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Registered number:
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JANUARY 2025
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FIRMDALE HOLDINGS LIMITED
COMPANY INFORMATION
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FIRMDALE HOLDINGS LIMITED
CONTENTS
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FIRMDALE HOLDINGS LIMITED
GROUP STRATEGIC REPORT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JANUARY 2025
The directors have pleasure in presenting their report and the financial statements of the Group for the year ended 31 January 2025.
The principal activity of the Company is that of luxury hotel developer and operator in central London and New York. The properties it owns and operates in London are the Covent Garden Hotel, the Charlotte Street Hotel, the Soho Hotel, the Haymarket Hotel and the Ham Yard hotel in the West End, the Number 16 hotel in South Kensington, the Dorset Square Hotel in Marylebone and the Knightsbridge hotel in Knightsbridge. In New York it owns and operates the Crosby Street Hotel and the Whitby Hotel in the downtown Soho and Midtown districts of Manhattan respectively. In February 2024 a third hotel property was opened in the Tribeca area of New York close to the World Trade Centre.
The company was very pleased to receive the King’s Award for Enterprise 2024 in recognition of its outstanding contribution to International Trade. The company has previously been a recipient of the (Queen’s) Award on four occasions. These awards are the most prestigious UK accolades for business. Other recent accolades are inclusion in the Sunday Times list of Best Places to Work 2024, and the Crosby Street and The Whitby hotels being listed as two out of only four hotels in New York to receive the maximum Three Michelin Keys. This was Michelin’s first ever list of hotels in the US offering the “world’s most remarkable and extraordinary stays”. Despite only having recently opened, the Warren Street hotel received one Michelin key, and has also been included in the Conde Nast Traveller and Travel & Leisure magazine lists of best new hotels in the world. Revenue Performance The UK economy in 2024 was characterised by weak economic growth with significant rises in the cost of living putting pressure on disposable incomes and corporate budgets alike. Continuing high interest rates provided a further drag on activity. However, international visitor numbers and spend continue to rise and hospitality remains one of the UK’s fastest growing sectors. Against this background, total combined 2024/25 revenues for the eight London hotels operated by the company were a new record £125.1m, a 3.9% increase on prior year with growth in both rooms and food & beverage activity. In New York the well established Crosby Street and Whitby hotels produced combined total revenues of £75.6m, representing an 8.0% increase over prior year. The Crosby Street Hotel remains one of the highest yielding hotels in Manhattan. The newly opened Warren Street Hotel in New York produced total revenues of £11.8m in its first year of operation. Total Group Turnover for the financial year was £220m, a 11.2% increase on prior year, and a new record for the Group.
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FIRMDALE HOLDINGS LIMITED
GROUP STRATEGIC REPORT (CONTINUED)
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JANUARY 2025
The principal financial risks faced by the Group, and the Group's objectives and policies in relation to those risks, are as follows;
Cash flow risk The finance department closely manages the Group's cashflow. Detailed cashflow forecasts are regularly prepared with the objective of alerting the directors to potential future risks. It is the Group's policy to ensure that forecast funding requirements can be met with available committed facilities. Please also refer to going concern section below which further details liquidity requirements and the directors’ consideration of this position at the reporting date. Credit risk Credit risk is the financial exposure generated by the potential default of third parties in fulfilling their obligations. Credit risk arises for the Group if it is unable to recover sums due from clients and is mitigated by setting maximum levels of credit tolerance for more significant clients. For Firmdale this risk is very small as the value of Trade Debtors was less than 0.5% of Net Assets. Currency risk The Group faces currency risk on translation of its overseas net assets and earnings. The Group monitor exchange rate movements and consider strategies to mitigate this impact as and when significant movements arise. Interest rate risk At the year end date the Group has fixed interest payment obligations representing 81% of its total borrowings. The remaining balance is subject to variable bank base rates which appear to be softening from the peak rates seen in recent years.
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FIRMDALE HOLDINGS LIMITED
GROUP STRATEGIC REPORT (CONTINUED)
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JANUARY 2025
Earnings before tax, depreciation, property fair value movements and the new property opening showed a profit of £47.9m (2024 – £43.4m).
Combined average room rate across the eight London managed and operated properties was £548 (2024 - £562) a decline of 2.5% year on year as occupancy became the key focus for growth. Combined average occupancy across the eight London managed and operated properties was 79.6% (2024 – 75.0%) a 6.1% points increase year on year. The resultant average rooms yield (RevPAR) growth across the eight London managed and operated properties was 3.6%. In New York, the Crosby Street Hotel and the Whitby Hotel delivered average room rates of $1,398 and $1,333 respectively, and average occupancies of 76.5% and 77.4% respectively. Combined Room Revenues increased by 7.6% over prior year. Food & Beverage Revenues in London increased 3.4% over prior year. In New York Food & Beverage Revenues increased by 9.9% over prior year. Income from Private Events contributed 10.6% (2024 – 10.3%) of total revenues in London and 13.5% (2024 – 12.6%) in New York. Conversion of Group Hotel Revenues to Gross Operating Profit declined year on year from 42.8% to 41.6% as a result of significant cost inflation across the industry as a whole.
