Contract Candles & Diffusers Ltd
Registered name: CONTRACT CANDLES & DIFFUSERS LTD
Part of THF Holdings Ltd groupContract Candles & Diffusers Ltd made £26.5m revenue and a £1m loss in the year to 31 Dec 2024. read from filing text
Contract Candles & Diffusers Ltd’s revenue fell 16% to £26.5m in the year to 31 Dec 2024, with a loss of £1m and 209 employees. The company is classified under “manufacture of other chemical products” and is based in Gateshead; we hold 4 years of its filed accounts.
- Status
- Active
- Location
- Gateshead, North East
- Age
- 22 yrs · since 2004
- 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 company's immediate parent is THF Holdings Ltd, incorporated in England and Wales.”
Key figures
Badges are automated estimates derived from the filed figures — not statements of fact about the company.
Financial history
| Year to | 31 Dec 2021 | 31 Dec 2022 | 31 Dec 2023 | 31 Dec 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Disclosure | Full P&L | Full P&L | Full P&Lread from filing text | Full P&Lread from filing text |
| Profit & loss | ||||
| Revenue (turnover) | £35.6m | £48.4m | £31.8m | £26.5m |
| Cost of sales | £24.2m | £34m | £21.2m | £17m |
| Gross profit | £11.4m | £14.4m | £10.6m | £9.5m |
| Operating profit | £1.2m | £434k | −£1.2m | −£739k |
| Profit before tax | £1.2m | £393k | −£1.4m | −£1.2m |
| Profit after tax | £951k | £228k | −£1.1m | −£1m |
| Profit (best available) | £951k | £228k | −£1.1m | −£1m |
| Staff costs | £9.4m | £12.7m | £8.4m | £6.6m |
| Employees (average) | 334 | 416 | 291 | 209 |
| Ratios | ||||
| Profit margin | 2.7% | 0.5% | −3.4% | −3.9% |
| Gross margin | 32% | 29.7% | 33.3% | 35.8% |
| Revenue per employee | £107k | £116k | £109k | £127k |
| Profit per employee | £2.8k | £549 | −£3.7k | −£4.9k |
| Growth (year on year) | ||||
| Revenue growth | — | ▲35.9% | ▼34.3% | ▼16.5% |
| Profit growth | — | ▼76% | ▼573% | — |
| Headcount growth | — | ▲24.6% | ▼30% | ▼28.2% |
| Balance sheet — indirect signals, not revenue | ||||
| Cash at bank | £606k | £55.3k | £54.2k | £0 |
| Net assets | £4.6m | £4.9m | £3.8m | £2.8m |
| Fixed assets | £2.2m | £3m | £3.3m | £2.7m |
| Current assets | £17.9m | £18.4m | £12.3m | £14.3m |
| Debtors | £9.6m | £9.8m | £5.1m | £5.6m |
| Deferred income | — | £384k | £1m | £670k |
| Source | Accounts · bulk data Dec 2023 | Accounts · bulk data Dec 2023 | FullAccounts · bulk data Apr 2025 | FullAccounts · bulk data Dec 2025 |
How the business works
- Profit margin
- −3.9%
- Profit ÷ revenue.
- Gross margin
- 35.8%
- Gross profit ÷ revenue. High for software and services.
- Revenue per employee
- £127k
- Revenue ÷ average employees.
- Profit per employee
- −£4.9k
- Profit ÷ average employees.
- Cash conversion
- —
- Cash generated from operations ÷ operating profit. Needs a cash-flow statement.
- Fixed assets ÷ revenue
- 10.2%
- Capital intensity. Low = capital-light, cheaper to start.
- Deferred income ÷ revenue
- 2.5%
- Customers paying upfront (subscriptions, deposits). Approximate when combined with accruals.
- Debtors ÷ revenue
- 21.1%
- 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
- ▼27%
- Now £2.8m
- Cash at bank
- ▼100%
- Now £0
- Headcount
- ▼28%
- Now 209
- Deferred income
- ▼36%
- Now £670k
- Fixed assets
- ▼18%
- Now £2.7m
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
- THF Holdings Ltdultimate parent75–100%
- Contract Candles & Diffusers Ltdthis company
Bands show the share of ownership each company holds in the one below it.
Sister companies (9)
- Colorlites Holdings LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Function Fitness South East LimitedFigures not disclosed
- JFD (Midhurst) LtdFigures not disclosed
- Lower Lodge Candles LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Oakleaf Candles LimitedFigures not disclosed
- THF Bottles LimitedFigures not disclosed
- THF Digital LimitedFigures not disclosed
- THF Glassware LimitedFigures not disclosed
- THF Homes 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 Dec 2024 (profit −£1m), from the Companies House accounts bulk data published Dec 2025. 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.