DAWSON INTERNATIONAL PLC Report & Accounts 2008
DAW-100408 COVER.indd   1 DAW-100408 COVER.indd   1 27/3/09   17:38:04 27/3/09   17:38:04 Dawson International plc is composed of three operating divisions:
01
01 SPINNING
  The Spinning division comprises the 
Todd & Duncan business based in 
Kinross, Scotland. It is a manufacturer 
of highest quality cashmere, blended 
and woollen yarns.
02 KNITWEAR
  The Knitwear division comprises the 
Dawson Forte Cashmere business 
based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA 
and the Barrie Knitwear business 
based in Hawick, Scotland.
03 HOME FURNISHINGS
  The Home Furnishings division 
comprises two businesses: a Branded 
business, selling Dorma branded home 
furnishings direct to end consumers 
and through retailers and a Private 
Label business, selling own label home 
furnishings direct to retailers. 
03
02
01  Financial and Operational Highlights
02 Chairman’s Statement
04 Chief Executive’s Statement
06 Business Review
16 Financial Review 
18 Board of Directors
19 Accounts Contents
20 Directors’ Report
21 Directors’ Report on Remuneration
24  Statement of Directors’ Responsibilities
in respect of the Directors’ Report and the 
Financial Statements
25  Independent Auditors’ Report to the Members 
of Dawson International PLC
26 Consolidated Financial Statements
29 Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements
48 Company Balance Sheet
49 Notes to the Company Financial Statements
51 Five Year Financial Record
52 Information for Shareholders
53 Notice of Annual General Meeting
55 Form of Proxy
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DAWSON INTERNATIONAL PLC 
Secretary and Corporate Ofﬁce
David Cooper
Lochleven Mills, Kinross, 
KY13 8GL, Scotland
Tel 01577 867000 
Fax 01577 867010
Registered Ofﬁce
Lochleven Mills, Kinross, 
KY13 8GL, Scotland
Registered Number SC54505
website: www.dawson-international.co.uk
e-mail: enquiries@dawson-international.co.uk
02
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Financial Highlights
 -  Signiﬁ cant improvement in proﬁ ts in every division
-  Group return to proﬁ t
-  Net cash of £5.7 million
-  9.0p net assets per share
  2008 2007 
  £000 £000
Turnover  106,795 92,601
Operating proﬁ t/(loss) before exceptional items  1,019 (2,713)
Pre-tax proﬁ t/(loss)  622 (1,555)
Net assets  20,240  20,523
Pension scheme liabilities  (6,730) (4,701)
Net funds/(borrowings)  5,688 (5,721)
Basic and diluted earnings/(loss) per share (pence)  0.2 (0.8)
Adjusted earnings/(loss) per share (pence)  0.1 (1.5)
Operational Highlights
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Chairman’s Statement
2008 has been a year of signiﬁ cant improvement for 
the Dawson International Group. Against a background 
of very challenging economic conditions all of our 
businesses have made encouraging progress and each 
has returned an operating proﬁ t before exceptional 
items for the full year. 
Performance
Group turnover has increased from £92.6 million 
to £106.8 million, delivering an operating proﬁ t of 
£1.4 million. Crucially, the Company was strongly cash 
generative in the year with an improvement in net funds 
of £11.4 million. Of this £4.5 million resulted from the 
sale of the Dorma brand trademark and associated 
rights to Dunelm Group plc in July 2008.
Strategy
During 2008 we have seen good progress towards the 
strategic goal I set when I took up the role of Chairman, 
then subsequently Executive Chairman in 2003, that is: 
of returning all individual businesses and the Group 
as a whole to sustainable proﬁ t, with each business 
contributing an acceptable return on capital employed. 
Despite the excellent progress to date, there is clearly 
more that can be achieved, and we remain focused 
on that task.
In July 2008 we commenced a restructuring of our 
Home Furnishings division, selling the Dorma trademark 
and associated rights and focusing on the growing 
Private Label business. Our Todd & Duncan business, 
while showing a signiﬁ cant improvement in returning 
to proﬁ t in the year is not yet delivering an acceptable 
return on capital employed. We are currently discussing 
the possible sale of the business to its major supplier, 
Ningxia Zhongyin Cashmere Company Limited while 
continuing to evaluate other opportunities to generate 
an acceptable return on capital employed. 
In these turbulent times there can be opportunities as 
well as challenges and the Board will be alert for possible 
acquisitions which complement our remaining businesses 
and draw on our management teams’ proven skills 
in design, new product development and supply 
chain management.
Board and Management 
During the year J Andrew Smith and Scott Malvenan 
retired from the Board as Non-Executive Directors. 
I should like to express my thanks for their contribution 
and also welcome our new Non-Executive Directors, 
David Bolton and Jan Holmstrom who joined the 
Board on 29 July 2008.
Stephen Russell, Senior Independent Director and 
Andy Bartmess, Chief Executive are due to retire 
by rotation at this year’s AGM. They are eligible 
and offer themselves for re-election which I commend 
to shareholders. They have both made an excellent 
contribution to Board meeting debate. In addition, 
Stephen has been an effective Chairman of the Audit 
Committee and Andy has delivered a highly successful 
performance as Chief Executive.
 
