Howard Butler Limited
Registered name: HOWARD BUTLER LIMITED
Part of Hobut Limited groupHoward Butler Limited made £13m revenue and £1.5m profit in the year to 31 Mar 2026. read from filing text
Howard Butler Limited’s revenue grew 15% to £13m in the year to 31 Mar 2026, with £1.5m profit and 165 employees. The company is classified under “manufacture of non-electronic measuring, testing etc. equipment, not for industrial process control” and is based in Walsall; we hold 5 years of its filed accounts.
- Status
- Active
- Location
- Walsall, West Midlands
- Age
- 95 yrs · since 1931
- Type
- Private Limited Company
Part of a group. The filing indicates this company sits within a group structure, so its results may depend on intra-group trading and it may be hard to replicate independently. From the filing: “The”
Key figures
Badges are automated estimates derived from the filed figures — not statements of fact about the company.
Financial history
| Year to | 31 Mar 2022 | 31 Mar 2023 | 31 Mar 2024 | 31 Mar 2025 | 31 Mar 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Disclosure | Full P&Lread from filing text | Full P&Lread from filing text | Full P&Lread from filing text | Full P&Lread from filing text | Full P&Lread from filing text |
| Profit & loss | |||||
| Revenue (turnover) | £8.5m | £10.2m | £9.9m | £11.3m | £13m |
| Cost of sales | £6.5m | £7.5m | £7.1m | £8.1m | £9.1m |
| Gross profit | £2m | £2.7m | £2.8m | £3.2m | £3.9m |
| Operating profit | £684k | £1.1m | £1.1m | £1.3m | £2m |
| Profit before tax | £691k | £1.2m | £1.1m | £1.3m | £2m |
| Profit after tax | £653k | £977k | £729k | £1.1m | £1.5m |
| Profit (best available) | £653k | £977k | £729k | £1.1m | £1.5m |
| Staff costs | £3m | £3.2m | £3.7m | £4.3m | £5.1m |
| Employees (average) | 130 | 130 | 138 | 138 | 165 |
| Ratios | |||||
| Profit margin | 7.7% | 9.6% | 7.4% | 9.5% | 11.8% |
| Gross margin | 24% | 26.2% | 27.9% | 28.7% | 30.2% |
| Revenue per employee | £65.4k | £78.6k | £71.7k | £82k | £78.8k |
| Profit per employee | £5k | £7.5k | £5.3k | £7.8k | £9.3k |
| Growth (year on year) | |||||
| Revenue growth | — | ▲20.1% | ▼3.2% | ▲14.4% | ▲14.9% |
| Profit growth | — | ▲49.5% | ▼25.4% | ▲47.8% | ▲42.7% |
| Headcount growth | — | 0% | ▲6.2% | 0% | ▲19.6% |
| Balance sheet — indirect signals, not revenue | |||||
| Cash at bank | £1.2m | £863k | £863k | £363k | £724k |
| Net assets | £3.7m | £4.7m | £5.5m | £6.5m | £8.1m |
| Fixed assets | £781k | £1.4m | £1.4m | £1.3m | £1.3m |
| Current assets | £5.1m | £5.5m | £6.7m | £7.7m | £10.1m |
| Debtors | £2.5m | £2.6m | £2.3m | £2.7m | £3.5m |
| Deferred income | £160k | £278k | £250k | £288k | £364k |
| Source | FullAccounts · bulk data Dec 2023 | FullAccounts · bulk data Dec 2023 | FullAccounts · bulk data Sep 2024 | FullAccounts · bulk data Aug 2025 | FullAccounts · bulk data Aug 2026 |
How the business works
- Profit margin
- 11.8%
- Profit ÷ revenue.
- Gross margin
- 30.2%
- Gross profit ÷ revenue. High for software and services.
- Revenue per employee
- £78.8k
- Revenue ÷ average employees.
- Profit per employee
- £9.3k
- Profit ÷ average employees.
- Cash conversion
- —
- Cash generated from operations ÷ operating profit. Needs a cash-flow statement.
- Fixed assets ÷ revenue
- 10.1%
- Capital intensity. Low = capital-light, cheaper to start.
- Deferred income ÷ revenue
- 2.8%
- Customers paying upfront (subscriptions, deposits). Approximate when combined with accruals.
- Debtors ÷ revenue
- 26.5%
- Money owed by customers. Low = customers pay quickly.
Balance-sheet signals
Year-on-year changes in filed balance-sheet items. They can hint at momentum (or investment) but are not revenue or profit and must not be read as such.
- Net assets
- ▲24%
- Now £8.1m
- Cash at bank
- ▲100%
- Now £724k
- Headcount
- ▲20%
- Now 165
- Deferred income
- ▲26%
- Now £364k
- Fixed assets
- ▲1%
- Now £1.3m
Deferred income is reported together with accruals in this filing (“accruals and deferred income”), so it is an approximate signal only.
Group structure
Ownership chain
- Hobut Limitedultimate parent75–100%
- Howard Butler Limitedthis company
Bands show the share of ownership each company holds in the one below it.
Subsidiaries (4)
- John Wilkes Electrical LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Multitek Power LtdFigures not disclosed
- Q.a.electrical Products LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Unicores LimitedFigures not disclosed
From the Persons with Significant Control register (corporate controllers only).
Similar profitable businesses
- Instrument Technology LimitedST. Leonards-on-Sea · Manufacture of non-electronic measuring, testing etc. equipment, not for industrial process control
- Revenue
- £8.1m
- Profit
- £366k
- Staff
- 68
- Stewart-Buchanan Gauges LimitedManufacture of non-electronic measuring, testing etc. equipment, not for industrial process control
- Revenue
- £7.7m
- Profit
- £10.8k
- Staff
- 113
- Orica Digital UK LimitedAddlestone · Manufacture of electronic measuring, testing etc. equipment, not for industrial process control
- Revenue
- £12.9m
- Profit
- £7.8m
- Staff
- 19
- Rayleigh Instruments LimitedSouth Woodham Ferrers · Manufacture of electronic industrial process control equipment
- Revenue
- £13.2m
- Profit
- £795k
- Staff
- 41
- Vehicle Weighing Solutions LimitedReading · Manufacture of electronic measuring, testing etc. equipment, not for industrial process control
- Revenue
- £12.7m
- Profit
- £2.1m
- Staff
- 78
- Logopak International LimitedYork · Manufacture of electronic measuring, testing etc. equipment, not for industrial process control
- Revenue
- £13.7m
- Profit
- £3.1m
- Staff
- 23
Sources
Latest figures from FullAccounts for the year to 31 Mar 2026 (profit £1.5m), from the Companies House accounts bulk data published Aug 2026. Spotted an error? Request a correction.
Updated from Companies House on 11 Oct 2026
Contains public sector information from Companies House licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Data from Companies House, © Crown copyright. View the licence.