The directors present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2025.
Ordinary dividends were paid amounting to £253,568 (2024: £269,621). The Directors do not recommend payment of a further dividend.
The directors who held office during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were as follows:
The Group manages its cash and borrowing requirements in order to maximise interest income and minimise interest expense, whilst ensuring the Group has sufficient liquid resources to meet the operating needs of the business. At the start of the PFI contract, the Group negotiated debt facilities with an external party to ensure that the Group has sufficient funds over the life of the PFI concession.
The group's borrowings expose it to cash flow risk primarily due to the financial risks of changes in interest rates. The group uses interest rate swaps to manage the risk and reduce the exposure to changes in interest rates.
The group's principal financial assets are cash, financial assets and trade and other receivables. The group's credit risk is primarily attributable to its trade receivables which are with one counterparty, although in the opinion of the board of directors this risk is limited as the receivables are with a local government authority.
Lifecycle expenditure is the main risk to the group. The risk being that the allowance of lifecycle costs factored into the financial model is insufficient to meet future lifecycle expenditure, thus resulting in lower profitability and reduced distributions. This is mitigated by regular lifecycle reviews undertaken by the management services provider every five years.
The Directors are not aware, at the date of this report, of any major changes in the Company's activities in the next year.
The auditor Johnston Carmichael LLP is deemed to be reappointed under section 487(2) of the Companies Act 2006.
This report has been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies entitled to the small companies exemption.
We have audited the financial statements of Collaborative Services Support (NE) Holdings Limited (the 'parent company') and its subsidiary (‘the group’) for the year ended 31 December 2025 which comprise the Group Statement of Comprehensive Income, the Group Balance Sheet, the Company Balance Sheet, the Group Statement of Changes in Equity, the Company Statement of Changes in Equity, the Group Statement of Cash flows, and notes to the financial statements, including 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”).
Basis for opinion
Conclusions relating to going concern
In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the director's 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 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.
Other information
Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006
In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:
The information given in the Directors' Report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
The Directors' Report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
All engagement team members were briefed on relevant identified laws and regulations and potential fraud risks at the planning stage of the audit. Engagement team members were reminded to remain alert to any indications of fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations throughout the audit.
We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks that are applicable to the group and the parent company and the sector in which it operates, focusing on those provisions that had a direct effect on the determination of material amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The most relevant frameworks we identified include:
United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice, including FRS 102;
Companies Act 2006;
UK Corporation taxes legislation; and
VAT legislation.
We gained an understanding of how the group and the company are complying with these laws and regulations by making enquiries of management and those charged with governance. We corroborated these enquiries through our review of relevant correspondence with regulatory bodies and board meeting minutes.
We assessed the susceptibility of the financial statements to material misstatement, including how fraud might occur, by discussing with management and those charged with governance to understand where it was considered there was susceptibility to fraud. This evaluation also considered how management and those charged with governance were remunerated and whether this provided an incentive for fraudulent activity. We considered the overall control environment and how management and those charged with governance oversee the implementation and operation of controls. We identified a heightened fraud risk in relation to:
Management override of controls
Revenue recognition
In addition to the above, the following procedures were performed to provide reasonable assurance that the financial statements were free of material fraud or error:
Recalculating the unitary charge received by taking the base charge per the project agreement and uplifting the RPIx;
Agreeing a sample of months' income receipts to invoice and bank statements;
Performing an assessment on the service margins used in the year and agreeing margins used to the active financial models;
Reconciling the finance income and amortisation to the finance debtor reconciliation to ensure allocation methodology is in line with contractual terms and relevant accounting standards;
Reviewing minutes of meetings of those charged with governance for reference to: breaches of laws and regulation or for any indication of any potential litigation and claims; and events or conditions that could indicate an incentive or pressure to commit fraud or provide an opportunity to commit fraud;
Reviewing the level of and reasoning behind the group’s procurement of legal and professional services;
Performing audit work procedures over the risk of management override of controls, including testing of journal entries and other adjustments for appropriateness, evaluating the business rationale of significant transactions outside the normal course of business and reviewing judgements made by management in their calculation of accounting estimates for potential management bias;
Completion of appropriate checklists and use of our experience to assess the Company's compliance with the Companies Act 2006; and
Agreement of the financial statement disclosures to supporting documentation.