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Pensions
Reported pension deﬁ cits have increased by £2.0 million 
in the year with assets decreasing by £5.5 million, mainly 
due to stock market performance, and liabilities reducing 
by £3.5 million, mainly due to higher yields on corporate 
bond rates which are used to discount liabilities. It should 
be recognised that the current low value of corporate 
bonds increases their yield and therefore reduces the 
liabilities in deﬁ ned beneﬁ t pension schemes. 
I am pleased to be able to report that all pension 
contributions are up to date and that through close 
collaboration with the Pension Trustees we have 
implemented a recovery plan, which is awaiting 
the formal consent of the Pensions Regulator.
Funding
We enter 2009 in a positive net cash position, 
with funding in place and the support of our 
banks. This provides a steady foundation 
to weather the uncertain trading conditions 
associated with the global economic recession.
Employees
The progress made during 2008 is due to the focus, 
hard work and dedication of the management teams 
and employees at every level within the Group. I would 
like to thank them for their considerable efforts and 
encourage them during this difﬁ cult economic climate 
to sustain the drive that has led to the improvements 
evidenced in 2008. 
Outlook
As I write this report most world economies are in 
recession and there is no consensus on how long 
or how severe the recession will be. The impact on 
the retail sector from the contraction of consumer 
spending is therefore a major concern. The continued 
weakness of Sterling and volatility of exchange rates 
further contribute to a cautious outlook for 2009. 
I believe, however, that the performance of the Group 
in 2008, in particular our much improved cash situation, 
positions us well to weather the current trading conditions.
Michael G Hartley | Chairman
The progress made during 2008 is due 
to the focus, hard work and dedication 
of the management teams and employees 
at every level within the Group.
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Chief Executive’s Statement
Last year I reported on the progress made in a number 
of key areas across the Group’s businesses and indicated 
that the Board believed these steps would lay the 
foundations for enhanced future performance. I am 
pleased to report that the 2008 results reﬂ ect that 
enhanced performance. Considerable progress has 
been demonstrated with each business showing 
signiﬁ cant improvement. 
Most notably:
–  the Group was proﬁ table both at an operating 
level £1.4 million and overall £0.5 million;
–  these results were achieved despite recognising 
an unrealised foreign exchange loss of £2.0 million 
in marking open foreign exchange contracts to market 
at year end and inclusion of trading losses of the 
Home Furnishings Branded business from which 
we have started to exit;
–  each of the Group’s divisions improved proﬁ tability 
year on year and generated a positive pre-exceptional 
operating proﬁ t;
–  the Group improved its funding position by 
£11.4 million in 2008, £6.3 million being generated 
by operating activities;
–  as a result, the Group ended 2008 with a positive 
net cash position of £5.7 million.
These results were achieved despite difﬁ cult economic 
conditions. They reﬂ ect the hard work and excellent 
performance of the management and employees 
of each of our Group businesses.
Group Performance
The Spinning division achieved an operating proﬁ t before 
exceptional items of £0.5 million in 2008 against a loss 
of £0.7 million in 2007. This improvement was driven by 
an increase in sales, stronger margin levels and effective 
actions taken by the Todd & Duncan management team 
that delivered improved customer service levels, product 
performance and manufacturing efﬁ ciency.
Despite all the recent progress, this business remains 
highly capital intensive and only marginally proﬁ table with 
a return on average capital employed (ROACE) in 2008 
of only 3 per cent. The strategic outlook is also extremely 
challenging; operating in an industry with signiﬁ cant 
excess capacity and several high ﬁ xed-cost competitors 
ﬁ ghting over a shrinking market. Based on these factors, 
the Company has recognised a ﬁ xed asset impairment 
charge of £1.0 million in the year. As previously announced, 
we are in discussions which may or may not lead to 
the sale of this business and this may be for a cash 
consideration of less than the carrying value of its assets.
The Knitting division had yet another excellent year, 
achieving an operating proﬁ t of £5.1 million against 
£2.8 million in 2007. This result was driven primarily 
by strong private label sales in the USA and exceptionally 
strong couture sales in Europe. ROACE within this division 
increased from 80 per cent to 86 per cent.
The Home Furnishings division, now trading as Dawson 
Home Group, achieved an operating proﬁ t of £0.4 million 
in 2008 against a loss of £2.1 million in 2007. The 
improvement was approximately evenly spread between 
the Dorma Branded and Private Label businesses. Despite 
progress within the Branded business, it continued to be 
loss making. It was the Board’s view that, despite 
management’s best efforts, it was not likely to make 
acceptable returns for some time. As a result, in July 
2008, the Board elected to sell the Dorma trademark 
and associated rights to Dunelm Group plc and to 
withdraw from the Branded business by January 2011. 
Details of this transaction are set out in the Business 
Review section. During the year the Private Label 
business improved ROACE from 55 per cent to 
73 per cent. 
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Strategy & Outlook
With the exit from the Dorma Branded business, 
the Group will retain a core of proﬁ table businesses. 
While these businesses each have some branded 
elements they are largely private label businesses. 
They deliver high levels of service to their customers 
and create products of exceptional quality. They each 
have strengths in design, product development and 
supply chain management. 
Over a number of years they have built up a deep 
understanding of their customers, which enables them 
to design and develop products to their customers’ 
individual needs. This is a different approach to that 
of our major competitors, who tend to design one range 
of products for each season, which they then present 
and sell to all their customers. Our businesses develop 
a unique set of products for each major customer, 
tailored to the customers’ individual requirements and 
sales environment and these products tend to perform 
better at retail than their competition. This approach 
has been at the core of their success. It also represents 
a barrier to entry for competitors, as it requires teams 
of people with strong customer knowledge and 
established relationships developed over a number 
of years. Our strategy for the future is to continue 
to grow our existing businesses and to acquire 
additional businesses that share these core 
strengths and attributes.
Current economic conditions in the countries 
where we operate are the worst that have been 
experienced for a very long time. Each of our businesses 
is experiencing a great deal of uncertainty with respect 
to the level of demand for their products and it is quite 
likely we will see lower sales levels in 2009 than in 2008. 
We are also facing a more challenging credit management 
environment with credit insurance more difﬁ cult to obtain, 
customers tending to pay later and a higher risk of 
debtor default.
In addition, in the current environment the Home 
Furnishings division will ﬁ nd it difﬁ cult in the short-term 
to pass on cost increases to customers, caused by the 
recent rapid appreciation of the US Dollar.
Fortunately, we have entered 2009 in a position 
of strength based on the strategic actions taken 
and the results achieved in 2008. Our balance sheet 
is strong and the Group’s current businesses have 
a lower risk proﬁ le than in the past. We also expect 
the current environment will present opportunities. 
We anticipate that our current businesses will have 
the chance to gain new customers as competitors 
struggle and that there may be more acquisition 
opportunities at reasonable prices than under 
more normal circumstances.
There is still much work to be done to enable us 
to deliver our goal of sustainable proﬁ tability and 
acceptable returns on capital employed. That said, 
the Group made excellent progress in 2008 and as 
a management team we look forward to continuing 
to build on that progress.
Andy Bartmess | Chief Executive
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Todd & Duncan
Todd & Duncan is one of the world’s 
leading cashmere manufacturers with 
a heritage stretching back 140 years, 
supplying cashmere yarn to some 
of the world’s top fashion and 
couture houses. www.todd-duncan.com
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Business Review
The established management team has successfully 
addressed many of the legacy issues from previous years. 
In particular, inventory control, the introduction of 
proprietary dyeing technology and return on the 
investment in plant and equipment are now beneﬁ ting 
the business with improved product quality, range and 
signiﬁ cantly improved customer service levels. 
   2008 2007
  £000 £000
Revenue 22,175 19,936
Operating proﬁ t/(loss) before 
 exceptional items  502 (722)
Capital expenditure  18  198
Average capital employed  16,329 19,002
The Spinning division comprises the Todd & Duncan 
business based in Kinross, Scotland. It is a manufacturer 
of highest quality cashmere, blended and woollen yarns.
It sources the majority of its raw material from China and 
exports 60 per cent of its product to the European market.
Performance
Todd & Duncan achieved an operating proﬁ t before 
exceptional items of £0.5 million following two years 
of losses. Turnover improved by 11 per cent against 
the same period last year. This improvement was partly 
due to the stronger Euro in the year and there was also 
an improvement in sales volumes which increased by 
7 per cent overall. Margins beneﬁ ted from the strong 
Euro but were adversely impacted to some extent 
by the strengthening of the US Dollar in the second 
half of the year, with all cashmere ﬁ bre purchased in 
Dollars. Underlying Dollar cashmere prices remained 
relatively stable in the year following two successive 
years of increase. Margins also beneﬁ ted from improved 
productivity following the restructuring exercise in 2007.
The challenge facing this business is the high level 
of working capital required to service its sales with raw 
material purchased in China, transported to Scotland 
for manufacture and onward sale mainly to the European 
market where credit terms are long. Proﬁ ts must reﬂ ect 
this investment in working capital to deliver an acceptable 
return on capital employed. The business made progress 
in this respect during the year both by improving 
proﬁ tability and reducing average net operating assets. 
However the return on average capital employed remains 
unsatisfactory at just 3 per cent. 
Following the major capital investment programme 
in 2005/6, capital expenditure levels have been low 
in each of the last two years with the main spend 
being on new proprietary dyeing equipment in 2007. 
The established management team has successfully 
addressed many of the legacy issues from previous 
years. In particular, inventory control, the introduction 
of proprietary dyeing technology and return on the 
investment in plant and equipment are now beneﬁ ting 
the business with improved product quality, range 
and signiﬁ cantly improved customer service levels. 
During the year Todd & Duncan launched its biggest 
colour story ever, “Out of the Blue” offering 57 new 
cashmere shades for the 2009/10 autumn/winter season.
Position at Year End and Outlook 
There is a great deal of uncertainty in the market due 
to the global downturn and the mood is one of caution, 
despite the progress made in 2008 and positive customer 
reaction to new collections for the spring/summer 2010 
season, presented at international yarn show, Pitti Filati 
in February 2009. Sales in the closing months of 2008 
and the early months of 2009 have been signiﬁ cantly 
lower than in the prior year reﬂ ecting this uncertainty. 
Customers of the business seem to be delaying orders 
until such time as they have a better view of luxury 
cashmere knitwear demand from retailers in their 
major markets.
Discussions are continuing for the possible sale of this 
business to its main supplier, Ningxia Zhongyin Cashmere 
Company Limited (“Zhongyin”) in which event Zhongyin 
has stated that they would continue to operate the 
business on its existing basis from its Scottish 
manufacturing facility. Should this sale not complete, 
management will continue to take actions to improve 
the return on capital employed of the business to an 
acceptable level.
Spinning
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   2008 2007
  £000 £000
Revenue 44,055 29,636
Operating proﬁ t before 
 exceptional items  5,095  2,780
Capital expenditure   251   318
Average capital employed  5,902 3,474
The Knitwear division comprises the Dawson Forte 
Cashmere business based in Boston, Massachusetts, 
USA and the Barrie Knitwear business based 
in Hawick, Scotland.
Dawson Forte sources cashmere garments from 
China for US private label retail programmes and 
its own branded cashmere collection ‘Kinross’. Barrie 
manufactures high quality cashmere garments. It sources 
most of its yarn from the Spinning division and sells to 
some of the world’s most prestigious couture houses, 
department stores and private label retail outlets.
Performance
2008 saw very strong performances from Dawson Forte 
and Barrie with both businesses delivering signiﬁ cant 
increases in turnover and proﬁ t.
Dawson Forte delivered a record year in both sales and 
proﬁ t. This was achieved through a number of initiatives 
including the development of new customer relationships, 
strengthened product design and marketing and 
improved supply chain management which saw the 
business achieve over 99 per cent ‘on-time’ success 
in shipping goods to customers. During the year the 
business opened up a number of new high proﬁ le 
accounts and channels of sales distribution, which 
resulted in Dawson Forte product being sold through 
600 new retail outlets. 
At Barrie, sales to haute couture customers substantially 
increased. The business also beneﬁ ted from the decline 
in the value of Sterling against the US Dollar and the Euro 
which improved margins on its sales to the USA and to 
Europe. The upgrade of knitting machinery continued 
during 2008 with investment in new Shima knitting 
equipment enabling the business to respond to growing 
market demand for more intricate styles and lighter 
weight garments. The acquisition of the John Laing 
business in 2006 is now fully integrated and operating 
successfully as part of the Barrie operation.
Both businesses maintained very tight control of working 
capital throughout the year. While average net operating 
assets increased as a result of the increased level of 
sales, the return on average capital employed increased 
from 80 per cent to 86 per cent.
Position at Year End and Outlook
Economists predict that the markets we serve will 
continue to contract at least through the whole of 2009. 
For the most part, Dawson Forte and Barrie were not 
impacted by the slowing economy in 2008 since the 
majority of their orders were placed prior to the recent 
ﬁ nancial and economic crises. However for 2009, it is 
expected that customers will signiﬁ cantly cut back orders 
based on the current environment. It is anticipated that 
the uncertain economic climate will constrain ﬁ nancial 
performance in 2009.
Knitwear
2008 saw very strong performances from Dawson Forte 
and Barrie with both businesses delivering signiﬁ cant 
increases in turnover and proﬁ t.
Business Review (continued)
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 Dawson Forte sources cashmere 
garments from China for US 
private label retail programmes 
and its own branded cashmere 
collection, ‘Kinross’.
Dawson Forte
www.kinrosscashmere.com
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Dawson Home Group
Dawson Home Group is a 
leading supplier of own label 
bed linen to a range of quality 
high street retailers. www.finebedlinens.co.uk
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   2008 2007
  £000 £000
Revenue 43,304 44,868
Operating proﬁ t/(loss) before 
 exceptional items  440 (2,108)
Capital expenditure   258  377
