ASSOCIATION_OF_AIR_AMBULA - Accounts

The directors present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2020.

The principal activity of the company continued to be that of a not for profit association operating for the benefit of air ambulances.

The directors who held office during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were as follows:

This report has been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies entitled to the small companies exemption provided by section 415A of the Companies Act.

In order to assist you to fulfil your duties under the Companies Act 2006, we have prepared for your approval the financial statements of Association of Air Ambulances Limited for the year ended 31 December 2020 which comprise the statement of comprehensive income, the balance sheet, the statement of changes in equity and the related notes from the company’s accounting records and from information and explanations you have given us.

As a practising member firm of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, we are subject to its ethical and other professional requirements which are detailed at https://www.accaglobal.com/gb/en/member/standards/rules-and-standards/rulebook.html.

This report is made solely to the Board of Directors of Association of Air Ambulances Limited, as a body, in accordance with the terms of our engagement letter dated 25 March 2021. Our work has been undertaken solely to prepare for your approval the financial statements of Association of Air Ambulances Limited and state those matters that we have agreed to state to the Board of Directors of Association of Air Ambulances Limited, as a body, in this report in accordance with the requirements of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants as detailed at https://www.accaglobal.com/content/dam/ACCA_Global/Technical/fact/technical-factsheet-163.pdf. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than Association of Air Ambulances Limited and its Board of Directors as a body, for our work or for this report.

It is your duty to ensure that Association of Air Ambulances 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 surplus of Association of Air Ambulances Limited. You consider that Association of Air Ambulances 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 Association of Air Ambulances 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.

For the financial year ended 31 December 2020 the company was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 with respect to accounting records and the preparation of financial statements.

The member has not required the company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the year in question in accordance with section 476.

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

Association of Air Ambulances Limited is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is One Bartholomew Close, London, EC1A 7BL.

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 principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.

As stated in note 9, the Directors have considered the effect of the Covid-19 outbreak.  The Directors consider that the outbreak is likely to cause a significant disruption to the Company’s business.  However, the Directors are confident that the Company can continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from the date of approval of these financial statements.  At the start of the year the Company became the wholly owned subsidiary of the Association of Air Ambulances (Charity) Limited which has enabled the two organisations to work together and share resources.  The Directors of the Company have a reasonable expectation that it has adequate resources to continue in operation for the foreseeable future.

Income and expenses are included in the financial statements as they become receivable or due.

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 surplus or deficit.

At each reporting period end date, the company reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible assets to determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss. If any such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in order to determine the extent of the impairment loss (if any). Where it is not possible to estimate the recoverable amount of an individual asset, the company estimates the recoverable amount of the cash-generating unit to which the asset belongs.

Recoverable amount is the higher of fair value less costs to sell and value in use. In assessing value in use, the estimated future cash flows are discounted to their present value using a pre-tax discount rate that reflects current market assessments of the time value of money and the risks specific to the asset for which the estimates of future cash flows have not been adjusted.

If the recoverable amount of an asset (or cash-generating unit) is estimated to be less than its carrying amount, the carrying amount of the asset (or cash-generating unit) is reduced to its recoverable amount. An impairment loss is recognised immediately in surplus or deficit, unless the relevant asset is carried at a revalued amount, in which case the impairment loss is treated as a revaluation decrease.

Recognised impairment losses are reversed if, and only if, the reasons for the impairment loss have ceased to apply. Where an impairment loss subsequently reverses, the carrying amount of the asset (or cash-generating unit) is increased to the revised estimate of its recoverable amount, but so that the increased carrying amount does not exceed the carrying amount that would have been determined had no impairment loss been recognised for the asset (or cash-generating unit) in prior years. A reversal of an impairment loss is recognised immediately in surplus or deficit, unless the relevant asset is carried at a revalued amount, in which case the reversal of the impairment loss is treated as a revaluation increase.

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 only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value.

The tax currently payable is based on taxable profit for the year. Taxable profit differs from surplus as reported in the income and expenditure 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 company’s liability for current tax is calculated using tax rates that have been enacted or substantively enacted by the reporting end date.

The costs of short-term employee benefits are recognised as a liability and an expense, unless those costs are required to be recognised as part of the cost of stock or fixed assets.

Termination benefits are recognised immediately as an expense when the company is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.

Payments to defined contribution retirement benefit schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due.

Rentals payable under operating leases, including any lease incentives received, are charged to profit or loss on a straight line basis over the term of the relevant lease except where another more systematic basis is more representative of the time pattern in which economic benefits from the leases asset are consumed.

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

The company is limited by guarantee, not having a share capital and consequently the liability of members is limited, subject to an undertaking by each member to contribute to the net assets or liabilities of the company on winding up such amounts as may be required not exceeding £1.

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

The Directors have considered the effect of the Covid-19 outbreak that spread throughout the world during 2020 and continues in 2021 on the Company’s activities. This outbreak has caused a disruption to the Companies activities but at the date of approval of these financial statements, the Company is continuing as a going concern. The following factors give the Directors continued cause for optimism

•     Membership receipts due to Company are largely as budgeted

•     Staff already work predominantly from home and are practiced in remote working methods.

•     Extensive revisions have been made to trim expenditure plans including actions to postpone activities and to close our office.

•     Brought forward funds, including cash balances, are adequate to meet requirements.

During the year, management charges were received from Association of Air Ambulance (Charity) Limited, a charitable company, being the company's sole member, of £2,035 (2019: £6,342).

Certain expenses were recharged to Association of Air Ambulances (Charity) Limited. These amounted to £5,498 (2019: £1,587).

Certain expenses were also recharged by Association of Air Ambulances (Charity) Limited to the company. These amounted to £25,105 (2019: £Nil).

Sales totalling £190 (2019: £1,475) were made to Association of Air Ambulances (Charity) Limited during the year.

At the year end a balance of £145 (2019: £256) was owed from Association of Air Ambulances (Charity) Limited and is included within debtors due within one year.

The company was acquired by the Association of Air Ambulances (Charity) Limited to become its legal subsidiary, which took place at midnight between 31 December 2019 and 1 January 2020.  The Association of Air Ambulances (Charity) Limited (AAUK), a company limited by guarantee (company number: 09391251) and a charity (Registered Charity number: 1161153), registered in England and Wales, became the sole member of the company.  The registered office address of AAUK is One, Bartholomew Close, London, United Kingdom, EC1A 7BL.