Swain Container Solutions Limited
Registered name: SWAIN CONTAINER SOLUTIONS LIMITED
Part of R.swain & Sons Limited groupSwain Container Solutions Limited made £11.8m revenue and a £1.3m loss in the year to 31 Mar 2026.
Swain Container Solutions Limited’s revenue fell 17% to £11.8m in the year to 31 Mar 2026, with a loss of £1.3m and 61 employees. The company is classified under “freight transport by road” and is based in Rochester; we hold 4 years of its filed accounts.
- Status
- Active
- Location
- Rochester, South East
- Age
- 47 yrs · since 1979
- 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.
Key figures
Badges are automated estimates derived from the filed figures — not statements of fact about the company.
Financial history
| Year to | 31 Mar 2023 | 31 Mar 2024 | 31 Mar 2025 | 31 Mar 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Disclosure | Full P&L | Full P&L | Full P&L | Full P&L |
| Profit & loss | ||||
| Revenue (turnover) | £20.1m | £16.2m | £14.3m | £11.8m |
| Cost of sales | £17.6m | £13.9m | £12.5m | £10.9m |
| Gross profit | £2.6m | £2.4m | £1.8m | £972k |
| Operating profit | £451k | £235k | −£587k | −£1.5m |
| Profit before tax | £334k | £9.6k | −£866k | −£1.8m |
| Profit after tax | £423k | £41.2k | −£649k | −£1.3m |
| Profit (best available) | £423k | £41.2k | −£649k | −£1.3m |
| Staff costs | £2.7m | £2.7m | £2.8m | £3.5m |
| Employees (average) | 56 | 55 | 56 | 61 |
| Ratios | ||||
| Profit margin | 2.1% | 0.3% | −4.5% | −11.3% |
| Gross margin | 12.7% | 14.7% | 12.7% | 8.2% |
| Revenue per employee | £360k | £295k | £256k | £194k |
| Profit per employee | £7.6k | £750 | −£11.6k | −£21.9k |
| Cash conversion | −292.4% | −188% | — | — |
| Growth (year on year) | ||||
| Revenue growth | — | ▼19.4% | ▼11.8% | ▼17.4% |
| Profit growth | — | ▼90.3% | ▼1675% | — |
| Headcount growth | — | ▼1.8% | ▲1.8% | ▲8.9% |
| Balance sheet — indirect signals, not revenue | ||||
| Cash at bank | £945k | £1m | £48.3k | £96.5k |
| Net assets | £15.3m | £15.4m | £14.7m | £13.4m |
| Fixed assets | £4.3m | £4.3m | £5.1m | £5.1m |
| Current assets | £16.2m | £16.7m | £16.2m | £15.7m |
| Debtors | £2.1m | £2.4m | £2.8m | £2m |
| Deferred income | £48.9k | £175k | £138k | £64k |
| Cash from operations | −£1.3m | −£441k | −£96.9k | −£1.5m |
| Source | FullAccounts · bulk data Sep 2024 | FullAccounts · bulk data Sep 2024 | FullAccounts · bulk data Sep 2025 | FullAccounts · bulk data Sep 2026 |
How the business works
- Profit margin
- −11.3%
- Profit ÷ revenue.
- Gross margin
- 8.2%
- Gross profit ÷ revenue. High for software and services.
- Revenue per employee
- £194k
- Revenue ÷ average employees.
- Profit per employee
- −£21.9k
- Profit ÷ average employees.
- Cash conversion
- —
- Cash generated from operations ÷ operating profit. Needs a cash-flow statement.
- Fixed assets ÷ revenue
- 42.9%
- Capital intensity. Low = capital-light, cheaper to start.
- Deferred income ÷ revenue
- 0.5%
- Customers paying upfront (subscriptions, deposits). Approximate when combined with accruals.
- Debtors ÷ revenue
- 16.8%
- 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
- ▼9%
- Now £13.4m
- Cash at bank
- ▲100%
- Now £96.5k
- Headcount
- ▲9%
- Now 61
- Deferred income
- ▼54%
- Now £64k
- Fixed assets
- ▲0%
- Now £5.1m
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
- R.swain & Sons Limitedultimate parent75–100%
- Swain Container Solutions Limitedthis company
Bands show the share of ownership each company holds in the one below it.
Sister companies (11)
- Express Freight Services (Birmingham) LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Express Freight Services (Holdings) LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Express Freight Services (Ipswich) LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Flatbed Network LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Reservoir Holdings LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Swain Contracts LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Swain European LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Swain Lifting Solutions LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Swain Logistics LtdFigures not disclosed
- Swain Logistics Solutions LimitedFigures not disclosed
- W. Coy & Son 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 31 Mar 2026 (profit −£1.3m), from the Companies House accounts bulk data published Sep 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.