Average capital employed  9,072 10,177
The Home Furnishings division comprises two 
businesses: a Branded business, selling Dorma
branded home furnishings direct to end consumers 
and through retailers and a Private Label business, 
selling own label home furnishings direct to retailers. 
In July 2008 the Dorma trademark and associated 
rights (the “Dorma Brand”) was sold to a Private Label 
customer, Dunelm Group plc, for a consideration 
of £5.0 million. As a result the Company will exit the 
Branded business by 2011.
Performance
Dawson acquired Dorma Group Limited in February 
2005 and restructured it into separate Dorma Branded 
and Private Label businesses. Since acquisition the 
Private Label business has grown both sales and proﬁ ts 
to satisfactory levels. However the Branded business, 
despite management efforts has traded at a loss.
In July 2008 the Dorma Brand was sold to a Private Label 
customer, Dunelm Group plc, for a cash consideration 
of £5.0 million. As a result the Company will exit the 
Branded business by January 2011 during which period 
it is expected to incur trading losses in addition to cash 
exit costs of around £2.7 million. The Company has 
entered into a trading agreement whereby it will continue 
to supply Dunelm with Dorma brand and own-brand 
bed linen for an initial period of four years with certain 
minimum guarantees.
In 2008, Branded revenues fell by 16 per cent reﬂ ecting 
the decision to exit the business while Private Label 
revenues grew by 10 per cent. An overall operating 
loss of £2.1 million in 2007 was turned to a proﬁ t of 
£0.4 million due to improved proﬁ tability of the Private 
Label business and the elimination of costs in the 
Branded business.
As a consequence of exiting the Branded business 
working capital will be released. In 2008 working 
capital of the Branded business fell from £7.0 million 
at 29 December 2007 to £4.7 million at 3 January 2009.
Position at Year End and Outlook
The sale of the Dorma Brand enables Dawson to 
focus on the growth area of the business and generate 
cash both through the net consideration for the brand 
and the liquidation of working capital. It also further 
strengthens our relationship with one of our major 
Private Label customers.
We will continue to operate elements of the Dorma 
Branded business during 2009 and for part of 2010 
in order to honour current contractual relationships 
and trade down existing stocks. 
In recent months there has been a noticeable downturn 
in retail footfall due to the economic recession, which 
will impact Dawson Home Group’s ﬁ nancial performance 
in 2009. This division buys a high proportion of its goods 
in US Dollars and sells almost exclusively in Sterling. 
The second half of 2008 saw a rapid and very signiﬁ cant 
appreciation of the Dollar against Sterling. This change 
will put pressure on the margins of the Dawson Home 
Group businesses until such time as selling prices 
adjust to these higher costs. 
Home Furnishings
Dawson acquired Dorma Group Limited in February 
2005 and restructured it into separate Dorma Branded 
and Private Label businesses. The sale in 2008 of the 
Dorma brand enables Dawson to focus on the growth 
area of the business and generate cash.
Business Review (continued)
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Central Costs
The Group has a central administrative and treasury 
function based in Kinross, Scotland. All costs not 
directly incurred or attributable to the divisions 
are borne centrally.
  2008 2007
  £000 £000
Payroll costs 1,381  986
Pension Protection Fund levy  406  158
Other pension related fees  500  541
Legal and professional fees  567  419
Treasury related costs  351  126
Other costs 615  433
Total expenses 3,820 2,663
Payroll costs comprise the remuneration, inclusive 
of pension costs, of the Executive Directors and the 
corporate ofﬁ ce staff and the fees paid to the Non-
Executive Directors. Further detail of the remuneration 
and fees of the Directors is given in the Directors’ 
Report on Remuneration.
The Pension Protection Fund (“PPF”) levy is a growing 
cost to the Group. This is based on a formula which takes 
into account the size of the scheme liabilities, the deﬁ cit 
on the schemes, the Dun and Bradstreet credit rating 
of the relevant company and applies a scale factor issued 
by the PPF. The formula was changed in the year to attach 
more weight to the gross liabilities and this is the main 
reason for the increase. 
All pension fees, with the exception of investment 
manager fees, are borne by the Company. In the past 
two years, a signiﬁ cant part of the cost has related to the 
professional advice taken by both the Company and the 
Trustees during their negotiations to agree an affordable 
level of funding to the schemes. Having now reached 
agreement, subject to formal approval by the Pensions 
Regulator, it is expected that these costs will reduce.
The level of legal and professional fees reﬂ ects the 
relative complexity of the Group with its overseas 
operations, legacy issues from discontinued 
operations and restructuring activities. 
Treasury related costs comprise the costs of renewing 
and maintaining the Group’s UK banking facilities and 
any realised foreign exchange gains and losses arising 
in the year.
Other costs are mainly the administrative and facility 
costs associated with running the central function and 
any legacy costs associated with discontinued activities. 
Business Review (continued)
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Barrie
 Barrie operates at the top end of the 
luxury cashmere knitwear market 
with its brands John Laing, Barrie 
and Glenmac. It designs, develops 
and manufactures highest quality 
cashmere knitwear for some 
of the world’s most prestigious 
couture houses. www.barrie.co.uk
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Group Business Risks
In common with all businesses, the Company is exposed 
to various risks and uncertainties which could have 
a material effect on future results. There are review 
processes in place which seek to identify these risks 
and mitigate them where possible. The principal risks 
identiﬁ ed and the actions taken to mitigate them are 
as follows:
Customer and Supplier Dependency
Although the divisions each have fairly wide and diverse 
overall customer bases, each also has a small number 
of large customers. The loss of any of these customers 
could severely impact sales and proﬁ ts. Each division 
also sources raw materials (in the case of the Spinning 
division) or ﬁ nished products (in the case of the other 
divisions) from a handful of high quality suppliers. 
While the loss of any one of these would not have the 
same impact as the loss of a large customer, it would 
be disruptive and could cause short-term delivery issues. 
Group personnel work very hard to maintain and enhance 
their relationships with key customers to ensure the 
continuity of these relationships. This area has been one 
of the Group’s key strengths and a signiﬁ cant element of 
its recent success. Group companies also maintain close 
contact with their supply base, with frequent factory visits 
and often with quality control personnel working in the 
factories during order production to ensure issues are 
identiﬁ ed well in advance and to minimise the risk of 
supply disruption.
Key Personnel
Each of the Group’s companies relies on a core of 
highly-qualiﬁ ed, talented and experienced managers 
and staff. The loss of any of these key individuals can 
lead to short-term negative impact to sales or operations.
The Group closely monitors its relationships with these 
key individuals and has incentive programmes in place 
to ensure their contributions are adequately rewarded. 
This creates an environment that encourages the 
retention of key individuals and ensures that they have 
incentives in place to continue to perform and excel. 
As a result, the Group has an excellent record of retaining 
these individuals. For the businesses operating in the UK, 
the Group also has employment contracts in place for 
these individuals with adequate notice periods to minimise 
business disruption.
Overseas Competition
Each of the Group’s companies faces competition from 
low cost overseas competitors. There is the risk that 
customers, especially in difﬁ cult economic times, will 
choose to move their orders to these low cost competitors. 
In the case of the Spinning division, there is also the risk 
that low cost competitors will negatively impact the 
businesses of the division’s customers, who are largely 
knitters in high cost countries such as Italy and the UK. 
This can then reduce demand for the division’s products.
This risk is not a new one and Group companies 
have successfully competed against low cost foreign 
competitors over a number of years. They do this 
by offering products and customer service that are 
superior to those offered by low cost competitors.
Fashion Trends
The products of each of the Group’s divisions are 
to some extent fashion items and therefore subject 
to consumer tastes and fashion trends. If the Group’s 
divisions design products that do not adequately reﬂ ect 
fashion trends, or do not appeal to core customers, 
sales can be negatively impacted. Due to the seasonality 
of sales and relatively long lead times, it is necessary to 
produce some goods in advance of the selling season, 
at a time when fashion trends and customer demand 
are uncertain. This creates stock dormancy risk.
Group designers work very closely with customers 
to ensure that ﬁ nished products appeal both to trade 
customers and consumers. The fact that most of the 
Group’s products are designed to the speciﬁ c needs 
of an individual customer also helps to minimise this 
risk. Designers spend a great deal of time monitoring 
conditions at retail and attending trade and fashion 
shows to stay abreast of the latest trends. In cases 
where goods must be manufactured in advance 
of customer orders, statistical analyses are used 
to ensure the goods produced in advance are very 
likely to sell based on historical sales patterns.
Political 
Each of the Group’s divisions sources product from 
countries where political systems and economic 
circumstances can be subject to some instability. 
This causes a risk of supply disruption. There is also 
the possibility of protectionist actions by the governments 
of countries in which the Group operates. This creates 
a risk of short-term supply disruptions and cost increases.
Group sourcing personnel spend a great deal of time 
in source countries to ensure they have the latest 
information on local conditions. In the case of China, 
both the Knitwear and Home Furnishings divisions 
maintain local ofﬁ ces with full-time staff permanently 
resident in the country. The Group also closely monitors 
political developments in the countries where it operates 
to ensure it has as much advance warning as possible 
of new legislation or regulations that could impact 
its businesses and take appropriate action to mitigate 
any associated risk. 
Business Review (continued)
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Financial
Foreign exchange risk
For the Group’s UK based businesses, most product is 
sourced in US Dollars and sold in either Sterling or Euros. 
As a result, exchange rate movements between these 
currencies can have a signiﬁ cant impact on the short-term 
proﬁ tability of these businesses. Results are most exposed 
to negative impact by the US Dollar strengthening against 
Sterling (as we saw in the second half of 2008) or by the 
Euro weakening against Sterling. 
The Group seeks to minimise this risk by entering into 
forward foreign exchange contracts. In 2008, it was the 
policy of the Group not to account for such contracts 
as cash ﬂ ow hedges but to take any unrealised gain 
or loss to proﬁ t and loss in the period arising. This can 
result in timing differences in reported proﬁ ts between 
accounting periods.
Price risk
Each of the Group’s divisions is exposed to the impact 
of price swings in commodities such as cashmere ﬁ bre, 
cotton and wool. These prices are monitored closely and, 
to the extent the market allows, reﬂ ected in the prices 
that Group companies charge for their products.
Funding risk: working capital cycle and facilities
Many of the Group’s businesses are highly seasonal and 
as a result have working capital patterns with signiﬁ cant 
peaks at certain times of the year. For these businesses 
to operate, adequate ﬁ nancing must be in place to fund 
working capital, including these working capital peaks. 
The Group ﬁ nances its business with asset-backed 
ﬁ nancing facilities in the UK and USA. The availability 
and adequacy of these facilities is essential to the 
operation of the Group and its businesses. There is the 
risk that the Group’s lenders could choose not to renew 
lending facilities when they come up for renewal. There 
is also the risk that current facilities could be inadequate 
to the Group’s needs should it trade signiﬁ cantly below 
expectations over a period of time.
The Group works closely with its lenders to ensure 
positive and productive relationships and currently has 
excellent relationships with both of its major lenders. 
While the UK facilities fall due for renewal within the 
next twelve months, no matters have been drawn to the 
attention of the Directors after enquiry to suggest that 
renewal may not be forthcoming on acceptable terms. 
The Group also monitors cash ﬂ ow and cash ﬂ ow 
projections by business and this information is reviewed 
by Group ﬁ nance management on a daily basis. To the 
extent cash ﬂ ow forecasts deviate from plan, corrective 
actions are taken to ensure the Group maintains adequate 
headroom between its borrowing capacity and its cash 
needs. The Knitwear and Home Furnishings divisions 
are primarily private label businesses that source a high 
proportion of their goods against ﬁ rm customer orders. 
Therefore, the working capital and funding requirements 
of these businesses automatically adjust; when sales are 
strong working capital levels tend to be high and when 
sales fall working capital levels fall as well.
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Financial Review
All businesses reported a pre-exceptional operating 
proﬁ t and each improved their results signiﬁ cantly 
compared with the previous year.
   2008 2007
  £000 £000
Revenue 106,795 92,601
Operating proﬁ t/(loss) 
 before exceptional items  1,019 (2,713)
Exceptional items  342 1,657
Net ﬁ nance costs (739)  (499)
Taxation  (146)  (277)
Proﬁ t/(loss) after tax  476  (1,832)
Earnings/(loss) per share
– basic and diluted (pence) 0.2  (0.8)
– adjusted (pence) 0.1 (1.5)
Operating Results
Revenues increased by £14.2 million (15 per cent) 
to £106.8 million while the operating result, before 
exceptional items, improved by £3.7 million from a loss 
of £2.7 million to a proﬁ t of £1.0 million. This result was 
achieved despite making a provision at the year end 
for a net unrealised foreign exchange loss of £2.0 million, 
reﬂ ecting record strength of the Euro. Excluding the 
unrealised foreign exchange loss, gross proﬁ t was 
26.1 per cent compared with 25.3 per cent in 2007 
while overhead expenses reduced by £1.3 million.
The performance of each division is discussed in the 
Chief Executive’s Statement and the Business Review 
above. Each business within these divisions reported 
a pre-exceptional operating proﬁ t and all improved their 
results signiﬁ cantly compared with the previous year.
Exceptional Items
An exceptional gain of £1.5 million was recognised on 
the disposal of the Dorma trademark and associated 
rights during the year comprising £5.0 million proceeds 
less a ﬁ xed asset impairment charge of £0.8 million 
and estimated cash costs of £2.7 million to exit the 
Home Furnishings Branded business. 
Exceptional losses of £0.2 million and £1.0 million 
respectively were charged in respect of reorganisation 
costs and ﬁ xed asset impairment. The reorganisation 
costs were incurred by the Home Furnishings division 
while the ﬁ xed asset impairment relates to the 
Spinning division.
Net Finance Costs
Net ﬁ nance costs, excluding pension related items, 
were £0.87 million on average net debt of £4.9 million 
(2007: £0.92 million on £6.0 million). Effective interest 
rates are high relative to average net debt due to the 
geographical spread of funds and to the seasonal 
nature of the businesses, which results in a signiﬁ cant 
inﬂ ow of funds in the ﬁ nal months of the year.
Net ﬁ nance income on pension obligations was 
£0.13 million (2007: £0.43 million). This is calculated as 
the expected return on scheme assets less the unwinding 
of one year’s discount on pension obligations.
 
