Sinclair Motor Holdings Limited - Limited company accounts 23.2

REGISTERED NUMBER: 04395583 (England and Wales)

Sinclair Motor Holdings Limited

Group Strategic Report, Report of the Directors and

Audited Consolidated Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2023

Page

Company Information

1

Group Strategic Report

2

Report of the Directors

7

Report of the Independent Auditors

10

Consolidated Income Statement

13

Consolidated Other Comprehensive Income

14

Consolidated Balance Sheet

15

Company Balance Sheet

16

Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity

17

Company Statement of Changes in Equity

18

Consolidated Cash Flow Statement

19

Notes to the Consolidated Cash Flow Statement

20

Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements

21

Directors:

Mr G S Sinclair

Mr A J Sinclair

Registered office:

Sinclair Group

Old Field Road

Bocam Park

Pencoed

CF35 5LJ

Registered number:

04395583 (England and Wales)

Auditors:

Haines Watts Wales LLP, Statutory Auditors

7 Neptune Court

Vanguard Way

Cardiff

CF24 5PJ

Bankers:

Barclays Bank PLC

PO Box 10

Windsor Court

Cardiff

CF1 3WP

Solicitors:

Acuity Legal

3 Assembly Square

Britannia Quay

Cardiff Bay

Cardiff

CF10 4PL

The directors present their strategic report of the company and the group for the year ended 31 December 2023.

Sinclair Motor Holdings Limited operates its core functions of retailing new cars, used cars, commercial vehicles, servicing (including repairs), bodyshop repairs, parts sales and fuel sales.

Review of business

31/12/2023

31/12/2022

31/12/2021

31/12/2020

Turnover

£637,850,910

£559,515,180

£544,378,686

£450,912,088

Profit before tax

£8,476,308

£12,657,423

£12,626,360

£2,001,418

Total equity

£63,535,357

£57,452,587

£47,712,555

£37,896,746

The year of 2023 resulted in a mixed performance across the group. As a board we were increasingly concerned that our performance may be significantly impacted by the Macro economic and political events happening around the World. The ongoing War in the Ukraine and Middle East, continued to have build and price impacts on the industry. Closer to home, the constant increases in inflation and interest rates continued to affect consumer confidence, and always carried the threat of a reduction in customer spend on high ticket items such as vehicles.

All these factors carried the real threat that 2023 would be a year where we witnessed a reduction in group volumes and performance. It is therefore really pleasing to see that our turnover as a group actually exceeded our performance in 2022. The focus and commitment of our staff teams ensured that our vehicle turnover, service and parts sales all increased on last year, which was a fantastic result. With all the challenges that the industry faced throughout the year, to see our group performance exceed the previous year was a result we are truly proud of. However, there were some additional challenges across the group that unfortunately resulted in our profitability being somewhat down on the previous year.

Our new car departments witnessed most of our manufacturer partners begin to emerge from the build constraints they had previously been experiencing. This resulted in a return to a more normal supply chain for our customers, and our ability to supply more new cars. As a result, across the group our new car performance was ahead of the previous year. This return of new car volume did however have an impact on chassis profit retention, as we began to witness the reduction in the higher than usual profit retention in new car margins. It was really pleasing that as a whole, our group increased its turnover and gross profitability in the new car departments, even with a reduction in average chassis profits.

However, the new car performance within our Mercedes-Benz franchise was significantly back on 2022, as 2023 saw Mercedes-Benz move to a new agency distribution process, and implement a new luxury vehicle strategy. The adoption of an agency system is a significant change within the industry, and Mercedes were our first manufacturer to adopt this. Whilst the transformation to the new system was seamless for the dealers and the customer, the reality was that it was going to take some months to settle into the market and volumes during this time would be reduced. In addition, the brands move towards a luxury vehicle strategy again had the result in reduced volumes across all markets. The consequent result of both these strategies was that our Mercedes-Benz sites delivered half of the volume of the previous year, and therefore half the profitability.

Our Group's used car performance was really encouraging for most of the year. Across the majority of our sites, both our vehicle volumes and profitability were in line or ahead of the previous year and our budgeted expectations. The ongoing shortage of used vehicles, resulting from a lack of new car availability over the previous years, had continued to result in a very strong used car market across the UK.

