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Registered Number:
ANNUAL REPORT AND CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JANUARY 2025
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COMPANY INFORMATION
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CONTENTS
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GROUP STRATEGIC REPORT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JANUARY 2025
The Directors present their Strategic Report and the financial statements for the year ended 31 January 2024.
The principal activity of the Company during the year was that of an investment holding company. The principal activites of the trading subsidiaries during the year was that of the manufacture and marketing of G.R.P mouldings and fabrications and the manufacture and marketing of commercial vehicle components and accessories.
Trading and costs During the year, turnover increased by £2,187,479 (10.2%) to £23,576,230 in the year. The increase was due to demand for products in the medical and automotive / industrial vehicle sectors, which was again tempered by a decrease in demand for chute products. The Group continued to navigate rising costs of raw materials: resin, glass and gelcoats. The cost of carriage and importing remained high as a result of increased post-Brexit administration and the cost of timber and packaging materials also remained high. The Group was obliged to put through a generous pay increase to try to assist those struggling with the cost of living crisis. The Group continues to monitor wage rates and employment perks so that it attracts and retains the best possible workforce. Despite the increases in costs, the Group has generated a profit for the financial year amounting to £1,265,203 (2023 - £58,882). Net assets have increased by £665,205 to £10,266,817 (2023 - £9,601,612). Quality The Group works hard to reinforce its high quality standards. The entire team is united in being proud of the products and services the Group offers. The Group remains committed to Quality Assurance and are continues to be fully compliant with ISO 9001. Furthermore, the Company holds its own UL (Underwriters Laboratories) Certification for the manufacture of fire-resistant polyester-based mouldings. The Company is also fully AEO (Authorised Economic Operator) authorised. Environmental The Group continues to be ISO 14001 accredited and recognises that its operations have an effect on the local, regional and global environment. The Group regards the proper management of the environmental aspects of its activities as mutually beneficial to all interested parties and it is committed to continuously improve its environmental performance and prevent pollution. The Group remains accredited to the Suffolk Carbon Charter, at the Bronze Level and the Group defines its environmental objectives and targets annually, monitoring progress regularly.
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GROUP STRATEGIC REPORT (CONTINUED)
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JANUARY 2025
Health & Safety
The Group’s number one focus is conducting its operations in a safe environment, where the risk of incidents and accidents occurring is minimised. It is proud to have been awarded the ISO 45001 Safety Management System Standard accreditation which is an accreditation developed by leading trade and international standard bodies. ISO 45001 provides a framework for organisations to instigate efficient and effective management of health and safety. The Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Specification (OHSAS), sets out the requirements for occupational Health and Safety management for best practise in the workplace. It is internationally accepted as a recognised standard of assessing and auditing occupational Health and Safety management systems. The Group’s incident and accident levels remain low and at levels lower than industry norms. No RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations) reportable incidents occurred during the current or preceding years.
A substantial part of our activities remains devoted to advancing moulding techniques and components and investigating ways of working with new materials. We constantly strive for innovation and creativity in order to meet our customers’ demands for new and improved products and processes. We undertake a continuous program of Research and Development to ensure we remain a market-leading manufacturer. Despite the challenges presented, this year has been no exception: we have continued our development work, selecting particular projects for focus as we explore and challenge different elements of our manufacturing process.
This year we have continued to experiment with new materials such as copper paint, copper mesh and carbon fibre. We have also been researching suitable replacements for products and chemicals that are no longer available. With ever-tightening legislation, products that we have used successfully for many years are becoming unavailable. When this happens, we are required to investigate, source and trial alternatives, or manufacture suitable compounds with available materials. We have been working on new ways to manufacture tooling, and following feedback from customers, we have devoted some time to enhancing the production process on our range of Safeglide chutes.
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GROUP STRATEGIC REPORT (CONTINUED)
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JANUARY 2025
The Group’s principal financial instruments are its bank balances, trade debtors and trade creditors. The purpose of these instruments is to fund the Group’s ongoing operations. Due to the nature of the financial instruments used by the Group and the way they are managed, the Directors consider the liquidity risk to be low.
