Project Trafford LLP - Period Ending 2023-03-31

Project Trafford LLP

Contents

Project Trafford LLP

Limited liability partnership information

Project Trafford LLP

Members' Report for the Year Ended 31 March 2023

The members of Project Trafford LLP (formerly Barton Willmore LLP) present their report and the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2023.

Firm structure

The LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales. A list of designated members’ names is available for inspection at the LLP’s registered office.

Principal activities

The LLP sold its trade and assets on 1 April 2022 and has remained open to receive future consideration in relation to the sale.

Review of the business

From 1 April 2022, the trade and assets of the LLP and its associated companies, along with the trading name Barton Willmore, are now owned by Stantec UK Limited. The former consolidated group therefore continues to trade as part of Stantec UK Limited’s community development activities, where a strong synergy to the benefit of both groups’ client bases is already evident. The LLP did not trade during the year to 31 March 2023.

Designated Members

The members who held office during the year were as follows:

Members' drawings and the subscription and repayment of members' capital

The members are entitled to draw monthly, on account of profit, such sums as may from time to time be mutually agreed.

The capital requisite for carrying on the business of the LLP shall be agreed and contributed by the members from time to time. The total amount of and the relating contributions of the members to the fixed capital of the LLP shall be in the shares in which they are entitled to the net profits of the LLP. Partners moving up in relative profit sharing will contribute the relevant proportion of additional capital before being entitled to more shares.

Disclosure of information to the auditors

Approved by the Board on 22 December 2023 and signed on its behalf by:

Project Trafford LLP

Independent Auditor's Report to the Members of Project Trafford LLP

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Project Trafford LLP (the ‘limited liability partnership’) for the year ended 31 March 2023, which comprise the Statement of Comprehensive Income, Statement of Financial Position, Statement of Changes in Members’ Interests, Statement of Cash Flows, 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:

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 auditor responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the limited liability partnership 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.

Emphasis of matter

Other information

The members are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Project Trafford LLP

Independent Auditor's Report to the Members of Project Trafford LLP

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

Responsibilities of members

As explained more fully in the Statement of Members' Responsibilities [set out on page 6], the members 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 members 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 members are responsible for assessing the limited liability partnership'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 members either intend to liquidate the limited liability partnership or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor 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 an auditor’s report 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.

In identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud, we have obtained an understanding of the nature of the industry, the control environment and the legal and regulatory frameworks that the company operates in.

We determined that the most significant applicable legal and regulatory frameworks are those directly relevant to the reporting framework and preparation of the financial statements (FRS 102, Companies Act 2006 and UK tax legislation). We also consider equivalent local laws and regulations applicable to component audit teams to be significant. We considered the extent to which non-compliance might have a material effect on the financial statements.

We determined the principal risks which could lead to material misstatement of the financial statements to be related to posting inappropriate journal entries and management bias in accounting estimates. We identified the most significant risks in respect of accounting estimates to be the determination of level of accrued contract revenue at the end of the reporting period.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

Audit procedures performed by the engagement team included:

Project Trafford LLP

Independent Auditor's Report to the Members of Project Trafford LLP

The engagement team also remained aware of the need for professional scepticism to identify any indications of fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations throughout the audit.

There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures described above and the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely we would become aware of it. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery or intentional misrepresentations, or through collusion.
 

A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: 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 limited liability partnership’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006, as applied to limited liability partnerships by the Limited Liability Partnerships (Accounts & Audit) (Application of Companies Act 2006) Regulations 2008. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the limited liability partnership’s members those matters we are required to state to them 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 limited liability partnership, and the limited liability partnership members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

......................................
Phil Clennell BSc BFP FCA (Senior Statutory Auditor)
For and on behalf of Stewart & Co Accountants LLP, Statutory Auditor

Knoll House
Knoll RoadCamberley
Surrey
GU15 3SY

22 December 2023

Project Trafford LLP

Statement of Members' Responsibilities for the Year Ended 31 March 2023

The Limited Liability Partnerships, Partnerships and Groups (Accounts & Audit) Regulations 2016 require the members to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the members 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 as applied to LLPs the members 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 limited liability partnership and of the profit or loss of the limited liability partnership for that year. In preparing these financial statements, the members are required to:

The members are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the limited liability partnership and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006, as applied to limited liability partnerships by the Limited Liability Partnerships (Accounts and Audit) (Application of Companies Act 2006) Regulations 2008, and in accordance with the requirements of the Statement of Recommended Practice Accounting by Limited Liability Partnerships (issued January 2017). They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the limited liability partnership and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

These responsibilities are exercised by the Board on behalf of the members.

Project Trafford LLP

Statement of Comprehensive Income for the Year Ended 31 March 2023

The limited liability partnership has no recognised gains or losses for the year other than the results above.

