The directors present the strategic report for the year ended 31 March 2024.
Our Mission is to engage with our clients and our people to deliver technical excellence and quality in everything we do.
Our strategy has been and continues to be to pursue profitable growth by extending our geographical reach and investing in the expansion of our teams and supporting infrastructure. Turnover year on year increased by 13% from £12.7m to £14.4m. This was principally due to the further investment and growth in both our Manchester and Liverpool offices and organic growth across our existing business. After another challenging year, it was pleasing to see that our turnover has once again increased. This enables us to further invest in the people and infrastructure required for sustainable, profitable growth. Particular thanks go to our loyal and committed staff who have worked tirelessly with us to achieve these results, always putting our clients first. This remains the core of our ethos.
We acknowledge the ongoing challenges we as a business but remain optimistic about the future. We continue to forecast and monitor our likely working capital and cash flow requirements; we have maintained a focus on cash collection and have fully repaid our CBILs loan. At the balance sheet date, we had little external debt other than this loan, were carrying positive cash balances and were operating well within the facilities offered by our bank. The detailed balance sheet as at 31 March 2024 is shown on page 8.
On 1 April 2024, the group headed by Moore and Smalley LLP merged in its entirety with MHA Macintyre Hudson (MHA). All activities have been transferred into the MHA group structure and therefore Moore and Smalley Business Services Limited has ceased to trade from this date.
As such, the company is no longer a going concern and the accounts have been prepared on a basis other than going concern. This has not resulted in any adjustment to the amounts reported in the financial statements.
On behalf of the board
The directors present their report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024.
The results for the year are set out on page 7.
No ordinary dividends were paid. The directors do not recommend payment of a final dividend.
The directors who held office during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were as follows:
Basis for opinion
Use of alternative basis of accounting for going concern
We draw attention to accounting policy 1.2 relating to Going Concern and note 10 Events after the reporting date, the group headed by Moore and Smalley LLP merged in its entirety with MHA Macintyre Hudson on 1 April 2024, and all activities were transferred into the MHA group structure at that time. As such this company cannot be considered to be a going concern. Our opinion is not modified in respect of this matter.
Other information
Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006
In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of our audit:
the information given in the strategic report and the directors' report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
the strategic report and the directors' report have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
As explained more fully in the directors' responsibilities statement, the directors are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the directors determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. In preparing the financial statements, the directors are responsible for assessing the company's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the directors either intend to liquidate the company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
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 auditor's 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:
(i) Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control.
(ii) Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the club's internal control.
(iii) Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates and related disclosures made by the Management Committee.
(iv) Conclude on the appropriateness of the Management Committee's use of the going concern basis of accounting and, based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the club's ability to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we are required to draw attention in our auditor's report to the related disclosures in the financial statements or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are based on the audit evidence obtained up to the date of our auditor's report. However, future events or conditions may cause the club to cease to continue as a going concern.
(v) Evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the financial statements, including the disclosures, and whether the financial statements represent the underlying transactions and events in a manner that achieves fair presentation.
Due to the sector in which the client operates we have identified that Employment Law, Pensions and Taxation Legislation, Health and Safety Legislation, FCA and ICAEW regulation, and compliance with the Companies Act 2006 as areas most likely to have a material impact on the financial statements.
Owing to the inherent limitations of an audit there is an unavoidable risk that we may not have detected some material misstatements in the financial statements, even though we have properly planned and performed our audit in accordance with auditing standards. For example, the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations (irregularities) is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely the inherently limited procedures required by auditing standards would identify it. In addition, as with any audit, there remained a higher risk of non-detection of irregularities, as these may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal controls. We are not responsible for preventing non-compliance and cannot be expected to detect non-compliance with all laws and regulations.
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 auditor's report.
Use of our report
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 auditor's 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.
The profit and loss account has been prepared on the basis that all operations are continuing operations.
Moore and Smalley Business Services Limited is a private company limited by shares incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is Richard House, 9 Winckley Square, Preston, PR1 3HP.
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 £.
This company is a qualifying entity for the purposes of FRS 102, being a member of a group where the parent of that group prepares publicly available consolidated financial statements, including this company, which are intended to give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of the group. The company has therefore taken advantage of exemptions from the following disclosure requirements:
Section 4 ‘Statement of Financial Position’: Reconciliation of the opening and closing number of shares;
Section 7 ‘Statement of Cash Flows’: Presentation of a statement of cash flow and related notes and disclosures;
Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instrument Issues’: Carrying amounts, interest income/expense and net gains/losses for each category of financial instrument; basis of determining fair values; details of collateral, loan defaults or breaches, details of hedges, hedging fair value changes recognised in profit or loss and in other comprehensive income;
Section 26 ‘Share based Payment’: Share-based payment expense charged to profit or loss, reconciliation of opening and closing number and weighted average exercise price of share options, how the fair value of options granted was measured, measurement and carrying amount of liabilities for cash-settled share-based payments, explanation of modifications to arrangements;
Section 33 ‘Related Party Disclosures’: Compensation for key management personnel.
The financial statements of the company are consolidated in the financial statements of Moore and Smalley LLP. These consolidated financial statements are available from Companies House, Cardiff.
On 1 April 2024, the group headed by Moore and Smalley LLP merged in its entirety with MHA Macintyre Hudson (MHA). All activities have been transferred into the MHA group structure and therefore Moore and Smalley Business Services Limited has ceased to trade from this date.
As such, the company is no longer a going concern and the accounts have been prepared on a basis other than going concern. This has not resulted in any adjustment to the amounts reported in the financial statements.
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.
The company has no financial instruments that are classified as other financial assets.
Financial assets are derecognised only when the contractual rights to the cash flows from the asset expire or are settled, or when the company transfers the financial asset and substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership to another entity, or if some significant risks and rewards of ownership are retained but control of the asset has transferred to another party that is able to sell the asset in its entirety to an unrelated third party.
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, 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.
The company has no financial instruments that are classified as other financial liabilities.
Financial liabilities are derecognised when the company’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.
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.
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.
An analysis of the company's turnover is as follows:
The average monthly number of persons (including directors) employed by the company during the year was:
Their aggregate remuneration comprised:
The actual charge for the year can be reconciled to the expected credit for the year based on the profit or loss and the standard rate of tax as follows:
The company operates a defined contribution pension scheme for all qualifying employees. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the company in an independently administered fund.
On 1 April 2024, the group headed by Moore and Smalley LLP merged in its entirety with MHA Macintyre Hudson (MHA). All activities have been transferred into the MHA group structure and therefore Moore and Smalley Business Services Limited has ceased to trade from this date.
As such, the company is no longer a going concern and the accounts have been prepared on a basis other than going concern. This has not resulted in any adjustment to the amounts reported in the financial statements.
The company has taken advantage of the exemption permitted under Section 33.1A from disclosing transactions with the parent and fellow subsidiary companies.