Company Registration No. SC156776 (Scotland)
Blair Castle Estate Limited
Financial statements
for the year ended 31 March 2024
Pages for filing with the registrar
Blair Castle Estate Limited
Contents
Page
Balance sheet
1
Notes to the financial statements
2 - 10
Blair Castle Estate Limited
Balance sheet
As at 31 March 2024
31 March 2024
1
2024
2023
Notes
£
£
£
£
Fixed assets
Tangible assets
6
2,001,582
1,984,723
Current assets
Stocks
7
401,792
366,177
Debtors
8
1,306,014
1,269,017
Cash at bank and in hand
838,671
1,150,238
2,546,477
2,785,432
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
9
(1,917,159)
(1,665,347)
Net current assets
629,318
1,120,085
Total assets less current liabilities
2,630,900
3,104,808
Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year
10
(916,165)
(1,378,335)
Net assets
1,714,735
1,726,473
Capital and reserves
Called up share capital
11
501,000
501,000
Profit and loss reserves
1,213,735
1,225,473
Total equity
1,714,735
1,726,473

The directors of the company have elected not to include a copy of the profit and loss account within the financial statements.true

These financial statements have been prepared and delivered in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime.

The financial statements were approved by the board of directors and authorised for issue on 2 October 2024 and are signed on its behalf by:
Robert Troughton
Director
Company Registration No. SC156776
Blair Castle Estate Limited
Notes to the financial statements
For the year ended 31 March 2024
2
1
Accounting policies
Company information

Blair Castle Estate Limited is a private company limited by shares incorporated in Scotland. The registered office is Atholl Estates Office, Blair Atholl, Pitlochry, Perthshire, PH18 5TH. The company registered number is SC156776.

 

The principal activities of Blair Castle Estate Limited ('the company') are the management of the estate and the provision of tourist facilities.

1.1
Accounting convention

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with FRS 102 “The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland” (“FRS 102”) and the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 as applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime. The disclosure requirements of section 1A of FRS 102 have been applied other than where additional disclosure is required to show a true and fair view.

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 financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.

1.2
Going concern

Atruet the time of approving the financial statements, the directors have a reasonable expectation that the company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the directors continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.

1.3
Turnover

Turnover represents the value of the goods and services supplied during the year, excluding value added tax. The turnover is attributable to the principal activity of the company and was generated wholly within the United Kingdom.

 

Turnover is recognised to the extent that it is probable that the economic benefits will flow to the company and the revenue can be reliably measured. Revenue is measured as the fair value of the consideration received or receivable, excluding discounts, rebates and value added tax.

 

Government grants are recognised based on the performance model. Grants that impose specified future performance-related conditions are recognised in income only when the performance related conditions are met. Grants which do not impose specified future performance-related conditions are recognised when the grant proceeds are receivable.

1.4
Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.

Depreciation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:

Plant and equipment
0.67% to 25% reducing balance
Leased assets
25% reducing balance
Blair Castle Estate Limited
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
For the year ended 31 March 2024
1
Accounting policies (continued)
3

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.

1.5
Stocks

Cattle, crops and breeding stock are measured at fair value less estimated costs to sell, with changes in the fair value being recognised in the Profit and Loss Account. Other categories of stock are stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value.

1.6
Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents are basic financial assets and include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.

1.7
Financial instruments

The company has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.

 

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 debtors, 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.

Classification of financial liabilities

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.

Blair Castle Estate Limited
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
For the year ended 31 March 2024
1
Accounting policies (continued)
4
Basic financial liabilities

Basic financial liabilities, including creditors, bank loans, loans from fellow group companies and preference shares that are classified as debt, 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.

 

Pensions

The company operates a defined pension scheme. Contributions payable to the scheme are charged to the Profit and Loss Accounts in the period to which they relate.

 

The company participates in a multi-employer defined benefit pension scheme. The share of the assets and liabilities of the scheme cannot be reliably attributed to individual participating employers. Contributions payable to the scheme in connection with payroll are charged to the Profit and Loss Account in the period to which they relate. The group has committed to make deficit payments to the scheme in respect of past service and provision has been made for the present value of the committed cash flows, using a discount rate equivalent to market yields on high quality corporate bonds. A charge is recognised in the Profit and Loss Account as the discount unwinds over time.

2
Critical accounting judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty

In the application of the company’s accounting policies, the directors are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

 

The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.

 

The directors are satisfied that accounting policies are appropriate and applied consistently. Key sources of accounting estimation have been applied to the valuation of stock and the depreciation rates which are deemed to be appropriate to the class of assets.