Taxation
A tax charge of £0.2 million (2007: £0.3 million) 
was incurred in respect of state taxes in the USA.
Earnings Per Share
Basic earnings per share were 0.2 pence (2007: 0.8 pence 
loss). Adjusted earnings per share, calculated before 
exceptional items, were 0.1 pence (2007: 1.5 pence loss). 
The weighted average number of shares in issue was 
225.2 million (2007: 225.2 million). 
Dividends
No dividends were paid or proposed in the year.
  2008 2007
  £000  £000
Fixed assets 2,416 4,526
Working capital 23,487 26,659
Other ﬁ nancial liabilities  (2,028)  –
Provisions  (3,951) (1,623)
Net tax asset  1,358 1,383
Pension obligations  (6,730) (4,701)
Net funds/(debt)  5,688 (5,721)
Net assets  20,240 20,523
Fixed Assets
Fixed assets reduced by £2.1 million in the year. 
Capital expenditure was £0.5 million and depreciation 
£2.6 million, of which £1.8 million was impairment 
provisions made by the Spinning and Home 
Furnishings divisions. 
Working Capital
Working capital reduced by £3.2 million in the 
year. Average working capital was £27.6 million 
(2007: £27.3 million). 
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Other Assets
The Company has a long standing debt due to it by Inner 
Mongolia King Deer Cashmere Company Limited, its 
former joint venture partner in China. This debt, inclusive 
of interest, amounts to approximately $10 million and has 
been fully provided for a number of years. The Company 
continues to pursue the debt and has recently agreed 
a payment plan proposed by King Deer as part of a 
ﬁ nancial restructuring of that company. No payments 
have been received to date and the Company considers 
it prudent to keep the debt fully provided.
Other Financial Liabilities
During the year the Company entered into forward 
foreign exchange contracts to protect against the impact 
of unfavourable exchange movements on its forecast 
Euro sales and US Dollar purchases. As noted below, 
the policy of the Company has been not to account 
for such contracts as cash ﬂ ow hedges but to take any 
unrealised gain or loss to proﬁ t and loss in the period 
arising. At the year end, the Euro contracts had an 
unrealised loss of £2.3 million and the US Dollar contracts 
had an unrealised gain of £0.3 million. The net unrealised 
loss of £2.0 million has been taken to proﬁ t and loss in 
the period.
Provisions
Provisions were £4.0 million at year end, comprising 
£2.5 million for reorganisation costs, £1.1 million for 
environmental liabilities and £0.4 million for customer 
claims and unfunded retirement beneﬁ ts. £2.3 million 
of the provision for reorganisation costs arose in the 
year in respect of the exit from the Home Furnishings 
Branded business which is expected to be complete 
by 2011. 
Deferred Tax
IAS 12 requires that deferred tax liabilities are provided 
in full and that deferred tax assets be recognised to 
the extent they are considered recoverable. There 
are substantial potential deferred tax assets in both 
the UK and USA, however the recognised deferred 
tax asset has been restricted to £1.5 million and relates 
to prospective proﬁ ts in the USA only. 
The deferred tax asset in the USA is also restricted by the 
provisions of s.382 of the Internal Revenue Service code 
which limits the amount of brought forward losses which 
can be offset against future taxable proﬁ ts in the event of 
a 50 per cent change in the shareholder base of the 
Parent Company in any three year period.
Pension Obligations
Pension obligations are measured by applying IAS 19 
which speciﬁ es that assets are measured at market 
value at the balance sheet date and liabilities are 
measured by discounting projected future beneﬁ t 
payments at AA corporate bond rates. 
On this basis the liability increased from £4.7 million 
to £6.7 million in the period. Contributions by the 
Company were £1.2 million (2007: £1.8 million) of 
which £0.3 million (2007: £0.4 million) was current 
service cost and £0.9 million (2007: £1.4 million) 
additional contributions to reduce the deﬁ cit. 
Further details are given in note 19 to the accounts.
Net Funds/(Debt)
The Company was strongly cash generative in the year 
with an improvement in net funds of £11.4 million. Of this, 
£6.3 million was generated from operating activities and 
£4.5 million resulted from the sale of the Dorma trademark 
and associated rights to Dunelm Group plc in July of 2008.
Borrowing facilities comprise two working capital facilities 
with Gmac Commercial Finance which fund the Group’s 
UK operations and a working capital facility with Bank 
of America which funds the Group’s US operation. 
Further details are given in note 16 to the accounts.
Treasury
The Group’s funding policy is to negotiate sufﬁ cient 
facilities to cover forecast net borrowings for the 
following 12 month period with adequate headroom 
against identiﬁ ed risks.
The Group’s policy on currency risk is to minimise the 
impact of currency risk on currency transaction ﬂ ow 
through use of forward foreign exchange contracts. 
Due to uncertainty of timing of future cash ﬂ ows these 
are not accounted for as cash ﬂ ow hedges. Instead all 
gains and losses are recognised in the Income Statement 
in the period arising. This can result in timing differences 
with gains or losses on forward foreign exchange 
contracts marked to market at each reporting period. 
Translation exposures on foreign currency net assets 
and income streams are not hedged.
Andy Bartmess | Chief Executive
David Cooper | Finance Director
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*~Michael G Hartley (60) 
Appointed Chairman of Dawson International PLC 
on 25 June 2003. He spent 16 years with Coats 
Viyella PLC, latterly as a main board director and 
Chief Executive of the Viyella division, where he led 
the successful turnaround and sale of the Viyella 
businesses. Prior to Coats his main experiences were 
in retail, initially with Marks & Spencer. He is senior 
independent director of FTSE 250 quoted international 
trade exhibitions business ITE Group plc and non-
executive chairman of recruitment business hartley 
resourcing Ltd. 
Andy Bartmess (48)
Appointed Chief Executive Ofﬁ cer on 1 January 2007 
following his appointment as Chief Operating Ofﬁ cer
in November 2005. He joined the Board of Dawson 
on 15 February 2006. He was previously President 
of Dawson Forte Cashmere, the Group’s highly 
successful sourced cashmere garment business 
based in Boston, USA, acquired in 1997. Prior 
to joining Dawson Forte he held managerial 
positions with Deloitte Consulting and IBM.
David Cooper (50) 
Appointed Finance Director of Dawson International 
PLC on 1 January 2002, having previously been Group 
Financial Controller and Company Secretary. He joined 
the Company as Group Financial Accountant in 1986 
and is a member of the Institute of Chartered 
Accountants of Scotland.
+ 
*~Stephen Russell (60)
Appointed Non-Executive Director on 15 February 
2006, Stephen brings a wealth of experience gained 
in the international textile business in a variety of senior 
ﬁ nancial and general management positions with Coats 
plc spanning 25 years and is also a Fellow of the Institute 
of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. He is 
Chairman of the Dawson International Audit Committee 
and Senior Independent Director.
+ 
*~David Bolton (57)
Appointed Non-Executive Director on 29 July 2008. 
He is a chartered accountant with over 30 years 
experience in a variety of ﬁ nancial management positions 
across a range of industries, with particular expertise 
in improving operational performance and delivering 
business integration through acquisition. Currently 
Finance Director of computer software company, 
K3 Business Technology Group plc.
+ 
*Jan Holmstrom (56)
Appointed Non-Executive Director on 29 July 2008. 
An insurance professional and management consultant 
with a wealth of experience of working in the UK and 
in the Far East. He is currently Managing Director 
of Browallia AB, in Sweden, a subsidiary company 
of Bronsstadet AB. Browallia manages Bronsstadet’s 
foreign investments. Other directorships include 
Browallia Holdings Limited, Johnson and Starley 
Limited, The Union Discount Company of London 
Limited, Densitron Technologies plc and Hartest 
Holdings Plc.
+   Member of the Audit Committee
 
