The Accounts · daily brief
23 September 2026
Disclaimed audit at Globe-Trotter, £102m swap at dnata
The takeaways
- Grant Thornton issues a disclaimer of opinion on Globe-Trotter's deepening £5.7m operating loss
- A £102m debt-to-equity conversion supports dnata Catering's bottom line as finance costs fall 75%
- Finance costs surged to £14.5m at Maritime Group following its Medlog acquisition, suppressing PBT
Hiring signals · who grew, who shrank
Hiring
- Leader Online Limited 91 → 149 staff ▲ +64% staff cost +37%
- Harpwood House Limited 89 → 122 staff ▲ +37% staff cost +51%
Cutting
- Lpw (Europe) Limited 75 → 37 staff ▼ −51% staff cost −44%
- Tanan Tech Limited 58 → 35 staff ▼ −40% staff cost −41%
Average headcount from the accounts filed yesterday — a look back at last year's payroll, not a live hiring tracker.
Filing of note
Globe-Trotter Group Limited
Globe-Trotter Group Limited, formerly Globe-Trotter Retail Limited, is a British luxury luggage manufacturer and retailer known for its handcrafted suitcases, operating as a portfolio company of private equity firm Oakley Capital (globetrotter1897.com).
Auditor disclaimed an opinion.
| Line | FY25 | FY24 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profit & loss | |||
| Turnover | £12.2m | £11.2m | ▲ +9% |
| Gross profit | £5.9m | £5.9m | ▲ +1% |
| Admin expenses | £12.2m | £9.1m | ▲ +33% |
| Operating profit | −£5.8m | −£3.2m | ▼ −80% |
| Finance costs | £3.3m | £2.1m | ▲ +59% |
| Profit before tax | −£9m | −£5.3m | ▼ −71% |
| Net profit | −£9m | −£5.3m | ▼ −71% |
| Cash & balance sheet | |||
| Cash | £4.1m | £334k | ▲ +1126% |
| Net assets | −£9.7m | −£9.8m | ▲ +1% |
| People & pay | |||
| Avg. headcount | 155 | 125 | ▲ +24% |
| Staff cost | £5m | £3.2m | ▲ +56% |
| Director pay | £229k | £224k | ▲ +2% |
| Highest-paid director | £229k | £224k | ▲ +2% |
The day's most unusual filing comes with a notable audit report: Grant Thornton issued a disclaimer of opinion on this set of accounts. Underneath that disclaimer, the luxury luggage maker saw its operating loss widen. Turnover nudged up to £12.1m, but a 56% increase in total staff costs to £5.0m and expanding administrative expenses deepened the operating loss to £5.7m.
Mitie Fm Limited [1]
Formerly known as Interserve (Facilities Management) Ltd before its acquisition, the company provides combined facilities support and cleaning services as a subsidiary of the London-listed outsourcing business Mitie Group plc (mitie.com).
Margin improvement
| Line | FY26 | FY25 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profit & loss | |||
| Turnover | £1.1bn | £1.1bn | ▼ −1% |
| Gross profit | £114.1m | £118.3m | ▼ −4% |
| Admin expenses | £53.6m | £61.1m | ▼ −12% |
| Operating profit | £55.7m | £53m | ▲ +5% |
| Finance costs | £249k | £191k | ▲ +30% |
| Profit before tax | £66.3m | £65.9m | ▲ +1% |
| Net profit | £48.3m | £47.9m | ▲ +1% |
| Cash & balance sheet | |||
| Cash | £5.8m | £15.1m | ▼ −62% |
| Net assets | £136.5m | £122.7m | ▲ +11% |
| Dividends paid | −£37.5m | −£36m | ▼ −4% |
| People & pay | |||
| Avg. headcount | — | 9,457 | |
| Staff cost | £434.9m | £392.4m | ▲ +11% |
| Director pay | £340k | £724k | ▼ −53% |
| Highest-paid director | £340k | £376k | ▼ −10% |
Turnover slipped slightly to £1.09bn after a large contract expired, but operating margins widened during the period. Administrative expenses fell by 12% to £53.5m, keeping operating profit moving forward. A £37.5m dividend flowed up to the parent entity.
Dnata Catering Uk Limited [2]
Formerly known as Alpha LSG Limited, the company operates as the UK inflight catering and onboard retail arm of global aviation services provider dnata—ultimately owned by the Investment Corporation of Dubai—supplying meals and logistics to airlines from facilities across major British airports (catering.dnata.co.uk).
Balance sheet restructure
| Line | FY26 | FY25 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profit & loss | |||
| Turnover | £611.2m | £575.3m | ▲ +6% |
| Gross profit | £124.7m | £114.7m | ▲ +9% |
| Admin expenses | £119.3m | £105.8m | ▲ +13% |
| Operating profit | £5.4m | £8.9m | ▼ −40% |
| Finance costs | £2.2m | £8.9m | ▼ −75% |
| Profit before tax | £3.2m | £81,000 | ▲ +3851% |
| Net profit | £4.1m | −£134k | ▲ +3143% |
| Cash & balance sheet | |||
| Cash | £2.6m | £8.3m | ▼ −69% |
| Net assets | −£7.8m | −£113.9m | ▲ +93% |
| People & pay | |||
| Avg. headcount | 3,608 | 3,686 | ▼ −2% |
| Staff cost | £145.5m | £133.8m | ▲ +9% |
| Director pay | £572k | £477k | ▲ +20% |
| Highest-paid director | £572k | £477k | ▲ +20% |
Geopolitical headwinds and the loss of a Heathrow contract did not prevent sales growing 6% to £611.2m. Operating profit slipped 40% to £5.3m as administrative expenses expanded, but balance sheet movements supported the final result. A £102m debt-to-equity conversion reduced finance costs by 75% to £2.1m, moving the bottom line into the black.