3
Operating profit
2024
2023
Operating profit is stated after (crediting)/charging:
£
£
Grants and subsidies
(434,188)
(404,530)
Gain on sale of fixed assets
(117,399)
(62,418)
Depreciation of tangible fixed assets
234,088
237,019
Auditor's remuneration - Audit fees
15,600
15,000
Auditor's remuneration - Tax
3,650
3,520
Blair Castle Estate Limited
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
For the year ended 31 March 2024
5
4
Employees

The average monthly number of persons (including directors) employed by the company during the year was:

2024
2023
Number
Number
Management
17
18
Maintenance
6
6
Sporting lets
10
10
Exhibition
49
33
Caravan park
18
16
Home farm
3
3
Woodlands
3
3
Total
106
89

Their aggregate remuneration comprised:

2024
2023
£
£
Wages and salaries
2,008,824
1,723,163
Social security costs
167,084
151,320
Pension costs
166,402
27,017
2,342,310
1,901,500
Pension costs associated with these employees comprised:
2024
2023
£
£
Pension contributions payable
232,898
217,580
Less contributions in respect of past service liability
(113,000)
(113,000)
Unwinding of past service liability discount to present value
42,325
28,278
Reduction in repayment period
-
-
Adjustment to discount rate
4,179
(105,841)
166,402
27,017
Blair Castle Estate Limited
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
For the year ended 31 March 2024
6
5
Directors' remuneration and dividends
2024
2023
£
£
Remuneration paid to directors
179,055
155,446
Pension contributions
8,262
7,871
187,317
163,317

One director had benefits under a defined benefit pension scheme, with contributions of £8,262 (2023: £7,871) in the year.

6
Tangible fixed assets
Plant and machinery etc
£
Cost
At 1 April 2023
4,210,871
Additions
272,769
Disposals
(111,421)
At 31 March 2024
4,372,219
Depreciation and impairment
At 1 April 2023
2,226,148
Depreciation charged in the year
234,088
Eliminated in respect of disposals
(89,599)
At 31 March 2024
2,370,637
Carrying amount
At 31 March 2024
2,001,582
At 31 March 2023
1,984,723

 

Blair Castle Estate Limited
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
For the year ended 31 March 2024
7
7
Stocks
2024
2023
£
£
Cattle
108,579
36,800
Crops
9,856
33,849
Exhibition shop
193,710
103,051
Caravan park
18,317
15,391
Sundry
33,027
35,417
Breeding stock
38,303
141,669
401,792
366,177
8
Debtors
2024
2023
Amounts falling due within one year:
£
£
Trade debtors
247,336
239,060
Amounts owed by group undertakings
861,543
976,677
Other debtors
197,135
53,280
1,306,014
1,269,017

Amounts owed by parent undertaking have no fixed repayment terms and no interest is charged.

9
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
2024
2023
£
£
Bank loans
93,062
200,000
Trade creditors
391,012
189,830
Taxation and social security
49,174
85,195
Obligations under finance leases
17,445
17,445
Other creditors
1,366,466
1,172,877
1,917,159
1,665,347
Blair Castle Estate Limited
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
For the year ended 31 March 2024
8
10
Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year
2024
2023
£
£
Bank loans and overdrafts
155,104
533,333
Other creditors
761,061
845,002
916,165
1,378,335

The pension liability is due to be repaid-in instalments of £113,000 per year for the next 11 years, recognised at net present value using a discount rate of 4.4% (2023: 4.5%). The net present value of the amount to be repaid in more than 5 years is £376,609 (2023: £444,490).

 

In 2021 the company obtained a loan of £1m from the Royal Bank of Scotland under the Coronavirus Business. Interruption Loan Scheme. Under the terms of the scheme, interest charges and fees in relation to the loan are paid by the Government for the first 12 months. The term of the loan is six years, with payments spread over 60 equal instalments commencing from the thirteenth month. Interest is charged at a rate of 1.88% over the Bank of England base rate, and the outstanding balance on the loan at 31 March 2024 was £0.2m (2023: £0.7m). The company has granted a floating charge in favour of Royal Bank of Scotland PLC, secured over all sums due or to become due in respect of all property and assets of the company.                        

                        

 

11
Called up share capital
2024
2023
2024
2023
Ordinary share capital
Number
Number
£
£
Authorised
of £1 each
1,000,000
1,000,000
1,000,000
1,000,000
Issued and fully paid
of £1 each
501,000
501,000
501,000
501,000
Blair Castle Estate Limited
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
For the year ended 31 March 2024
9
12
Pension schemes

The company operates two pension schemes. The first scheme provides benefits based on final pensionable remuneration. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the company, being invested in a managed unitised fund. Contributions to the scheme are charged to the Profit and Loss Account so as to spread the cost of pensions evenly over employees’ expected working lives with the company. The contributions are determined by a qualified actuary on the basis of triennial valuations using the projected unit method.

 

The most recent valuation was at 6 April 2021. The assumptions which have the most significant effect on the results of the valuation are those relating to the rate of return on investments and inflation rates for discounting liabilities. It has been assumed that the return on investments would be 3.75% before retirement and 2.75% after retirement.

