The director has pleasure in presenting her report and financial statements for the year ended 31 January 2023.
The principal activity of the company continued to be that of recruitment consultancy and business skills training.
The director who held office during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements was as follows:
Review of the business
Love & Tate is a service-driven recruitment and training consultancy. We work with all sorts of organisations – from global world-class businesses, central and local government to enterprising SMEs, funders and charities.
We offer a high quality and bespoke recruitment consultancy providing permanent and temporary workers, HR services and project management, candidate screening and assessment facilities, intern and contractor payroll management.
Complementing this we offer wide-ranging training in computing and IT, administration, business and management skills. We run accredited programmes through our Pitman Training business and also create bespoke courses for people at all stages of their careers - new apprentices and graduates, aspiring managers, senior executives to Board Level, just joining or moving on. In short we help people and businesses to perform at their peak.
In truth the year to 31 January 2023 was another patchy year but with sales revenue increasing overall. Our main business in the City is recovering from Brexit and the pandemic – both hit central London disproportionately. The business landscape has changed completely and footfall has not recovered to pre-2018 levels with the popularity of hybrid working.
To summarise the performance for the year, the turnover at £2.07m was 16.62% up on the previous year (2022: £1.8m). Gross profit £0.45m (2022: £0.39m) was up by 16.67%. Overheads at £0.62m (2022: £0.56m) were up by 9% which included the expenses of the new Stratford premises and start-up costs. This resulted in a loss for the year of £122K (2022: £122K). On a positive note, we have retained all our key clients, acquired a handful of very large new accounts and have invested in a new training centre.
Our cash position has deteriorated over the last 3 years for several reasons, though it is marginally better this year. Clients are stretching payment times, regularly asking for 60- 90 day terms. We were locked in under-utilised space at our City premises and paying back loans made to support the business during the pandemic, with no defaults. We terminated the lease on our permanent City space in March 2023, which will save c £120K in the coming year. There is plenty of flexible space which can be booked on demand to continue to service central London and global clients. We have funded the new development in Stratford.
The Future
Sufficient funds have been provided for future development through an interest free loan from the Managing Director for investment in building the business, sales and marketing and continuous application of new technology to streamline administration and our customer experience. This demonstrates confidence in the businesses as the Director’s loan will be the last to be paid as will Director’s salary, to be drawn again when the business returns to profit, likely in the coming year.
Reasons for confidence in the future? East London and Stratford learning centre captures both the global possibilities of Canary Wharf and the bustling, striving populations of East London boroughs and Essex. The new learning centre is established and growing fast. The global training market has picked up with quality webinar and distance learning being able to cut across time zones for more inclusive attendance and budget savings.
Recruitment is growing again – we have signed up three new PSLs with global businesses in the first quarter of 2023, providing new revenue streams on a growth pattern. We have had a pause in our apprenticeship business while we have reshaped and improved our training in order to be more Ofsted compliant and are now in a position to expand the Standards that we offer and to market the service more strongly. Apprenticeships will be a strong growth area.
Strategy
We have distinct plans to develop the three key areas of the business.
Within recruitment we have a distinct plan to develop lasting relationships through organic growth with our key accounts, including those newly acquired within the green technology/energy and the health sectors where we have quickly grown trusted supplier relationships which have already brought new projects for 2023 and into 2024. The service emphasis is working together to bring quality and results for clients.
Our training client list comprises SMEs which need support to develop their people and businesses, together with national and international organisations with regular requirements. Our emphasis is to focus on business development, showcasing both our portfolio of tried and tested topics and expertise in customising or designing new learning to meet current or emerging needs. The crucial development areas to support our clients are developing more flexible and improved leadership and management skills and improved IT expertise and capability. For individuals we aim to become the go-to learning platform for those aspiring to better careers in professional arenas such as Data Analysts, web development, accounting and medical admin. We already have bookings well into 2024
Up-skilling and good recruitment to deliver both productivity and employee retention and morale is a key business requirement which we are uniquely placed to deliver. And the other cornerstone of the business is to energetically market and build our Apprenticeship business – we are currently putting in more expertise in all areas to develop this.
Business environment and outlook
A challenging business and economic environment has become the norm and has also thrown up opportunities. We believe that now we have put in the focus, expertise and funding to deliver a better, sustainable and profitable future.
We are also in discussion with another organisation with a similar business and the opportunity for a merger so that we could add further growth through the synergy of the two businesses.
This report has been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies entitled to the small companies exemption.
Love and Tate Limited is a private company limited by shares incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is 128 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX.
The principal activity of the company continues to be that of recruitment consultancy and business skills training.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the company. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset, and is credited or charged to profit or loss.
Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method 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. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.
Financial liabilities and equity instruments are classified according to the substance of the contractual arrangements entered into. An equity instrument is any contract that evidences a residual interest in the assets of the company after deducting all of its liabilities.
Basic financial liabilities, including creditors and bank loans, are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.
Debt instruments are subsequently carried at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method.
Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of business from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
Equity instruments issued by the company are recorded at the proceeds received, net of transaction costs. Dividends payable on equity instruments are recognised as liabilities once they are no longer at the discretion of the company.
Changes in the fair value of derivatives that are designated and qualify as fair value hedges are recognised in profit or loss immediately, together with any changes in the fair value of the hedged asset or liability that are attributable to the hedged risk.
The average monthly number of persons (including directors) employed by the company during the year was:
At the reporting end date the company had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases, as follows: