The directors present the strategic report for the year ended 31 October 2025.
The directors aim to provide a balanced and comprehensive review of the development and performance of the business during the period and its position at the period end. The review is consistent with the size and non-complex nature of the business and is written in the context of the risks and uncertainties faced.
Risk and Uncertainties
As for many businesses of this size, the business environment in which the company's subsidiary operates continues to be challenging. The company's subsidiary faces competition in its markets and is of course subject to consumer and commercial spending patterns and the overall level of disposable income within the economy.
The below risks are the risks identified by the directors facing the company's subsidiary.
Foreign currency risk
Foreign exchange fluctuations can no longer be considered a secondary risk and given the volatility in the foreign currency market due to worldwide political events, the directors have evaluated several options to mitigate risk/implement risk management strategies:
Currency adjustment factor.
Providing services in base currency.
Offering white label FX service to customers.
Inflation risk
Whilst inflation has dropped in the UK this risk is being closely monitored, due to numerous overseas suppliers and constant changes in the worldwide economy. Procurement becomes more complex during inflationary periods, and if increased costs are not controlled adequately then demand typically falls.
Inflationary pressures directly affect the supply chain, problems with port congestion and import containers are exacerbated by inflation and labour availability. Increased costs for vehicle maintenance, insurance, tires, wages, and equipment all have a knock-on effect and impact profits. To combat this and ensure we provide the best possible service to our customers, we are continuously:
Stress testing supply chains by mapping critical value chains and then running disruption scenarios against them. This allows us to identify possible risks and implement appropriate strategies to increase resilience.
Review our supply chain resilience, including the financial health of our suppliers.
Conduct risk assessments on our suppliers and sub-suppliers. If these businesses are exposed to inflationary increases, we can understand the impact quickly and have response plans ready.
Political and Geopolitical events
Understanding Political and Geopolitical issues is critical for stakeholders in the shipping industry to navigate the complexities and mitigate risks associated with these dynamics. These issues significantly impact the shipping industry, influencing trade routes, shipping costs, and the overall stability of the industry. Some key issues include:
Trade wars and tariffs
Territorial disputes
Piracy and security threats
Conflicts
Tariff changes
Environmental regulations
Rising and fluctuating fuel prices continues to be one of the most prevalent challenges the industry currently faces.
Liquidity risk
The Directors consider the company's subsidiary to be in a strong and stable financial position, as well as stable in terms of liquidity. Cash at bank is still strong, creditors have dropped once again and the business continues to be profitable.
The biggest risk to the company's subsidiary that could affect liquidity continues to be that of non-payment from customers. To mitigate risk the Directors have implemented stronger credit control protocols:
Collection SOPs updated.
Third party credit reports required for all new/existing customers.
Risk management reports monitored and reviewed on a weekly basis.
Third party alerts to adverse credit changes relating to our customers.
Final shipment control.
The directors are satisfied with the financial position of the company at the year end derived from its investment in its subsidiary undertaking.
On behalf of the board
The directors present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 October 2025.
The results for the year are set out on page 9.
Ordinary dividends were paid amounting to £443,087 (2024: £508,056). 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:
In accordance with the company's articles, a resolution proposing that Affinia (Chelmsford) be reappointed as auditor of the company will be put at a General Meeting.
Company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the directors have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law). Under company law, the directors must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company and of the profit or loss of the company for that period.
In preparing these financial statements, the directors are required to:
select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the company 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 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 hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
We have audited the financial statements of Unique Forwarding Investment Group Ltd (the 'company') for the year ended 31 October 2025 which comprise the statement of comprehensive income, the balance sheet, the statement of changes in equity 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 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 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.
Other information
Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006
In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of our audit:
the information given in the 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 strategic report and the directors' report have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
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.
Our approach to identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, incorporated the following:
The engagement partner ensured that the engagement team collectively had the appropriate competence, capabilities and skills to identify or recognise non-compliance with applicable laws and regulations;
We identified the laws and regulations applicable to the company through discussions with directors and other management, and from our commercial knowledge and experience of the international freight sector;
We focused on specific laws and regulations which we considered may have a direct material effect on the financial statements or the operations of the company, including the Companies Act 2006, taxation legislation, employment, and health and safety legislation;
We assessed the extent of compliance with the laws and regulations identified above through making enquiries of management and inspecting legal correspondence;
Identified laws and regulations were communicated within the audit team regularly and the team remained alert to instances of non-compliance throughout the audit.