The directors review the cashflows and liabilities of Firmdale Holdings Ltd and its subsidiaries (“the Group”) as a whole in making assessments of the Group’s ability to meet its liabilities as they fall due. Therefore, as part of their assessment of going concern, the directors of the company have considered the funding and liquidity position of the Group to determine the appropriateness of preparing the financial statements on a going concern basis.
The net current liabilities figure of £370m reported in the January 2024 Group Financial Statements was driven by three very substantial long term loans maturing in November 2024, a total of £386m. In London the maturing debt of £236m was successfully refinanced with Lloyds and HSBC banks, both facilities for a term of five years. The New York US$200m maturing debt, the equivalent of £150m, was rolled over by exercising the second of three options to extend for a further twelve months. The third option remains available for us to exercise in November 2025, but in the interim we are undertaking a review of the lending market with local debt advisory professionals to see if available terms for an early full refinance are attractive. Trading for the first quarter of the 2025/26 financial year has exceeded budget in both London and New York. Forward bookings are strong, and prospects for delivering on budget for the remainder of the financial year remain good. In light of the positive trading and cash generation projections, continuing delivery of financial covenant requirements and supportive banks, the Board has a high degree of confidence that the company will be able to meet its liabilities as they fall due and meet its covenant obligations for a period of at least twelve months. The Directors have therefore concluded that the company can continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the annual report and accounts. The Board will continue to monitor developments closely and adjust their forecasting assumptions as required.
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FIRMDALE HOLDINGS LIMITED
GROUP STRATEGIC REPORT (CONTINUED)
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JANUARY 2025
The directors consider the successful running of the Group in terms of achieving its long-term growth strategy which centres around building a sustainable, profitable business which has brand reputation at its heart. The success of the Group centres around positive and effective dealings with all the stakeholders of the Group and the directors were mindful of the long-term consequences of key commercial decisions made during the year, and determined that these were in the interest of the Group's employees, suppliers, customers and other stakeholders, as they were all aligned to the Group's growth strategy.
The Group's success depends on maintaining a reputation for high standards of business conduct with customers and other stakeholders, whether in relation to specific community issues or with regard to environmental issues such as minimising the production of waste. The directors confirm that throughout the year they have acted in the way that they consider, in good faith, to be most likely to promote the success of the company for the benefit of its members as a whole.
This report was approved by the board and signed on its behalf.
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FIRMDALE HOLDINGS LIMITED
DIRECTORS' REPORT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JANUARY 2025
The directors present their report and the financial statements for the year ended 31 January 2025.
The directors are responsible for preparing the Group strategic report, the Directors' report and the consolidated 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 Group's financial statements and then apply them consistently;
∙make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
∙state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
∙prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Group 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 the Group 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 the Group and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
The loss for the year, after taxation, amounted to £29,434 thousand (2024 - loss £10,714 thousand).
The directors do not recommend the payment of a dividend (2024 - £Nil).
The directors who served during the year were:
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FIRMDALE HOLDINGS LIMITED
DIRECTORS' REPORT (CONTINUED)
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JANUARY 2025
The Company continues to seek further hotel opportunities in London, New York and Paris.
A long leasehold interest in three adjacent buildings in the Bloomsbury area was acquired in April 2022. Planning permission for converting these to a hotel as part of the Firmdale Town House collection was received in September 2024. The redevelopment work has commenced with a view to opening in Autumn 2026. In May 2025 a large piece of freehold land in the Shoreditch area of London was secured for future development of a first class hotel.
The company has established a risk and financial management framework whose primary objectives are to protect the company from events that hinder the achievement of the company's performance objectives.
The objectives aim to limit undue counterparty exposure, ensure sufficient working capital exists and monitor the management of risk at a business unit level. Further detail in respect to the company's exposure to risks such as cash flow and liquidity risk has been provided in the strategic report on pages 1 - 4.
The Group recognises that its employees are fundamental to the success of their service driven business. It is therefore committed to maximising workforce potential by supporting the learning and development needs of each individual member of staff. Good communication with employees is also considered essential. As a matter of principle the Group actively promotes from within wherever possible and provides competitive rates of pay and benefits.
The Group consciously looks for suppliers who echo its ethos, be it in environmental awareness or social consideration. The Group’s purchasing philosophy is to meet the demands and expectations of a global clientele by sourcing from quality, local and diverse suppliers. This is implemented by forming long term partnerships with suppliers, working closely in partnership with them.
