Dolce Limited - Limited company accounts 23.2

REGISTERED NUMBER: 02470662 (England and Wales)

STRATEGIC REPORT, REPORT OF THE DIRECTORS AND

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2022

FOR

DOLCE LIMITED

Page

Company Information

1

Strategic Report

2

Report of the Directors

6

Report of the Independent Auditors

8

Statement of Comprehensive Income

12

Balance Sheet

13

Statement of Changes in Equity

14

Notes to the Financial Statements

15

DIRECTORS:

S Curtis

A Curtis

S J Blake

L A Bell

SECRETARY:

S Curtis

REGISTERED OFFICE:

Lowton Business Park

Newton Road

Lowton St Marys

Warrington

Lancashire

WA3 2AN

REGISTERED NUMBER:

02470662 (England and Wales)

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS:

Fairhurst

Statutory Auditor

Chartered Accountants

Douglas Bank House

Wigan Lane

Wigan

Lancashire

WN1 2TB

The directors present their strategic report for the year ended 31 August 2022.

The Company has increased its Turnover this year by £7.3m (26%) to £34.9m. A very pleasing result, despite the continued COVID disruptions in schools until the early part of 2022.

Turnover for the year to 2023 is forecast to increase at the same rate. Despite 2 years of covid disruption, there has been a 54% growth in turnover since 2019.

During the year we mobilised 81 new school contracts (£4.6m of turnover), this included 5 Multi Academy Trusts (MATs) and 5 secondary schools. We invested £361k mobilising new business on three to five year contracts.

During the year we met our annual £400k repayment commitment of the Coronavirus Business Interruption Scheme money that we accessed in 2020/2021. whilst also making substantial contributions into our pension scheme as required by the actuarial schedule of contributions dated 11th March 2022. In addition to pension contributions, Dolce listed investments of £800k were transferred into the pension scheme.

As at 31st August 2022, the pension scheme was an asset of £2m (surplus), a £3m movement on the prior year. Following this, a schedule of contributions was prepared by the actuaries reducing employer contributions to nil from 27th February 2023 to December 2023.

REVIEW OF BUSINESS

Financial Review

FY 2022

FY 2021

Turnover

£34.9m

£27.6m

Gross Profit

£7.1m (20%)

£5.7m (20%)

Overheads

£7.8m

£6.9m

Operating loss before furlough

£700k

£1,251k

Net Assets

£3.7m

£1.6m

Employee Pension Funding FRS 102 Report

£2,094k surplus

£1,095k deficit

The £700k operating loss in the year before furlough, is a 500k improvement on the previous year. Working with our clients, suppliers and employees to minimise the impact of rising food inflation, post-Covid levels of sickness and national minimum wage increases, has been key to the resilience of the business.

Gross margin in the year has been maintained at 20%. Overheads although have increased in value, they have been maintained at a lower percentage of revenue 22% compared with 25% in 2021, with this trend set to continue.

Financial Key Performance Indicators

The KPIs that underpin business performance are either financial / quantitative (F) or qualitative (Q)

Customer churn (F):

At the start of the financial year, 486 schools were in service. At the end of the financial year 537 clients sites were in service (a net growth of 49 clients).

Customer satisfaction (Q):

The target customer satisfaction rating for 2021 / 2022 was 80%, and we achieved 81%.

Customer satisfaction levels are monitored by a telephone call with each head teacher who completes a series of five questions about elements of our service - the same five questions are asked every year and so we can accurately monitor satisfaction and identify problem areas and remedy quickly.

2021 - 2022 81%

2020 - 2021 72%

2019 - 2020 None due to Covid

2018 - 2019 82%

PRINCIPAL RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES

Food supply disruption and inflation

We continue to observe a high amount of failed food deliveries caused by the availability of produce.

Pre-Covid drop accuracy was over 99%, but in 2022 the drop accuracy was averaging 96% across all schools.

Our food suppliers were unable to deliver to many of our schools in the south of England and this absorbed management time and cost to employ couriers and set-up new supply chains.

Our shopping basket also increased by around 8% over the year.

Minimum wage

As at April 2022 the minimum wage increased by 6.6%, from £8.91 to £9.50. We did not see the same increase in Government FSM or UIFSM funding which increased by just 7p in the same period from £2.34 to £2.41 per pupil. Coupled with food inflation, our two largest costs were forcing us to ask schools for more money than they received from the government.

