These financial statements have been prepared and delivered in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime.

The directors of the company have elected not to include a copy of the income statement within the financial statements.true

Bents Property Limited is a private company, limited by shares, registered in England and Wales. The company's registered number is 06470506 and its registered office address is Bents Garden Centre, Warrington Road, Leigh End, Glazebury, Warrington, WA3 5NT.

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with FRS 102 “The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland” (“FRS 102”) and the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 as applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime. The disclosure requirements of section 1A of FRS 102 have been applied other than where additional disclosure is required to show a true and fair view.

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 £.

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, modified to include investment properties at fair value. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.

The company has net assets of £14,961,321 (2024: £14,649,615) and net current liabilities of £8,676,674 (2024: £8,782,624) at the statement of financial position date, the profit before tax for the financial year was £735,829 (2024: £851,019). In excess of 98% of the company's rental income relates to a lease with a fellow group undertaking, which expires in 9 years. Included within creditors is an amount of £8,573,515 (2024: £8,412,450) owed to a fellow subsidiary. The directors of the fellow subsidiary have confirmed that this support will be available for the foreseeable future. The company is also financed by bank loans which mature in 2026.true

On this basis, the directors consider that the company will have adequate reserves to continue to trade for the foreseeable future and continue to adopt the going concern basis in the preparation of the financial statements.

Turnover is recognised on property rentals on a straight line basis over the period of the lease. Amounts received in advance are deferred and recognised as they fall due.

Investment properties are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at fair value while a reliable measure of fair value is available without due cost or effort. Changes in fair value are recognised in the income statement.

Cash and cash equivalents are basic financial assets and 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 company 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 company's statement of financial position when the company 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 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.

Basic financial liabilities, including creditors, bank loans, loans from fellow group companies and preference shares that are classified as debt, 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 enters into interest rate swap contracts in order to manage its exposure to interest rate risk.

Derivatives are initially measured at fair value at the date a derivative contract is entered into and are subsequently measured to fair value at each reporting end date. The resulting gain or loss is recognised in other comprehensive income immediately unless the derivative is designated and effective as a hedging instrument, in which event the timing of the recognition in the income statement depends on the nature of the hedge relationship.

A derivative with a positive fair value is recognised as a financial asset whereas a derivative with a negative fair value is recognised as financial liability. The company enters into interest rate swap contracts in order to manage its exposure to interest rate risk.

To qualify for hedge accounting, the company documents the hedged item, the hedging instrument and the hedging relationship between them, and the causes of the hedge ineffectiveness (such as different maturities, nominal amounts or variable rates, and counterparty credit risk).

The company elects to adopt hedge accounting for interest rate swaps where:

• the interest rate swap is a qualifying hedging instrument with an external party that hedges interest rate risk on a loan, part of the nominal amount of a loan, or a group of loans managed together that share the same risk and that qualify as a hedged item,

• the hedging relationship between the interest rate swap and the interest rate risk on the loan is consistent with the risk management objectives for undertaking hedges (i.e. to manage the risk that fixed interest rates become unfavourable in comparison to current market rates or the variability in cash flows arising from variable interest rates); and

• the change in the fair value of the interest rate swap is expected to move inversely to the change in the fair value of the interest rate risk on the loan.

Where an interest rate swap that converts variable rate debt into fixed rate debt qualifies for hedge accounting, it is accounted for as a cash flow hedge. The cumulative change in the fair value of the interest rate swap is recognised in other comprehensive income up to the amount of the cumulative fair value movement on the variable rate debt that is attributable to the variable interest rate risk. Any excess fair value gains or losses on the interest rate swap not recognised in other comprehensive income are recognised in the income statement. The gains and losses recognised in other comprehensive income are recorded as a separate component of equity (the cash flow hedge reserve).

Net cash settlements on the interest rate swap are recognised in the income statement in the periods when the net cash settlements accrue. The cash flow hedge reserve is reclassified to the income statement when the variable rate interest is recognised in the income statement.

