Registered number: NI008586
For the Year Ended 31 December 2024
Ireland Freight Services (UK) Ltd
Company Information
Ireland Freight Services (UK) Ltd
Contents
Ireland Freight Services (UK) Ltd
Group Strategic Report
For the Year Ended 31 December 2024
The directors present their strategic report for the year ended 31 December 2024 The directors, in preparing their strategic report, have complied with s414C of the Companies Act 2006. This strategic report has been prepared for the Group as a whole.
Ireland Freight Services (UK) Ltd (the "Company") is the parent of the group (the "Group") that includes IFS Global Logistics Ltd, IFS Courier Express Ltd, IFS Contract Services Ltd, CMASS Ltd, and Bravura Developments Limited. During the year the dormant subsidiary companies Williames Airfreight Ltd, BRS Air Cargo Ltd, Ticketlink Travel Ltd, Linkslade Properties Limited and IFS Cumbria Ltd, were struck off.
The principal activity of the Group continued to be that of freight contracting.
The directors consider the outcome for the year to be disappointing but reflective of the challenging operating environment. The year end financial position is considered to be satisfactory and reflects the strong financial controls in operating at the Group.
The principal activity of the Group continued to be that of freight contracting.
The directors consider the outcome for the year to be disappointing but reflective of the challenging operating environment. The year end financial position is considered to be satisfactory and reflects the strong financial controls in operating at the Group.
The principal risks facing the Group are credit, margin, regulatory and other financial risks. The Group has appropriate controls in place to manage these risks.
The key business risk and uncertainties affecting the Group are considered to relate to competition from both other local and national freight forwarding contractors, employee retention, the business impact of Brexit including the introduction of the Northern Ireland Protocol on the movement of goods into, out of, or through Northern Ireland and general economic conditions.
Due to the Group's reputation, standing and position in the market place, the directors are of the opinion that the risks and uncertainties facing the company can be adequately managed.
The key business risk and uncertainties affecting the Group are considered to relate to competition from both other local and national freight forwarding contractors, employee retention, the business impact of Brexit including the introduction of the Northern Ireland Protocol on the movement of goods into, out of, or through Northern Ireland and general economic conditions.
Due to the Group's reputation, standing and position in the market place, the directors are of the opinion that the risks and uncertainties facing the company can be adequately managed.
The directors consider turnover, gross profit margin, profit before tax and equity shareholders' funds as the main measures of financial performance. Turnover has decreased from £17,284,,739 in 2023 to £15.058,844 in 2024. Gross margin increased from 45.17% to 46.49% in 2024. Profit before tax decreased from £1,458,5899 to £480,802 in 2024. Net assets remain strong at £7,365,026 (2023 - £7,912,052).
This report was approved by the board on 22 July 2025 and signed on its behalf.
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Ireland Freight Services (UK) Ltd
Directors' Report
For the Year Ended 31 December 2024
The directors present their report and the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024.
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 judgments 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 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 profit for the year, after taxation and minority interests, amounted to £191,513 (2023 - £873,779).
Dividends paid in the year amounted to £887,674 (2023 - £1,157,037).
The directors who served during the year were:
The directors expect that all future developments will relate to the principal activities of the Group.
The Ireland Freight Services (UK) Group are committed to carrying on all its activities in a socially responsible manner, including its ongoing committment to equality and employee participation.
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Ireland Freight Services (UK) Ltd
Directors' Report (continued)
For the Year Ended 31 December 2024
There have been no events which affect the Group since the year end.
The auditors, Sumer Auditco NI Limited, will be proposed for reappointment in accordance with section 485 of the Companies Act 2006.
This report was approved by the board on 22 July 2025 and signed on its behalf.
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Ireland Freight Services (UK) Ltd
Independent Auditors' Report to the Members of Ireland Freight Services (UK) Ltd
We have audited the financial statements of Ireland Freight Services (UK) Ltd (the 'parent Company') and its subsidiaries (the 'Group') for the year ended 31 December 2024, which comprise the Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income, the Consolidated Balance Sheet, the Company Balance Sheet, 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 Auditors' 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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Ireland Freight Services (UK) Ltd
Independent Auditors' Report to the Members of Ireland Freight Services (UK) Ltd (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 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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Ireland Freight Services (UK) Ltd
Independent Auditors' Report to the Members of Ireland Freight Services (UK) Ltd (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 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:
We gained an understanding of the legal and regulatory framework applicable to the Group and the parent Company and the industry in which they operate, and considered the risk of acts by the Group and the parent Company that were contrary to applicable laws and regulations, including fraud. We considered the opportunities and incentives that may exist within the Group and the parent Company for fraud and identified the greatest potential for fraud in the following areas: timing of revenue recognition and posting of unusual journals together with complex transactions.
We designed audit procedures to respond to these risks, recognising that the risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery or intentional misrepresentations, or through collusion. Our audit procedures included: specific test over revenue recognition, enquiries of management about their own identification and assessment of risks of irregularities, sample testing of journals posted during the year and a review of areas of judgement for indicators of management bias to address the risks.
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.
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Ireland Freight Services (UK) Ltd
Independent Auditors' Report to the Members of Ireland Freight Services (UK) Ltd (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 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
Statutory Auditors
Glendinning House
6 Murray Street
BT1 6DN
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Ireland Freight Services (UK) Ltd
Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income
For the Year Ended 31 December 2024
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Ireland Freight Services (UK) Ltd
Registered number: NI008586
Consolidated Balance Sheet
As at 31 December 2024
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Ireland Freight Services (UK) Ltd
Registered number: NI008586
Consolidated Balance Sheet (continued)
As at 31 December 2024
The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the board and were signed on its behalf on 22 July 2025.
The notes on pages 16 to 36 form part of these financial statements.
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Ireland Freight Services (UK) Ltd
Registered number: NI008586
Company Balance Sheet
As at 31 December 2024
The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the board and were signed on its behalf on 22 July 2025 .
The notes on pages 16 to 36 form part of these financial statements.
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