*
 Member of the Remuneration Committee
 ~ Member of the Nominations Committee 
Board of Directors
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Accounts
20 Directors’ Report
21 Directors’ Report on Remuneration
24  Statement of Directors’ Responsibilities
in respect of the Directors’ Report and the 
Financial Statements
25  Independent Auditors’ Report to the Members 
of Dawson International PLC
26 Consolidated Financial Statements
29 Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements
48 Company Balance Sheet
49 Notes to the Company Financial Statements
51 Five Year Financial Record
52 Information for Shareholders
53 Notice of Annual General Meeting
55 Form of Proxy
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Directors’ Report
The Directors present their report and the audited consolidated ﬁ nancial 
statements of the Company for the ﬁ nancial period ended 3 January 2009.
Business Activities 
The names and activities of the Group’s principal businesses are set out 
on page 49. A review of the activities of the Group for the period is given 
in the Business Review and Financial Review on pages 6 to 17.
Review of the Business
A review of the business which includes the ﬁ nancial results for the year, 
key performance indicators, the ﬁ nancial position at the year end, likely 
future developments and the principal risks and uncertainties facing the 
Group are contained in the Chairman’s Statement, the Chief Executive’s 
Statement and the Business Review and Financial Review on pages 2 
to 17.
Going Concern
As discussed in the Chairman’s Statement on page 3 and the Chief 
Executive’s Statement on page 5, current economic conditions present 
some challenges to Group performance. The Group has also identiﬁ ed a 
number of business speciﬁ c risks and uncertainties which are discussed 
in the Business Review on pages 14 and 15.
The Group’s projections, taking account of the risks outlined, show that 
the Group should be able to operate within its current banking facilities. 
As a result, the Directors have a reasonable expectation that the Group 
has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the 
foreseeable future. For this reason, they continue to adopt the going 
concern basis in preparing the ﬁ nancial statements.
Dividends
No interim or ﬁ nal dividend was paid or is proposed.
Substantial Shareholders
As at 10 March 2009 the Company had been notiﬁ ed of the following 
interests amounting to 3 per cent or more in its share capital:
Leeds Group plc  28.8%
Guinness Peat Group plc  15.2%
Global Asset Management  7.8%
Pontek Ltd (G Ghione) 7.5%
Fairmont Investment Trading Limited  5.9%
Brookwell 5.1%
S di Canossa   3.8%
Directors 
The names and biographical details of the present Directors are set out 
on page 18. 
J Andrew Smith and Scott Malvenan retired from the Board of Directors 
on 29 July 2008. 
Jan Holmstrom and David Bolton were appointed to the Board of Directors 
on 29 July 2008. 
Andy Bartmess and Stephen Russell retire by rotation from the Board 
at the Annual General Meeting and, being eligible, offer themselves 
for re-election. 
The interests of the Directors in the share capital of the Company are 
set out in the Directors’ Report on Remuneration on pages 21 to 23. 
Annual General Meeting
The Notice convening the Annual General Meeting for 8 May 2009 and 
the Resolutions to be considered at that meeting are set out on pages 
53 and 54. Special business to be proposed at the meeting is as follows:
Resolution 6 – Allotment of Relevant Securities
Resolution 6 confers general authority on the Company to allot shares 
up to an aggregate nominal value of £749,778 representing 33.3 per cent 
of the issued ordinary share capital. 
Resolution 7 – Issue of Shares for Cash
Resolution 7 disapplies pre-emption rights when allotting shares for cash 
up to an aggregate nominal value of £112,579 representing 5 per cent 
of the issued ordinary share capital.
Resolution 8 – Purchase of Own Shares by the Company
Resolution 8 confers authority on the Company to purchase its own 
shares up to an aggregate nominal value of £225,159 representing 
10 per cent of the issued ordinary share capital. 
Resolutions 6, 7 and 8 are standard resolutions which are proposed 
each year and reﬂ ect ABI guidelines.
Employees
The Group provides all employees with equal opportunities for 
advancement regardless of their age, sex, race, creed or sexual 
orientation and encourages, where possible, the recruitment, training 
and career development of disabled people and any employees who 
may become disabled. It is also the Group’s policy to encourage the 
spread of information regarding developments affecting both the 
Group and an employee’s workplace. 
Environment
The Group is conscious of the need to protect the quality of the 
environment and strives to meet or exceed applicable regulations 
at all locations.
Supplier Payment Policies
It is the policy of the Group to agree terms of payment when orders for 
goods and services are placed and to adhere to these arrangements 
when making payment. Purchases made by the Company itself are, 
with very few exceptions, made from subsidiaries and do not, therefore, 
involve taking credit from external suppliers.
Auditors
The Directors who held ofﬁ ce at the date of approval of this Directors’ 
Report conﬁ rm that:
�  So far as they are each aware, there is no relevant audit information 
of which the Company’s auditors are unaware;
�  Each Director has taken all the steps he ought to have taken as a 
Director to make himself aware of any relevant audit information and 
to establish that the Company’s auditors are aware of that information.
The Company’s auditors, KPMG Audit Plc have indicated that they are 
willing to continue in ofﬁ ce and, accordingly, a Resolution proposing their 
reappointment will be put to the Annual General Meeting.
By order of the Board
David Cooper, Secretary,
10 March 2009
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Directors’ Report on Remuneration
As an AIM listed Company, Dawson International PLC is not required to 
comply with Schedule 7A of the Companies Act, however the Directors 
feel it is appropriate to provide the following information to shareholders.
The Remuneration Committee
The Remuneration Committee is composed of the three Non-Executive 
Directors and is chaired by Michael Hartley. J Andrew Smith was 
Chairman of the Committee until his retirement from the Board on 
29 July 2008. Michael Hartley took no part in any discussions relating 
to his own remuneration.
The role of the Committee is to make recommendations to the Board 
on all aspects of conditions of employment of the Company’s Executive 
Directors and on the terms and conditions of employment of senior 
management. It determines the structure of remuneration packages and 
sets the criteria for performance related components. The Committee 
may, at its discretion, seek external advice at the expense of the 
Company when setting remuneration levels. In the absence of any 
proposed changes to remuneration policy no external advice was 
sought in the year.
Remuneration Policy
The Committee aims to ensure that remuneration packages are offered 
which are designed to attract, retain and motivate high calibre Executive 
Directors and senior management.
As recommended by provision B. 1 . 1 of the Combined Code, performance 
related remuneration forms a signiﬁ cant proportion of the overall 
remuneration package of the Executive Directors and is designed 
to align their interests with those of the shareholders.
In addition to their basic salary the Executive Directors and senior 
management have had the potential to earn a bonus of between 
25 per cent and 100 per cent of basic salary, dependent on grade, 
through achievement of business performance targets and/or
achievement of speciﬁ c personal and strategic goals. 
The Company operated an Executive Share Option scheme which 
commenced in July 1996 and expired on 10 July 2006. Under the 
scheme the Remuneration Committee could award both standard 
and super options to Executive Directors and senior management. 
Such awards were made at the sole discretion of the Remuneration 
Committee. The options held by Directors during the ﬁ nancial period 
and the performance criteria which are required to be met to enable 
their exercise are disclosed in table D.
The Board believes that it is in the best interests of the Company for the 
Executive Directors to accept external non-executive positions as this 
adds to the depth of their experience. The policy of the Board is that 
Executive Directors may accept external non-executive appointments 
and may retain any fees earned.
Directors’ Emoluments
Directors’ emoluments are summarised in table A.
In 2008 the bonus targets for the Chief Executive and Finance Director 
were based on proﬁ t before tax excluding the effect of exceptional items. 
Maximum bonus of 100 per cent of salary was achieved against the 
targets set. The Chairman had bonus targets based on meeting speciﬁ c 
strategic goals. Two thirds of these were achieved by year end.
In 2009 the bonus targets for the Chief Executive and Finance Director 
are based on achieving further improvement in net funds. Maximum 
bonus of 100 per cent of salary is achieved for an improvement in 
net funds of £3.376 million, adjusted to eliminate the effect of certain 
exceptional items. The Chairman has a maximum potential bonus 
of one third of salary based on achieving a speciﬁ c strategic goal.
Salaries for 2009 for the Executive Directors and senior management 
will be unchanged from 2008. 
Non-Executive Directors’ fees will be unchanged and are currently 
£20,000 per annum with additional fees of £2,500 paid for chairing 
Board committees and to the Senior Independent Director.
Retirement Beneﬁ ts
David Cooper participates in the Dawson International Staff Retirement 
Beneﬁ ts Plan which normally provides a pension at age 65 equal to two 
thirds of ﬁ nal pensionable salary after 40 years’ service, with attaching 
widows’ pension and lump sum death in service beneﬁ t. These beneﬁ ts 
have been enhanced with a normal retirement age of 60 and the grant 
of a pension of two thirds ﬁ nal salary, inclusive of beneﬁ ts earned in 
previous employments. Only basic salary is pensionable. Michael Hartley 
receives no retirement beneﬁ ts. Andy Bartmess participates in a deﬁ ned 
contribution plan in the USA. The Group pays matched contributions 
up to 4 per cent of salary and a potential further 5 per cent based 
on the results of the Forte business.
Service Contracts
The Non-Executive Directors have formal engagement letters for services 
but do not have employment contracts with the Company. The service 
contract of Michael Hartley commenced on 1 September 2003 and was 
approved by shareholders in general meeting. The notice periods to be 
given by the Company and Michael Hartley are six months respectively. 
The service contract of Andy Bartmess commenced on 15 February 
2006. The notice periods to be given by the Company and Andy 
Bartmess are six months and three months respectively. The service 
contract of David Cooper commenced on 1 January 2002. The notice 
periods to be given by the Company and David Cooper are twelve 
months and three months respectively.
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Directors’ Report on Remuneration (continued)
Table A – Directors’ Emoluments      
  Basic  Taxable 2008 2007
 Fees salary Bonus Beneﬁ ts
(i)
 Total Total
 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
M G Hartley – 93 60 – 153 130
A D Bartmess
(ii)
 – 184 184 22 390 181
D G Cooper – 124 124 11 259 133
S B Russell  24 – – – 24 22
J Holmstrom 8 – – – 8 –
D Bolton 8 – – – 8 –
Former Directors 27 – – – 27 45
 67 401 368 33 869 511
(i)
Taxable beneﬁ ts comprise private health care cover and company car option.
(ii)
 A D Bartmess’ basic salary and bonus are US Dollar denominated and are translated at the average exchange rate for the year. 
Basic salary for 2008: $340,230 (2007: $330,000).
Table B – Retirement Beneﬁ ts       
 Accrued beneﬁ t Transfer value of accrued beneﬁ t
  Increase in year   
      Increase 
 At 3   At 3 At 29 less
 January Including Excluding January December Directors’
 2009 inﬂ ation inﬂ ation 2009 2007 contributions
 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
      
