Play It Green Ltd

The directors are responsible for preparing the and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

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 the financial statements the directors are required to: 

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.

The Board

The year end 31st July 2022 represented the first full year of trading for Play It Green and under the stewardship of the new Board of Directors following new appointments in June 2021. 

The shareholding and Board of Directors during this period remained 45% Chris Thair, 45% Richard Dickson and 10% Amaris Group Ltd. The latter being represented by Scott Pickavance and Chris Hurcombe. 

The Board, who meet monthly, remain committed to the Play It Green’s aim. To help people and businesses lower their carbon footprint and ensure they make an ongoing positive environmental and social impact on their journey to net-zero. This is encapsulated in Play It Green’s 3 step solution to climate change #reduce #repiar #regive. “Reducing” carbon footprints. “Repairing” the planet through planting trees. “Regifting” vital funds to good causes by passing on 10% of all subscription and tree purchase revenues. 

The information within this report and the financial accounts reflect the Directors commitment to transparency, openness and delivering upon its promises. 

Revenues

Play It Green has two primary revenue streams, subscriptions and single tree purchases from members to add it to their sales proposition e.g. booking, product, event, bill etc. 

Subscription and trees purchase revenues increased by 1009% on the previous financial year from £4,376 to £44,146. It is noted the company only had a live platform and took revenue for 4 months in year 1. 

The only source of revenue is “Sales-Other” at £240. This represented trees being bought at cost for a company that was moving to Play It Green from another platform that just planted trees. They wished to start with the same amount of trees as their previous provider and buying “at cost” to get this figure in their opening Forest Garden was agreed with management. Due to buying at cost, no proportion of this could be passed to a good cause hence separating it in the sales figures. 

Reducing Carbon Footprints 

Play It Green sent 52 mailers containing separate tips, discounts and educational articles including business best practice over the course of the 12 months to help create motivation, behaviour change and less carbon emissions.  A total of 18,121 unique users read the footprint reduction tips in 2021-22 however only a small proportion of these were members of Play It Green.

Improvements to the business support folder for members containing net zero and marketing support were also made. The net zero support includes governance and risk management advice, environmental policy guidance and a self-assessment tool called the net zero framework that can be used to construct the companies long term footprint reduction plan.  

Play It Green continues to be a B2B sign-posting service for those companies that wish to reach net zero referring members to other members and partners of Play It Green. This includes a carbon footprint reporting business for those that wish to measure. 

Play It Green derive no revenue from referrals at present. The Board recognise a lot of content, discounts and promotion of other businesses is part of the current business model and available to non-members. This is deliberate choice during this growth phase however are aware these are areas where revenue could be derived from in the future. 

Repairing the Planet by Planting Trees

95,167 trees were planted this financial year compared to the previous 12,748, meaning the company has planted 107,915 trees to date. 

Play It Green continue to use Eden Reforestation Project as the tree planting partner and their sites in Madagascar. Play It Green provide full disclosure on the trees to show members they are being planted and making a difference. Regular tree planting reports with themed narrative, google earth coordinates of the planting sites and copies of all purchase receipts are published on a regular basis. All this information is also fully available on the websites dedicated tree page. 

Eden Reforestation increased the price of the trees in the last quarter of this financial year from 10c to 15c per tree and the sterling to dollar exchange rate was not favourable. This meant the unit cost of a tree increased on average from 7.4p to 12.7p this financial year. The Board considered a number of options including increasing prices or planting less trees per subscription however took the decision to absorb these costs, lower profit margins and ensure the customer experienced no changes. This meant net profits decreases by 5.4p per single tree sale and 68.9p per £5 subscription. A significant change in unit margins however the Board were mindful of the financial pressures on business post covid. 

Eden Reforestation is a not-for-profit company and every payment to them represents a charitable overseas donation. The represents a £8624 donation to an overseas not for profit organisation. 

Regifting funds to Good Causes 

As per sales description, 10% of all subscription and tree purchase revenues are passed to a good cause of each members choice. This promise was kept: 

                                                                 July 2021                    July 2022                                    Total

                                                                 Year 1                        Year 2                                         2 years

                                                                     £                                  £                                               £

Sales-Trees and Subscriptions                       4,376                         44,146                                    48,522

Mind                                                 130                               1,116                                      1,246

WWF                                                116                                  564                                         680

Birmingham W&C Hospital                   99                                  692                                         791  

Western Park Cancer                           15                                  547                                         561

Shelter                                               65                                  493                                         557

Sea Shepherd UK                                16                                  285                                         301

Devon Air Ambulance                          70                                    -                                             70

Malvern Hills Foodbank                                                              389                                         389

Active Cheshire                                                                           67                                           67

NW Air Ambulance                                                                        8                                             8

Winstons Wish                                                                            33                                           33

The Childrens Air Ambulance                                                         5                                             5

AKT                                                                                             8                                             8

DEC                                                                                         157                                         157

The MND Association                                                                   25                                           25

Woodland Trust                                                                           21                                           21

Donations to good causes                   510                              4,409                                       4,919

Percentages to good causes               11.7%                            10%                                      10.1%

16 UK Charities received £4,409 in the year end July 2022, an increase from nine charities and £510 the previous year, representing an 865% increase on the previous year. 