Government funding

There is no future promise from the Government to increase the level of funding for school meals. LACA have been actively lobbying the government to maintain a healthy investment in the provision of UIFSM and FSM but as yet the scheme remains underfunded.

The Directors are closely assessing the future impact that this lack of investment will have upon the school meals market and the quality of food provided across England and Wales.

Financial risk management

The company is exposed to financial risks that include the effects of credit risk, liquidity risk and interest rate risk. The company has in place a risk management programme that seeks to limit the adverse effects on the financial performance of the company by monitoring levels of debt finance and the related finance costs.

Large increases in National Minimum wage and food inflation have not been matched by increases in the financial allocation that the government allocates to school catering and Dolce is planning on the basis that this position will not change.

FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS

With the recent rapid growth of the Company, two key roles were identified and filled in the last quarter of 2022. A Finance Director with a wealth of experience within the school catering sector and a Non-Exec Chairman have been appointed to strengthen governance and leadership across the business

We have been investing in people and systems to reset the business after the challenges over the last couple of years and to be ready for further growth.

A new finance system was implemented during 2022, phase 2 will be the upgrade of our HR and Payroll systems during 2023/24.

The investments we have and will be making in our back office systems will provide the business and our clients with improved financial information and also create a better integration between Finance and operations, payroll and HR. With over 2000 employees , the investment in a new HR system will bring better management and development of our people.

We continue to enjoy and maintain strong relationships with our suppliers managed by our new Food Services Director.

GOING CONCERN

The UK Government is committed to keeping FSM in secondary schools and UIFSM and FSM available in primary schools across the country.

In assessing the company's ability to continue as a going concern, the directors have considered the ongoing performance to 2024. The continued resilience and growth of the business despite the economic challenges and the losses sustained during the last 2 years, there is clear recovery and return to profit in 2023 in line with budget. These projections demonstrate that Dolce can meet its all its obligations throughout 2024.

The company therefore continues to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD:

S Curtis - Director

23 August 2023

The directors present their report with the financial statements of the company for the year ended 31 August 2022.

PRINCIPAL ACTIVITY

The principal activity of the company in the year under review was that of the provision of catering services to schools across the UK.

DIVIDENDS

No dividends will be distributed for the year ended 31 August 2022.

DIRECTORS

The directors shown below have held office during the whole of the period from 1 September 2021 to the date of this report.

S Curtis

A Curtis

Other changes in directors holding office are as follows:

J C Hoather - resigned 25 February 2022

S J Blake - appointed 27 April 2022

L A Bell - appointed 17 August 2022

EMPLOYMENT POLICIES

Company Policy for Employment of Disabled Persons

The company gives full and fair consideration to applications of employment by disabled persons, having regard to their particular aptitudes and abilities.

Opportunities are available to disabled employees for training, career development and promotion.

The company offers continuing employment wherever practical, and appropriate training for employees of the company who become disabled during the period when they have been employed by the company

Employee Involvement

The company operates a framework for employee information and consultation which complies with the requirements of the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 2014

Regular meetings are held at multiple levels of management between management and employees to allow a free flow of information and ideas

STATEMENT OF DIRECTORS' RESPONSIBILITIES

The directors are responsible for preparing the Strategic Report, the Report of the Directors 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), including Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland'. 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;

-	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.

STATEMENT AS TO DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION TO AUDITORS

So far as the directors are aware, there is no relevant audit information (as defined by Section 418 of the Companies Act 2006) of which the company's auditors are unaware, and each director has taken all the steps that he or she ought to have taken as a director in order to make himself or herself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the company's auditors are aware of that information.

AUDITORS

The auditors, Fairhurst, will be proposed for re-appointment at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD:

S Curtis - Director

23 August 2023

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Dolce Limited (the 'company') for the year ended 31 August 2022 which comprise the Statement of Comprehensive Income, Balance Sheet, Statement of Changes in Equity and Notes to the Financial Statements, including a summary of 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).

In our opinion the financial statements:

-	give a true and fair view of the state of the company's affairs as at 31 August 2022 and of its loss for the year then ended;

-	have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and

-	have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditors' responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC's Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our 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

The directors are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information in the Strategic Report and the Report of the Directors, but does not include the financial statements and our Report of the Auditors thereon.

Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

-	the information given in the Strategic Report and the Report of the Directors for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and

-	the Strategic Report and the Report of the Directors have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Strategic Report or the Report of the Directors.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

-	adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or

-	the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or

-	certain disclosures of directors' remuneration specified by law are not made; or

-	we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.

Responsibilities of directors

As explained more fully in the Statement of Directors' Responsibilities set out on pages six and seven, 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 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.

Auditors' responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue a Report of the Auditors that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

We identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, and then design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, including obtaining audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

However, it is the primary responsibility of management, with the oversight of those charged with governance, to

ensure that the entity's operations are conducted in accordance with the provisions of laws and regulations and for the prevention and detection of fraud.

In identifying and addressing risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and

non-compliance with laws and regulations, our procedures included 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 obtained an understanding of laws and regulations that affect the company, focusing on those that had a direct effect on the financial statements or that had a fundamental effect on its operations. Key laws and regulations that we have identified included FRS 102, Companies Act 2006, Tax legislation, data protection, employment,

environmental, food hygiene (including allergen control) and health & safety legislation.

- We assessed the extent of compliance with the laws and regulations identified above through making enquiries of

management and inspecting accreditations and legal correspondence.

In assessing the susceptibility of the company's financial statements to material misstatement, including obtaining and understanding of how fraud might occur;

- We gained an understanding of the controls that management have in place to prevent and detect fraud. We enquired of management about any instances of fraud that had taken place during the year.

Auditors' responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements - continued

To address the risk of fraud through management bias and override of controls;

- We performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships;

- We tested journal entries to identify unusual transactions; and

- We assessed whether judgements and assumptions made in determining the accounting estimates were indicative of potential bias.

Due to the inherent limitations of an audit, there is an unavoidable risk that we may not have detected some material

misstatements in the financial statements, even though we have properly planned and performed our audit in accordance with auditing standards. For example, as with any audit, there remained a higher risk of non-detection of irregularities, as these may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal controls. We are not responsible for preventing fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations and cannot be expected to detect all fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council's website at www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our Report of the Auditors.

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 a Report of the Auditors 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.

Louise Webster BSc BFP ACA (Senior Statutory Auditor)

for and on behalf of Fairhurst

Statutory Auditor

Chartered Accountants

Douglas Bank House

Wigan Lane

Wigan

Lancashire

WN1 2TB

23 August 2023

TURNOVER

34,911,296

27,631,477

Cost of sales

27,777,061

21,925,766

GROSS PROFIT

7,134,235

5,705,711

Administrative expenses

7,835,070

6,957,124

(700,835

)

(1,251,413

)

Other operating income

3

4,602

1,154,777

(696,233

)

(96,636

)

Income from fixed asset investments

15

-

(696,218

)

(96,636

)

Gain/loss on revaluation of investments

(149,534

)

164,791

(845,752

)

68,155

Interest payable and similar expenses

5

70,678

80,653

Other finance costs

21

16,000

33,000

86,678

113,653

LOSS BEFORE TAXATION

6

(932,430

)

(45,498

)

Tax on loss

7

(202,439

)

62,241

LOSS FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR

(729,991

)

(107,739

)

OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

Remeasurement of defined benefit

obligation

3,592,000

371,000

Return on plan assets, excluding amounts

included in net interest on the

recognised defined benefit (liability)

asset

(815,000

)

1,035,000

Income tax relating to components of other comprehensive income

-

-

OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME FOR THE YEAR, NET OF INCOME TAX

2,777,000

1,406,000

TOTAL COMPREHENSIVE INCOME FOR THE YEAR

2,047,009

1,298,261

FIXED ASSETS

Intangible assets

8

-

-

Tangible assets

9

110,758

142,283

110,758

142,283

CURRENT ASSETS

Stocks

10

27,935

-

Debtors

11

4,028,138

3,014,879

Investments

12

1,562,410

1,305,971

Cash at bank and in hand

709,147

3,035,376

6,327,630

7,356,226

CREDITORS

Amounts falling due within one year

13

3,684,515

3,202,645

NET CURRENT ASSETS

2,643,115

4,153,581

TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES

2,753,873

4,295,864

CREDITORS

Amounts falling due after more than one year

14

(1,166,667

)

(1,566,667

)

PENSION ASSET/(LIABILITY)

21

2,094,000

(1,095,000

)