The Group's supplier relationships are based on lawful, efficient and fair practices. We expect our suppliers to demonstrate they treat workers fairly and provide a safe and healthy work environment, way beyond the basic statutory regulations concerning forced labour or human trafficking. Customer relations are paramount in the company’s belief system. The company actively encourage customer comments and feedback and every form of correspondence, both positive and negative, is answered by a senior manager. A rigorous Mystery Guest programme is run across the Group with stringent guidelines on what service standards to test and what guests should expect. This has proven successful in highlighting areas that require improvement or indeed that are working well. Every employee of the company is encouraged to see service and experiences through the eyes of the customer. As a result of our long term pursuit of service excellence, more than 50% of the company’s business continues to be generated from returning guests.
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FIRMDALE HOLDINGS LIMITED
DIRECTORS' REPORT (CONTINUED)
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JANUARY 2025
The Group takes very seriously its responsibilities to improve its energy efficiency and reduce its carbon footprint. Firmdale Hotels meets the requirements of CEMARSTM certification having measured its greenhouse gas emissions in compliance with the requirements of ISO 14064-1:2006 and is committed to managing and reducing its emissions in respect of the operational activities of its organisation, which has been closely monitored since 2008.
We have already made significant reductions in the level of energy consumed, since our base year of 2010 showing a 20% reduction. Year on year we show a slight increase displayed below in our GHG emissions and energy used inventory chart. However important to note rooms occupied across the group increased by 4% sitting at 136054 against last year of 130430, therefore showing our room intensity at a par year on year, and still showing a reduction from 2010.
The emissions data presented below is for Ham Yard Investments Limited and Firmdale Property Investments Limited only and they have taken exemption from dislosing this data in their individual financial statements under s415 (2) of the Companies Act 2006.
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FIRMDALE HOLDINGS LIMITED
DIRECTORS' REPORT (CONTINUED)
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JANUARY 2025
As permitted by paragraph 1A of schedule 7 of the Large and Medium Sized Companies and Groups (Accounts and Reports) Regulation 2008, certain matters which are required to be disclosed in the directors' report have been omitted as they are included in the strategic report on pages 1 - 4.
There have been no significant events affecting the Group since the year end.
This report was approved by the board and signed on its behalf.
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FIRMDALE HOLDINGS LIMITED
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF FIRMDALE HOLDINGS LIMITED
We have audited the financial statements of Firmdale Holdings Limited (the 'parent Company') and its subsidiaries (the 'Group') for the year ended 31 January 2025, which comprise the Consolidated statement of comprehensive income, the Consolidated statement of financial position, the Company statement of financial position, the Consolidated statement of cash flows, the Consolidated statement of changes in equity, the Company 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 Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the Group 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 Group's or the parent 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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FIRMDALE HOLDINGS LIMITED
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF FIRMDALE HOLDINGS LIMITED (CONTINUED)
The other information comprises the information included in the Annual Report other than the financial statements and our Auditor's 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 Group 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 Group 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 Group and the parent Company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Group strategic report or the Directors' report.
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FIRMDALE HOLDINGS LIMITED
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF FIRMDALE HOLDINGS 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 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 Group 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:
∙enquiry of management, those charged with governance and Company legal advisors around actual and potential litigation and claims;
∙performing audit work over the risk and management override of controls, including testing of journal entries and other adjustments for appropriateness, evaluating the business rationale of significant transactions outside the normal course of business and reviewing accounting estimates for bias;
∙reviewing minutes of meetings of those charged with governance; and
∙reviewing financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations
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 Auditor's report.
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FIRMDALE HOLDINGS LIMITED
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF FIRMDALE HOLDINGS 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 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.
for and on behalf of
Statutory Auditor
London, United Kingdom
MHA is the trading name of MHA Audit Services LLP, a limited liability partnership in England and Wales (registered number OC455542)
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FIRMDALE HOLDINGS LIMITED
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JANUARY 2025
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FIRMDALE HOLDINGS LIMITED
REGISTERED NUMBER: 04648681
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION
AS AT 31 JANUARY 2025
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FIRMDALE HOLDINGS LIMITED
REGISTERED NUMBER: 04648681
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION (CONTINUED)
AS AT 31 JANUARY 2025
The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the board and were signed on its behalf by:
The notes on pages 23 to 53 form part of these financial statements.
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FIRMDALE HOLDINGS LIMITED
REGISTERED NUMBER: 04648681
COMPANY STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION
AS AT 31 JANUARY 2025
The loss for the company for the year ended 31 January 2025 amounted to £4,000 (2024:£nil).
The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the board and were signed on its behalf by:
The notes on pages 23 to 53 form part of these financial statements.
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CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JANUARY 2024
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