D G Cooper 55 4 4 814 798 6
Contributions of $15,526 (2007: $17,632) were paid into a deﬁ ned contribution scheme in the USA in respect of A D Bartmess.
Table C – Directors’ Shareholdings  
 2008 2007
 Number Number
  
M G Hartley 797,200 797,200
A D Bartmess – –
D G Cooper 25,000 25,000
S B Russell  – –
J Holmstrom – –
D Bolton – –
No Director had any beneﬁ cial interest in the shares of any subsidiary undertaking.
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Table D – Share Options    
  Number of share options 
  Exercise 3 January 29 December  
  price 2009 2007 Vesting Expiry
  Pence 000s 000s date date
      
M G Hartley Standard 7.625 750 750 21 .04.2009 20.04.2016
 Super 7.625 300 300 21.04.2011 20.04.2016
      
A D Bartmess Standard 10.5 400 400 16.05.2008 15.05.2015
 Super 10.5 400 400 16.05.2010 15.05.2015
 Standard 7.625 1,250 1,250 21.04.2009 20.04.2016
 Super 7.625 500 500 21.04.2011 20.04.2016
      
D G Cooper Standard 10.5 400 400 16.05.2008 15.05.2015
 Super 10.5 400 400 16.05.2010 15.05.2015
 Standard 7.625 1,250 1,250 21.04.2009 20.04.2016
 Super 7.625 500 500 21.04.2011 20.04.2016
(i)  The exercise of standard options is subject to the achievement of targets of sustained improvement in the underlying performance of the Group 
as speciﬁ ed by the Directors at the date of grant. 
(ii)   The exercise of super options is subject to the achievement of targets of exceptional ﬁ nancial performance by the Group as speciﬁ ed by the 
Directors at the date of grant. 
(iii)  The market price of the Company’s shares at the year end was 2. 125 pence. The range during the year was 0.88 pence – 3.0 pence. 
The auditors are required to report on the information contained in tables A – D.
On behalf of the Board
Michael G Hartley, Chairman of the Remuneration Committee,
10 March 2009
 
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Statement of Directors’ Responsibilities 
in respect of the Directors’ Report and 
the Financial Statements
The Directors are responsible for preparing the Annual Report and 
the Group and Parent Company ﬁ nancial statements in accordance 
with applicable law and regulations.
Company law requires the Directors to prepare Group and Parent 
Company ﬁ nancial statements for each ﬁ nancial year. As required 
by the AIM Rules of the London Stock Exchange they are required to 
prepare the Group ﬁ nancial statements in accordance with International 
Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the EU and 
applicable law and have elected to prepare the Parent Company 
ﬁ nancial statements in accordance with UK Accounting Standards 
and applicable law (UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
The Group ﬁ nancial statements are required by law and IFRSs as 
adopted by the EU to present fairly the ﬁ nancial position and the 
performance of the Group; the Companies Act 1985 provides in relation 
to such ﬁ nancial statements that references in the relevant part of that 
Act to ﬁ nancial statements giving a true and fair view are references 
to their achieving a fair presentation.
The Parent Company ﬁ nancial statements are required by law to give 
a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Parent Company.
In preparing each of the Group and Parent Company ﬁ nancial 
statements, the Directors are required to:
� select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
� make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
�  for the Group ﬁ nancial statements, state whether they have been 
prepared in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the EU;
�  for the Parent Company ﬁ nancial statements, state whether 
applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject 
to any material departures disclosed and explained in the Parent 
Company ﬁ nancial statements; and
�  prepare the ﬁ nancial statements on the going concern basis unless it 
is inappropriate to presume that the Group and the Parent Company 
will continue in business.
The Directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records 
that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the ﬁ nancial position 
of the Parent Company and enable them to ensure that its ﬁ nancial 
statements comply with the Companies Act 1985. They have general 
responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them 
to safeguard the assets of the Group and to prevent and detect fraud 
and other irregularities.
The Directors have decided to prepare voluntarily a Directors’ 
Remuneration Report in accordance with Schedule 7A to the 
Companies Act 1985, as if those requirements applied to 
the Company.
The Directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the 
corporate and ﬁ nancial information included on the Company’s website. 
Legislation in the UK governing the preparation and dissemination of 
ﬁ nancial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.
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Independent Auditors’ Report to the Members 
of Dawson International PLC
We have audited the Group and Parent Company ﬁ nancial statements 
(the ‘’ﬁ nancial statements’’) of Dawson International PLC for the period 
ended 3 January 2009 which comprise the Consolidated Income 
Statement, the Consolidated and Parent Company Balance Sheets, 
the Consolidated Cash Flow Statement, the Consolidated Statement of 
Recognised Income and Expense and the related notes. These ﬁ nancial 
statements have been prepared under the accounting policies set out 
therein. In addition to our audit of the ﬁ nancial statements, the Directors 
have engaged us to audit the information in the Directors’ Remuneration 
Report that is described as having been audited, which the Directors 
have decided to prepare (in addition to that required to be prepared) 
as if the Company were required to comply with the requirements 
of Schedule 7A to the Companies Act 1985.
This report is made solely to the Company’s members, as a body, in 
accordance with section 235 of the Companies Act 1985 and, in respect 
of the separate opinion in relation to the Directors’ Remuneration Report, 
on terms that have been agreed. Our audit work has been undertaken 
so that we might state to the Company’s members those matters we 
are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and, in respect of the 
separate opinion in relation to the Directors’ Remuneration Report, those 
matters that we have agreed to state to them in our report, and for no 
other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept 
or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Company and the 
Company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, 
or for the opinions we have formed.
Respective Responsibilities of Directors and Auditors
The Directors’ responsibilities for preparing the Annual Report and 
the Group ﬁ nancial statements in accordance with applicable law 
and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted 
by the EU, and for preparing the Parent Company ﬁ nancial statements 
in accordance with applicable law and UK Accounting Standards 
(UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice) are set out in the 
Statement of Directors’ Responsibilities on page 24.
Our responsibility is to audit the ﬁ nancial statements in accordance with 
relevant legal and regulatory requirements and International Standards on 
Auditing (UK and Ireland) and, under the terms of our engagement letter, 
to audit the part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report that is described 
as having been audited. 
We report to you our opinion as to whether the ﬁ nancial statements give 
a true and fair view and whether the ﬁ nancial statements and the part 
of the Directors’ Remuneration Report to be audited have been properly 
prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 1985. We also report to 
you whether in our opinion the information given in the Directors’ Report 
is consistent with the ﬁ nancial statements. The information given in the 
Directors’ Report includes that information presented in the Business 
Review and Financial Review, the Chairman’s Statement and the Chief 
Executive’s Statement that is cross referred from the Business Activities 
and the Review of the Business sections of the Directors’ Report.
In addition we report to you if, in our opinion, the Company has 
not kept proper accounting records, if we have not received all the 
information and explanations we require for our audit, or if information 
speciﬁ ed by law regarding Directors’ remuneration and other transactions 
is not disclosed.
 
We read the other information contained in the Annual Report and 
consider whether it is consistent with the audited ﬁ nancial statements. 
We consider the implications for our report if we become aware of any 
apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the ﬁ nancial 
statements. Our responsibilities do not extend to any other information.
Basis of Audit Opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards 
on Auditing (UK and Ireland) issued by the Auditing Practices Board. 
An audit includes examination, on a test basis, of evidence relevant 
to the amounts and disclosures in the ﬁ nancial statements and the part 
of the Directors’ Remuneration Report to be audited. It also includes 
an assessment of the signiﬁ cant estimates and judgments made by the 
Directors in the preparation of the ﬁ nancial statements, and of whether 
the accounting policies are appropriate to the Group’s and Company’s 
circumstances, consistently applied and adequately disclosed.
We planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all the information 
and explanations which we considered necessary in order to provide us 
with sufﬁ cient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the ﬁ nancial 
statements and the part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report to be 
audited are free from material misstatement, whether caused by fraud 
or other irregularity or error. In forming our opinion we also evaluated 
the overall adequacy of the presentation of information in the ﬁ nancial 
statements and the part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report 
to be audited.
Opinion
In our opinion:
�   the Group ﬁ nancial statements give a true and fair view, in 
accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the EU, of the state of the 
Group’s affairs as at 3 January 2009 and of its proﬁ t for the period 
then ended; 
�   the Parent Company ﬁ nancial statements give a true and fair view, 
in accordance with UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice, 
of the state of the Parent Company’s affairs as at 3 January 2009; 
�   the ﬁ nancial statements have been properly prepared in accordance 
with the Companies Act 1985;
�   the information given in the Directors’ Report is consistent with the 
ﬁ nancial statements; and
�   the part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report which we were 
engaged to audit has been properly prepared in accordance with 
Schedule 7A to the Companies Act 1985, as if those requirements 
were to apply to the Company.
KPMG Audit Plc
Chartered Accountants 
Registered Auditor
Edinburgh
10 March 2009
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Consolidated Income Statement         
For the period ended 3 January 2009         
         
  2008 2007
 Note £000 £000
Revenue 2 106,795 92,601
Cost of sales  (80,969) (69,158)
Gross proﬁ t  25,826 23,443
Selling and distribution costs  (14,359) (16,347)
Administrative expenses  (10,448) (9,809)
Operating proﬁ t/(loss) before exceptional items 2,3  1,01 9 (2,713)
Exceptional items 2,4 342 1,657
Operating proﬁ t/(loss)  2,3  1,361 (1,056)
Finance income 6  65 120
Finance costs 6  (930) (1,045)
Net ﬁ nance income on pension assets/liabilities 19  126 426
Proﬁ t/(loss) before taxation  622 (1,555)
Income tax expense 7  (146) (277)
Proﬁ t/(loss) for the period attributable to the equity holders of the parent  476 (1,832)
Basic and Diluted earnings/(loss) per share 8  0.2p (0.8)p
    
 
Consolidated Statement of Recognised Income and Expense      
For the period ended 3 January 2009         
   
 2008 2007
 £000 £000
   
Actuarial (loss)/gain on deﬁ ned beneﬁ t pension obligations (2,533) 13,198 
Exchange gain/(loss) arising on translation of overseas subsidiaries 1,689  (65)
Net (expense)/income recognised directly in equity (844) 13,133 
Proﬁ t/(loss) for the ﬁ nancial period 476  (1,832)
Total recognised (expense)/income for the period attributable to equity holders of the parent (368) 11,301
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Consolidated Balance Sheet
As at 3 January 2009      
    
  2008 2007
 Note £000 £000
    
Non-current assets    
Intangible assets  9  131 486
Property, plant and equipment 10  2,285 4,040
Deferred tax asset 11  1,500 1,500
Total non-current assets  3,916 6,026
    
Current assets    
Inventories 12  24,090 25,988
Trade and other receivables 13  14,973 13,557
Cash and cash equivalents 14  9,900 6,093
Total current assets  48,963 45,638
Total assets  52,879 51,664
    
Current liabilities    
Trade and other payables 15  15,576 12,886
Income tax payable  142 117
Borrowings 16  4,212 11,814
Other ﬁ nancial liabilities 17 2,028 – 
Total current liabilities  21,958 24,817
    
Non-current liabilities    
Provisions 18  3,951 1,623
Retirement beneﬁ t obligations 19  6,730 4,701
Total non-current liabilities  10,681 6,324
Total liabilities  32,639 31,141
Net assets  20,240 20,523
    
Equity    
Share capital 21 51,989 51,989
Share premium account 22 5,489 5,489
Translation reserve 22 818 (871)
Retained earnings 22  (38,056) (36,084)
Total equity attributable to equity holders of the parent  20,240 20,523
These ﬁ nancial statements were approved by the Board of Directors on 10 March 2009 and signed on its behalf by:
Andy Bartmess, Chief Executive
David Cooper, Finance Director
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Consolidated Cash Flow Statement       
For the period ended 3 January 2009       
       
