Registered number:
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2024
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DURMAN STEARN (CIVIL ENGINEERING) LIMITED
COMPANY INFORMATION
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DURMAN STEARN (CIVIL ENGINEERING) LIMITED
CONTENTS
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DURMAN STEARN (CIVIL ENGINEERING) LIMITED
STRATEGIC REPORT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2024
The directors present their strategic report and business review, which includes the principal risks and uncertainties of the business and key performance indicators for the year ended 30 June 2024.
Sales turnover in the year under review totalled £16.8m compared with £19.4m in the previous year. Trading margins were consistent at 18.3% compared with the previous year of 18.3%, which reflects the recovery from the impacts of the current economic environment.
The directors are satisfied with the results for the year and are happy to report a satisfactory performance. At the end of the financial year the Company had cash reserves of £2.9 million (2023 - £3.2 million) and, despite the continuation of challenging market conditions, the directors are confident that the Company has adequate liquidity and financial resources to meet these challenges for the foreseeable future.
The Company engages in a thorough risk management process to identify and mitigate risks.
Price risk The Company minimises its exposure to adverse raw material price changes by monitoring these regularly and ordering well in advance of project phases. Credit risk Credit risk is considered relatively low as the Company has implemented policies to ensure that appropriate credit checks are carried out on potential customers before contracts are committed or any form of credit given. There is also ongoing monitoring of outstanding balances due from customers and regular follow-ups where these are overdue. Cash flow and liquidity risk Cash flow and liquidity risk are monitored on a weekly basis by management to ensure the Company can meet its liabilities as they fall due. Competitive risk The perceived risks and uncertainties faced by the Company are in connection with operating within an already competitive market with increased competition from large national competitors. The Company utilises a contract costing system to manage and control construction costs to ensure they remain within budget. The Company also has a quality management system in place to ensure contracts are delivered on time and to the required specification.
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DURMAN STEARN (CIVIL ENGINEERING) LIMITED
STRATEGIC REPORT (CONTINUED)
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2024
The external commercial environment is expected to remain highly competitive in 2024/2025, especially with the impact of the current economic climate. We will continue our focus on forward planning, managing our pipeline of on-going work and new opportunities while delivering high quality construction projects.
This report was approved by the board and signed on its behalf by:
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DURMAN STEARN (CIVIL ENGINEERING) LIMITED
DIRECTORS' REPORT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2024
The directors present their report and the financial statements for the year ended 30 June 2024.
The profit for the year, after taxation, amounted to £316,624 (2023 - £946,366).
The dividends for the year amounted to £250,000 (2023 - £500,000).
The directors who served during the year were:
The directors are responsible for preparing the Strategic Report, the Directors' Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.
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 judgements 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.
Included in the Strategic Report are future developments and future risks facing the Company.
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DURMAN STEARN (CIVIL ENGINEERING) LIMITED
DIRECTORS' REPORT (CONTINUED)
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2024
Under section 487(2) of the Companies Act 2006, Peters Elworthy & Moore 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.
This report was approved by the board and signed on its behalf.
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DURMAN STEARN (CIVIL ENGINEERING) LIMITED
INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF DURMAN STEARN (CIVIL ENGINEERING) LIMITED
We have audited the financial statements of Durman Stearn (Civil Engineering) Limited (the 'Company') for the year ended 30 June 2024, which comprise the Profit and Loss Account, the Balance Sheet, the Statement of Changes in Equity 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.
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.
Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the Company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
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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DURMAN STEARN (CIVIL ENGINEERING) LIMITED
INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF DURMAN STEARN (CIVIL ENGINEERING) 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 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.
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 Strategic Report or the Directors' Report.
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DURMAN STEARN (CIVIL ENGINEERING) LIMITED
INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF DURMAN STEARN (CIVIL ENGINEERING) 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:
Our approach to identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, was as follows:
∙we identified the laws and regulations applicable to the Company through discussions with management, and from our commercial knowledge and experience of the construction industry;
∙we focused on specific laws and regulations which we considered may have a direct material effect on the financial statements, including FRS 102, the Companies Act 2006 and taxation legislation, or those fundamental to the Company’s ability to operate, or to avoid a material penalty, including data protection, employment and health and safety;
∙we obtained an understanding of the Company’s policies and procedures on compliance with laws and regulations, including documentation of any instances of non-compliance;
∙we assessed the extent of compliance with the laws and regulations identified above through making enquiries of management; and
∙identified laws and regulations were communicated within the audit engagement team regularly and the team remained alert to instances of non-compliance throughout the audit.
We assessed the susceptibility of the Company’s financial statements to material misstatement, including obtaining an understanding of how fraud might occur, by making enquiries of management as to where they considered there was susceptibility to fraud, their knowledge of actual, suspected and alleged fraud and considering the internal controls in place to mitigate risks of fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations.
We discussed among the audit engagement team regarding the opportunities and incentives that may exist within the organisation for fraud and how and where fraud might occur in the financial statements. In common with all audits under ISAs (UK), we are also required to perform specific procedures to respond to the risk of fraud through management bias and override of controls. In addressing the risk of fraud through management bias and override of controls we:
∙tested the appropriateness of journal entries and other adjustments;
∙designed procedures to identify unexpected and unusual journal entries and performed testing to confirm the validity of such postings;
∙assessed whether the accounting judgements made in the financial statements were indicative of potential bias; and
∙evaluated the business rationale of any significant transactions that were unusual or outside the normal course of business.