However, the final quarter of the year witnessed a very sharp realignment of the used car market, and a swift drop in used car values. Whilst this was always forecast to happen at some stage, nobody expected the fall to be so sudden and swift. This unfortunately resulted in a significant reduction in our used car stock values, with an immediate reduction in used car profitability. The unavoidable result was that our group's quarter 4 used car performance was decimated by this stock value drop. Whilst our volumes remained in line with budget, our profitability was way off where we had planned.

The Group's service and parts departments had another very strong year in 2023. Here, both turnovers and profitability were ahead of last year, and both departments were again key contributors to our overall profitability. This strong performance continues to assist in being the financial foundations to our group, and to its ongoing profitability.

In addition to our site and departmental performance, 2023 witnessed the opening of our latest new business within the Sinclair group. This is the new Jaguar Land Rover site in Swansea, and represents the very latest in technological advancements within our industry. The new facility is something that we are extremely proud of and will set a new standard for our customers and help move our business to the next level in the years to come.

Overall, whilst the year of 2023 ended being somewhat down on the previous year's profit, there are many reasons to be proud of the performance and optimistic for the coming year. The majority of our businesses experienced growth in most departments, and many had record profitability. The overall turnover of the group increased year on year, which clearly illustrates the strong health of the South Wales motor industry and our ever increasing achievements within it. Also, when we examine the real issues that drove our profitability down versus last year, they are in two key areas that will not be repeated this year. Firstly, the issues of the Mercedes-Benz volume reduction are mostly isolated to 2023, and we are planning a return to better volumes and profitability within that brand for 2024. Also, the financial impact from the used car realignment was significant, however this has now happened and whilst the impacts may be felt for the first few months of 2024, they will then be behind us and not repeated again.

Overall, 2023 was definitely a much more challenging year than previous years. However, our group has coped exceedingly well with all the challenges it faced and has resulted in a performance and profitability that we are very proud of. This result again illustrates that even in difficult political and economic times, our team's commitment and professionalism ensures that the business continues to succeed.

Principal risks and uncertainties

Sinclair Motor Holdings Limited benefits from the close commercial relationships with a number of key suppliers and customers. the loss of any of these of key suppliers and customers or a significant worsening in commercial terms could have a material impact on the results.

Sinclair Motor Holdings Limited devotes significant resources to supporting these relationships to ensure that they continue to operate as well in the future. From time to time the group undertakes surveys of customer satisfaction, which are reviewed by the board. The directors realise the importance of excellent customer service to remain ahead of the competition.

Price Risk:

The group operates in highly competitive markets. Significant product innovations, technical advances or the intensification of price competition could adversely affect the results for the company. The group invests in significant training of its staff to ensure that the group is well placed to provide a choice for customers, to ensure that they are aware of their options and are satisfied with the level of service we provide. The group also continually works to streamline its cost base to ensure that it remains competitive.

Credit Risk:

The group has well established policies and procedures that require appropriate credit checks on potential customers before sales are made. The amount of exposure to any individual customer is subject to a limit which is reassessed annually by the group.

Liquidity Risk:

Effective management of cash and working capital is a key ongoing priority. The Group has sufficient Net Current Assets to cover it's long-term borrowings and provisions for liabilities. Profits are being ploughed back into the business to re-invest in future opportunities as they become available. The Group is in a strong position from a liquidity point of view, with excess funds being invested in Green Deposits. The directors are confident that the Group accounts may be prepared on a going concern basis.

Climate Legislation Risk

The effects of climate change and associated future legislation may potentially have an impact on our business model.

As detailed in the report of the directors under our streamlined energy and carbon report, the business is investing in the future and finding ways to embrace the changes and change the way in which we work to meet current guidelines and help future proof our business Model.

Electric vehicle adoption risk

The change to electric and hybrid vehicles is being pushed politically and is therefore likely to accelerate which could impact the traditional business model.

