ESSENTIAL CUISINE LIMITED
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Next accounts due
2026-09-30 (in 4mo)
Last filed for 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement due
2027-03-29 (in 10mo)
Last made up 2026-03-15
Watchouts
None on the register
Cash
£5M
+15.3% vs 2023
Net assets
£12M
-5.7% vs 2023
Employees
74
-2.6% vs 2023
Profit before tax
£7M
+10.6% vs 2023
Net assets
2-year trend · vs Consumer Staples median
Accounts
2-year trend · latest reflected 2024-12-31
| Metric | Trend | 2023-12-31 | 2024-12-31 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turnover | £26,392,000 | £28,776,000 | |
| Operating profit | £5,814,000 | £6,340,000 | |
| Profit before tax | £5,898,000 | £6,523,000 | |
| Net profit | £5,952,000 | £5,419,000 | |
| Cash | £4,272,000 | £4,926,000 | |
| Total assets less current liabilities | £13,140,000 | £12,401,000 | |
| Net assets | £12,831,000 | £12,100,000 | |
| Equity | £12,831,000 | £12,100,000 | |
| Average employees | 76 | 74 | |
| Wages | £2,726,000 | £2,743,000 |
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 | 2023-12-31 | 2024-12-31 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating margin | 22.0% | 22.0% | |
| Net margin | 22.6% | 18.8% | |
| Return on capital employed | 44.2% | 51.1% | |
| Gearing (liabilities / total assets) | 21.9% | 25.1% | |
| Current ratio | 4.33x | 3.74x | |
| Interest cover | 5814.00x | — |
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
- Grant Thornton UK LLP
- Audit opinion
- Unqualified (clean)
- Going concern
- Affirmed
“The directors believe that the company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future (being a period of at least 12 months from the date of signing these financial statements). Thus they continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the annual financial statements.”
Significant events
- “At the start of the 2025 company has seen sales increased vs last year. This year on year growth continued at the time of reporting c. 7% at the end of first 4 months.”
- “World events continue to disrupt global supply chains and financial markets. The industry in which the company operates is impacted by the effect on global supply chains, the consequences of which are increased prices and lower availability.”
Auditor, going-concern and subsidiary information is drawn from the narrative of the latest annual accounts. About these numbers
People
4 active · 13 resigned
| Name | Role | Appointed | Born | Nationality |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HARTLEY, Lorraine Alexandra | Secretary | 2026-04-27 | — | — |
| FRANCHETERRE, Antony Xavier | Director | 2019-09-20 | Mar 1970 | French |
| MULLER, Lorraine | Director | 2026-02-20 | May 1979 | British |
| VAN TROYS, Maria Elza Marleen | Director | 2022-03-25 | Oct 1965 | Belgian |
Show 13 resigned officers
| Name | Role | Appointed | Resigned |
|---|---|---|---|
| CORLETT, Neil Lingham | Secretary | 2006-03-15 | 2018-05-04 |
| CRANE, Evelyn Valerie Kathleen | Secretary | 1996-03-07 | 2006-03-14 |
| NEWTON, John | Secretary | 2018-05-04 | 2026-04-27 |
| FIRST SECRETARIES LIMITED | Corporate Nominee Secretary | 1996-03-07 | 1996-03-07 |
| CORLETT, Neil Lingham | Director | 2001-04-30 | 2018-05-04 |
| CRANE, Nigel Stephen | Director | 1996-03-07 | 2018-05-04 |
| JONES, Adam | Director | 2018-05-04 | 2026-02-20 |
| MCGREGOR, Jamie Buchanan | Director | 2013-01-02 | 2018-05-04 |
| METCALF, Alan David Howard | Director | 2004-02-01 | 2016-07-01 |
| PASCHALIDIS, Stylianos | Director | 2019-05-16 | 2019-09-20 |
| SCOTT, Nigel George | Director | 2010-07-12 | 2014-03-13 |
| VAZ, Bertrand Marie | Director | 2018-05-04 | 2022-03-25 |
| WEBER, Laurent | Director | 2018-05-04 | 2019-05-16 |
Ownership
Persons with significant control
| Name | Kind | Nature of control | Notified | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solina Uk Holdings Limited | Corporate entity | Shares 75–100%, Voting 75–100%, Appoints directors | 2018-05-04 | Active |
| Mr Nigel Stephen Crane | Individual | Shares 25–50%, Voting 25–50%, Appoints directors | 2018-04-04 | Ceased 2018-05-04 |
| Mr Neil Lingham Corlett | Individual | Shares 25–50%, Voting 25–50%, Appoints directors | 2018-04-04 | Ceased 2018-05-04 |
Filing timeline
Last 20 of 148 total filings
| Date | Type | Category | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-04-29 | TM02 | officers | Termination secretary company with name termination date | |
| 2026-04-29 | AP03 | officers | Appoint person secretary company with name date | |
| 2026-04-02 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2026-03-30 | CH01 | officers | Change person director company with change date | |
| 2026-03-04 | AP01 | officers | Appoint person director company with name date | |
| 2026-03-04 | TM01 | officers | Termination director company with name termination date | |
| 2025-08-06 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full | |
| 2025-04-17 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2024-10-09 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full | |
| 2024-04-19 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2023-07-08 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full | |
| 2023-04-19 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2022-08-24 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full | |
| 2022-04-14 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2022-03-25 | AP01 | officers | Appoint person director company with name date | |
| 2022-03-25 | TM01 | officers | Termination director company with name termination date | |
| 2022-01-26 | MR01 | mortgage | Mortgage create with deed with charge number charge creation date | |
| 2021-09-22 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full | |
| 2021-05-14 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2021-02-19 | MR04 | mortgage | Mortgage satisfy charge full |
Public-record activity
Raw counts from Companies House — last 12–24 months
- Filings
- 7
- Capital events
- 0
- Officers appointed
- 2
- Officers resigned
- 2
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
+9%
£26,392,000 £28,776,000
-
Cash
+15.3%
£4,272,000 £4,926,000
-
Net assets
-5.7%
£12,831,000 £12,100,000
-
Employees
-2.6%
76 74
-
Operating profit
+9%
£5,814,000 £6,340,000
-
Profit before tax
+10.6%
£5,898,000 £6,523,000
-
Wages
+0.6%
£2,726,000 £2,743,000
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