COTTON TRADERS HOLDINGS 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 HOLDINGS LIMITED 1994-09-19 → present
LIDS LIMITED 1994-06-09 → 1994-09-19

Net assets

2-year trend · vs Consumer Discretionary median

COTTON TRADERS HOLDINGS LIMITED·Consumer Discretionary median · n=5592

Accounts

2-year trend · latest reflected 2024-12-28

Metric	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	£41,011,000	£45,942,000
Net assets	£32,672,000	£40,674,000
Equity	£32,672,000	£40,674,000
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	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%
Gearing (liabilities / total assets)	43.7%	39.7%
Current ratio	3.13x	2.93x
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: Consolidated group
Auditor: BDO LLP
Audit opinion: Unqualified (clean)
Going concern: Affirmed
“The company has continued to trade satisfactorily. January 2025 performed below expectations but revenue in subsequent months is overperforming compared to budget. Sales continued to be driven by growth in its online market share which has seen repeat shopping from existing customers together with the recruitment of new customers on our own platform together with customers from Marketplaces. Sales in the store portfolio continue to be strong and online to budget at the end of March 2025.”

Group structure

COTTON TRADERS HOLDINGS LIMITED · parent
1. Cotton Traders Limited 100% · United Kingdom · home shopping and high street retailer of fashion wear

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.”

Auditor, going-concern and subsidiary information is drawn from the narrative of the latest annual accounts. About these numbers

People

11 active · 16 resigned

Name	Role	Appointed	Born	Nationality
CADLE CLARK, Suzanne Jean	Director	2006-07-01	Apr 1966	British
CATTELL, Nicholas James	Director	2022-09-01	Nov 1974	British
COTTON, Francis Edward	Director	1994-06-22	Jan 1947	British
HAMBLIN, Nicholas Anthony	Director	1996-02-01	Aug 1962	British
HARRIES, Melanie Jane	Director	2024-09-02	Feb 1972	British
HOWLINGS, Mark Steven	Director	2004-11-05	Mar 1964	British
JAMESON, Shona Anne	Director	2015-05-01	Oct 1976	British
MILLWARD, Phillip Robert	Director	2026-01-30	Jun 1962	British
SMITH, Steven James	Director	1994-06-22	Jul 1951	British
STEWART, Kyle	Director	2026-02-10	Dec 1987	British
TURNER, Nicholas James	Director	2026-02-10	Mar 1977	British

Show 16 resigned officers

Name	Role	Appointed	Resigned
BARNES, William Robert	Secretary	1997-08-16	2003-10-31
DEVALL, Philip Frank	Secretary	1994-06-22	1997-06-05
HOWLINGS, Mark Steven	Secretary	2003-10-31	2011-01-31
SMITH, Susan	Secretary	2011-02-01	2018-05-21
PINSENT MASONS SECRETARIAL LIMITED	Corporate Secretary	1994-06-09	1994-06-22
ALLERTON, Caroline Rhoda	Director	2006-07-01	2025-07-31
BARNES, William Robert	Director	1998-07-03	2003-10-31
DEVALL, Philip Frank	Director	1994-06-22	1997-06-05
DORSETT, Jon Paul	Director	2018-05-21	2022-09-01
HAWKINS, Paul	Director	2006-07-01	2025-03-31
JONES, David Charles, Sir	Director	1996-02-01	2013-01-31
KEENS, David Wilson	Director	1996-02-01	2014-07-28
TAYLOR, Wendy Sheila	Director	1999-07-01	2006-08-08
WALLIS, John Keith	Director	1996-02-01	1998-07-01
PINSENT MASONS DIRECTOR LIMITED	Corporate Nominee Director	1994-06-09	1994-06-22
PINSENT MASONS SECRETARIAL LIMITED	Corporate Director	1994-06-09	1994-06-22

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	Active
Mr Steven James Smith	Individual	Shares 25–50%, Voting 25–50%	2017-06-01	Ceased 2018-05-21
Mr Francis Edward Cotton	Individual	Shares 25–50%, Voting 25–50%	2017-06-01	Ceased 2018-05-21

Filing timeline

Last 20 of 201 total filings

Date	Type	Category	Description
2026-02-17	AP01	officers	Appoint person director company with name date	PDF
2026-02-10	AP01	officers	Appoint person director company with name date	PDF
2026-01-30	AP01	officers	Appoint person director company with name date	PDF
2026-01-30	TM01	officers	Termination director company with name termination date	PDF
2025-10-07	MR01	mortgage	Mortgage create with deed with charge number charge creation date	PDF
2025-07-17	AA	accounts	Accounts with accounts type group
2025-06-27	AP01	officers	Appoint person director company with name date	PDF
2025-06-27	TM01	officers	Termination director company with name termination date	PDF
2025-06-20	CS01	confirmation-statement	Confirmation statement with no updates	PDF
2024-07-17	AA	accounts	Accounts with accounts type group
2024-06-24	CS01	confirmation-statement	Confirmation statement with no updates	PDF
2023-10-02	AA	accounts	Accounts with accounts type group
2023-06-20	CS01	confirmation-statement	Confirmation statement with no updates	PDF
2022-09-01	AP01	officers	Appoint person director company with name date	PDF
2022-09-01	TM01	officers	Termination director company with name termination date	PDF
2022-06-21	CS01	confirmation-statement	Confirmation statement with no updates	PDF
2022-06-10	AA	accounts	Accounts with accounts type group
2021-08-06	AA	accounts	Accounts with accounts type group
2021-06-21	CS01	confirmation-statement	Confirmation statement with no updates	PDF
2021-01-13	AA	accounts	Accounts with accounts type group

Public-record activity

Raw counts from Companies House — last 12–24 months

Filings: 9
Capital events: 0
Officers appointed: 3
Officers resigned: 1

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%

£32,672,000 £40,674,000
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

Official Companies House page