The directors present the strategic report for the year ended 30 April 2026.
Project Milan Midco Limited is an intermediate holding company within the Project Milan Topco Limited group of companies and is expected to remain as such for the foreseeable future.
The company holds loan notes for key management and Inflexion Investment Fund V Ltd to finance the acquisition of the share capital of Cutwel, accruing loan note interest in the year.
The company has integrated into its ultimate parent company's (Project Milan Topco Limited) comprehensive system of risk management, a process that allows the Directors to identify, evaluate and manage potential risks and uncertainties that could have a material impact on the Company's performance.
The company does not trade therefore the primary risks and uncertainties faced by the company are centred around Group liquidity supporting the funding held in the company. Working capital efficiency and liquidity risks for the Group are mitigated via close weekly monitoring of cashflow and working capital.
Management do not believe there are any future developments to note other than those noted in the risk management and review of the business section. The business is continuing to grow.
As an intermediate holding company which holds and services debt for the group, the directors focus on net external debt (loan notes excluding accrued interest) as a key performance indicator for the company. As at 30 April 2026 this stood at £10.8m (2025: £10.8M).
On behalf of the board
The directors present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 30 April 2026.
The results for the year are set out on page 7.
No ordinary dividends were paid. The directors do not recommend payment of a final dividend.
The directors who held office during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were as follows:
Sumer Auditco Limited were appointed as auditor to the company following BHP LLP becoming part of the Sumer Group on 31 December 2025, which required a change in audit firm to comply with applicable regulatory requirements. In accordance with section 487(2) of the Companies Act 2006, Sumer Auditco Limited are deemed to be reappointed annually.
The directors have a reasonable expectation that the Company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence based on the following assessments, considering the principal risks and uncertainties of the Company;
Management completed a forecast to April 2029, taking into consideration the improved performance during this financial year. The budget for next financial year shows continued good liquidity.
Detailed weekly cashflow forecasts, forward looking 12 months which incorporate the assumptions from budget and reforecasts are maintained and reviewed on a monthly basis.
Thus the directors continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.
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; 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 Project Milan Midco Limited (the 'company') for the year ended 30 April 2026 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
Other information
Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006
As explained more fully in the directors' responsibilities statement, the directors are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the directors determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. In preparing the financial statements, the directors are responsible for assessing the company's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the directors either intend to liquidate the company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
Our approach to identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, was as follows:
• 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 management, and from our commercial knowledge and experience of the 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 Companies Act 2006, taxation legislation, data protection, anti-bribery, employment, environments 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; and
• 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, we:
• performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships;
• tested journal entries to identify unusual transactions;
• assessed whether judgements and assumptions made in determining accounting estimates were indicative of potential bias; and
• investigated the rationale behind significant or unusual 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 documentation; and
• enquiring of management as to actual and potential litigation and claims.
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 member 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 member those matters we are required to state to the member 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 member, 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.
Project Milan Midco Limited is a private company limited by shares incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is Unit A, Riverside Drive, Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire, England, BD19 4DH.
The prior accounting period represents the period between 21 June 2024 (the date of incorporation) and 30 April 2025.
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 26 ‘Share based Payment’: Share-based payment expense charged to profit or loss, reconciliation of opening and closing number and weighted average exercise price of share options, how the fair value of options granted was measured, measurement and carrying amount of liabilities for cash-settled share-based payments, explanation of modifications to arrangements;
Section 33 ‘Related Party Disclosures’: Compensation for key management personnel.
The financial statements of the company are consolidated in the financial statements of Project Milan Topco Limited. These consolidated financial statements are available from its registered office, Unit A, Riverside Drive, Cleckheaton, BD19 4DH.
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.
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.
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 and forward foreign exchange contracts, 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 company’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.
The component parts of compound instruments issued by the company are classified separately as financial liabilities and equity in accordance with the substance of the contractual arrangement. At the date of issue, the fair value of the liability component is estimated using the prevailing market interest rate for a similar non-convertible instrument. This amount is recorded as a liability on an amortised cost basis using the effective interest method until extinguished upon conversion or at the instrument's maturity date. The equity component is determined by deducting the amount of the liability component from the fair value of the compound instrument as a whole. This is recognised and included in equity net of income tax effects and is not subsequently remeasured.
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.
Critical Judgements
The critical judgements that the directors have made in the process of applying the companies accounting policies that have the most significant effect on the amounts recognised in the statutory financial statements are discussed below:
Assessing indicators of impairment
In assessing whether there have been any indicators of impairments to fixed asset investments, the directors have considered both internal and external sources of information such as market conditions, counterparty credit ratings and experience of recoverability and where applicable, the ability of the asset to be operated as planned. There have been no indications of impairments identified during the current financial year.
The audit fees of Project Milan Midco Limited have been paid through its subsidiary undertaking, Cutwel Limited.
The average monthly number of persons (including directors) employed by the company during the year was nil (2025: nil).
The actual (credit)/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 30 April 2026 are as follows:
Crossco (1432) Limited was dissolved on 5 May 2026.
Crossco (1427) Limited was dissolved on 1 September 2026.
The amounts owed by group undertakings are unsecured, repayable on demand and attract a market rate of interest.
The amounts owed to group undertakings are unsecured, repayable on demand and attract a market rate of interest.
Loan notes
During the financial period 2025 and to finance the acquisition of 100% of the share capital of Crossco (1427) Limited, the company created and issued £10,000,000 fixed rate (13%) redeemable loan notes to investors. In addition, £2,023,816 fixed rate (13%) redeemable loan notes were issued to key management.
During the prior period, £1,220,083 of management loan notes were exchanged for shares in Project Milan Topco Limited.
The balance on each class of loan note at 30 April 2026 was:
Investor loan notes - £12,415,917 (2025: £10,924,929)
Management loan notes - £997,908 (2025: £878,073)
The loan notes were secured by a fixed and floating charge over the company's property, assets and rights. The loan notes are treated in the financial statements at amortised cost.
At 30 April 2026 of the loan notes in issue, £10,000,000 are held by Inflexion Private Equity Partners LLP. Interest of £1,490,988 (2025: £924,929) has been accrued on the loan notes in the year and rolled-up in line with the loan note agreement. The additional £803,733 are held by key management. Interest of £119,832 (2025: £74,340) has been accrued on the loan notes in the year and rolled-up in line with the loan notes agreement. Total interest charged in the year amounted to £1,610,820 (2025: £999,270).
The loan notes will be repaid in full by 21 August 2032.
Interest is included within creditors and disclosed as falling due over one year.
The loan notes are listed on the International Stock Exchange.
The company has one class of ordinary shares which carry no right to fixed income.