The trustees present their report and financial statements for the year ended 30 November 2024.
The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the accounts and comply with the charity's governing document, the Companies Act 2006 and “Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)” (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2016)
The charity's objects are to acquire, protect, preserve, restore, maintain, house, operate and supply Diesel Multiple Units (Railcars) for the benefit of the public. To operate Diesel Multiple Units (Railcars) on the Llangollen Railway or such other railways the Charity may from time to time decide for the benefit of the public in order that the public may observe the Diesel Multiple Units (Railcars) operating in the manner for which they were designed. To collect, catalogue, produce, write, publish, commission, obtain, make available, sell, lend and otherwise produce literature, maintenance manuals and other relevant documentation and information in respect of Diesel Multiple Units (Railcars) for the benefit of the public and for other owners and operators of similar historic rolling stock.
The policies adopted in furtherance of these objects are to raise funds - in doing so, the Charity must not undertake any substantial permanent trading activity and must comply with any relevant statutory regulations. To buy, take on, lease or in exchange, hire or otherwise acquire any property and to maintain and equip it for use. To sell, lease or otherwise dispose of all or any part of the property belonging to the Charity. In exercising this power, the Charity must comply as appropriate with sections 117 to 123 of the Charities Act 2011. To borrow money and to charge the whole or part of the property belonging to the Charity as security for repayment of the money borrowed. The Charity must comply as appropriate with sections 124 to 126 of the Charities Act 2011 if it wishes to mortgage land. To co-operate with other charities, voluntary bodies and statutory authorities and to exchange information and advice with them. To establish or support any charitable trusts, associations or institutions formed for any of the charitable purposes included in the Objectives. To acquire, merge with or enter into any partnership or joint venture arrangement with any other charity formed for any of the Objectives. To set aside income as a reserve against future expenditure but only in accordance with a written policy about reserves and there has been no change in these during the year.
When planning our activities for the year, the Trustees have considered the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit, including the guidance on public benefit and fee setting and the area of benefit. The Charity relies on donations, fee income from train hire to railways, and sales of literature/souvenirs. The Trustees give careful consideration to the accessibility of the railcars, ensuring that participation in its activities is available to all on a no fee basis, and that educational and instructional material is available at cost. In setting the levels of hire fees, the Trustees give careful consideration to the accessibility of the Railcars to all members of the public. In the loan or hire of railcars to other Railways and the dissemination of educational material the Trustees give careful consideration to the geographical area of benefit to benefit the wider public and not restrict this benefit to one geographical area.
Technical and historical information has continued to be made available to those bodies requiring it, both public and private, on request and without charge.
As members of the Railcar Association we have continued to play a pivotal part in the overseeing of the "Model Maintenance Scheme", assisting in the safe operation of railcar trains on UK heritage railways.
The trustees have paid due regard to guidance issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities the charity should undertake.
Trustee meetings continue approximately monthly, with the agenda and usually a discussion document circulated beforehand for consideration at a ‘Zoom’ meeting a few days later.
Review of the Year
2023/2024 has seen the operations at the Llangollen Railway continue. Steam services have seen a small increase this year although financial considerations combined with the lack of availability of suitable coal for steam services mean that the railway is still more heavily dependent on diesel traction than it was pre-covid. Our railcar fleet has this year operated on less service days than it did last year but has been asked to supply charter services on non-timetabled days, we have also filled in at times of non-availability of the booked traction.
We have ended the with profit, much of which is earmarked for restoration projects, as well as investment in spares, and improvements to depot and mess facilities which have been made and similar investment is expected to continue in the next financial year.
Achievements
Miles covered by the units for this year totalled 8967 which is a reduction of 133 miles over the previous year, this was brought about mainly by the loss of summer services to steam and diesel locomotive hauled services but was offset by opening the extension of the line to Corwen in the summer of 2023 and the use of our units for charter hire on days when no public services were running.
The re-upholstery of the class 108 was completed early enough to make the unit available for the start of the running season and has been used for the bulk of the services during the year in conjunction with other units when a 4-car set was required.
The Class 127/108 unit has seen its' first full season in traffic after bodywork restoration(completed in September 2023) and has been trouble free.
The restoration of Class 105 trailer 56456 also continues at Llangollen, the interior panelling is nearing completion, consideration will be turning to restoring the toilet compartment and later to refurbishment of the seat frames and reupholstery of the seat cushions themselves.
The Class 100 trailer 56097 has seen much progress on the interior restoration at The Midland Railway, Butterley, also both vehicles(56097 and 51118) have received a repaint with the intention of providing some more protection against the weather and to provide a solid base for the final painting in the future. Furthermore, replacement hardwood trim for windows, doors etc has been bought to complete the interior of both vehicles.
The Class 104 returned to service in time for the DMU gala in October, but sadly no. 50454 suffered a catastrophic wheel bearing failure in November which resulted in contractors being required to return the disabled vehicle back to the depot at Pentrefelin. The trustees are very grateful to the board of The Llangollen Railway Trust for their financial support in this matter. Investigations are currently underway to formulate a suitable repair plan.