This financial aid to the sixteen good causes is made to make a social impact as per step three of Play It Green’s climate solution. The Directors were delighted that such a wide array of support was provided, with donation ensuring provision went into the following services. Mental health, wildlife protection, children in hospital, cancer, homelessness, marine-life, air ambulances, foodbanks, bereavement services, making people more active, motor neurone disease,  LGBTQ+ young people, woodlands and global national disasters. 

Play It Green defines good causes for the 10% regifting as registered charities, sports organisations or educational establishments. To date, only registered charities have been selected by members. 

Costs, Investment and Expected Growth

The six-figure investment by Amaris Ltd through the acquisition of shares in the latter part of the previous financial year meant finances were available to invest in the growth of the company. The Board identified two main areas for investment: platform and staff. 

A third of the investment was set aside into building a new platform and look that would enable Play It Green to scale and sell at a faster pace. Costs of £34,050 went into the platform/website however this was not ready to launch this financial year. All sales go through the website, customers are retained through their experience on the members platform and therefore the website is fundamental to the success of the website. 

The main proportion of investment funds went on staffing costs, a total of £89,166. This went into two main areas: existing staff (the 2 cofounders) and new staff. 

Monthly revenues were not at a level to provide a basic level of wage to the cofounders Chris Thair and Richard Dickson, so investment went into this area. This was set at UK average salary costs, so both could cover living costs and provide stability to the business.

Play It Green recruited three members of staff in sales, content and marketing, two of whom were fulltime. A fulltime content writer started in month three (4th October 2021). A fulltime marketing person began in month seven (28th February 2022). 

The budget anticipated large increases in sales from April onwards due to investment in staff however the expected rapid acceleration in sales didn’t materialise. Monthly sales continued to grow at the rate they did previously but not at the acquired levels to maintain the new staff. To maintain Play It Green as a going concern, the cofounders took no salary in July and the new staff had to be given notice at the end of the financial year, all of whom finished August 2022. 

The costs to run the business fall in 4 main categories: 

(i) The cost of product, listed as ‘raw materials and consumables’ e.g. trees, good causes and payment platform which totalled £13,771, representing 31% of sales.  

(ii) Staffing costs totalled £89,166, over double sales income and therefore a figure that used the acquired capital from the sale of shares the previous year

(iii) Website platform, £30,000, again showing use of investment funds. 

(iv) Other costs, £14,000: General expenses, meetings, software subscriptions, accounts etc. 

No dividends were taken.

Going Concern 

Play It Green has a positive balance sheet, cash reserves to finish the investment into the website platform and remains a going concern. 

The business is building a very strong reputation, acts true to its values and has a growing customer base. Attrition rates are extremely low, customer satisfaction is very high which is reflected in online reviews all being five star and there is a clear plan for growth. 

A third of the investment has been used to build a new platform which is set to launch in the first quarter of the next financial year. This asset is seen as a key tool for continued growth of Play It Green, 

IMPACT REPORT

Thanks to Play It Green Ltd, over the 12 months to 31st July 2022:  

95,167 trees were planted in Madagascar, absorbing 7023 Tonnes of CO2. Scientific research published on the Play It Green website shows each tree absorbs 0.0738 Tonnes of CO2 in its first six years and therefore this is the stated offsetting value of one tree. We recognise the trees will absorb a lot more CO2 over its lifetime however we wish to measure our impact in the short term. 

The trees were planted thanks to a £8624 donation to an overseas not for profit organisation called Eden Reforestation Project. All donation receipts are published on our website and contained in our  regular planting reports. This donation provided 1085 workdays of employment to locals, planted 95167 trees and supported 10 of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.  

£4409 was donated to 16 UK charities for social causes. 

Total donations to charities and not for profit organisations £13033. This represents 29.4% of total income. 

The company directly educated 18,121 people on how to lower their carbon footprint, encouraging behavioural change through weekly tips, discounts and tools. 

Play It Green has no offices, everyone works remotely, use of public transport is encouraged at all times and ongoing action is taken to ensure a minimal carbon footprint. The Play It Green website is hosted with Green Geeks meaning the hosting leaves no carbon footprint and is a service that contributes positively to the environment. 

Every Play It Green subscription supports 11 of the 17 United Nations Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) through the provision of sustainability education, gifting to charities and the planting of trees in Madagascar with Eden Reforestation Project.

Report to the directors on the preparation of the unaudited statutory accounts of Play It Green Ltd for the year ended 31 July 2022

To assist you to fulfil your duties under the Companies Act 2006, I have prepared for your approval the accounts of Play It Green Ltd which comprise the Profit and Loss Account, the Balance Sheet and the related notes, from the company’s accounting records and from information and explanations you have given us.

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

This report is made to the directors of Play It Green Ltd , as a body, in accordance with the terms of our engagement letter dated 23 March 2022. Our work has been undertaken solely to prepare for your approval the accounts of Play It Green Ltd and state those matters that we have agreed to state to the directors of Play It Green Ltd , as a body, in this report in accordance with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants as detailed at http://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 Play It Green Ltd and its directors as a body for our work or for this report.

It is your duty to ensure that Play It Green Ltd has kept adequate accounting records and to prepare statutory accounts that give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of Play It Green Ltd . You consider that Play It Green Ltd 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 accounts of Play It Green Ltd . 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 financial statements.