C. Brown & Sons (Steel) Limited
Registered name: C. BROWN & SONS (STEEL) LIMITED
Part of C Brown Services Limited groupC. Brown & Sons (Steel) Limited made £42.6m revenue and a £1.1m loss in the year to 31 May 2024. read from filing text
C. Brown & Sons (Steel) Limited’s revenue fell 26% to £42.6m in the year to 31 May 2024, with a loss of £1.1m and 156 employees. The company is classified under “cold rolling of narrow strip” and is based in Birmingham; we hold 2 years of its filed accounts.
- Status
- In Administration
- Location
- Birmingham, West Midlands
- Age
- 72 yrs · since 1954
- 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 ultimate holding company is C Brown Services Limited, and its registered office is Cochrane House, Pedmore Road, Dudley, West Midlands, DY2 0RL. C Brown Services Limited is not under control of an”
Key figures
Badges are automated estimates derived from the filed figures — not statements of fact about the company.
Financial history
| Year to | 31 May 2023 | 31 May 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Disclosure | Full P&Lread from filing text | Full P&Lread from filing text |
| Profit & loss | ||
| Revenue (turnover) | £57.3m | £42.6m |
| Cost of sales | £52.2m | £39.4m |
| Gross profit | £5.1m | £3.2m |
| Operating profit | −£18.2k | −£1.6m |
| Profit before tax | £5.7k | −£1.4m |
| Profit after tax | £3.6k | −£1.1m |
| Profit (best available) | £3.6k | −£1.1m |
| Staff costs | £5.4m | £5.5m |
| Employees (average) | 160 | 156 |
| Ratios | ||
| Profit margin | 0% | −2.7% |
| Gross margin | 8.8% | 7.5% |
| Revenue per employee | £358k | £273k |
| Profit per employee | £22 | −£7.3k |
| Growth (year on year) | ||
| Revenue growth | — | ▼25.6% |
| Profit growth | — | ▼32109% |
| Headcount growth | — | ▼2.5% |
| Balance sheet — indirect signals, not revenue | ||
| Cash at bank | £7.5m | £1.8m |
| Net assets | £22.5m | £21.2m |
| Fixed assets | £7.6m | £7.2m |
| Current assets | £27.4m | £20.2m |
| Debtors | £13m | £9.2m |
| Deferred income | £397k | £98.6k |
| Source | FullAccounts · bulk data Oct 2024 | FullAccounts · bulk data Oct 2024 |
How the business works
- Profit margin
- −2.7%
- Profit ÷ revenue.
- Gross margin
- 7.5%
- Gross profit ÷ revenue. High for software and services.
- Revenue per employee
- £273k
- Revenue ÷ average employees.
- Profit per employee
- −£7.3k
- Profit ÷ average employees.
- Cash conversion
- —
- Cash generated from operations ÷ operating profit. Needs a cash-flow statement.
- Fixed assets ÷ revenue
- 17%
- Capital intensity. Low = capital-light, cheaper to start.
- Deferred income ÷ revenue
- 0.2%
- Customers paying upfront (subscriptions, deposits). Approximate when combined with accruals.
- Debtors ÷ revenue
- 21.5%
- 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
- ▼6%
- Now £21.2m
- Cash at bank
- ▼76%
- Now £1.8m
- Headcount
- ▼3%
- Now 156
- Deferred income
- ▼75%
- Now £98.6k
- Fixed assets
- ▼5%
- Now £7.2m
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
- C Brown Services Limitedultimate parent75–100%
- C. Brown & Sons (Steel) Limitedthis company
Bands show the share of ownership each company holds in the one below it.
Subsidiaries (1)
- Cebron Motors LimitedFigures not disclosed
From the Persons with Significant Control register (corporate controllers only).
Similar profitable businesses
Sources
Latest figures from FullAccounts for the year to 31 May 2024 (profit −£1.1m), from the Companies House accounts bulk data published Oct 2024. Spotted an error? Request a correction.
Contains public sector information from Companies House licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Data from Companies House, © Crown copyright. View the licence.