COTTON TRADERS LIMITED
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Next accounts due
2026-09-30 (in 4mo)
Last filed for 2024-12-28
Confirmation statement due
2026-06-22 (in 1mo)
Last made up 2025-06-08
Watchouts
None on the register
Cash
£9M
+52.4% vs 2023
Net assets
£41M
+24.5% vs 2023
Employees
848
+0.4% vs 2023
Profit before tax
£9M
+6.9% vs 2023
Name history
Renamed 1 time since incorporation
- COTTON TRADERS LIMITED 1987-07-02 → present
- SPOTPERK LIMITED 1987-04-24 → 1987-07-02
Net assets
2-year trend · vs Consumer Discretionary median
Accounts
2-year trend · latest reflected 2024-12-28
| Metric | Trend | 2023-12-30 | 2024-12-28 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turnover | £109,525,000 | £107,875,000 | |
| Operating profit | £9,148,000 | £9,461,000 | |
| Profit before tax | £8,422,000 | £9,005,000 | |
| Net profit | £6,313,000 | £7,520,000 | |
| Cash | £6,151,000 | £9,372,000 | |
| Total assets less current liabilities | £40,964,000 | £45,895,000 | |
| Net assets | £32,611,000 | £40,613,000 | |
| Equity | £32,611,000 | £40,613,000 | |
| Average employees | 845 | 848 | |
| Wages | £16,123,000 | £17,062,000 |
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 | 2023-12-30 | 2024-12-28 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating margin | 8.4% | 8.8% | |
| Net margin | 5.8% | 7.0% | |
| Return on capital employed | 22.3% | 20.6% | |
| Current ratio | 3.12x | 2.92x | |
| Interest cover | 9.09x | 11.37x |
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
- Standalone (parent only)
- Auditor
- BDO LLP
- Audit opinion
- Unqualified (clean)
- Going concern
- Affirmed
“Based on the analysis above, the directors consider it appropriate to prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis.”
Significant events
- “On 24 February 2025, 100% of the issued share capital of CorpAcq Holdings Limited, which in turn owns 100% of CorpAcq Limited, was acquired by Celadon Bidco Limited. Celadon Bidco Limited is 55.32% owned by Celadon Bidco Sarl, 25.23% by Orange UK Holdings, 5.16% by Goldman Sachs and 14.29% by other Shareholders.”
- “Cotton Traders operates in a highly competitive market which is a continuing risk to the company and could result in losing sales to its key competitors.”
- “The company is also tied into long-term working arrangements with many of its suppliers of goods and services.”
- “Interruptions in the companies and third party providers IT systems may result in operational failures and would impact the operation of the company's business.”
Auditor, going-concern and subsidiary information is drawn from the narrative of the latest annual accounts. About these numbers
People
7 active · 8 resigned
| Name | Role | Appointed | Born | Nationality |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| COTTON, Francis Edward | Director | — | Jan 1947 | British |
| HAMBLIN, Nicholas Anthony | Director | 2022-09-09 | Aug 1962 | British |
| HOWLINGS, Mark Steven | Director | 2022-09-09 | Mar 1964 | British |
| MILLWARD, Phillip Robert | Director | 2026-02-10 | Jun 1962 | British |
| SMITH, Steven James | Director | — | Jul 1951 | British |
| STEWART, Kyle | Director | 2026-02-10 | Dec 1987 | British |
| TURNER, Nicholas James | Director | 2026-02-10 | Mar 1977 | British |
Show 8 resigned officers
| Name | Role | Appointed | Resigned |
|---|---|---|---|
| BARNES, William Robert | Secretary | 1997-08-16 | 2003-10-31 |
| COTTON, Francis Edward | Secretary | — | 1993-02-01 |
| COTTON, Patricia | Secretary | 2011-02-01 | 2018-05-21 |
| DEVALL, Philip Frank | Secretary | 1993-02-01 | 1997-06-05 |
| HOWLINGS, Mark Steven | Secretary | 2003-10-31 | 2011-01-31 |
| DEVALL, Philip Frank | Director | 1993-02-01 | 1997-06-05 |
| DORSETT, Jonathan Paul | Director | 2018-05-21 | 2022-09-01 |
| NEARY, Anthony | Director | — | 1993-08-10 |
Ownership
Persons with significant control
| Name | Kind | Nature of control | Notified | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cotton Traders Group Finance Limited | Corporate entity | Shares 75–100% | 2018-05-21 | Ceased 2018-05-21 |
| Cotton Traders Holdings Limited | Corporate entity | Shares 75–100%, Voting 75–100% | 2018-05-21 | Active |
| Mr Francis Edward Cotton | Individual | Shares 25–50%, Voting 25–50% | 2017-06-01 | Ceased 2018-05-21 |
| Mr Steven James Smith | Individual | Shares 25–50%, Voting 25–50% | 2017-06-01 | Ceased 2018-05-21 |
Filing timeline
Last 20 of 168 total filings
| Date | Type | Category | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-02-10 | AP01 | officers | Appoint person director company with name date | |
| 2026-02-10 | AP01 | officers | Appoint person director company with name date | |
| 2026-02-10 | AP01 | officers | Appoint person director company with name date | |
| 2025-10-20 | PSC05 | persons-with-significant-control | Change to a person with significant control | |
| 2025-10-07 | MR01 | mortgage | Mortgage create with deed with charge number charge creation date | |
| 2025-09-30 | PSC07 | persons-with-significant-control | Cessation of a person with significant control | |
| 2025-09-30 | PSC02 | persons-with-significant-control | Notification of a person with significant control | |
| 2025-07-17 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full | |
| 2025-06-20 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2024-07-17 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full | |
| 2024-06-24 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2023-10-02 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full | |
| 2023-06-20 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2022-09-09 | AP01 | officers | Appoint person director company with name date | |
| 2022-09-09 | AP01 | officers | Appoint person director company with name date | |
| 2022-09-01 | TM01 | officers | Termination director company with name termination date | |
| 2022-06-27 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full | |
| 2022-06-21 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2021-08-06 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full | |
| 2021-06-21 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates |
Public-record activity
Raw counts from Companies House — last 12–24 months
- Filings
- 9
- Capital events
- 0
- Officers appointed
- 3
- 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 2024-12-28 vs 2023-12-30
-
Turnover
-1.5%
£109,525,000 £107,875,000
-
Cash
+52.4%
£6,151,000 £9,372,000
-
Net assets
+24.5%
£32,611,000 £40,613,000
-
Employees
+0.4%
845 848
-
Operating profit
+3.4%
£9,148,000 £9,461,000
-
Profit before tax
+6.9%
£8,422,000 £9,005,000
-
Wages
+5.8%
£16,123,000 £17,062,000
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