W.H.BOWKER LIMITED
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Next accounts due
2026-09-30 (in 4mo)
Last filed for 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement due
2026-11-05 (in 6mo)
Last made up 2025-10-22
Watchouts
Cash
—
Latest balance sheet
Net assets
£64M
+18.9% vs 2023
Employees
—
Average over period
Profit before tax
£3M
-62.8% vs 2023
Watchouts
Facts from the Companies House register and the latest accounts — not a rating
-
1 PSC ceased in last 24 months
Significant control changed hands — see the Ownership section.
Profit before tax
2-year trend · vs Industrials median
Accounts
2-year trend · latest reflected 2024-12-31
| Metric | Trend | 2023-12-31 | 2024-12-31 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turnover | £303,449,000 | £322,453,000 | |
| Operating profit | £10,020,000 | £6,001,000 | |
| Profit before tax | £7,288,000 | £2,712,000 | |
| Net profit | £5,244,000 | £1,789,000 | |
| Cash | £1,954,000 | — | |
| Total assets less current liabilities | £53,519,000 | £63,646,000 | |
| Net assets | — | — | |
| Equity | — | — | |
| Average employees | — | — | |
| Wages | — | — |
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 | 2023-12-31 | 2024-12-31 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating margin | 3.3% | 1.9% | |
| Net margin | 1.7% | 0.6% | |
| Return on capital employed | 18.7% | 9.4% | |
| Current ratio | 1.12x | 0.97x | |
| Interest cover | 3.67x | 1.82x |
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
- Grant Thornton UK LLP
- Audit opinion
- Unqualified (clean)
- Going concern
- Affirmed
“Consequently, the Directors are confident that the Group will have sufficient funds to continue to meet its liabilities as they fall due for at least 12 months from the date of approval of the financial statements and therefore have prepared the financial statements on a going concern basis.”
Group structure
- W.H.BOWKER LIMITED · parent
- Bowker Preston Limited 100%
- Bowker Blackburn Limited 100%
- Bowker Ribble Valley Limited 100%
- Bowker Motorcycles Limited 100%
- Bowker Performance Cars Limited 100%
- The Used Car Warehouse Limited 100%
- James Nuttall (Holdings) Limited 100%
- W. H. Bowker (Rochdale) Limited 100%
- Queensway Commercials Limited 100%
- James Nuttall (Developments) Limited 100%
Significant events
- “On 15 November 2024, the Group acquired the trade and assets of Porsche Centre Bolton to compliment the Group's existing Porsche Centre at Preston and provide geographical and operational synergies.”
- “On 30 June 2024, the trade and assets of W. H. Bowker (Rochdale) Limited were hived-up into the parent company, W.H. Bowker Limited, with the intention of creating operational synergies within the Group's main Transport, Distribution and Warehousing entity.”
- “In 2024 INEOS Automotive confirmed its intention to transition from an Agency model with retailers to a wholesale model, effective 1 January 2025. ... On 24 December 2024, the business received formal confirmation from INEOS Automotive of the termination of both the sales and aftersales dealer agreements, effective 31 December 2024.”
- “In early January 2025, the business concluded that the subsidiary company, Bowker Ribble Valley Limited, was no longer financially viable if its operations as a motor dealership were to continue. Trading as a motor dealership formally ceased on 28 February 2025, with the Company's operations changing to becoming a landlord for the company's freehold property from 1 April 2025.”
Auditor, going-concern and subsidiary information is drawn from the narrative of the latest annual accounts. About these numbers
People
12 active · 5 resigned
| Name | Role | Appointed | Born | Nationality |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GEE, Andrew John | Secretary | 2018-11-30 | — | — |
| BOWKER, Anthony Paul | Director | 2004-01-19 | Apr 1968 | British |
| BOWKER, Caroline Jennifer | Director | 2004-01-19 | Jun 1959 | British |
| BOWKER, Hilary | Director | 2004-01-19 | Jun 1963 | British |
| BOWKER, Kenneth Neil | Director | — | Mar 1944 | British |
| BOWKER, Kenneth Neil | Director | — | Apr 1965 | British |
| BOWKER, Vicki | Director | 2004-01-19 | Jun 1969 | British |
| BOWKER, William Henry | Director | 2024-12-18 | Aug 1988 | British |
| BOWKER, William Henry | Director | 1996-12-13 | May 1960 | British |
| GEE, Andrew John | Director | 2019-02-01 | Jun 1965 | British |
| GRIFFITHS, Elizabeth Helen | Director | — | Apr 1962 | British |
| KAY, Christopher | Director | 2017-04-26 | Mar 1977 | British |
Show 5 resigned officers
| Name | Role | Appointed | Resigned |
|---|---|---|---|
| HEPPENSTALL, David | Secretary | — | 2000-01-04 |
| THOMASON, Darren | Secretary | 2000-01-04 | 2018-11-30 |
| BOWKER, William Henry | Director | — | 2017-09-18 |
| HEPPENSTALL, David | Director | — | 2000-06-02 |
| WHITTLE, Geoffrey Foster | Director | — | 2014-06-20 |
Ownership
Persons with significant control
| Name | Kind | Nature of control | Notified | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mr William Henry Bowker | Individual | Shares 25–50%, Voting 25–50%, voting-rights-25-to-50-percent-as-firm | 2025-11-18 | Active |
| Mr William Henry Bowker | Individual | Shares 25–50% | 2016-04-06 | Ceased 2025-11-18 |
Filing timeline
Last 20 of 192 total filings
| Date | Type | Category | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-11-20 | PSC07 | persons-with-significant-control | Cessation of a person with significant control | |
| 2025-11-20 | PSC01 | persons-with-significant-control | Notification of a person with significant control | |
| 2025-10-22 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2025-07-10 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type group | |
| 2024-12-20 | AP01 | officers | Appoint person director company with name date | |
| 2024-11-08 | MR04 | mortgage | Mortgage satisfy charge full | |
| 2024-10-22 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2024-08-01 | MR01 | mortgage | Mortgage create with deed with charge number charge creation date | |
| 2024-07-15 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type group | |
| 2024-07-04 | MR01 | mortgage | Mortgage create with deed with charge number charge creation date | |
| 2024-01-11 | MR01 | mortgage | Mortgage create with deed with charge number charge creation date | |
| 2023-10-23 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2023-07-26 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type group | |
| 2022-10-24 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2022-07-13 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type group | |
| 2021-11-10 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2021-08-06 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type group | |
| 2020-10-22 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2020-10-05 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type group | |
| 2019-10-21 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates |
Public-record activity
Raw counts from Companies House — last 12–24 months
- Filings
- 4
- 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
FY2023 → FY2024 · period ending 2024-12-31 vs 2023-12-31
-
Turnover
+6.3%
£303,449,000 £322,453,000
-
Cash
—
Not reported
-
Net assets
—
Not reported
-
Employees
—
Not reported
-
Operating profit
-40.1%
£10,020,000 £6,001,000
-
Profit before tax
-62.8%
£7,288,000 £2,712,000
Each % is (latest − prior) ÷ |prior| for the line item as filed. Periods don't have to be exactly 12 months apart — a long or short period (typical around incorporation or year-end changes) will distort the comparison. Lines a company doesn't report are omitted. About these numbers