Project Trafford LLP

Statement of Financial Position as at 31 March 2023

The financial statements of Project Trafford LLP (registered number OC342692) were approved by the Board and authorised for issue on 22 December 2023. They were signed on behalf of the limited liability partnership by:

Project Trafford LLP

Statement of Changes in Members’ Interests
At 31 March 2023

Project Trafford LLP

Statement of Changes in Members’ Interests
At 31 March 2023

The LLP does not divide profits amongst its members, except for remuneration and interest on capital (see Note 11), until the financial statements have been finalised and approved by the members and accordingly profits not allocated are shown as other reserves. The profit attributable to the member with the highest entitlement to profit has been calculated by reference to profits allocated within the financial year being £Nil (2022: £231,263) in respect of remuneration and interest on members' capital accounts, £Nil (2022: £270,145) in respect of profits allocated during the current year in respect to the previous year, £1,885,414 in respect of profit on disposal of operations distributed in the year, and £Nil (2022: £3,900) in respect of a dividend from Barton Willmore Holdings Limited. The division of remaining unallocated profit from the current year will be included within the share of profits in the year ended 31 March 2024. The distribution of profit is at the unconditional discretion of the LLP and, having due regard to the working capital requirements of the group, is therefore not automatically available for payment to the members.

Project Trafford LLP

Statement of Cash Flows for the Year Ended 31 March 2023

Project Trafford LLP

Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2023

The limited liability partnership is incorporated in England and Wales under the Limited Liability Partnership Act 2000. The address of the registered office is The Blade, Abbey Square, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 3BE. The nature of the limited liability partnership’s operations and its principal activities are given in the members’ report.

These financial statements were prepared in accordance with Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' and the requirements of the Statement of Recommended Practice 'Accounting by Limited Liability Partnerships' issued in October 2019 (SORP 2019).

Summary of significant accounting policies and key accounting estimates

The principal accounting policies applied in the preparation of these financial statements are set out below. These policies have been consistently applied to all the years presented, unless otherwise stated.

Basis of preparation

These financial statements have been prepared using the historical cost convention except that as disclosed in the accounting policies certain items are shown at fair value.

The functional currency of Project Trafford LLP is considered to be pounds sterling because that is the currency of the primary economic environment in which the limited liability partnership operates.

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

Going concern

Judgements

Key sources of estimation uncertainty

The following are the company's key sources of estimation uncertainty:

Amounts recoverable on contracts not yet invoiced:
The company established a reliable estimate of the value of amounts recoverable on contracts not yet invoiced. This estimate was based on time costs apportioned by recoverability, the rates of which were reviewed on an annual basis using past experience of recoverable amounts. The members reviewed these rates on an annual basis. The carrying amount is £- (2021: £1,715,178).

Project Trafford LLP

Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2023

Revenue recognition

Members' participation rights

Members' participation rights are the rights of a member against the LLP that arise under the members' agreement (for example, in respect of amounts subscribed or otherwise contributed, remuneration and profits).

Members' participation rights in the earnings or assets of the LLP are analysed between those that are, from the LLP's perspective, either a financial liability or equity, in accordance with Section 22 of FRS 102, 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and the Republic of Ireland', and the requirements of the Statement of Recommended Practice 'Accounting by Limited Liability Partnerships'. A member's participation right results in a liability unless the right to any payment is discretionary on the part of the LLP.

Amounts subscribed or otherwise contributed by members, for example members' capital, are classed as equity if the LLP has an unconditional right to refuse payment to members. If the LLP does not have such an unconditional right, such amounts are classified as liabilities.

Where profits are automatically divided as they arise, so the LLP does not have an unconditional right to refuse payment, the amounts arising that are due to members are in the nature of liabilities. They are therefore treated as an expense in the statement of comprehensive income in the relevant year. To the extent that they remain unpaid at the year end, they are shown as liabilities in the statement of financial position.

Conversely, where profits are divided only after a decision by the LLP or its representative, so that the LLP has an unconditional right to refuse payment, such profits are classed as an appropriation of equity rather than as an expense. They are therefore shown as a residual amount available for discretionary division among members in the statement of comprehensive income and are equity appropriations in the statement of financial position.

Other amounts applied to members, for example remuneration paid under an employment contract and interest on capital balances, are treated in the same way as all other divisions of profits, as described above, according to whether the LLP has, in each case, an unconditional right to refuse payment.

All amounts due to members that are classified as liabilities are presented in the statement of financial position within 'Loans and other debts due to members' and are charged to the statement of comprehensive income within 'Members' remuneration charged as an expense'. Amounts due to members that are classified as equity are shown in the statement of financial position within 'Members' other interests'.
 

Project Trafford LLP

Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2023

Members' remuneration and division of profits

The SORP recognises that the basis of calculating profits for allocation may differ from the profits reflected through the financial statements prepared in compliance with recommended practice, given the established need to seek to focus profit allocation on ensuring equity between different generations and populations of members.

Consolidation of the results of certain subsidiary undertakings, the provision for annuities to current and former members, pension scheme charges, the spreading of acquisition integration costs and the treatment of long leasehold interests are all items which may generate differences between profits calculated for the purpose of allocation and those reported within the financial statements. Where such differences arise, they have been included within other amounts in the balance sheet.