We have a close relationship with our manufacturing partners which enables us to have access to these types of vehicles and to support our customer base who currently own or are looking to own electric or hybrid vehicles. We are committed to expanding our range of suppliers to ensure we offer our customer base a range of vehicles to meet their changing needs, as we are to investing in our staff in order to upskill them to meet the new requirements for assisting customers once their purchase has completed.

Section 172(1) statement

Statement by the directors in performance of their statutory duties in accordance with s172(1) Companies Act 2006.

The board of Directors of Sinclair Motor Holdings Limited consider that they have acted in the way they consider, in good faith, would be most likely to promote the success of the Company for the benefit of its members as whole (having regard to the stakeholders and matters set out in s172(1)(a)-(f) of the Act) in the decisions taken during for the Year Ended 31 December 2023.

The Sinclair group was started by Bill Sinclair in 1945 and the company continues to be controlled and run by the Sinclair family. We're proud of the ways in which the company has provided employment, training and financial reward for its owners and employees for over 70 years. We are the largest and most successful motor group in Wales, representing some of the most prestigious automotive brands. In a highly competitive market, we aim to stand out from our competitors by virtue of quality, reliability and the great customer care that our reputation is built upon.

We make strategic decisions based on long-term objectives. In particular, this has meant significant investment in premises and people in the business. This investment is to continue in the future to provide customers with state-of-the- art facilities and the very finest expertise. We acknowledge that, in order to progress to the next phase in the company's future, it is likely that we will continue to expand our existing businesses and add to the prestige brand portfolio that we have. We continue to explore possibilities along these lines. Our aim continues to be to maximise the company's ability to grow profits to fund continued investment for the future of the business and job security for the employees.

Our Employees

We rely on the hard work, commitment and enthusiasm of our staff which is fundamental to the delivery of our plan. We aim to be a responsible employer in our approach to the pay and benefits our team members receive. We provide comprehensive training and career development support. The health, safety and well-being of our employees is one of our primary considerations in the way we do business.

The group is to continue investing in training all staff for the purpose of meeting its long term goal of growth through the provision of excellent customer service.

Our suppliers and customers

We meet with our manufacturing partners regularly throughout the year and take the appropriate action to prevent involvement in modern slavery, corruption, bribery and breaches of competition law. Our business model prioritises quality and customer satisfaction. We have built and will maintain a reputation for transparency and fair dealing with customers and suppliers.

Our Community and the Environment

We are a family-run company with roots in South Wales and have invested in our community through our charity donation scheme. From sponsoring sports kit of local childrens' clubs, to having employees play and arrange charitable football matches. Our plan takes into account the impact of the Group's operations on the community and environment and our wider social responsibilities, and in particular how we comply with environmental legislation and pursue waste-saving opportunities and react promptly to local community concerns.

Business conduct and Corporate Governance

As the Board of Directors, our intention is to behave responsibly and ensure that the management operate the business in a responsible manner, operating within the high standards of business conduct and good governance expected for a business such as ours and in doing so, will contribute to the delivery of our plan. The intention is to nurture our reputation, through both the construction and delivery of our plan, that reflects our responsible behaviour. As the Board of Directors, our intention is to behave responsibly towards our shareholders and treat them fairly and equally, so they too may benefit from the successful delivery of our plan.

Employment of disabled persons

It is the policy that disabled persons shall be considered for employment, career development and promotion on the

basis of their aptitude and abilities in common with all employees.

Employee involvement

The Directors recognise the importance of good communications and relations with employees and management is

encouraged to adopt employee consultations.

On behalf of the board:

Mr A J Sinclair - Director

25 April 2024

The directors present their report with the financial statements of the company and the group for the year ended 31 December 2023.

Principal activity

The principal activity of the group in the year under review was that of retailing of motor vehicles and related activities in the motor trade.

Dividends

No dividends will be distributed for the year ended 31 December 2023.

Future developments

The Group's focus for the future is to organically grow the business, along with its franchise partners, and to progress acquisitions where opportunities arise.

Directors

The directors shown below have held office during the whole of the period from 1 January 2023 to the date of this report.