Hedge accounting is discontinued when a floating to fixed rate swap expires, is sold, terminated or exercised, or when the conditions for hedge accounting are no longer met or the company documents its election to discontinue hedge accounting. Any fair value gains or losses accumulated in the cash flow hedge reserve are reclassified to the income statement, either when the variable interest rate expense is recognised in the income statement, or immediately on discontinuation of hedge accounting if future variable interest rate cash flows are no longer expected to occur.

The tax expense represents the sum of the tax currently payable and deferred tax.

The tax currently payable is based on taxable profit for the year. Taxable profit differs from net profit as reported in the income statement because it excludes items of income or expense that are taxable or deductible in other years and it further excludes items that are never taxable or deductible. The company’s liability for current tax is calculated using tax rates that have been enacted or substantively enacted by the reporting end date.

Deferred tax liabilities are generally recognised for all timing differences and deferred tax assets are recognised to the extent that it is probable that they will be recovered against the reversal of deferred tax liabilities or other future taxable profits. Such assets and liabilities are not recognised if the timing difference arises from goodwill or from the initial recognition of other assets and liabilities in a transaction that affects neither the tax profit nor the accounting profit.

The carrying amount of deferred tax assets is reviewed at each reporting end date and reduced to the extent that it is no longer probable that sufficient taxable profits will be available to allow all or part of the asset to be recovered. Deferred tax is calculated at the tax rates that are expected to apply in the period when the liability is settled or the asset is realised. Deferred tax is charged or credited in the income statement, except when it relates to items charged or credited directly to equity, in which case the deferred tax is also dealt with in equity. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are offset when the company has a legally enforceable right to offset current tax assets and liabilities and the deferred tax assets and liabilities relate to taxes levied by the same tax authority.

Related party exemption

The company has taken advantage of exemption, under the terms of Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland', not to disclose related party transactions with wholly owned subsidiaries within the group.

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.

The estimates and assumptions which have a significant risk of causing material adjustment to the carrying amount of assets and liabilities are outlined below.

Estimating the fair value of the investment property, given a lack of comparable market data. The fair value of investment property included in the accounts, is based on the directors experience and the use of experts.

The average monthly number of persons (including directors) employed by the company during the year was:

If investment property had not been revalued it would have been included at the following historical cost as £24,762,973 (2024: £24,742,418).

Investment property was valued on an open market basis on 27 September 2023 by CBRE Ltd an independent property valuation company. The property is maintained to a similar excellent condition, there has been no decline in activity from the tenant so the value in use remains the same and there are no empty units. Therefore, the directors are of the opinion that this represents the fair value at the statement of financial position date.

The bank loans are secured by a fixed and floating charge over the company's investment properties and land adjoining Warrington Road, Glazebury, Leigh, Lancashire.

Fair value reserve

The cumulative fair value gains and losses in respect of investment properties and associated deferred tax.

Profit and loss reserves

Cumulative profit and loss net of distribution to owners.

The following are the major deferred tax liabilities and assets recognised by the company and movements thereon:

As the income statement has been omitted from the filing copy of the financial statements, the following information in relation to the audit report on the statutory financial statements is provided in accordance with s444(5B) of the Companies Act 2006.

The auditor's report is unqualified and includes the following:

In our opinion the financial statements:

• give a true and fair view of the state of the company's affairs as at 31 January 2025 and of its profit for the year then ended;

• have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and

• have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

The company has a cross guarantee and debenture with Bents Garden Centre Limited, a fellow subsidiary undertaking, and Bents Holdings Limited, the parent company, to secure bank loan facilities with Barclays Bank plc. At 31 January 2025 the respective bank borrowings totalled £10,500,000 (2024: £10,500,000).

Bents Holdings Limited is the immediate parent company and for which consolidated accounts including Bents Property Limited are prepared, and these are available from Bents Garden Centre, Warrington Road, Leigh End, Glazebury, Warrington, WA3 5NT.