Our audit procedures were designed to respond to the risk of material misstatements in the financial statements, 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 intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation. There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures performed 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 are to become aware of it.
Use of our report
This report is made solely to the group’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 group’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 group and the group’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
As permitted by s408 Companies Act 2006, the company has not presented its own profit and loss account and related notes. The company's profit for the year was £nil (2024: £nil).
Collaborative Services Support NE Holdings Limited (“the company”) is a private limited company domiciled and incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is 1 Park Row, Leeds, United Kingdom, LS1 5AB.
The group consists of Collaborative Services Support NE Holdings Limited and all of its subsidiaries.
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 £000.
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, modified to include certain financial instruments at fair value. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.
The Company meets the definition of a qualifying entity under FRS 102 and has therefore taken advantage of the disclosure exemptions available to it in respect of its parent financial statements. The Company is consolidated in these financial statements. Exemptions have been taken in these parent company financial statements in relation to presentation of a company statement of cashflows.
The Group financial statements consolidate the financial statements of the Company and its subsidiary undertaking drawn up to 31 December each year. The subsidiary has a year ended of 31 December 2025.
Turnover is measured at the fair value of the consideration received or receivable and represents amounts receivable for goods and services provided in the normal course of business, net of discounts, VAT and other sales related taxes.
Income received in respect of the service concession is allocated between revenue and capital repayment of, and interest income on, the PFI financial asset using the effective interest rate method. Service revenue is recognised as a margin on non-pass-through operating and maintenance costs.
Pass through income represents the direct pass through of recoverable costs, as specified in the Project Agreement.
Variation income relates to the recharge of costs incurred for the alteration of the facilities or the services provided, requested by the Authority.
A subsidiary is an entity controlled by the group. Control is the power to govern the financial and operating policies of the entity so as to obtain benefits from its activities.
The Group 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 Group's balance sheet when the Group becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.
Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the balance sheet, 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.
Other financial assets, including investments in equity instruments which are not subsidiaries, associates or joint ventures, are initially measured at fair value, which is normally the transaction price. Such assets are subsequently carried at fair value and the changes in fair value are recognised in profit or loss, except that investments in equity instruments that are not publicly traded and whose fair values cannot be measured reliably are measured at cost less impairment.
Loans and receivables
Trade debtors, loans and other receivables that have fixed or determinable payments that are not quoted in an active market are classified as 'loans and receivables'. Loans and receivables are measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method, less any impairment.
Interest is recognised by applying the effective interest rate, except for short-term receivables when the recognition of interest would be immaterial. The effective interest method is a method of calculating the amortised cost of a debt instrument and of allocating the interest income over the relevant period. The effective interest rate is the rate that exactly discounts estimated future cash receipts through the expected life of the debt instrument to the net carrying amount on initial recognition.
Service Concession
The Group is a special purpose entity that has been established to provide services under certain private finance agreements with North East Fire and Rescue Services (the Authority). Under the terms of these Agreements, the Authority (as grantor) controls the services to be provided by the Group over the contract term. Based on the contractual arrangements the Group has classified the project as a service concession arrangement, and has accounted for the principal assets of, and income streams from, the project in accordance with FRS 102, Section 34.12 Service Concession Arrangements.
Under the terms of the arrangement, the Group has the right to receive a baseline contractual payment stream for the provision of the services from or at the direction of the grantor (the Authority), and as such the asset is accounted for as a financial asset. The financial asset has initially been recognised at the fair value of the consideration received, based on the fair value of the construction (or upgrade) services, plus any directly attributable transaction costs, provided in line with FRS 102.
Financial assets, other than those held at fair value through profit and loss, are assessed for indicators of impairment at each reporting end date.
Financial assets are impaired where there is objective evidence that, as a result of one or more events that occurred after the initial recognition of the financial asset, the estimated future cash flows have been affected. If an asset is impaired, the impairment loss is the difference between the carrying amount and the present value of the estimated cash flows discounted at the asset’s original effective interest rate. The impairment loss is recognised in profit or loss.
If there is a decrease in the impairment loss arising from an event occurring after the impairment was recognised, the impairment is reversed. The reversal is such that the current carrying amount does not exceed what the carrying amount would have been, had the impairment not previously been recognised. The impairment reversal is recognised in profit or loss.