The credit risk associated with the cash and bank balances is limited as the counterparties have high credit ratings assigned by international credit agencies. The principal credit risk arises from the Group’s trade debtors. In order to manage the credit risk the Directors set limits for new and existing customers based on a combination of payment history and third party credit references, along with maintaining good relationships with contacts at the highest level of those organisations. The Group has not experienced payment issues for many years, and expects that to continue in the foreseeable future. Trade creditors are managed by ensuring that there are sufficient funds available to meet amounts due. The Group’s bank facilities and the overall debt management of customers ensures that funds are always available to enable the Group to meet its liabilities as they fall due. Furthermore, the Group produces monthly management accounts which are reviewed by management against budget and used to monitor cash flow. The Group is exposed to price risk from its suppliers. Whilst the Group has absorbed some of these increases, at the risk of our its profitability, the Group has had no choice but to renegotiate with customers to ensure rising costs are covered, particularly where it must use directed suppliers as required by its customers. The Group follows a continuous improvement program to ensure that the latest developments are employed, including recommendations for cost savings as appropriate. The Group recognises its competitors both in the UK market and the wider global market. The Directors have considered the market risks associated with higher material prices combined with the Company’s ability to remain competitive in a global market place. The Directors continually monitor fluctuating economic trends, including exchange rate, inflation and interest rate predictions, and consider the interest rate risk to the Company to be minimal. As we navigate the extended period of global economic uncertainty, the Directors remain confident that the monitoring processes that the Company has in place will allow it to successfully navigate the next 12 months and beyond.
This report was approved by the Board on 23 October 2025 and signed on its behalf.
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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 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 Group's and 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 and minority interests, amounted to £288,183 (2024 - profit £1,101,495).
During the period, the Company declared and paid interim dividends amounting to £612,000 (2024 - £599,998). The Directors do not recommend the payment of a final and paid dividend (2024 - £Nil).
Since the year end, the Company declared and paid interim dividends amounting to £Nil in respect of the year ended 31 January 2025.
The Directors who served during the year, and to the date of this report, were:
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P H BETTS (HOLDINGS) LIMITED
DIRECTORS' REPORT (CONTINUED)
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JANUARY 2025
Details of the Group's risk management objective and policies, including its use of financial instruments and key risks to which it is exposed, are included in the Strategic Report.
Each of the persons who are Directors at the time when this Directors' Report is approved has confirmed that:
• so far as the Director is aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the Company's auditor is unaware; and • the Director has taken all the steps that ought to have been taken as a director in order to be aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the Company’s auditor is aware of that information.
The auditor, Sumer Auditco Limited, will be proposed for reappointment in accordance with section 485 of the Companies Act 2006.
This report was approved by the Board on
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INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF P H BETTS (HOLDINGS) LIMITED
We have audited the financial statements of P. H. Betts (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 and Company Balance Sheets, the Consolidated and Company Statement of Changes in Equity, the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows 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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P H BETTS (HOLDINGS) LIMITED
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF P H BETTS (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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P H BETTS (HOLDINGS) LIMITED
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF P H BETTS (HOLDINGS) LIMITED (CONTINUED)
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P H BETTS (HOLDINGS) LIMITED
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF P H BETTS (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:
We identified areas of laws and regulations that could reasonably be expected to have a material effect on the financial statements from our general commercial experience and through discussions and enquiries of the Directors and management. During the engagement team briefing, the outcomes of these discussions were shared with the team, as well as consideration as to where and how fraud may occur in the Group. The following laws and regulations were identified as being of significance to the Group. • Those laws and regulations considered to have a direct effect on the consolidated financial statements including UK financial reporting standards, UK Company Law and taxation legislation; and • Those laws and regulations considered to have a indirect effect on the consolidated financial statements including The Health & Safety Act 1974, COSHH regulations, GDPR, anti bribery and corruption, human rights and Employment law. Audit procedures undertaken in response to the potential risks relating to irregularities (which include fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations) comprised of: enquiries of management and those charged with governance as to whether the Group complies with such regulations; enquiries of management and those charged with governance concerning any actual or potential litigation or claims, inspection of relevant legal documentation, testing the appropriateness of journal entries and the performance of analytical review to identify any unexpected movements in account balances which may be indicative of fraud. There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures described above and the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely we would become aware of it. Irregularities that result from fraud might be inherently more difficult to detect than irregularities that result from error. As explained above, there is an unavoidable risk that material misstatements may not be detected, even though the audit has been planned and performed in accordance with ISAs (UK).
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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P H BETTS (HOLDINGS) LIMITED
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF P H BETTS (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
Fitzroy House
Crown Street
Ipswich
IP1 3LG
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CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JANUARY 2025
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CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET
AS AT 31 JANUARY 2025
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CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET (CONTINUED)
AS AT 31 JANUARY 2025
The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Board and were signed on its behalf on
The notes on pages 23 to 44 form part of these financial statements.
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COMPANY BALANCE SHEET
AS AT 31 JANUARY 2025
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COMPANY BALANCE SHEET (CONTINUED)
AS AT 31 JANUARY 2025
The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Board and were signed on its behalf on
The notes on pages 23 to 44 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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