 2008 2007
 £000 £000
Cash ﬂ ows from operating activities   
Proﬁ t/(loss) before tax 622  (1,555)
Adjustments for:   
Depreciation 809  901 
Impairment loss on plant and equipment 1,000  – 
Gain on disposal of ﬁ xed assets –  (2,519)
Gain on disposal of Dorma Brand (1,51 7) –
Finance income (65) (120)
Finance expense 930  1,045 
Net ﬁ nance income on pension assets/liabilities (126) (426)
Share-based payment expense 85  98 
 1,738  (2,576)
Decrease/(increase) in stocks 2,234  (785)
(Increase)/decrease in debtors (951) 1,699 
Increase/(decrease) in creditors 4,407  (723)
Decrease in provisions (48) (384)
Additional contributions to pension schemes (887) (1,353)
Cash from/(used by) operations 6,493  (4,122)
Income taxes paid (231) (269)
Net cash from/(used in) operating activities 6,262  (4,391)
   
Cash ﬂ ows from investing activities   
Interest received 63  122
Proceeds from disposal of property, plant and equipment –  3,561
Proceeds from disposal of Dorma Brand 4,523  – 
Purchase of property, plant and equipment (564) (867)
Purchase of intangible assets (2) (52)
Net cash from investing activities 4,020  2,764
   
Cash ﬂ ows from ﬁ nancing activities   
Interest paid (985) (1,070)
(Decrease)/increase in borrowings (7,602) 5,977
Net cash (used in)/from ﬁ nancing activities (8,587) 4,907
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents 1,695  3,280
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the period 6,093  2,843
Exchange rate effects 2,112  (30)
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period 9,900  6,093
   
Reconciliation of Movement in Net Funds/(Debt)
For the period ended 3 January 2009 
 2008 2007
 £000 £000
Increase in cash and cash equivalents 1,695 3,280
Decrease/(increase) in borrowings 7,602 (5,977)
Exchange rate effects 2,112 (30)
Increase/(decrease) in net funds/(debt) 11 ,409 (2,727)
Opening net debt  (5,721) (2,994)
Closing net funds/(debt)  5,688 (5,721)
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Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements
1 Accounting policies
Dawson International PLC (“the Company”) is registered in Scotland. 
These ﬁ nancial statements consolidate the accounts of the Company 
and its subsidiary undertakings (together “the Group”) for the 53 weeks 
ended 3 January 2009. The comparative period is the 52 weeks 
ended 29 December 2007.
The ﬁ nancial statements were authorised for issue by the Directors 
on 10 March 2009.
 
Basis of preparation and signiﬁ cant accounting policies
The Group ﬁ nancial statements have been prepared and approved 
by the Directors in accordance with International Financial Reporting 
Standards as adopted by the EU (“Adopted IFRSs”). 
The Company has elected to prepare its Parent Company ﬁ nancial 
statements in accordance with UK GAAP; these are presented 
on pages 48 to 50.
As for all businesses, the current economic conditions will present 
some challenges in the short to medium-term. The Group has 
considered this as well as the risks speciﬁ c to the business which 
are outlined in the Business Review on pages 6 to 15 when preparing 
its proﬁ t and cash projections. These projections, taking account of 
the risks outlined, indicate that the Group should be able to continue 
to operate within its current banking facilities. As a result the Directors 
have a reasonable expectation that the Group has adequate 
resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable 
future. For this reason, they continue to adopt the going concern 
basis in preparing the ﬁ nancial statements. 
Standards and interpretations not yet applied
A number of new standards, amendments to standards and 
interpretations are not yet effective for the year ended 3 January 2009 
and have not been applied in preparing these ﬁ nancial statements.
IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements: A revised presentation 
(effective year ending 2 January 2010) will require the Group 
to present a statement of changes in equity accompanied by 
a statement of comprehensive income or an Income Statement 
accompanied by a statement of other comprehensive income.
Amendment to IAS 23 Borrowing Costs (effective year ending 
2 January 2010) removes the previously available option to expense 
all borrowing costs incurred on production of qualifying assets. 
It is not expected to have a signiﬁ cant impact on the consolidated 
ﬁ nancial statements.
Amendment to IAS 27 Consolidated and Separate Financial 
Statements (effective year ending 2 January 2010) removes 
the requirement to record pre-acquisition dividends as a credit 
to investment rather than income in the Parent Company. 
It is not expected to have any impact on the consolidated 
ﬁ nancial statements.
Amendment to IAS 32 Financial Instruments: Presentation and 
IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements – Puttable Financial 
Instruments and Obligations Arising on Liquidation (effective 
year ending 2 January 2010) provides exemptions from the existing 
requirements when certain circumstances are met. It is not expected 
to have an impact on the consolidated ﬁ nancial statements.
Amendment to IFRS 2 Share-based payments – Vesting 
Conditions and Cancellations (effective year ending 2 January 2010) 
clariﬁ es the deﬁ nition of vesting conditions in relation to share-based 
payments, amongst other things. The Group has not yet determined 
the potential effect of the amendment; however, it is not expected 
to be signiﬁ cant.
IFRS 3 (Revised) Business Combinations (effective year ending 
1 January 2011) requires acquisition costs incurred in a business 
combination to be expensed as incurred rather than included in 
the cost of acquisition and determination of goodwill. It also brings 
about changes to the current accounting in relation to contingent 
consideration and various other aspects of accounting for business 
combinations. This will affect any future acquisitions by the Group.
IFRS 8 Operating Segments (effective year ending 2 January 2010) 
is a disclosure standard which may result in changes to the 
segmental information currently disclosed, but will have no impact 
on the reported results or the ﬁ nancial position of the Group. 
IAS 1 , IAS 23, IFRS 2 and IFRS 8 have been endorsed by the EU. 
The remaining standards and interpretations have not been endorsed. 
There are a number of other standards and interpretations not yet in 
force which are not relevant to the Group. These include IFRIC 15, 
IFRIC 16, IFRIC 12 and IFRIC 17.
The accounting policies set out below, unless otherwise stated, 
have been applied consistently to all periods presented in these 
ﬁ nancial statements.
 
Basis of consolidation 
The consolidated ﬁ nancial statements are prepared on the historical 
cost convention and are presented in Sterling, rounded to the 
nearest thousand.
The ﬁ nancial statements consolidate the accounts of the Company and 
its subsidiary undertakings for the 53 weeks ended 3 January 2009. 
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1 Accounting policies (continued)
Subsidiaries
Subsidiaries are entities controlled by the Group. Control exists when 
the Group has the power to govern the ﬁ nancial and operating policies 
of an entity so as to obtain beneﬁ ts from its activities. In assessing 
control, potential voting rights that currently are exercisable are taken 
into account. The accounting policies of subsidiaries are changed 
when necessary to align them with the policies adopted by the 
Group. As required by IFRS3, the purchase method of accounting 
is applied. Under this method the results of subsidiary undertakings 
acquired or disposed of in the year are included in the consolidated 
Income Statement from the date of acquisition or up to the date of 
their disposal.
 Transactions eliminated on consolidation 
Intra-group balances and transactions, and any unrealised income 
and expenses arising from intra-group transactions, are eliminated 
in preparing the consolidated ﬁ nancial statements.
Foreign currency 
Transactional 
Transactions in foreign currencies are translated to the respective 
functional currencies of Group entities at exchange rates at the dates 
of the transactions. Monetary assets and liabilities denominated 
in foreign currencies at the reporting date are retranslated to the 
functional currency at the exchange rate at that date. Exchange 
differences arising on translation are recognised in the Income 
Statement. Non-monetary assets and liabilities denominated in 
foreign currencies that are measured at fair value are retranslated 
to the functional currency at the exchange rate at the date that the 
fair value was determined. 
The Group may enter into forward foreign exchange contracts with 
the objective of offsetting the exchange gains and losses arising on 
transactional exposures. Unless designated as a cash ﬂ ow or fair 
value hedge in accordance with IAS 39 any such contract is carried 
in the balance sheet at fair value at the reporting date with any 
change in the fair value reported in the Income Statement in the 
period. If designated as a cash ﬂ ow or fair value hedge any gain 
or loss arising is recognised in equity until maturity of the hedged 
transaction. To the extent that the hedge is ineffective any gain or 
loss is recognised in the Income Statement in the period arising. 
Translation 
The assets and liabilities of operations outwith the UK are translated 
to Sterling at foreign exchange rates ruling at the balance sheet date. 
The revenues and expenses of foreign operations are translated 
to Sterling at the average rate for the period. Foreign exchange 
differences arising on retranslation of opening net assets or liabilities 
are recognised directly in equity.
Foreign exchange contracts may also be used to eliminate the 
translation exposure arising on loans between the Parent Company 
and overseas subsidiaries where the loans are denominated in the 
functional currency of the subsidiary. 
Segment reporting
A segment is a distinguishable component of the Group that 
is engaged either in providing products and services (business 
segment), or in providing products or services within a particular 
economic environment (geographical segment), which is subject 
to risks and rewards that are different from those of other segments.
Revenue
Revenue represents the net invoice value of goods and services 
supplied to customers and royalty income from licensing, excluding 
value added tax and other sales taxes. Revenue is recognised 
when the signiﬁ cant risks and rewards of ownership have been 
transferred to the buyer, recovery of the consideration is probable, 
the associated costs and possible return of goods can be estimated 
reliably, there is no continuing management involvement with the 
goods, and the amount of revenue can be measured reliably.
 