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DURMAN STEARN (CIVIL ENGINEERING) LIMITED
INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF DURMAN STEARN (CIVIL ENGINEERING) LIMITED (CONTINUED)
AUDITORS' RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE AUDIT OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
In response to the risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, we designed procedures which included, but were not limited to:
∙agreeing financial statement disclosures to underlying supporting documentation;
∙reading minutes of meetings of those charged with governance; and
∙enquiring of management as to actual and potential litigation and claims.
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.
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
Salisbury House
Station Road
CB1 2LA
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DURMAN STEARN (CIVIL ENGINEERING) LIMITED
PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2024
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DURMAN STEARN (CIVIL ENGINEERING) LIMITED
REGISTERED NUMBER: 01409637
BALANCE SHEET
AS AT 30 JUNE 2024
The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the board and were signed on its behalf by:
The notes on pages 12 to 23 form part of these financial statements.
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DURMAN STEARN (CIVIL ENGINEERING) LIMITED
STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2024
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DURMAN STEARN (CIVIL ENGINEERING) LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2024
Durman Stearn (Civil Engineering) Limited is a private company limited by shares and incorporated in England and Wales. Its registered office is 264 High Street, Cottenham, Cambridge, CB24 8RZ.
The Company's functional and presentational currency is GBP.
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 Financial Reporting Standard 102, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and the Republic of Ireland and the Companies Act 2006.
The preparation of financial statements in compliance with FRS 102 requires the use of certain critical accounting estimates. It also requires management to exercise judgement in applying the Company's accounting policies (see note 3).
The following principal accounting policies have been applied:
The Company, being a qualifying entity as part of a group that prepares publicly available consolidated financial statements, is exempt from the requirement to draw up a statement of cash flows in accordance with FRS 102 S1.12.
The directors have a reasonable expectation that the Company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. In making this assessment the directors have considered the Company’s financial resources at the time of approving the financial statements, as well as anticipated future activity and financial results.
The directors are confident that the Company has the ability to trade with sufficient cash headroom. In light of the above and given the Company’s healthy cash reserves, the directors believe they are well placed to manage the Company's business risks successfully in the current economic climate and remain satisfied that the going concern assessment is appropriate.
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DURMAN STEARN (CIVIL ENGINEERING) LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2024
2.ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)
Depreciation is charged so as to allocate the cost of assets less their residual value over their estimated useful lives, using the straight-line method.
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.
At each balance sheet date, stocks are assessed for impairment. If stock is impaired, the carrying amount is reduced to its selling price less costs to complete and sell. The impairment loss is recognised immediately in profit or loss.
An assessment of the outcome on contracts cannot be reasonably anticipated until the contract is at least 50% complete. No profit is recognised on contracts that are less than 50% complete based on works completed to the end of the financial year, measured by customer approved milestone billing surveyed at the end of the financial year. When a contract is 50% complete profit is recognised based on the extent to which costs are recoverable. Anticipated losses are recognised in the period in which they are first foreseen.
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DURMAN STEARN (CIVIL ENGINEERING) LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2024
2.ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)
The Company only enters into basic financial instrument transactions that result in the recognition of financial assets and liabilities like trade and other debtors and creditors, loans from banks and other third parties, loans to related parties and investments in ordinary shares.
DEFINED CONTRIBUTION PENSION PLAN
The Company operates a defined contribution plan for its employees. A defined contribution plan is a pension plan under which the Company pays fixed contributions into a separate entity. Once the contributions have been paid the Company has no further payment obligations. The contributions are recognised as an expense in profit or loss when they fall due. Amounts not paid are shown in other creditors as a liability in the Balance Sheet. The assets of the plan are held separately from the Company in independently administered funds.
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DURMAN STEARN (CIVIL ENGINEERING) LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2024
RETENTIONS PROVISION A provision against retentions is reflected in respect of all ongoing contracts at the year end. A full provision is made against all retentions relating to projects that are not yet complete. This provision reduces to 50% once the project is complete until cash is received. REVENUE RECOGNITION ON LONG TERM CONTRACTS An assessment of the outcome on contracts cannot be reasonably anticipated until the contract is at least 50% complete. No profit is recognised on contracts that are less than 50% complete based on works completed to the end of the financial year. When a contract is 50% complete profit is recognised based on the extent to which costs are recoverable, measured by customer approved milestone billing surveyed at the end of the financial year. Anticipated losses are recognised in the period in which they are first foreseen.
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DURMAN STEARN (CIVIL ENGINEERING) LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2024
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DURMAN STEARN (CIVIL ENGINEERING) LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2024
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DURMAN STEARN (CIVIL ENGINEERING) LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2024
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DURMAN STEARN (CIVIL ENGINEERING) LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2024
11.TAXATION (CONTINUED)
There are no factors that may affect future tax charges.
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DURMAN STEARN (CIVIL ENGINEERING) LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2024
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DURMAN STEARN (CIVIL ENGINEERING) LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2024
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DURMAN STEARN (CIVIL ENGINEERING) LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2024
Profit and loss account
The Company operates defined contribution schemes for the directors and the employees. The assets of the schemes are held separately from those of the Company in independently administered funds. Pension contributions during the year amounted to £
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DURMAN STEARN (CIVIL ENGINEERING) LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2024
The immediate and ultimate parent undertaking is Durman Stearn Holdings Limited, a company incorporated in England and Wales, which holds 100% of the Company's issued share capital.
The ultimate controlling party is Mr J A Durman by virtue of his majority shareholding in Durman Stearn Holdings Limited.
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