English Provender Company Limited
Registered name: ENGLISH PROVENDER COMPANY LIMITED
Part of Edward Billington and Son Limited groupEnglish Provender Company Limited made £144m revenue and £8m profit in the year to 31 Aug 2025. read from filing text
English Provender Company Limited’s revenue was £144m in the year to 31 Aug 2025, with £8m profit and 0 employees. The company is classified under “manufacture of condiments and seasonings” and is based in Liverpool; we hold 4 years of its filed accounts.
- Status
- Active
- Location
- Liverpool, North West
- Age
- 35 yrs · since 1991
- Type
- Private Limited Company
Pass-through vehicle. This looks like a holding, staffing or umbrella company. Its revenue and profit may largely pass through to or from other entities, so the figures may not reflect a standalone operating business. It is excluded from our opportunity lists.
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 parent”
Key figures
Badges are automated estimates derived from the filed figures — not statements of fact about the company.
Financial history
| Year to | 4 Sep 2022 | 3 Sep 2023 | 1 Sep 2024 | 31 Aug 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) | £126m | £138m | £144m | £144m |
| Cost of sales | £108m | £119m | £120m | £119m |
| Gross profit | £17.6m | £19.3m | £23.4m | £25.6m |
| Operating profit | £6.6m | £8.5m | £10.4m | £10.6m |
| Profit before tax | £6.7m | £8.4m | £10.4m | £10.8m |
| Profit after tax | £5.5m | £6.5m | £7.7m | £8m |
| Profit (best available) | £5.5m | £6.5m | £7.7m | £8m |
| Staff costs | £21m | £21m | £23.5m | £26m |
| Employees (average) | 585 | 572 | 579 | 0 |
| Ratios | ||||
| Profit margin | 4.4% | 4.7% | 5.4% | 5.6% |
| Gross margin | 14% | 14% | 16.3% | 17.7% |
| Revenue per employee | £215k | £242k | £248k | — |
| Profit per employee | £9.4k | £11.4k | £13.4k | — |
| Growth (year on year) | ||||
| Revenue growth | — | ▲10% | ▲4% | ▲0.3% |
| Profit growth | — | ▲18.7% | ▲18.2% | ▲3.8% |
| Headcount growth | — | ▼2.2% | ▲1.2% | ▼100% |
| Balance sheet — indirect signals, not revenue | ||||
| Cash at bank | £175k | £1.9m | £5.4m | £267k |
| Net assets | £20.6m | £20.6m | £20.9m | £20.9m |
| Fixed assets | £14.2m | £14m | £14.7m | £15.9m |
| Current assets | £45m | £50.5m | £55.5m | £55m |
| Debtors | £21.8m | £20.7m | £22.7m | £22.5m |
| Deferred income | £6.4m | £6.6m | £6.7m | £5.9m |
| Source | FullAccounts · bulk data May 2024 | FullAccounts · bulk data May 2024 | FullAccounts · bulk data May 2025 | FullAccounts · bulk data May 2026 |
How the business works
- Profit margin
- 5.6%
- Profit ÷ revenue.
- Gross margin
- 17.7%
- Gross profit ÷ revenue. High for software and services.
- Revenue per employee
- —
- Revenue ÷ average employees.
- Profit per employee
- —
- Profit ÷ average employees.
- Cash conversion
- —
- Cash generated from operations ÷ operating profit. Needs a cash-flow statement.
- Fixed assets ÷ revenue
- 11%
- Capital intensity. Low = capital-light, cheaper to start.
- Deferred income ÷ revenue
- 4.1%
- Customers paying upfront (subscriptions, deposits). Approximate when combined with accruals.
- Debtors ÷ revenue
- 15.6%
- 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
- ▲0%
- Now £20.9m
- Cash at bank
- ▼95%
- Now £267k
- Headcount
- ▼100%
- Now 0
- Deferred income
- ▼12%
- Now £5.9m
- Fixed assets
- ▲8%
- Now £15.9m
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
- Edward Billington and Son Limitedultimate parent75–100%
- English Provender Company Limitedthis company
Bands show the share of ownership each company holds in the one below it.
Sister companies (16)
- Carrs Billington Agriculture (Sales) LimitedRev. £326m · Profit −£71.9k
- Carrs Billington Agriculture (Operations) LimitedRev. £159m · Profit £6.4m
- Criddle & Co.limitedRev. £155m · Profit £1.8m
- Alembic Foods LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Bar and Restaurant Foods LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Billington Agriculture Holdings LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Billington Food Ingredients LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Billington Foods Dormant LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Billington Foodservice LimitedRev. — · Profit £0
- Billington Frozen Foods LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Billington Group LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Billington Profit Sharing Trust LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Billington Property Management LtdFigures not disclosed
- Dunkleys LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Suffolk Foods LimitedFigures not disclosed
- TSC Foods Group LimitedRev. — · Profit £0
From the Persons with Significant Control register (corporate controllers only).
Similar profitable businesses
Sources
Latest figures from FullAccounts for the year to 31 Aug 2025 (profit £8m), from the Companies House accounts bulk data published May 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.