NET ASSETS

3,681,206

1,634,197

CAPITAL AND RESERVES

Called up share capital

19

1,157

1,157

Share premium

20

4,945

4,945

Retained earnings

20

3,675,104

1,628,095

SHAREHOLDERS' FUNDS

3,681,206

1,634,197

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Directors and authorised for issue on 23 August 2023 and were signed on its behalf by:

S Curtis - Director

Called up

share

Retained

Share

Total

capital

earnings

premium

equity

£

£

£

£

Balance at 1 September 2020

1,157

329,834

4,945

335,936

Changes in equity

Total comprehensive income

-

1,298,261

-

1,298,261

Balance at 31 August 2021

1,157

1,628,095

4,945

1,634,197

Changes in equity

Total comprehensive income

-

2,047,009

-

2,047,009

Balance at 31 August 2022

1,157

3,675,104

4,945

3,681,206

1.	STATUTORY INFORMATION

Dolce Limited is a private company, limited by shares , registered in England and Wales. The company's registered number and registered office address can be found on the Company Information page.

The presentation currency of the financial statements is the Pound Sterling (£).

2.	ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of preparing the financial statements

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Financial Reporting Standard 102 "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland" and the Companies Act 2006. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.

Going Concern

Most of Dolce's income comes from School institutions paying for the Government funded Universal Infant Free School Meals. State Schools, as arms of the State, are unlikely to default on their payments or experience liquidation.

The UK Government is committed to keeping FSM in secondary schools and UIFSM and FSM available in primary schools across the country.

In assessing the company's ability to continue as a going concern, the directors have considered the ongoing performance to 2024. The continued resilience and growth of the business despite the economic challenges and the losses sustained during the last 2 years, there is clear recovery and return to profit in 2023 in line with budget. These projections demonstrate that Dolce can meet its all its obligations throughout 2024.

After reviewing the company's forecasts and projections, the directors have a reasonable expectation that the company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence and meet its debts for the foreseeable future not limited to a period of 12 months from the signing of these accounts. The company therefore continues to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements.

Financial Reporting Standard 102 - reduced disclosure exemptions

The company has taken advantage of the following disclosure exemptions in preparing these financial statements, as permitted by FRS 102 "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland":

•

the requirements of Section 7 Statement of Cash Flows;

•

the requirement of paragraph 3.17(d);

•

the requirement of paragraph 33.7.

Related party exemption

The company has taken advantage of exemption, under the terms of Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland', not to disclose related party transactions with wholly owned subsidiaries within the group.

Significant judgements and estimates

Preparation of the financial statements requires management to make significant judgements and estimates. The items in the financial statements where these judgements and estimates have been made include:

Depreciation and residual values

The directors have reviewed the asset lives and associated residual values of all fixed asset classes, and in particular, the useful economic life and residual values of property plant and equipment, and have concluded that the asset lives and residual values are appropriate.

Provisions

Provisions are measured at the best estimate of the amount required to settle the obligation at the reporting date and should take into account the time value of money where material. The provision is then adjusted at each reporting date. The unwinding of any discount is included within finance costs.

Site consumables policy

The directors have reviewed the usage of, cost per school contract and monitoring practicality for small IT consumables such as touchscreens and have concluded that they are to be written off in the year the contract commences. All replacements are also to be written off when purchased.

Site on-boarding and maintenance costs

The directors have reviewed the costs of on-boarding new sites and have judged that it gives a true and fair view to spread these costs over the life of the initial contract.

Turnover

Turnover represents the net invoiced value of goods sold, excluding value added tax.

Intangible assets

Intangible assets are initially measured at cost. After initial recognition, intangible assets are measured at cost less any accumulated amortisation and any accumulated impairment losses.

Tangible fixed assets

Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates in order to write off the cost less estimated residual value of each asset over its estimated useful life.

Plant and machinery

-

25% on cost

Fixtures and fittings

-

25% on cost

Motor vehicles

-

25% on cost

Computer equipment

-

25% on cost

Tangible fixed assets are recognised at cost less depreciation.

Stocks

Stocks are valued at the lower of cost and net realisable value, after making due allowance for obsolete and slow moving items.

Taxation

Taxation for the year comprises current and deferred tax. Tax is recognised in the Statement of Comprehensive Income, except to the extent that it relates to items recognised in other comprehensive income or directly in equity.

Current or deferred taxation assets and liabilities are not discounted.

Current tax is recognised at the amount of tax payable using the tax rates and laws that have been enacted or substantively enacted by the balance sheet date.