Members' fixed shares of profits (excluding discretionary fixed share bonuses) and interest earned on members' balances are automatically allocated and, are treated as members' remuneration charged as an expense to the profit and loss account in arriving at profit available for discretionary division among members.

The remainder of profit shares, which have not been allocated until after the balance sheet date, are treated in these financial statements as unallocated at the balance sheet date and included within other reserves.

Taxation

Tangible fixed assets

Project Trafford LLP

Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2023

Depreciation

Business combinations

Fixed asset investments

Impairment of assets

Provisions

Project Trafford LLP

Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2023

Hire purchase and leasing

Termination benefits

Termination benefits are recognised as an expense in profit or loss immediately when the limited liability partnership is committed by legislation, by contractual or other agreements or by a constructive obligation to make payments (or provide other benefits) to employees when it terminates their employment.

Termination benefits are measured at the best estimate of the expenditure that would be required to settle the obligation at the reporting date.

Financial instruments

All financial assets and liabilities are initially measured at transaction price (including transaction costs), except for those financial assets classified as at fair value through profit or loss, which are initially measured at fair value (which is normally the transaction price excluding transaction costs), unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction. If an arrangement constitutes a finance transaction, the financial asset or financial liability is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest for a similar debt instrument.

Financial assets and liabilities are only offset in the balance sheet when, and only when there exists a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and the limited liability partnership intends either to settle on a net basis, or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.

Debt instruments are subsequently measured at amortised cost.

Where investments in non-convertible preference shares and non-puttable ordinary shares or preference shares are publicly traded or their fair value can otherwise be measured reliably, the investment is subsequently measured at fair value with changes in fair value recognised in profit or loss. All other such investments are subsequently measured at cost less impairment.

Other financial instruments, including derivatives, are initially recognised at fair value, unless payment for an asset is deferred beyond normal business terms or financed at a rate of interest that is not a market rate, in which case the asset is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest for a similar debt instrument.

Project Trafford LLP

Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2023

Financial instruments (continued)
Other financial instruments are subsequently measured at fair value, with any changes recognised in profit or loss, with the exception of hedging instruments in a designated hedging relationship.

Financial assets that are measured at cost or amortised cost are reviewed for objective evidence of impairment at the end of each reporting date. If there is objective evidence of impairment, an impairment loss is recognised in profit or loss immediately.

For all equity instruments regardless of significance, and other financial assets that are individually significant, these are assessed individually for impairment. Other financial assets are either assessed individually or grouped on the basis of similar credit risk characteristics.

Any reversals of impairment are recognised in profit or loss immediately, to the extent that the reversal does not result in a carrying amount of the financial asset that exceeds what the carrying amount would have been had the impairment not previously been recognised.

The analysis of the LLP's revenue for the year is as follows:

The whole of the turnover is attributable to the principal activities of the LLP wholly undertaken in the United Kingdom.

Project Trafford LLP

Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2023

Operating (loss)/profit is stated after charging /(crediting):

Project Trafford LLP

Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2023

Project Trafford LLP

Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2023

Assets held under finance leases and hire purchase contracts

The net carrying amount of tangible assets includes the following amounts in respect of assets held under finance leases and hire purchase contracts:

Project Trafford LLP

Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2023

Shares in group undertakings and participating interests

Project Trafford LLP

Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2023

Project Trafford LLP

Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2023

Finance leases

The total of future minimum lease payments is as follows:

Operating leases

The total of future minimum lease payments is as follows:

The amount of non-cancellable operating lease payments recognised as an expense during the year was £- (2022 - £1,285,667).

The LLP has a provision in respect of dilapidations in relation to its rented premises to return premises to their original condition once the lease expires. These provisions are expected at the end of the premises leases and are subject to negotiation with the landlord at the time the lease is surrendered. The relevant provisions are released against the actual cost incurred as and when the final cost is negotiated.

Project Trafford LLP

Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2023

In the event of a winding up amounts in ‘Loans and other debts due to members’ (other than members’ capital classified as debt) would rank alongside other unsecured creditors. This is detailed in the LLP agreement and can only be varied by a special resolution of the members. There are no restrictions on the ability of members to reduce the amount of ‘Members’ other interests.

Defined contribution pension scheme

The limited liability partnership operated a defined contribution pension scheme in previous years. There was no pension cost charge for the year (2022 - £411,461).

As discussed in the Member's Report, the trade and assets of the LLP were purchased by Stantec UK Limited on 1st April 2022. The intention is to wind up the LLP after 3 years post the transaction date, until which time it remains a party to the transaction agreed with Stantec. The LLP is not expected to trade post 1 April 2022. As a result, the members have concluded that it is not appropriate to adopt a going concern basis of preparation in these financial statements.

No adjustments were made to these financial statements as a result of preparing them on a basis other than that of a going concern.