Meadow Foods Limited [3]
Trading as Meadow (meadowfoods.co.uk), the company manufactures wholesale dairy, confectionery, and value-added food ingredients, operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of Fairfax Financial.
Flat underlying trade
| Line | FY25 | FY24 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profit & loss | |||
| Turnover | £570.8m | £419.9m | ▲ +36% |
| Gross profit | £58m | £49.8m | ▲ +17% |
| Admin expenses | £20.1m | £14m | ▲ +43% |
| Operating profit | £24.7m | £22.8m | ▲ +9% |
| Finance costs | £4.8m | £3.9m | ▲ +22% |
| Profit before tax | £20.2m | £25.9m | ▼ −22% |
| Net profit | £15.2m | £23.4m | ▼ −35% |
| Cash & balance sheet | |||
| Cash | £18m | £17.8m | ▲ +1% |
| Net assets | £85.5m | £86.7m | ▼ −1% |
| Dividends paid | −£19.5m | −£22.3m | ▲ +13% |
| People & pay | |||
| Avg. headcount | 410 | 406 | ▲ +1% |
| Staff cost | £23.2m | £16.6m | ▲ +40% |
| Director pay | £2.6m | £1.8m | ▲ +45% |
| Highest-paid director | £2.6m | £1.8m | ▲ +45% |
A direct year-on-year comparison is skewed by the prior period being a 275-day stub, but annualising those figures suggests sales were essentially flat against this year's £570.7m turnover. The main pressure on the bottom line was the absence of a prior-year £10.4m investment income credit, leaving net profit trailing despite stable underlying volumes.
Maritime Group Limited [4]
Operating as the ultimate parent company for the Maritime Transport logistics business (maritimetransport.com), this privately owned UK group provides road freight transport services.
Finance costs rise
| Line | FY25 | FY24 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profit & loss | |||
| Turnover | £488.6m | £421.7m | ▲ +16% |
| Gross profit | £113.3m | £100.1m | ▲ +13% |
| Admin expenses | £92.2m | £86.5m | ▲ +6% |
| Operating profit | £32.3m | £14.4m | ▲ +125% |
| Finance costs | £14.5m | £1.9m | ▲ +662% |
| Profit before tax | £18.5m | £16.3m | ▲ +13% |
| Net profit | £13.7m | £12.1m | ▲ +14% |
| Cash & balance sheet | |||
| Cash | £3.7m | £23m | ▼ −84% |
| Net assets | £199.9m | £185.6m | ▲ +8% |
| People & pay | |||
| Avg. headcount | 3,205 | 2,857 | ▲ +12% |
| Staff cost | £196.5m | £176m | ▲ +12% |
| Director pay | £1m | £910k | ▲ +13% |
| Highest-paid director | £1m | £910k | ▲ +13% |
Operating profit more than doubled to £32.2m, but the haulage group's bottom line tells a different story. Following its acquisition by Medlog SA, finance costs rose to £14.5m from £1.9m the year before. That increased debt burden, alongside exceptional asset disposals, reduced profit before tax to £18.4m.
Moody'S Group Uk Limited [5]
Operating via moodys.com, the company is a British subsidiary of the publicly listed financial services firm Moody's Corporation, providing credit ratings, investment research, and data analytics to global capital markets.
Holding company
| Line | FY25 | FY24 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profit & loss | |||
| Turnover | £448.2m | £413.2m | ▲ +8% |
| Admin expenses | £3.1m | £1.5m | ▲ +104% |
| Operating profit | £452m | £358m | ▲ +26% |
| Finance costs | £25.2m | £41.1m | ▼ −39% |
| Profit before tax | £449.7m | £356.3m | ▲ +26% |
| Net profit | £449.7m | £356.3m | ▲ +26% |
| Cash & balance sheet | |||
| Cash | £776.7m | £832.6m | ▼ −7% |
| Net assets | £2.4bn | £2.4bn | ▼ −0% |
| Dividends paid | −£459.1m | −£387.9m | ▼ −18% |
| People & pay | |||
| Avg. headcount | 0 | 0 | |
A classic holding entity where the profit outstrips the turnover and the headcount is zero. The £452.0m operating profit is entirely a function of incoming dividends, which were subsequently distributed as a £459.1m dividend to the parent. A frictionless corporate passthrough.
Whether it is an auditor issuing a disclaimer of opinion or a holding company passing through half a billion in dividends without touching the sides, the real story is rarely on the top line.
Sources
- Mitie Fm Limited
- Dnata Catering Uk Limited
- Meadow Foods Limited
- Maritime Group Limited
- Moody'S Group Uk Limited