Mr G S Sinclair

Mr A J Sinclair

Streamlined energy and carbon reporting

The Sinclair Group recognises that its trading activities have an impact on the environment. Indeed, Environmental awareness is one of the Group's core values. We minimise the effects of motor retailing on the environment through adherence to our environment policy. We review and control key areas of our business that may have impact on the environment including asbestos, contamination, noise, recycled waste, tyre disposal, waste oil. In the last 12 months we have changed our waste oil partner - our waste oil is now re-refined into base oil, reducing the need to drill for crude oil. For every 1000 litres of used oil we re-refine, we save over 480kg of CO2 compared to using virgin crude oil.

We have implemented a pilot that separates our waste into recycling streams, this pilot has seen us now recycle 75% of the waste we produce. The Welsh Govt is introducing a similar scheme in April 2024 - we already exceed the minimum requirements of this scheme and as a result have been selected as a case study by Welsh Govt. Algal sites will be on our version of the scheme by April 2024.

We continue to monitor our energy consumption with the aim of reducing our carbon footprint. The Group undertakes the energy assessments of each of our businesses under the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) regulations. We use the results of this assessment to identify potential energy saving opportunities. We have carried out site analysis and assessments to ascertain areas of inefficiencies in the use of resources such as energy, water and fuel. We have incorporated many energy savings initiatives such as solar panels, LED lighting and movement activated interior lights. We have adopted energy saving practices in the business such as fast hand dryers in washrooms and end of day lighting and heating programmes and policies.

We obtain our gas and electricity from green energy providers wherever possible.Any energy that we consume that is not green we are currently offsetting back to net zero. We will continue to pursue the march to 100% renewable energy as the economy strengthens out of the Covid years. We are currently working with our energy providers to create a daily dashboard that will allow each site to track daily consumption stats - taking action immediately when we identity spikes in usage.

We have established an "Eco-Champion" at each site with responsibility for identifying improvement opportunities. Each Champion has successfully completed the CarbonTrust Literacy programme via Cynnal Cymru training provider, as have all Operational Board members. Our ambition is to see 50% of our staff through this programme in the next 2 years. We are currently investigating the Governments Flexible Skills Programme to identify areas of upskilling in the green arena that can be funded through this programme..

We are keen to work with our manufacturing partners in the move to green technologies such as electric vehicles and the infrastructure to charge battery powered vehicles. We look to advances in IT to move towards a paperless business and have invested in paperless communications and systems solutions.

Current reporting year (January - December)

2023

2022

Total emissions generated through combustion of gas (tCO2e)

596

683

Total emissions generated through use of purchased electricity (tCO2e)

674

1,071

Total emissions generated through use of other fuels (tCO2e)

5.17

42

Total emissions generated through business travel (tCO2e)

1,564

1,475

Total gross emissions (tCO2e)

2,839

3,271

Intensity ratio /total gross emissions (kgCO2 per sqft)

4.88

6.02

Statement of directors' responsibilities

The directors are responsible for preparing the Group 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). 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 the group and of the profit or loss of the group 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;

-	state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;

-	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 and the group's transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the company and the group 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 the group 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 group's auditors are unaware, and each director has taken all the steps that he ought to have taken as a director in order to make himself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the group's auditors are aware of that information.

On behalf of the board:

Mr A J Sinclair - Director

25 April 2024

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Sinclair Motor Holdings Limited (the 'parent company') and its subsidiaries (the 'group') for the year ended 31 December 2023 which comprise the Consolidated Income Statement, Consolidated Other Comprehensive Income, Consolidated Balance Sheet, Company Balance Sheet, Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity, Company Statement of Changes in Equity, Consolidated Cash Flow Statement and Notes to the Consolidated Cash Flow Statement, 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 group's and of the parent company affairs as at 31 December 2023 and of the group's profit 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 group 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 group's and the parent 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 Group 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 Group 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 Group 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 group and the parent company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Group 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 by the parent company, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or

-	the parent company 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 page nine, 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 group's and the parent 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 group or the parent 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:

Our planning procedures identify the legal and regulatory frameworks applicable to the operations and financial statements of the company. These are reviewed internally with the audit team including relevant industry experience and expectations as well as externally with the client management. The key laws and regulations we considered in this context were the UK Companies Act 2006, UK GAAP, FRS 102 and relevant tax legislation.

