The directors of the company have elected not to include a copy of the profit and loss account within the financial statements.true

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

Blair Castle Estate Limited is a private company limited by shares incorporated in Scotland. The registered office is Atholl Estates Office, Blair Atholl, Pitlochry, Perthshire, PH18 5TH. The company registered number is SC156776.

The principal activities of Blair Castle Estate Limited ('the company') are the management of the estate and the provision of tourist facilities.

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. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.

Atruet the time of approving the financial statements, the directors have a reasonable expectation that the company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the directors continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.

Turnover represents the value of the goods and services supplied during the year, excluding value added tax. The turnover is attributable to the principal activity of the company and was generated wholly within the United Kingdom.

Turnover is recognised to the extent that it is probable that the economic benefits will flow to the company and the revenue can be reliably measured. Revenue is measured as the fair value of the consideration received or receivable, excluding discounts, rebates and value added tax.

Government grants are recognised based on the performance model. Grants that impose specified future performance-related conditions are recognised in income only when the performance related conditions are met. Grants which do not impose specified future performance-related conditions are recognised when the grant proceeds are receivable.

Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.

Depreciation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:

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 credited or charged to profit or loss.

Cattle, crops and breeding stock are measured at fair value less estimated costs to sell, with changes in the fair value being recognised in the Profit and Loss Account. Other categories of stock are stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value.

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 balance sheet 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, 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.

Financial liabilities and equity instruments are classified according to the substance of the contractual arrangements entered into. An equity instrument is any contract that evidences a residual interest in the assets of the company after deducting all of its liabilities.

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.

Pensions

The company operates a defined pension scheme. Contributions payable to the scheme are charged to the Profit and Loss Accounts in the period to which they relate.

The company participates in a multi-employer defined benefit pension scheme. The share of the assets and liabilities of the scheme cannot be reliably attributed to individual participating employers. Contributions payable to the scheme in connection with payroll are charged to the Profit and Loss Account in the period to which they relate. The group has committed to make deficit payments to the scheme in respect of past service and provision has been made for the present value of the committed cash flows, using a discount rate equivalent to market yields on high quality corporate bonds. A charge is recognised in the Profit and Loss Account as the discount unwinds over time.

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 directors are satisfied that accounting policies are appropriate and applied consistently. Key sources of accounting estimation have been applied to the valuation of stock and the depreciation rates which are deemed to be appropriate to the class of assets.

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

Their aggregate remuneration comprised:

Amounts owed by parent undertaking have no fixed repayment terms and no interest is charged.

The pension liability is due to be repaid in instalments of £113,000 per year for the next 9 years, recognised at net present value using a discount rate of 5.2% (2024: 4.4%). The net present value of the amount to be repaid in more than 5 years is £285,375 (2024: £376,609).

In 2021 the company obtained a loan of £1m from the Royal Bank of Scotland under the Coronavirus Business. Interruption Loan Scheme. Under the terms of the scheme, interest charges and fees in relation to the loan are paid by the Government for the first 12 months. The term of the loan is six years, with payments spread over 60 equal instalments commencing from the thirteenth month. Interest is charged at a rate of 1.88% over the Bank of England base rate, and the outstanding balance on the loan at 31 March 2025 was £0.2m (2024: £0.2m). The company has granted a floating charge in favour of Royal Bank of Scotland PLC, secured over all sums due or to become due in respect of all property and assets of the company.                        

The company operates two pension schemes. The first scheme provides benefits based on final pensionable remuneration. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the company, being invested in a managed unitised fund. Contributions to the scheme are charged to the Profit and Loss Account so as to spread the cost of pensions evenly over employees’ expected working lives with the company. The contributions are determined by a qualified actuary on the basis of triennial valuations using the projected unit method.

The most recent valuation was at 6 April 2021. The assumptions which have the most significant effect on the results of the valuation are those relating to the rate of return on investments and inflation rates for discounting liabilities. It has been assumed that the return on investments would be 3.75% before retirement and 2.75% after retirement.

The most recent actuarial valuation showed that the market value of the scheme's assets was £6,289,000 and that the actuarial value of those assets represented 81% of the benefits that had accrued to members, after allowing for expected future increases in earnings.

There were £Nil contributions outstanding at the year-end (2024: £Nil).

The scheme is a multi-employer defined benefit scheme. The company is unable to identify its share of the scheme’s assets and liabilities and thus has accounted for the scheme as a defined contribution scheme. All employers in the scheme are jointly and severally liable for any surplus or deficit in the scheme. The company has committed to the scheme to make payments of £113,000 per year for 8 years and 8 months in respect of past service, for which provision has been made in these accounts.

This scheme was closed to new members on 5 April 2008 and closed to future accrual on 31 January 2021.

The second scheme is a defined contribution scheme held with Aviva at the year end. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the company. The pension charge for the year is disclosed in note 4.

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 was unqualified.

At the reporting end date the company had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases, as follows:

The company has taken advantage of the exemption available in Section 1A of Financial Reporting Standard 102 not to disclose transactions with The Blair Charitable Trust on the basis that consolidated group financial statements are publicly available.

Blair Castle Estate Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Blair Charitable Trust, a charitable trust registered in Scotland (registered charity no. SC001433). The principal address of the charity is Atholl Estates Office, Blair Atholl, Pitlochry, Perthshire, PH18 5TH.

The company has £nil tax charge for the year (2024 : £nil).

A potential deferred tax asset arises as at 31 March 2025 primarily due to the pension provision only becoming deductible for taxation at the point of payment. This potential asset is not recognised on the grounds that the company adopts a policy of donating profits to the charitable parent. We do not consider there to be any other factors which may materially affect future taxation.