JOHN COTTON GROUP LIMITED
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Next accounts due
2026-11-30 (in 6mo)
Last filed for 2025-03-02
Confirmation statement due
2027-01-01 (in 8mo)
Last made up 2025-12-18
Watchouts
None on the register
Cash
£47M
-18.1% vs 2024
Net assets
£169M
+7.3% vs 2024
Employees
1,641
+2.8% vs 2024
Profit before tax
£23M
-35.5% vs 2024
Name history
Renamed 1 time since incorporation
- JOHN COTTON GROUP LIMITED 1997-12-12 → present
- JOHN COTTON (MIRFIELD) LIMITED 1933-03-01 → 1997-12-12
Net assets
2-year trend · vs Consumer Discretionary median
Accounts
2-year trend · latest reflected 2025-03-02
| Metric | Trend | 2024-03-03 | 2025-03-02 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turnover | £331,300,000 | £315,760,000 | |
| Operating profit | £34,205,000 | £21,505,000 | |
| Profit before tax | £35,486,000 | £22,897,000 | |
| Net profit | £28,232,000 | £17,637,000 | |
| Cash | £57,671,000 | £47,214,000 | |
| Total assets less current liabilities | £160,323,000 | £172,653,000 | |
| Net assets | £157,842,000 | £169,426,000 | |
| Equity | £157,842,000 | £169,426,000 | |
| Average employees | 1,597 | 1,641 | |
| Wages | £56,569,000 | £61,801,000 |
Values shown as filed in the company's annual accounts. — indicates the figure wasn't present under that line item in that period. About these numbers
Ratios
Computed from the line items above — sparklines read oldest → newest
| Ratio | Trend | 2024-03-03 | 2025-03-02 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating margin | 10.3% | 6.8% | |
| Net margin | 8.5% | 5.6% | |
| Return on capital employed | 21.3% | 12.5% | |
| Current ratio | 2.58x | 2.80x |
Margins divide P&L lines by turnover. Gearing is liabilities over total assets. Current ratio is current assets over creditors falling due within one year. Interest cover is operating profit over absolute finance costs. Sector-distribution context coming next.
Audit & accounting basis
- Accounting basis
- FRS 102
- Reporting scope
- Consolidated group
- Auditor
- PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
- Audit opinion
- Unqualified (clean)
- Going concern
- Affirmed
“The directors have a reasonable expectation that the Group has adequate resources to continue in operation for the foreseeable future. The directors have considered a period in excess of twelve months from the date of approval of these financial statements in making this assessment.”
Group structure
- JOHN COTTON GROUP LIMITED · parent
- John Cotton Europe Sp. z.o.o. 100%
- Hangzhou John Cotton Trade Company Limited 100%
- John Cotton Australia Pty Limited 100%
- John Cotton Deutschland GmbH 100%
- John Cotton Bulgaria EOOD 100%
- Northern Feather (Home Furnishings) Limited 100%
- Alexandra Bedcovers Limited 100%
- Bridge Inn Limited 100%
- Stanley A Brown Limited 100%
- Schofield (Felts) Limited 100%
- Snuggledown Limited 100%
- Snuggledown of Norway (UK) Limited 100%
- Northern Textiles plc 100%
- Hollingsworth Bros Limited 100%
- Prefabricated Felts Limited 100%
- The Tyneside Flock Company Limited 100%
- Pennys Transport Co Limited 100%
- Carr Haulage Company Limited 100%
- Textiles Wastes (Scotland) Limited 100%
- John Cotton Fibres Ltd 100%
- M Ferrar & Sons (Glasgow) Limited 100%
- Onebuild Limited 100%
- R M Truscott Limited 100%
- Grandrover Limited 100%
- GKO Limited 100%
- Wash & Dry Me Limited 100%
- JCLB Limited 50%
Significant events
- “Group revenue has decreased by 4.7% during 2024/25, mainly due to a decline in UK sales of duvets, pillows and fillings for the bed industry.”
- “Gross profit as a percentage of turnover decreased to 21.5% (2024: 24.5%) mainly due to production inefficiencies, an asset impairment in the bed fillings business in the UK, and exchange rate fluctuations.”
- “The Group continues to invest in new capital equipment to remain competitive and reduce its cost base.”
- “An interim dividend of £5,600,000 was paid during the period (2024: £4,092,000).”
- “Impairment of tangible assets relates to machinery used in the production of specific customer products, due to a customer moving to a different technical specification and contracted work being cancelled.”
