Browns Distribution Services Limited
Registered name: BROWNS DISTRIBUTION SERVICES LIMITED
Part of Browns Commercial Holdings Limited groupBrowns Distribution Services Limited made £23.5m revenue and £764k profit in the year to 30 Apr 2025. read from filing text
Browns Distribution Services Limited’s revenue grew 6% to £23.5m in the year to 30 Apr 2025, with £764k profit and 139 employees. The company is classified under “freight transport by road” and is based in Stoke on Trent; we hold 4 years of its filed accounts.
- Status
- Active
- Location
- Stoke on Trent, West Midlands
- Age
- 61 yrs · since 1965
- 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: “Browns Commercial Holdings Limited is the company's immediate and ultimate parent company.”
Key figures
Badges are automated estimates derived from the filed figures — not statements of fact about the company.
Financial history
| Year to | 30 Apr 2022 | 30 Apr 2023 | 30 Apr 2024 | 30 Apr 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Profit & loss | ||||
| Revenue (turnover) | £18m | £20.3m | £22.2m | £23.5m |
| Cost of sales | £14.3m | £15.9m | £17.6m | £18.4m |
| Gross profit | £3.7m | £4.4m | £4.6m | £5.1m |
| Operating profit | £1.5m | £1.3m | £1m | £1.2m |
| Profit before tax | £1.4m | £1.3m | £812k | £1m |
| Profit after tax | £1m | £1.2m | £699k | £764k |
| Profit (best available) | £1m | £1.2m | £699k | £764k |
| Staff costs | £4.3m | £5m | £5.4m | £5.7m |
| Employees (average) | 115 | 129 | 137 | 139 |
| Ratios | ||||
| Profit margin | 5.8% | 5.7% | 3.1% | 3.3% |
| Gross margin | 20.7% | 21.5% | 20.7% | 21.8% |
| Revenue per employee | £156k | £157k | £162k | £169k |
| Profit per employee | £9.1k | £9k | £5.1k | £5.5k |
| Growth (year on year) | ||||
| Revenue growth | — | ▲12.8% | ▲9.3% | ▲5.9% |
| Profit growth | — | ▲10.9% | ▼39.9% | ▲9.4% |
| Headcount growth | — | ▲12.2% | ▲6.2% | ▲1.5% |
| Balance sheet — indirect signals, not revenue | ||||
| Cash at bank | £708k | £1m | £1.5m | £2.3m |
| Net assets | £2.1m | £2.6m | £2.4m | £2.8m |
| Fixed assets | £3m | £4.8m | £5.5m | £7m |
| Current assets | £4.5m | £4.3m | £5m | £5.6m |
| Debtors | £2.7m | £2.6m | £3m | £2.8m |
| Deferred income | £310k | £324k | £422k | £463k |
| Source | FullAccounts · bulk data Nov 2023 | FullAccounts · bulk data Nov 2023 | FullAccounts · bulk data Nov 2024 | FullAccounts · bulk data Jan 2026 |
How the business works
- Profit margin
- 3.3%
- Profit ÷ revenue.
- Gross margin
- 21.8%
- Gross profit ÷ revenue. High for software and services.
- Revenue per employee
- £169k
- Revenue ÷ average employees.
- Profit per employee
- £5.5k
- Profit ÷ average employees.
- Cash conversion
- —
- Cash generated from operations ÷ operating profit. Needs a cash-flow statement.
- Fixed assets ÷ revenue
- 29.7%
- Capital intensity. Low = capital-light, cheaper to start.
- Deferred income ÷ revenue
- 2%
- Customers paying upfront (subscriptions, deposits). Approximate when combined with accruals.
- Debtors ÷ revenue
- 12%
- 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
- ▲18%
- Now £2.8m
- Cash at bank
- ▲47%
- Now £2.3m
- Headcount
- ▲1%
- Now 139
- Deferred income
- ▲10%
- Now £463k
- Fixed assets
- ▲26%
- Now £7m
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
- Browns Commercial Holdings Limitedultimate parent75–100%
- Browns Distribution Services Limitedthis company
Bands show the share of ownership each company holds in the one below it.
Sister companies (1)
- Ravensdale Property Services LimitedFigures not disclosed
From the Persons with Significant Control register (corporate controllers only).
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Sources
Latest figures from FullAccounts for the year to 30 Apr 2025 (profit £764k), from the Companies House accounts bulk data published Jan 2026. 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.