 

The most recent actuarial valuation showed that the market value of the scheme's assets was £6,289,000 and that the actuarial value of those assets represented 81% of the benefits that had accrued to members, after allowing for expected future increases in earnings.

 

There were £Nil contributions outstanding at the year-end (2023: £Nil).

 

The scheme is a multi-employer defined benefit scheme. The company is unable to identify its share of the scheme’s assets and liabilities and thus has accounted for the scheme as a defined contribution scheme. All employers in the scheme are jointly and severally liable for any surplus or deficit in the scheme. The company has committed to the scheme to make payments of £113,000 per year for 11 years and 8 months in respect of past service, for which provision has been made in these accounts.

 

This scheme was closed to new members on 5 April 2008 and closed to future accrual on 31 January 2021.

 

The second scheme is a defined contribution scheme held with Aviva at the year end. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the company. The pension charge for the year is disclosed in note 4.

 

 

13
Audit report information

As the income statement has been omitted from the filing copy of the financial statements, the following information in relation to the audit report on the statutory financial statements is provided in accordance with s444(5B) of the Companies Act 2006:

The auditor's report was unqualified.

Senior Statutory Auditor:
Eunice McAdam
Statutory Auditors:
Saffery LLP
Date of audit report:
2 October 2024
Blair Castle Estate Limited
Notes to the financial statements (continued)
For the year ended 31 March 2024
10
14
Operating lease commitments
Lessee

At the reporting end date the company had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases, as follows:

2024
2023
£
£
Within one year
37,479
46,579
Between two and five years
32,059
6,644
69,538
53,223
15
Related party transactions

The company has taken advantage of the exemption available in Section 1A of Financial Reporting Standard 102 not to disclose transactions with The Blair Charitable Trust on the basis that consolidated group financial statements are publicly available.

16
Parent company

Blair Castle Estate Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Blair Charitable Trust, a charitable trust registered in Scotland (registered charity no. SC001433). The principal address of the charity is Atholl Estates Office, Blair Atholl, Pitlochry, Perthshire, PH18 5TH.

17
Taxation on profit on ordinary activities

The company has £nil tax charge for the year (2023 : £nil).

 

A potential deferred tax asset arises as at 31 March 2024 primarily due to the pension provision only becoming deductible for taxation at the point of payment. This potential asset is not recognised on the grounds that the company adopts a policy of donating profits to the charitable parent. We do not consider there to be any other factors which may materially affect future taxation.

2024-03-312023-04-01false02 October 2024CCH SoftwareCCH Accounts Production 2024.100No description of principal activityThis audit opinion is unqualifiedRobert TroughtonSarah TroughtonAndrew Bruce WoottonCaroline HarridenceGillespie Macandrew Secretaries LimitedfalsefalseSC1567762023-04-012024-03-31SC1567762024-03-31SC1567762023-03-31SC156776core:OtherPropertyPlantEquipment2024-03-31SC156776core:OtherPropertyPlantEquipment2023-03-31SC156776core:CurrentFinancialInstrumentscore:WithinOneYear2024-03-31SC156776core:CurrentFinancialInstrumentscore:WithinOneYear2023-03-31SC156776core:Non-currentFinancialInstrumentscore:AfterOneYear2024-03-31SC156776core:Non-currentFinancialInstrumentscore:AfterOneYear2023-03-31SC156776core:Non-currentFinancialInstruments2024-03-31SC156776core:Non-currentFinancialInstruments2023-03-31SC156776core:ShareCapital2024-03-31SC156776core:ShareCapital2023-03-31SC156776core:RetainedEarningsAccumulatedLosses2024-03-31SC156776core:RetainedEarningsAccumulatedLosses2023-03-31SC156776bus:Director12023-04-012024-03-31SC156776core:PlantMachinery2023-04-012024-03-31SC156776core:Non-standardPPEClass1ComponentTotalPropertyPlantEquipment2023-04-012024-03-31SC156776core:OtherPropertyPlantEquipment2023-03-31SC156776core:OtherPropertyPlantEquipment2023-04-012024-03-31SC156776core:CurrentFinancialInstruments2024-03-31SC156776core:CurrentFinancialInstruments2023-03-31SC156776core:WithinOneYear2024-03-31SC156776core:WithinOneYear2023-03-31SC156776bus:PrivateLimitedCompanyLtd2023-04-012024-03-31SC156776bus:SmallCompaniesRegimeForAccounts2023-04-012024-03-31SC156776bus:FRS1022023-04-012024-03-31SC156776bus:Audited2023-04-012024-03-31SC156776bus:Director22023-04-012024-03-31SC156776bus:Director32023-04-012024-03-31SC156776bus:Director42023-04-012024-03-31SC156776bus:CompanySecretary12023-04-012024-03-31SC156776bus:FullAccounts2023-04-012024-03-31xbrli:purexbrli:sharesiso4217:GBP