- “The Trustees and company decided to pursue an insurance buy-out strategy for the defined benefit pension scheme, which is expected to take at least 12 months to complete.”
Auditor, going-concern and subsidiary information is drawn from the narrative of the latest annual accounts. About these numbers
People
9 active · 9 resigned
| Name | Role | Appointed | Born | Nationality |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWALWELL, Stephen George | Secretary | 2000-11-01 | — | British |
| COTTON, Barbara | Director | — | Jul 1940 | German |
| COTTON, John Dawson | Director | — | Jul 1940 | British |
| COTTON, Mark Adrian | Director | 1999-04-23 | Apr 1976 | British |
| COTTON, Nicholas John | Director | 2015-12-17 | Apr 1966 | British |
| CRUDDOS, David Keith | Director | 2018-12-19 | Nov 1963 | British |
| HARRINGTON, Michael | Director | 2025-03-01 | Jun 1981 | British |
| HURST, Jonathan Paul Fenton | Director | 2018-04-24 | Aug 1959 | British |
| MANNING, Nicholas Hugh | Director | 2011-09-19 | Mar 1972 | British |
Show 9 resigned officers
| Name | Role | Appointed | Resigned |
|---|---|---|---|
| MEIN, David Michael | Secretary | — | 2000-11-01 |
| BURNLEY, John Pickard | Director | — | 1996-12-19 |
| COTTON, Nicholas John | Director | 1996-12-19 | 2004-10-08 |
| FROST, Graham Edward | Director | 2007-04-25 | 2016-02-29 |
| GRANT, Anthony Ernest | Director | 1996-12-19 | 2018-12-31 |
| GUNN, Fiona Catherine | Director | 2018-05-01 | 2018-10-31 |
| MEIN, David Michael | Director | 1996-12-19 | 2011-04-04 |
| STARKEY, Andrew Heriot | Director | 2012-12-17 | 2014-03-31 |
| WARD, Stephen Hedley | Director | 1996-12-19 | 2001-07-19 |
Ownership
Persons with significant control
| Name | Kind | Nature of control | Notified | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mr John Dawson Cotton | Individual | Shares 50–75% | 2016-04-06 | Active |
| Mark Adrian Cotton | Individual | Shares 25–50% | 2016-04-06 | Active |
Filing timeline
Last 20 of 132 total filings
| Date | Type | Category | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-01-19 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2026-01-15 | CH01 | officers | Change person director company with change date | |
| 2025-11-19 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type group | |
| 2025-03-04 | AP01 | officers | Appoint person director company with name date | |
| 2025-02-24 | RP04CS01 | confirmation-statement | Second filing of confirmation statement with made up date | |
| 2024-12-18 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2024-11-28 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type group | |
| 2024-11-12 | PSC04 | persons-with-significant-control | Change to a person with significant control | |
| 2023-12-18 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2023-11-22 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type group | |
| 2022-12-19 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2022-11-21 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type group | |
| 2021-12-19 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2021-11-19 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type group | |
| 2021-01-06 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type group | |
| 2020-12-18 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2019-12-18 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2019-11-27 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type group | |
| 2019-01-17 | TM01 | officers | Termination director company with name termination date | |
| 2018-12-19 | AP01 | officers | Appoint person director company with name date |
Public-record activity
Raw counts from Companies House — last 12–24 months
- Filings
- 3
- Capital events
- 0
- Officers appointed
- 0
- Officers resigned
- 0
last 12 months
last 24 months
last 12 months
last 12 months
Direct counts from the register. No score, no rating — see the Filing timeline for the underlying events.
Year-on-year
FY2024 → FY2025 · period ending 2025-03-02 vs 2024-03-03
-
Turnover
-4.7%
£331,300,000 £315,760,000
-
Cash
-18.1%
£57,671,000 £47,214,000
-
Net assets
+7.3%
£157,842,000 £169,426,000
-
Employees
+2.8%
1,597 1,641
-
Operating profit
-37.1%
£34,205,000 £21,505,000
-
Profit before tax
-35.5%
£35,486,000 £22,897,000
-
Wages
+9.2%
£56,569,000 £61,801,000
Each % is (latest − prior) ÷ |prior| for the line item as filed. The comparison is only shown when the latest and prior accounts cover broadly equal-length periods — short or long stubs (typical around incorporation or a year-end change) are suppressed rather than misrepresented. Lines a company doesn't report are omitted. About these numbers