Train hire income was reduced on the previous year at £36,585.08, this was due to aforementioned reduction in the number of running days. First class supplements have again done well bringing in £3,386.05, other donations including monthly donations by members brought in £2,526.87.
Again our biggest expense this year was fuel although the price does seem to have stabilised somewhat this year. The restoration projects as stated previously have been funded as the work progresses and there has been continued investment in depot equipment and facilities. One example of this is the replacement of the CCTV system after a local lightning strike disabled the complete system, surge protection has now been fitted to prevent a repeat of this.
We finished the year with a net profit of £9,763.96. We are expecting to be investing heavily this year to continue restoration projects which will need input from specialist contractors and so have built up the savings with this in mind.
2024 was again a remunerative year and the Board of Trustees believe that they have taken fair advantage of this. We believe that the Llangollen Railway Trust will, in the foreseeable future continue to avail themselves of our services.
The Charity's policy is to maintain unrestricted funds of between three and six months' expenditure in cash or equivalents and a reserve account holding approximately six months' operating costs has been created this year. This ensures that, in the event of a significant drop in funding, the Charity's current activities can continue while additional funds are raised. This level of reserves has been maintained throughout the year. The Trustees have assessed the major risks to which the Charity is exposed, and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate exposure to the risks identified.
The trustees have assessed the major risks to which the charity is exposed, and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate exposure to the major risks.
Looking forward
The Llangollen Railway's operations have generally continued with the traction policy put in place when the Llangollen Railway Trust took over from the PLC, and far more attention is still being paid to the profitability of its operations.
The value of our offering has benefitted us enormously, and also LRT as well; this is likely to continue for a number of years.
The Trustees would like to thank all the volunteers in the Llangollen Railcars Ltd, who have ensured that we have been able to provide the services requested in 2024.
We have managed to recruit some new volunteers which will hopefully guarantee the continuance of Llangollen Railcars Ltd further into the future.
The charity is a company limited by guarantee and was incorporated on 16th February 2007. The incorporated charity began trading on 1st December 2007.
The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:
The Charity has four trustees - half of whom must retire by rotation each year. Appointment or re-appointment of trustees is on a one member one vote basis at the Annual General Meeting each year. Vacancies are advertised amongst the members.
None of the trustees has any beneficial interest in the company. All of the trustees are members of the company and guarantee to contribute £10 in the event of the Charity being wound-up or dissolved.
The company's current policy concerning the payment of trade creditors is to follow the CBI's Prompt Payers Code (http://www.promptpaymentcode.org.uk/).
The company's current policy concerning the payment of trade creditors is to:
settle the terms of payment with suppliers when agreeing the terms of each transaction;
pay in accordance with the company's contractual and other legal obligations.
Trade creditors of the company at the year end were equivalent to seventeen days' purchases, based on the average daily amount invoiced by suppliers during the year.
There are no related parties other than the trustees.
There are no related parties other then the trustees.
The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of Llangollen Railcars Limited (the charity) for the year ended 30 November 2024.
Having satisfied myself that the financial statements of the charity are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s financial statements carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011. In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act 2011.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 386 of the Companies Act 2006.
the financial statements do not accord with those records; or
the financial statements do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the Companies Act 2006 other than any requirement that the financial statements give a true and fair view, which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
the financial statements have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their financial statements in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the financial statements to be reached.
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
Llangollen Railcars Limited is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is The Station, Abbey Road, Llangollen, Denbighshire, LL20 8SN.
The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the charity's governing document, the Companies Act 2006 and “Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)” (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2016). The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.
The charity has taken advantage of the provisions in the SORP for charities applying FRS 102 Update Bulletin 1 not to prepare a Statement of Cash Flows.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. 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.
At the time of approving the financial statements, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.
Cash donations are recognised on receipt. Other donations are recognised once the charity has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount. Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid or deeds of covenant is recognised at the time of the donation.
Income is derived from hire charges to the railways and donations. General donations are all treated as unrestricted and do not specifically relate to any purpose.
All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs related to the category.
Charitable activities expenses are those costs incurred in the hire of the trains to the railways.
Fundraising trading costs are those incurred in the hire of trains to the railways.
Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.
Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost less depreciation.No depreciation is charged on an asset under restoration. Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write off the cost less estimated residual value of each asset over its expected useful life, as follows:
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 recognised in the statement of financial activities.
At each reporting end date, the charity reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible assets to determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss. If any such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in order to determine the extent of the impairment loss (if any).
Cash and cash equivalents 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.
The charity 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 charity's balance sheet when the charity 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 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.
Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of operations 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.
Financial liabilities are derecognised when the charity’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.
In the application of the charity’s accounting policies, the trustees 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.
Other Income
Fuel
Lubricants
Parts
Other expenses
Storage charges
Postage and stationery
Website hosting
Accountancy
None of the trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration during the year.
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
The charity is exempt from taxation on its activities because all its income is applied for charitable purposes.
The unrestricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants which are not subject to specific conditions by donors and grantors as to how they may be used. These include designated funds which have been set aside out of unrestricted funds by the trustees for specific purposes.
During the year the charity entered into the following transactions with related parties:
There were no donations made to the company by Trustees.(2023 Dr J Joyce £180)