The Chairman is pleased to present his Review for the year.
This has been a busy and productive year. The subsidiary Company's principal focus continued to be building and fire safety, together with resolving planning and regulatory matters associated with the delivery of new homes.
In relation to building safety, the subsidiary Company has, acting as Principal Contractor, continued with a substantial programme of passive fire protection works at a large residential block. This includes the systematic upgrading and replacement of a significant number of fire-resisting door sets together with associated compartmentation measures and other fire safety improvements. These works, undertaken following detailed professional advice and specialist assessment, represent a major investment in achieving compliance with modern life-safety standards in response to recent legislation and evolving regulatory expectations. Such works are fundamental to the long-term safety, integrity and value of residential assets.
In addition, the subsidiary Company completed an important Building Regulations upgrade relating to the means of escape strategy within the apartments of two of its residential buildings. The original fire safety approach, which had relied upon self-closing internal doors to maintain a protected escape route, had been compromised over time as door closers had been removed or disabled by occupiers. Following detailed consultation with the Building Control Officer, an alternative compliance strategy was agreed involving the installation of interconnected smoke detection throughout the apartments. This modern approach not only provides earlier warning of fire to occupiers but also significantly enhances life safety, while improving the practical use and quality of the apartments themselves.
The Board recognises that, where appropriate, the careful adaptation of long-standing Building Regulations approvals to reflect modern fire safety expectations has become an increasingly important aspect of the long-term stewardship of older residential buildings. It is clear that the management of residential buildings has entered a period of significant technical and societal change. Advances in building safety legislation and fire safety expectations, digital communications, remote access technologies and the growth of online retailing and home delivery have reshaped the design, security and management of multi-occupied residential buildings and this is likely to continue.
Alongside safety and management measures, the company and its subsidiary Company has continued to progress its strategy to provide new homes.
During the period, an important planning permission relating to an existing apartment building was the subject of a statutory Planning Appeal which was determined in the subsidiary Company's favour by a Planning Inspector acting on behalf of the Secretary of State. Such decisions follow detailed scrutiny of planning policy, architectural design and other material considerations: the successful outcome represents an important endorsement of the Company's approach to the delivery of high-quality residential development within established urban settings.
Work is now focused on progressing the scheme through detailed design and implementation.
Corporate Results
Financial performance in the year has been stable with turnover in the subsidiary Company at £814,360 (2024: £758,295). Pre-tax operating profit in the subsidiary company was £414,988 (2024: £352,516). The subsidiary Company's balance sheet continues to be supported by three strong features: accumulated profits, the underlying quality of the Company’s property holdings and the absence of external borrowing.
The economic outlook remains uncertain, reflecting both domestic developments and wider international geopolitical tensions. Interest rates mirror that uncertainty and the knock-on effect of high bond yields continues to influence both housing affordability and transactional activity. Internationally, intense geopolitical tensions and trade protectionism present risks to the global economy. Notwithstanding this background, the UK economy has demonstrated reasonable resilience.
Demand for residential accommodation remains strong, particularly in university cities and areas with strong hi-tech and biomedical sectors, not least in centres such as Cambridge.
The rental market continues to experience a structural undersupply which may intensify due to smaller buy-to-let investors leaving the market. Over time, the provision of homes within the private rented sector may increasingly move from smaller individual landlords to larger institutional investors, alongside bodies like housing associations providing an increased level of social / affordable housing. Although successive government policy continues to emphasise increased housing delivery, the ambitious target of 1.5 million new homes set by the current administration looks likely to fall substantially short. How a significantly increased level of housing delivery will be achieved in practice has yet to become clear.
The Renters’ Rights Act 2025, which came into effect in early May 2026, is not expected to materially affect the Company’s core activities. Our focus is on specialist development and residential lettings in areas where strong demand exists for relatively short-term lets from early-stage professionals, postgraduate students and post-doctorate researchers. To this end, our concentration is on the development and retention of high-quality studio and one-bedroom apartments. Larger units will generally be sold to owner-occupiers.
Conclusion
The Company's long-established approach—namely, the provision of well-designed and well-constructed flats within carefully considered and well-managed landscaped environments—remains central to a strategy that has been refined over more than 45 years.
As pressures on land supply increase and a largely inflexible public attachment to the Green Belt endures, a greater proportion of housing delivery in the UK is likely to take the form of apartments. As residential densities increase and a growing proportion of housing is designed for smaller households, the quality of the surrounding landscaped environment assumes correspondingly greater importance. These trends reinforce the inherent merits of the Company's long-established philosophy of creating high-quality residential environments.
At the same time, the Board recognises that the care and improvement of existing buildings is every bit as important as the delivery of new homes. This is reflected in the Company's continuing commitment to building and fire safety improvements, which are fundamental not just to responsible ownership but also to long-term value creation. Expenditure on existing assets is better regarded not as a regulatory cost but as an investment in the future.
Against this background, the Board remains confident that its long-established strategy of prudent stewardship and continued investment in the Company's buildings, underpinned by the inherent quality of their design, robust construction and landscaped setting, will continue to deliver resilient long-term performance.
The director presents his annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 October 2025.
The director who held office during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements was as follows:
The director is responsible for preparing the annual report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.
Company law requires the director to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the director has 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 director must not approve the financial statements unless he is 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 director is required to:
select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent; and
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the company will continue in business.
The director is 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. He is 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.
In order to assist you to fulfil your duties under the Companies Act 2006, we have prepared for your approval the financial statements of Midsummer Holdings Limited for the year ended 31 October 2025 which comprise, the balance sheet and the related notes from the company’s accounting records and from information and explanations you have given us.
It is your duty to ensure that Midsummer Holdings Limited has kept adequate accounting records and to prepare statutory financial statements that give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and result of Midsummer Holdings Limited. You consider that Midsummer Holdings Limited is exempt from the statutory audit requirement for the year.
We have not been instructed to carry out an audit or a review of the financial statements of Midsummer Holdings Limited. For this reason, we have not verified the accuracy or completeness of the accounting records or information and explanations you have given to us and we do not, therefore, express any opinion on the statutory financial statements.
Midsummer Holdings Limited is a private company limited by shares incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is The Estate Office, Mayflower House, Midsummer Meadows, Camebridge, CB4 1JT.
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 £.
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 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.
Debtors
Short term debtors are measured at transaction price, less any impairment. Loans receivable are measured initially at fair value, net of transaction costs, and are measured subsequently at amortised cost using the effective interest method, less any impairment.
Details of the company's subsidiaries at 31 October 2025 are as follows:
The investment in the subsidiary is measured at cost less any accumulated impairment. However, the directors believe that the fair value of the investment is in excess of £10.8million.
The ultimate controlling party is N C Grimshaw by virtue of his ownership of all the issued share capital of the company.