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Company No. 04336773 · Incorporated 10 Dec 2001

Design Research Limited

Registered name: DESIGN RESEARCH LIMITED

Design Research Limited made £20.7m revenue and a £2m loss in the year to 31 Mar 2024.

Design Research Limited’s revenue fell 1% to £20.7m in the year to 31 Mar 2024, with a loss of £2m and 70 employees. The company is classified under “wholesale of furniture, carpets and lighting equipment” and is based in London; we hold 3 years of its filed accounts.

Full P&L filedSection G · Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehiclesSIC 46470Wholesale of furniture, carpets and lighting equipment
Status
Active
Location
London, London
Age
24 yrs · since 2001
Type
Private Limited Company
Latest accounts · year to 31 Mar 2024

Key figures

IndependentCapital-light
Revenue
£20.7m
Growth ▼0.7%
Profit
−£2m
Growth —
Profit margin
−9.5%
Gross 53.4%
Employees
70
Change ▼5.4%
Profit / employee
−£28.1k
Revenue/employee £296k
Profitable streak
0yrs
Consecutive profitable years in our data

Badges are automated estimates derived from the filed figures — not statements of fact about the company.

3 filed years

Financial history

Multi-year financials, oldest to newest
Year to31 Mar 202231 Mar 202331 Mar 2024
DisclosureProfit onlyFull P&LFull P&L
Profit & loss
Revenue (turnover)—£20.9m£20.7m
Cost of sales£11m£10.5m£9.7m
Gross profit—£10.4m£11.1m
Operating profit—−£3.8m−£1.7m
Profit before tax−£2.2m−£4m−£2m
Profit after tax−£1.9m−£4m−£2m
Profit (best available)−£1.9m−£4m−£2m
Staff costs—£4.1m£4.4m
Employees (average)777470
Ratios
Profit margin—−19.2%−9.5%
Gross margin—49.6%53.4%
Revenue per employee—£282k£296k
Profit per employee−£24.1k−£54.1k−£28.1k
Growth (year on year)
Revenue growth——▼0.7%
Headcount growth—▼3.9%▼5.4%
Balance sheet — indirect signals, not revenue
Cash at bank£1.2m£94.9k£385k
Net assets−£4.1m−£8.1m−£10.1m
Fixed assets£1.9m£1.3m£917k
Current assets£17.1m£11.1m£9.3m
Debtors£2.9m£1.8m£2.6m
Deferred income£710k£2.9m£2.3m
SourceFullAccounts · bulk data Jun 2024FullAccounts · bulk data Jun 2024FullAccounts · bulk data Dec 2024
Derived from the latest filing

How the business works

Profit margin
−9.5%
Profit ÷ revenue.
Gross margin
53.4%
Gross profit ÷ revenue. High for software and services.
Revenue per employee
£296k
Revenue ÷ average employees.
Profit per employee
−£28.1k
Profit ÷ average employees.
Cash conversion
—
Cash generated from operations ÷ operating profit. Needs a cash-flow statement.
Fixed assets ÷ revenue
4.4%
Capital intensity. Low = capital-light, cheaper to start.
Deferred income ÷ revenue
11%
Customers paying upfront (subscriptions, deposits). Approximate when combined with accruals.
Debtors ÷ revenue
12.5%
Money owed by customers. Low = customers pay quickly.
Indirect — not revenue

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
—
Now −£10.1m
Cash at bank
▲306%
Now £385k
Headcount
▼5%
Now 70
Deferred income
▼20%
Now £2.3m
Fixed assets
▼32%
Now £917k

Deferred income is reported together with accruals in this filing (“accruals and deferred income”), so it is an approximate signal only.

Corporate ownership

Group structure

Minority corporate shareholders

From the Persons with Significant Control register (corporate controllers only).

Same industry, similar size

Similar profitable businesses

Industry benchmarks →

Sources

Companies House profile Filing history & original accounts

Latest figures from FullAccounts for the year to 31 Mar 2024 (profit −£2m), from the Companies House accounts bulk data published Dec 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.