We assessed the susceptibility of the company’s financial statements to material misstatement, including obtaining an understanding of how fraud might occur, by:
Making enquiries of management as to where they considered there was susceptibility to fraud, their knowledge of actual, suspected and alleged fraud; and
Considering the internal controls in place to mitigate risks of fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations.
To address the risk of fraud through management bias and override of controls, our work included:
Performance of analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships;
Testing journal entries to identify unusual transactions. Investigated the rationale behind significant or unusual transactions; and
Observation and identification of internal controls in place, specifically around payroll and bank transactions.
In response to the risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, we designed procedures which included, but were not limited to:
Agreeing financial statement disclosures to underlying supporting evidence;
Enquiring of management as to actual and potential litigation and claims; and
Reviewing correspondence with HMRC and reviewing for evidence of correspondence with legal advisors.
There are inherent limitations in our audit procedures described above. The more removed that laws and regulations are from financial transactions, the less likely it is that we would become aware of non-compliance. Auditing standards also limit the audit procedures required to identify non-compliance with laws and regulations to enquiry of the directors and other management and the inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any.
Material misstatements that arise due to fraud can be harder to detect than those that arise from error as they may involve deliberate concealment or collusion.
A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: https://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor's report.
Use of our report
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.
The profit and loss account has been prepared on the basis that all operations are continuing operations.
Unique Forwarding Investment Group Ltd is a private company limited by shares incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is Swift House, Ground Floor, 18 Hoffmanns Way, Chelmsford, Essex, UK, CM1 1GU.
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 £.
This company is a qualifying entity for the purposes of FRS 102, being a member of a group where the parent of that group prepares publicly available consolidated financial statements, including this company, which are intended to give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of the group. The company has therefore taken advantage of exemptions from the following disclosure requirements:
Section 7 ‘Statement of Cash Flows’: Presentation of a statement of cash flow and related notes and disclosures;
Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instrument Issues: Interest income/expense and net gains/losses for financial instruments not measured at fair value; basis of determining fair values; details of collateral, loan defaults or breaches, details of hedges, hedging fair value changes recognised in profit or loss and in other comprehensive income;
Section 33 ‘Related Party Disclosures’: Compensation for key management personnel.
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.
Financial assets are derecognised only when the contractual rights to the cash flows from the asset expire or are settled, or when the company 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 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.
Financial liabilities are derecognised when the company’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.
Equity instruments issued by the company 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 company.
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 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.
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 following judgements (apart from those involving estimates) have had the most significant effect on amounts recognised in the financial statements.
The company recognises and measures fixed asset investments in subsidiary undertakings at cost less any provision for impairment, in accordance with FRS102 Section 9.
Management is required to assess at each reporting date whether there are any indicators of impairment in respect of these investments. Where indicators are identified, management performs a review by estimating the recoverable amount of the investment, being the higher of fair value less costs to sell and value in use.
The determination of whether indicators of impairment exist and calculations of recoverable amounts require the exercise of significant judgement. Key areas of judgement include the assessment of the subsidiary's financial performance and prospects, its net asset position, and its cashflow position. Management has considered these factors and concluded that no indicators of impairment exist at the balance sheet date.
Auditor's remuneration is incurred by the trading subsidiary on behalf of its parent entity.
The average monthly number of persons (including directors) employed by the company during the year was:
The Directors are remunerated for services provided to this company through other group members with the cost being borne by the entity in which a contract of service exists. No recharges have been made in the current year in respect of Directors' services provided to this company. As such, no Directors' remuneration is recognised in these financial statements for this or the prior reporting period.
The actual charge for the year can be reconciled to the expected charge for the year based on the profit or loss and the standard rate of tax as follows:
Details of the company's subsidiaries at 31 October 2025 are as follows:
Unique Forwarding Holdings Limited transferred 100% of its shareholding in Unique Forwarding Limited to Unique Forwarding Investment Group Ltd on 30 September 2025 as part of a group reconstruction. Unique Forwarding Holdings Limited was subsequently dissolved on 10 February 2026.
The company's Ordinary shares carry full voting, dividend and capital distribution rights.
The company's Ordinary A, Ordinary B, Ordinary C, and Ordinary D shares carry dividend rights, and carry no rights with respect of voting and no rights with respect of distributions arising from a winding up of the company.
During the year the company paid dividends of £Nil (2024: £412,879) in respect of shares held by the directors at the date of distribution.