Once identified, we assess the risks of material misstatements in relation to the laws and regulations, irregularities, including fraud and adjust our testing accordingly. Our audit procedures include:

-Discussing with Directors and management which areas of the business they believe to be more susceptible to fraud, and whether they have any knowledge or suspicion of fraudulent activities;

- Obtaining an understanding of the key controls put in place by the company to address risks identified, assessing the effectiveness of those and discussing how these are maintained and monitored internally;

- Assessing the risk of management override and review and testing of journal entries made into the accounting system;

- Challenging assumptions and judgements made by the company in relation to the significant accounting

estimates employed in the preparation of the financial statements;

- Discussing with Directors and Management the legal and regulatory obligations of the business and whether they have any knowledge or suspicion of non compliance.

Despite the audit being planned and conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) there remains an unavoidable risk that material misstatements in the financial statements may not be detected owing to inherent limitations of the audit, and that by their very nature, any such instances of fraud or irregularities likely involve collusion, forgery, intentional misrepresentation, or the override of internal controls.

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.

Clive Edwards (Senior Statutory Auditor)

for and on behalf of Haines Watts Wales LLP, Statutory Auditors

7 Neptune Court

Vanguard Way

Cardiff

CF24 5PJ

30 April 2024

Turnover

3

637,850,910

559,515,180

Cost of sales

(582,577,450

)

(506,444,346

)

Gross profit

55,273,460

53,070,834

Administrative expenses

(44,022,567

)

(39,305,188

)

11,250,893

13,765,646

Other operating income

838,501

556,413

Operating profit

5

12,089,394

14,322,059

Interest payable and similar expenses

6

(3,613,086

)

(1,664,636

)

Profit before taxation

8,476,308

12,657,423

Tax on profit

7

(2,393,538

)

(2,683,135

)

Profit for the financial year

6,082,770

9,974,288

Profit attributable to:

Owners of the parent

5,926,914

9,706,613

Non-controlling interests

155,856

267,675

6,082,770

9,974,288

Profit for the year

6,082,770

9,974,288

Other comprehensive income

-

-

Total comprehensive income for the year

6,082,770

9,974,288

Total comprehensive income attributable to:

Owners of the parent

5,926,914

9,706,613

Non-controlling interests

155,856

267,675

6,082,770

9,974,288

Fixed assets

Intangible assets

9

2,687,500

3,437,500

Tangible assets

10

47,625,292

43,345,999

Investments

11

20,000

20,000

50,332,792

46,803,499

Current assets

Stocks

12

95,274,331

77,859,941

Debtors

13

17,107,827

12,710,006

Cash at bank

6,777,743

10,838,283

119,159,901

101,408,230

Creditors

Amounts falling due within one year

14

(105,129,823

)

(90,260,101

)

Net current assets

14,030,078

11,148,129

Total assets less current liabilities

64,362,870

57,951,628

Provisions for liabilities

18

(827,513

)

(499,041

)

Net assets

63,535,357

57,452,587

Capital and reserves

Called up share capital

19

30,030

30,030

Capital redemption reserve

20

23,000

23,000

Retained earnings

20

61,889,766

55,962,852

Shareholders' funds

61,942,796

56,015,882

Non-controlling interests

21

1,592,561

1,436,705

Total equity

63,535,357

57,452,587

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Directors and authorised for issue on 25 April 2024 and were signed on its behalf by:

Mr A J Sinclair - Director

Fixed assets

Intangible assets

9

-

-

Tangible assets

10

-

-

Investments

11

7,795,875

7,795,875

7,795,875

7,795,875

Current assets

Debtors

13

2,474,146

2,474,146

Cash at bank

2,697

2,697

2,476,843

2,476,843

Creditors

Amounts falling due within one year

14

(8,908,424

)

(8,908,424

)

Net current liabilities

(6,431,581

)

(6,431,581

)

Total assets less current liabilities

1,364,294

1,364,294

Capital and reserves

Called up share capital

19

30,030

30,030

Retained earnings

1,334,264

1,334,264

Shareholders' funds

1,364,294

1,364,294

Company's profit for the financial year

-

-

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Directors and authorised for issue on 25 April 2024 and were signed on its behalf by:

Mr A J Sinclair - Director

Called up

Capital

share

Retained

redemption

capital

earnings

reserve

£

£

£

Balance at 1 January 2022

30,030

46,256,239

23,000

Changes in equity

Total comprehensive income

-

9,706,613

-

Balance at 31 December 2022

30,030

55,962,852

23,000

Changes in equity

Total comprehensive income

-

5,926,914

-

Balance at 31 December 2023

30,030

61,889,766

23,000

Non-controlling

Total

Total

interests

equity

£

£

£

Balance at 1 January 2022

46,309,269

1,169,030

47,478,299

Changes in equity

Total comprehensive income

9,706,613

267,675

9,974,288

Balance at 31 December 2022

56,015,882

1,436,705

57,452,587

Changes in equity

Total comprehensive income

5,926,914

155,856

6,082,770

Balance at 31 December 2023

61,942,796

1,592,561

63,535,357

Called up

share

Retained

Total

capital

earnings

equity

£

£

£

Balance at 1 January 2022

30,030

1,334,264

1,364,294

Changes in equity

Balance at 31 December 2022

30,030

1,334,264

1,364,294

Changes in equity

Balance at 31 December 2023

30,030

1,334,264

1,364,294

Cash flows from operating activities

Cash generated from operations

1

9,753,860

10,243,892

Interest paid

(3,613,086

)

(1,664,636

)

Tax paid

(2,005,568

)

(2,563,083

)

Net cash from operating activities

4,135,206

6,016,173

Cash flows from investing activities

Purchase tangible fixed assets

(8,060,487

)

(4,333,820

)

Sale of tangible fixed assets

1,862,083

25,875

Investment in subsidiary

-

(12,379,219

)

Cash on acquisition

-

4,126,606

Net cash from investing activities

(6,198,404

)

(12,560,558

)

Cash flows from financing activities

Loan movements

-

(600,000

)

Loan repayments in year

(4,500,000

)

-

Amount introduced by directors

9,763

(191,843

)

Amount withdrawn by directors

-

244,322

Net cash from financing activities

(4,490,237

)

(547,521

)

Decrease in cash and cash equivalents

(6,553,435

)

(7,091,906

)

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year

2

9,692,178

16,784,084

Cash and cash equivalents at end of year

2

3,138,743

9,692,178

1.	Reconciliation of profit before taxation to cash generated from operations

2023

2022

£

£

Profit before taxation

8,476,308

12,657,423

Depreciation charges

1,949,864

2,402,710

Profit on disposal of fixed assets

(30,753

)

(2,591

)

Amortisation

1,062,500

312,500

Working capital movement on acquisition

-

(462,416

)

Finance costs

3,613,086

1,664,636

15,071,005

16,572,262

Increase in stocks

(17,414,390

)

(15,861,121

)

Increase in trade and other debtors

(5,209,923

)

(6,080,766

)

Increase in trade and other creditors

17,307,168

15,613,517

Cash generated from operations

9,753,860

10,243,892

2.	Cash and cash equivalents

The amounts disclosed on the Cash Flow Statement in respect of cash and cash equivalents are in respect of these Balance Sheet amounts:

Year ended 31 December 2023

31.12.23

1.1.23

£

£

Cash and cash equivalents

6,777,743

10,838,283

Bank overdrafts

(3,639,000

)

(1,146,105

)

3,138,743

9,692,178

Year ended 31 December 2022

31.12.22

1.1.22

£

£

Cash and cash equivalents

10,838,283

16,784,084

Bank overdrafts

(1,146,105

)

-

9,692,178

16,784,084

3.	Analysis of changes in net funds

At 1.1.23

Cash flow

At 31.12.23

£

£

£

Net cash

Cash at bank

10,838,283

(4,060,540

)

6,777,743

Bank overdrafts

(1,146,105

)

(2,492,895

)

(3,639,000

)

9,692,178

(6,553,435

)

3,138,743

Debt

Debts falling due within 1 year

(4,500,000

)

4,500,000

-

(4,500,000

)

4,500,000

-

Total

5,192,178

(2,053,435

)

3,138,743