Financial assets are derecognised only when the contractual rights to the cash flows from the asset expire or are settled, or when the group transfers the financial asset and substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership to another entity, or if some significant risks and rewards of ownership are retained but control of the asset has transferred to another party that is able to sell the asset in its entirety to an unrelated third party.
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 group after deducting all of its liabilities.
Basic financial liabilities, including creditors, bank loans and loans from fellow group companies, 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. The effective interest method is the rate that exactly discounts estimated future cash payments or receipts through the expected life of the financial instruments.
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.
Derivatives, including interest rate swaps, are not basic financial instruments. Derivatives are initially recognised at fair value on the date a derivative contract is entered into and are subsequently re-measured at their fair value. Changes in the fair value of derivatives are recognised in profit or loss in finance costs or finance income as appropriate, unless hedge accounting is applied and the hedge is a cash flow hedge.
Debt instruments that do not meet the conditions in FRS 102 paragraph 11.9 are subsequently measured at fair value through profit or loss. Debt instruments may be designated as being measured at fair value through profit or loss to eliminate or reduce an accounting mismatch or if the instruments are measured and their performance evaluated on a fair value basis in accordance with a documented risk management or investment strategy.
Financial liabilities are derecognised when the group's contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.
Equity instruments issued by the group are recorded at the proceeds received, net of transaction costs. Dividends payable on equity instruments are recognised as liabilities once they are no longer at the discretion of the group.
Derivatives are initially recognised at fair value at the date a derivative contract is entered into and are subsequently remeasured to fair value at each reporting end date. The resulting gain or loss is recognised in the group statement of comprehensive income immediately unless the derivative is designated and effective as a hedging instrument, in which event the timing of the recognition in the group statement of comprehensive income 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 a financial liability.
The Group does not hold or issue derivative financial instruments for speculative purposes.
Derivatives are initially recognised at fair value at the date a derivative contract is entered into and are subsequently remeasured to fair value at each reporting end date. The resulting gain or loss is recognised in the group statement of comprehensive income immediately unless the derivative is designated and effective as a hedging instrument, in which event the timing of the recognition in the group statement of comprehensive income 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 a financial liability.
The Group designates certain hedging instruments, including derivatives, as either fair value hedges or cash flow hedges.
At the inception of the hedge relationship, the Group documents the relationship between the hedging instrument and the hedged item along with risk management objectives and strategy for undertaking various hedge transactions. At the inception of the hedge and on an ongoing basis, the Group documents whether the hedging instrument is highly effective in offsetting changes in fair values or cash flows of the hedged item.
Cash flow hedges
The effective portion of changes in the fair value of derivatives that are designated and qualify as cash flow hedges is recognised in other comprehensive income.
The gain or loss relating to the ineffective portion is recognised immediately in the group statement of comprehensive income and is included in the 'other gains and losses' line in this item.
Amounts previously recognised in other comprehensive income and accumulated in equity are reclassified to the group statement of comprehensive income in the periods when the hedged item is recognised in the group statement of comprehensive income in the same line as the recognised hedged item. However, when the forecast transaction that is hedged results in the recognition of a non-financial asset or liability, the gains and losses previously accumulated in equity are transferred from equity and included in the initial measurement of the cost of the asset or liability concerned.
Changes in the fair value of derivatives that are designated and qualify as fair value hedges are recognised in profit or loss immediately, together with any changes in the fair value of the hedged asset or liability that are attributable to the hedged risk.
For derivatives that are designated and qualify as cash flow hedges, the effective portion of changes in the fair value of the hedge is recognised in other comprehensive income. The gain or loss relating to the ineffective portion is recognised immediately in the statement of comprehensive income.
Any gain or loss previously recognised in other comprehensive income is reclassified to the statement of comprehensive income when the hedge relationship ends. This occurs when the hedging instrument expires or no longer meets the hedging criteria, the forecast transaction is no longer highly probable, the hedged debt instrument is derecognised, or the hedging instrument is terminated.
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 profit and loss account 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 group’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 profit and loss account, 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 if, and only if, there is 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.
In the application of the Group’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.
Critical judgements
The following judgements (apart from those involving estimates) have had the most significant effect on amounts recognised in the financial statements.
Hedge accounting
The Directors consider the Group to have met the criteria for cash flow hedge accounting and the Group has therefore recognised fair value movements on derivatives in effective hedging relationships through other comprehensive income as well as the deferred tax thereon.
Key sources of estimation uncertainty
The estimates and assumptions which have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amount of assets and liabilities are as follows.
Valuation of derivative financial instruments
The directors use their judgement in selecting a suitable valuation technique for derivative financial instruments. All derivative financial instruments are valued at the mark to market valuation provided by the derivative counterparty. In these cases, the Group uses valuation techniques to assess the reasonableness of the valuation provided by the derivative counterparty. These techniques use a discounted cash flow analysis based on market observable inputs derived from similar instruments in similar and active markets. The fair value of derivative financial instruments at the balance sheet date was a liability of £568,639 (2024: £356,200 liability). The directors do not consider the impact of own credit risk to be material.
Service concession arrangement
As disclosed in Note 1, the Group accounts for the project as a service concession arrangement. The directors use their judgement in selecting the appropriate financial asset rate to be applied in order to allocate the income received between revenue, and capital repayment of and interest income on the financial asset; and also, the service margin that is used to recognise service revenue. The directors have also used their judgement in assessing the appropriateness of the future maintenance costs that are included in the Group’s forecasts. The directors will continue to monitor the condition of the assets and undertake a regular review of maintenance spend.
The audit fee is borne by the subsidiary company Collaborative Services Support NE Limited. Auditor's remuneration is payable to Johnston Carmichael LLP.
The Group had no employees during the current or prior year.
No directors received any remuneration for services to the Group during the current or prior year.
Details of the company's subsidiaries at 31 December 2025 are as follows:
Derivative Financial Instruments
The swaps have a fixed interest rate of 4.77% and expire in 2034. The interest rate swaps settle on a semi-annual basis. The floating rate on the interest rate swaps is a SONIA based daily rate with compounding interest plus 2.7% credit spread. The Company will settle the difference between the fixed and floating interest rate on a net basis.
All interest rate swap contracts are designated as hedges of variable interest rate risk of the Company's floating rate borrowings. The hedged cash flows are expected to occur and to affect profit or loss over the period to maturity of the interest rate swaps.
The fair value of the derivative financial instruments above comprise the fair value of the interest rate swap designated in an effective hedging relationship. The change in fair value of the interest rate swap that was recognised in other comprehensive income in the period was a loss of £212,439 (2024: gain of £752,078).
The loans are secured by a fixed and floating charge over all the assets of the Group and a charge over the shares of the Group.
Bank loans
The Group has facilities provided by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Europe Limited in order to finance the construction of the project. The loan is repayable in instalments by 2034 based on an agreed percentage amount of the total facilities per annum.
Interest on the facility is charged at rates linked to SONIA. The Group has entered into fixed interest rate swaps to mitigate its interest rate exposure. The fixed interest rate on the facility, after taking into consideration the swaps, is 7.47%.
Subordinated debt
Amounts owed to parent undertaking comprises a loan of £1,468,324 (2024: £1,607,035) and prepaid interest of £51,597 (2024: accrued interest of £50,028). The loans were injected by the shareholders in amounts proportionate to their percentage of shareholding. The loan notes are subject to an agreed interest rate at an agreed arms length rate of 12% and are repayable by instalments from surplus funds by 2034.
The following are the major deferred tax liabilities and assets recognised by the group and company, and movements thereon:
The Group's other reserves are as follows:
The profit and loss reserve represents cumulative profits or losses.
The hedging reserve represents the cumulative portion of gains and losses on hedging instruments deemed effective in hedging variable interest rate risk of recognised financial instruments. Amounts accumulated in this reserve are reclassified to profit or loss in the periods in which the hedged item affects profit or loss or when the hedging relationship ends.
As a wholly owned subsidiary of Jura Acquisition Limited, the Company has taken advantage of the exemption under FRS 102 Section 33 not to provide information on related party transactions with other undertakings in the Jura Acquisition group. A copy of the financial statements of Jura Acquisition Limited can be obtained from its registered office at Heritage Hall, PO Box 225, Le Marchant Street, St Peter Port, Guernsey, GY1 4HY.