognise the value of the portion of the risks and rewards retained.
Derecognition of financial liabilities
Financial liabilities are derecognised when the Company's contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.
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EC ENGLISH LONDON LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
2.Accounting policies (continued)
Provisions are charged as an expense to profit or loss in the year that the Company becomes aware of the obligation, and are measured at the best estimate at the balance sheet date of the expenditure required to settle the obligation, taking into account relevant risks and uncertainties. When payments are eventually made, they are charged to the provision carried in the Balance Sheet.
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EC ENGLISH LONDON LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
2.Accounting policies (continued)
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EC ENGLISH LONDON LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
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EC ENGLISH LONDON LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
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EC ENGLISH LONDON LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
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EC ENGLISH LONDON LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
The security provided is a fixed charge on the assets financed as disclosed in the tangible asset note.
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EC ENGLISH LONDON LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
A fellow subsidiary, EC English Bristol Limited, entered into an operating lease for the building 63 Queen Square with an annual commitment of £110,110. A guarantee on this building was provided by EC English London Limited. The lease terms is ten years from 2021.
A fellow subsidiary undertaking, EC English Bristol Limited, made use of the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme made available by the UK Government in response to COVID-19 pandemic. In respect of this EC English London Limited acts as a guarantor. The directors do not expect that EC English London Limited will be required to make payments in their role as guarantor; however, the possibility of outflows exist under the terms of the guarantee. EC English London Limited has given a guarantee for the full amount of this loan which was £3,000,000 at the year end. Any possible outflow by EC English London Limited as a guarantor to the loan is expected to be limited by virtue of the following fellow subsidiaries also acting as joint guarantors: EC English Cambridge Limited, House of English Limited, EC English Manchester Limited, EC English Oxford Limited and Embassy Educational Services (UK) Limited.
The company operated a defined contribution pension scheme. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the company in an independently administered fund. The pension cost charge represents contributions payable by the company to the fund and amounts to £14,246 (2021 - £12,862). There were £3,126 of contributions outstanding at the year end (2021 - £2,785).
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EC ENGLISH LONDON LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
The Company's immediate parent undertaking is
The consolidated financial statements of EC Global Limited, the parent of EC English Holdings Limited, can be requested from its registered office at Language House, M. Mangion Street, St Julians, Malta. The ultimate controlling party is
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