The Accounts · daily brief
5 September 2026
Wage inflation pressures Domino's franchisees
The takeaways
- Domino's franchisee Full House saw operating profit fall 23% as margins narrowed alongside rising staff costs
- Pharmacy group Red Band swung to an operating loss while adding 33 heads against broadly flat sales
- Software developer Geoactive recorded a profit gain while its overall wage bill dropped 9%
Hiring signals · who grew, who shrank
Hiring
- Geoactive Limited 57 → 60 staff ▲ +5% staff cost −9%
Cutting
None worth flagging.
Average headcount from the accounts filed yesterday — a look back at last year's payroll, not a live hiring tracker.
Full House Restaurants Holdings Limited [1]
Full House Restaurants Holdings Limited is a holding entity for a takeaway food business, operating as a Domino's Pizza franchisee group that is jointly owned by John Shedden and Domino's Pizza UK & Ireland Limited.
Margin contraction
| Line | FY25 | FY24 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profit & loss | |||
| Turnover | £73.4m | £72.7m | ▲ +1% |
| Gross profit | £20.8m | £22m | ▼ −5% |
| Admin expenses | £16m | £15.7m | ▲ +2% |
| Operating profit | £5m | £6.5m | ▼ −23% |
| Finance costs | £114k | £207k | ▼ −45% |
| Profit before tax | £5.1m | £6.6m | ▼ −23% |
| Net profit | £3.5m | £4.7m | ▼ −26% |
| Cash & balance sheet | |||
| Cash | £6.2m | £8.6m | ▼ −28% |
| Net assets | £19.9m | £19.1m | ▲ +4% |
| Dividends paid | £3m | £5m | ▼ −40% |
| People & pay | |||
| Avg. headcount | 1,717 | 1,780 | ▼ −4% |
| Staff cost | £26.2m | £24.7m | ▲ +6% |
| Director pay | £816k | £988k | ▼ −17% |
| Highest-paid director | £713k | £822k | ▼ −13% |
The Domino's Pizza franchisee group recorded a 1% uptick in revenue to £73.4m, but the top line is only half the story. Operating profit fell 23% to £5.0m while the wage bill rose to £26.2m, despite the group employing 63 fewer heads on average. The filing notes profitability remains the principal challenge, with gross margins contracting to 28.3% over the year.
"Red Band" Chemical Company, Limited [2]
Despite its registered name, the company operates as a retail dispensing chemist under the trading name Lindsay & Gilmour, forming part of an independent Scottish pharmacy group majority-owned by Pharmacy Finance Ltd.
Operating loss
| Line | FY24 | FY23 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profit & loss | |||
| Turnover | £43.5m | £43.6m | ▼ −0% |
| Gross profit | £15.8m | £14.7m | ▲ +8% |
| Admin expenses | −£16.1m | −£14.4m | ▼ −12% |
| Operating profit | −£156k | £306k | ▼ −151% |
| Finance costs | −£316k | −£319k | ▲ +1% |
| Profit before tax | −£455k | −£1.3m | ▲ +66% |
| Net profit | −£420k | −£1.2m | ▲ +66% |
| Cash & balance sheet | |||
| Cash | £2.7m | £3.7m | ▼ −26% |
| Net assets | £12.8m | £13.6m | ▼ −6% |
| Dividends paid | −£341k | −£346k | ▲ +2% |
| People & pay | |||
| Avg. headcount | 362 | 329 | ▲ +10% |
| Staff cost | £10.8m | £9.9m | ▲ +9% |
Trading under the Lindsay & Gilmour pharmacy brand, this independent chemist saw revenue remain broadly flat at £43.5m while costs rose. The business swung to a £156k operating loss while average headcount rose by 33, with total staff costs increasing 9% to £10.8m. Pre-tax losses narrowed to £455k, but the core trading picture shows expenses outpacing static sales.
Classic Crust Limited [3]
The company operates take-away food shops and is a subsidiary of Full House Restaurants Holdings Limited.
Wage pressure
| Line | FY25 | FY24 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profit & loss | |||
| Turnover | £14.3m | £14.3m | ▲ +0% |
| Gross profit | £4.3m | £4.5m | ▼ −4% |
| Admin expenses | £3.1m | £3.1m | ▲ +1% |
| Operating profit | £1.2m | £1.4m | ▼ −15% |
| Finance costs | £0 | £0 | |
| Profit before tax | £1.2m | £1.4m | ▼ −17% |
| Net profit | £894k | £1.1m | ▼ −17% |
| Cash & balance sheet | |||
| Net assets | £4.7m | £4.4m | ▲ +7% |
| Dividends paid | £600k | £1m | ▼ −40% |
| People & pay | |||
| Avg. headcount | 338 | 353 | ▼ −4% |
| Staff cost | £4.5m | £4.3m | ▲ +5% |
The margin pressures at parent company Full House are perfectly mirrored in this subsidiary. Revenue was broadly flat at £14.3m, while operating profit slipped 15% to £1.2m. The filing attributes this to employment costs and higher National Insurance contributions, with the staff bill rising 5% to £4.5m even as average headcount dropped during the period.
Geoactive Limited [4]
Formerly operating as Lloyd's Register Digital Products, the company is a privately held developer of subsurface geoscience and petrophysics software used primarily in the energy and mining sectors.
Leaner payroll
| Line | FY25 | FY24 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profit & loss | |||
| Turnover | £13m | £13.3m | ▼ −2% |
| Gross profit | £12.9m | £13.1m | ▼ −2% |
| Admin expenses | £8.2m | £8.6m | ▼ −4% |
| Operating profit | £4.6m | £4.5m | ▲ +2% |
| Finance costs | £24,000 | — | |
| Profit before tax | £4.6m | £4.7m | ▼ −1% |
| Net profit | £3.5m | £3.5m | ▲ +2% |
| Cash & balance sheet | |||
| Cash | £3.8m | £4.9m | ▼ −21% |
| Net assets | £2.7m | £2.4m | ▲ +13% |
| Dividends paid | −£3m | −£7.8m | ▲ +61% |
| People & pay | |||
| Avg. headcount | 60 | 57 | ▲ +5% |
| Staff cost | £5.9m | £6.5m | ▼ −9% |
| Director pay | £150k | £150k | ▲ −0% |
A rare case of margin expansion alongside a reduced payroll. The geoscience software developer saw revenue slip 2% to £13.0m, while operating profit rose to £4.6m. This coincided with a 9% reduction in overall staff costs to £5.9m, occurring while three heads were added to the average roster. It leaves the company sitting on the sort of 35% operating margin you can nap on.
Whether slinging pizzas or dispensing pills, static sales and rising wages make for a difficult digestion.
Sources
- Full House Restaurants Holdings Limited
- "Red Band" Chemical Company, Limited
- Classic Crust Limited
- Geoactive Limited