Deferred tax

Deferred tax is recognised in respect of all timing differences that have originated but not reversed at the balance sheet date.

Timing differences arise from the inclusion of income and expenses in tax assessments in periods different from those in which they are recognised in financial statements. Deferred tax is measured using tax rates and laws that have been enacted or substantively enacted by the year end and that are expected to apply to the reversal of the timing difference.

Unrelieved tax losses and other deferred tax assets are recognised only to the extent that it is probable that they will be recovered against the reversal of deferred tax liabilities or other future taxable profits.

Hire purchase and leasing commitments

Rentals paid under operating leases are charged to profit or loss on a straight line basis over the period of the lease.

Pension costs and other post-retirement benefits

When employees have rendered service to the company, short-term employee benefits to which the employees are entitled are recognised at the undiscounted amount expected to be paid in exchange for that service.

The company operates a defined benefit plan for the benefit of some of its employees (Dolce Limited Retirement Benefits Scheme). A liability for the company's obligations under the plan is recognised net of plan assets. The net change in the net defined benefit liability is recognised as the cost of the defined benefit plan during the period. Pension plan assets are measured at fair value and the defined benefit obligation is measured on an actuarial basis using the projected unit method.

The most recent formal funding valuation by the Scheme Actuary had an effective date of 1 September 2021. FRS 102 allows those results to be approximately updated to estimate Scheme liabilities.

The assets of the Dolce Limited Retirement Benefits Scheme are invested and managed independently of the finances of the company.

The Dolce Limited Retirement Benefits Scheme is a funded scheme and the assets are held separately from those of the company in separate trustee administration funds.

There are some employees who are members of LGPS, for those to whom this applies the contributions are treated as a defined contribution scheme.

Provisions and contingencies

A provision is recognised where there is a present obligation (either legal or constructive) as a result of a past event and where a transfer of economic benefits is probable to settle the obligation and the obligation can be reliably measured.

Contingent assets are not recognised until the flow of future benefits is virtually certain.

Current asset investments

Current asset investments are initially measured at cost and revalued to reflect market value.

Site consumables policy

The directors have reviewed the useage of, cost per school contract and monitoring practicality for small IT consumables such as touchscreens and have concluded that they are to be written off in the year the contract commences. All replacements are also to be written off when purchased.

Site on-boarding

These costs are spread across the life of the initial contract.

Site maintenance

Site maintenance costs and company kitchen repairs are written off in the year that they occur.

3.	OTHER OPERATING INCOME

2022

2021

£

£

Government grants

4,602

1,154,777

Government grants represents monies received in relation to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme £4,602 (2021 £1,078,894) and Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan interest 2022 £Nil (2021 £75,883)

4.	EMPLOYEES AND DIRECTORS

2022

2021

£

£

Wages and salaries

17,708,034

15,208,410

Social security costs

673,048

554,249

Other pension costs

1,716,158

1,978,465

20,097,240

17,741,124

The average number of employees during the year was as follows:

2022

2021

Management

12

12

Administrative

61

61

Catering

1,692

1,670

1,765

1,743

2022

2021

£

£

Directors' remuneration

241,879

253,966

Directors' pension contributions to money purchase schemes

29,687

24,886

The number of directors to whom retirement benefits were accruing was as follows:

Money purchase schemes

3

3

Information regarding the highest paid director is as follows:

2022

2021

£

£

Emoluments etc

105,078

110,250

Pension contributions to money purchase schemes

11,565

10,155

5.

INTEREST PAYABLE AND SIMILAR EXPENSES

2022

2021

£

£

Bank loan interest

70,678

80,653

6.	LOSS BEFORE TAXATION

The loss is stated after charging:

2022

2021

£

£

Hire of plant and machinery

22,311

38,194

Depreciation - owned assets

84,017

94,709

Loss on disposal of fixed assets

2,740

10,350

Audit of the group and subsidiary companies

18,595

13,595

Taxation compliance services

6,170

7,050

Other non- audit services

5,385

4,128

7.

TAXATION

Analysis of the tax (credit)/charge

The tax (credit)/charge on the loss for the year was as follows:

2022

2021

£

£

Current tax:

UK corporation tax

-

222,881

Prior period

(145,200

)

(1,185

)

Total current tax

(145,200

)

221,696

Deferred tax

(57,239

)

(159,455

)

Tax on loss

(202,439

)

62,241

UK corporation tax has been charged at 19% .