Royalty income
Royalty income represents revenue earned under license agreements. 
Income is recognised when a sale is made by the licensee and the 
royalty thereon is advised to the Group in accordance with the 
license agreement.
 Net ﬁ nancing costs
Finance income arising on funds invested by the Group is recognised 
in the Income Statement as it accrues, using the effective rate of 
interest method. Finance costs comprise interest payable on Group 
borrowings calculated using the effective interest rate method. Net 
ﬁ nancing income or cost on deﬁ ned beneﬁ t pension plans represents 
the difference between the expected return on deﬁ ned beneﬁ t plan 
assets and the unwinding of the discount on plan liabilities in the year. 
Goodwill
Goodwill arises on the acquisition of subsidiaries and represents 
the excess of the fair value of the consideration over the Group’s 
interest in the net fair value of the identiﬁ able assets, liabilities and 
contingent liabilities of the entity acquired. When goodwill is positive 
it is recorded initially at cost and subsequently reduced for 
any impairment loss identiﬁ ed (see impairment policy below). 
When goodwill is negative it is recognised immediately in the 
Income Statement.
Intangible assets
Software licenses and implementation costs are capitalised at 
cost less accumulated amortisation. Amortisation is charged to the 
Income Statement on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful 
life of these software licenses. The annual rate used is as follows:
Software licenses 25%
Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements (continued)
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Property, plant and equipment
Items of property, plant and equipment are stated at cost less 
accumulated depreciation and impairments. Depreciation is charged 
to the Income Statement to write off the cost, less expected residual 
values of property, plant and equipment on a straight-line basis over 
their estimated useful lives. The annual rates used are as follows:
Land  Nil
Freehold buildings  2% - 4%
Leasehold buildings  Over the term of the lease, minimum 2%
Plant and machinery  10% - 25%
Computer equipment  25%
Motor vehicles  25%
Inventories
Inventories are stated at the lower of cost, including manufacturing 
overheads where appropriate, and net realisable value. Net realisable 
value is estimated selling price in the ordinary course of business, 
less the estimated costs to completion and selling expenses.
The cost of inventories is based on standard costs. In the case of 
manufactured inventories and work in progress, costs include raw 
materials, other direct costs and related overheads based on normal 
operating capacity using standard costs.
Cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash balances and call 
deposits held with banks.
Impairment 
Financial assets
A ﬁ nancial asset is assessed at each reporting date to determine 
whether there is any objective evidence that it is impaired. A ﬁ nancial 
asset is considered to be impaired if objective evidence indicates 
that one or more events have had a negative effect on the estimated 
future cash ﬂ ows of that asset. All impairment losses are recognised 
in proﬁ t or loss. An impairment loss is reversed if the reversal can 
be related objectively to an event occurring after the impairment 
loss was recognised.
Non-ﬁ nancial assets
The carrying amounts of the Group’s non-ﬁ nancial assets are 
reviewed at each reporting date to determine whether there 
is any indication of impairment. If any such indication exists, 
then the asset’s recoverable amount is estimated.
For the purpose of impairment testing, assets are grouped together 
into the smallest group of assets that generates cash inﬂ ows from 
continuing use that are largely independent of the cash inﬂ ows of 
other assets or groups of assets (the “cash-generating unit”). The 
recoverable amount of an asset or cash-generating unit is the greater 
of its value in use and its fair value less costs to sell. In assessing 
value in use, the estimated future cash ﬂ ows are discounted to their 
present value using a pre-tax discount rate that reﬂ ects current 
market assessments of the time value of money and the risks 
speciﬁ c to the asset. 
An impairment loss is recognised if the carrying amount of an asset 
or its cash-generating unit exceeds its estimated recoverable amount. 
Impairment losses are recognised in proﬁ t or loss. Impairment losses 
recognised in respect of cash-generating units are allocated ﬁ rst 
to reduce the carrying amount of any goodwill allocated to the units 
and then to reduce the carrying amount of the other assets in the unit 
(group of units) on a pro-rata basis.
Income tax
Income tax comprises current and deferred tax. Income tax 
is recognised in the Income Statement except to the extent that 
it relates to items recognised directly in equity, in which case 
it is recognised in equity.
Current tax is the expected tax payable on the taxable income for 
the year, using tax rates enacted or substantively enacted at the 
balance sheet date, and any adjustment to tax payable in respect 
of previous years.
Deferred taxation is recognised throughout the Group using the 
balance sheet liability method, providing for temporary differences 
between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities for ﬁ nancial 
reporting purposes and the amounts used for taxation purposes. 
The amount of deferred tax provided is based on the expected 
manner of realisation or settlement of the carrying amount of 
assets and liabilities, using tax rates enacted or substantively 
enacted at the balance sheet date.
A deferred tax asset is recognised only to the extent that it is 
probable that future taxable proﬁ ts will be available against which 
the asset can be utilised. Deferred tax assets are reduced to the 
extent that it is no longer probable that the related tax beneﬁ t will 
be realised.
Post retirement beneﬁ ts 
The Group operates both deﬁ ned contribution and deﬁ ned beneﬁ t 
post retirement beneﬁ t plans.
Deﬁ ned contribution plans
A deﬁ ned contribution plan is a post retirement beneﬁ t plan under 
which the Company pays ﬁ xed contributions into a separate entity 
and has no legal or constructive obligation to pay further amounts. 
Contributions are recognised in the Income Statement when they 
fall due.
Deﬁ ned beneﬁ t plans
A deﬁ ned beneﬁ t plan provides post retirement beneﬁ ts based 
on ﬁ nal pensionable pay. The Group’s net obligation in respect 
of deﬁ ned beneﬁ t pension plans is calculated separately for each 
plan by estimating the amount of future beneﬁ t that employees have 
earned in return for their service in the current and prior periods; that 
beneﬁ t is discounted to determine its present value. Any unrecognised 
past service costs and the fair value of any plan assets are deducted. 
The discount rate is the yield at the reporting date on AA credit-rated 
bonds that have maturity dates approximating the terms of the 
Group’s obligations and that are denominated in the same currency 
in which the beneﬁ ts are expected to be paid. The calculation is 
performed annually by a qualiﬁ ed actuary using the projected unit 
credit method.
The Group recognises all actuarial gains and losses arising from 
deﬁ ned beneﬁ t plans directly in equity immediately.
The pension scheme deﬁ cits are recognised in full. The movement in 
the scheme deﬁ cit is split between operating charges, ﬁ nance items 
and, in the statement of recognised income and expense, actuarial 
gains and losses. 
Operating lease payments
Payments made under operating leases are recognised in the 
Income Statement on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease.
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1 Accounting policies (continued)
Employee share schemes
The share option programme allows employees to acquire shares of 
the Company. The fair value of options granted is recognised as an 
employee expense with a corresponding increase in equity. The fair 
value is measured at grant date and spread over the period during 
which the employees become unconditionally entitled to the options. 
The fair value of the options granted is measured using a Black-
Scholes model, taking into account the terms and conditions upon 
which the share options were granted. 
The amount recognised as an expense is adjusted to reﬂ ect the 
actual number of share options that vest except where variations 
are due only to share prices not achieving the threshold for vesting. 
Trade and other receivables
Trade and other receivables are stated initially at their fair value and 
subsequently at amortised cost using an effective interest rate less 
impairment losses. The fair value of trade and other receivables is 
estimated as the present value of future cash ﬂ ows. A provision for 
impairment of trade receivables is established when there is objective 
evidence that the Group will not be able to collect all amounts due 
according to the original terms of the receivables. The amount of 
provision is recognised in the Income Statement.
Trade and other payables
The fair value of trade and other payables is estimated as the present 
value of future cash ﬂ ows. 
Provisions
Provisions are recognised where a legal or constructive obligation 
has been incurred which will probably lead to an outﬂ ow of resources 
that can be reasonably estimated. Provisions are recorded for the 
estimated ultimate liability that is expected to arise, taking into 
account foreign currency effects arising from their translation from 
their functional currency into Sterling and the time value of money, 
where material.
Accounting estimates and judgments
The Board considered the relevance, selection, implications and 
disclosure of the Group’s critical accounting policies and estimates 
and the application of these policies and estimates. The key sources 
of estimation uncertainty are as follows:
Employee retirement beneﬁ t scheme – deﬁ ned beneﬁ t plans
The determination of the Group’s obligations and expense for deﬁ ned 
beneﬁ t pensions is dependent on the selection, by the Board of 
Directors, of assumptions used by the pension scheme actuary in 
calculating these amounts. The assumptions applied are described 
in note 19 and include, amongst others: discount rate; expected 
return on plan assets; rates of increase in salaries; and mortality 
rates. While the Directors consider that the assumptions are 
appropriate, signiﬁ cant differences in the actual experience, 
particularly in the volatile bond markets, or signiﬁ cant changes 
in assumptions may materially affect the amount of the Group’s 
future pension obligations, actuarial gains and losses included 
in the Statement of Recognised Income and Expense and 
employee costs recognised in the Income Statement. 
Impairment
Both ﬁ nancial and non-ﬁ nancial assets are assessed at each 
reporting date to determine whether there is any objective evidence 
of impairment. If so, then the recoverable amount of the asset is 
estimated and a charge made to the Income Statement. This requires a 
signiﬁ cant degree of judgment, both in estimating the fair value of the 
asset, were it to be sold on the open market, and in estimating the 
present value of future cash ﬂ ows generated from its continued use. 
Inventories
Inventories are stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value. 
Some items included in inventories are written down to their net 
realisable value based on assumptions about future demand and 
market conditions. If actual market conditions are less favourable 
than those projected by management, then inventory may be 
required to be written down by additional amounts. 
 
Environmental provisions
The Group has provisions for environmental remediation costs 
which have arisen from its dyeing operations in the UK and the USA. 
In each case a remediation programme has been agreed with the 
relevant environmental agency. The principal method of remediation 
is extraction of contaminated ground water which is cleaned and 
returned. Future remediation expenses are affected by a number 
of uncertainties that include, but are not limited to: the volume of 
remaining contaminant, the length of time required to complete 
extraction and escalation of costs during that period. Management 
believe that total environmental provisions are adequate based upon 
currently available information. 
Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements (continued)
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2 Segmental reporting            
 
Segmental information is provided on both a business and geographical basis.       
        
 � The primary basis of reporting is by business segment which reﬂ ects the internal management reporting structure.    
  The business segments are Spinning, Knitwear and Home Furnishings.       
        
 �  The secondary basis of reporting is by geographical segment. All business segments are located in the United Kingdom except for the 
Dawson Forte business which is part of the Knitwear segment and is located in the United States of America. The business segments 
are all managed from the United Kingdom. Revenues are analysed by customer location, assets and capital expenditure are analysed 
by asset location.      
  Segment results include items directly attributable to a segment as well as those which can be allocated on a reasonable basis. Unallocated 
central costs comprise mainly administrative expenses and facility costs. Finance costs cannot be allocated across segments as borrowings 
are managed on a Group-wide basis.       
              
 Primary basis – business segments        
 2008 2007
Revenues £000 £000
Spinning total 22,175 19,936
less intra-segment (2,739) (1,839)
Spinning external 19,436  18,097 
Knitwear 44,055 29,636
Home Furnishings 43,304 44,868
 106,795 92,601
 
   2008   2007
 Before  After Before  After
 exceptional Exceptional exceptional exceptional Exceptional exceptional
 items items items items items items
Results £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Operating proﬁ t/(loss)       
Spinning
(i)
 502 (1,000) (498) (722) (224) (946)
Knitwear
(i)
 5,095 – 5,095 2,780 21 2,801
Home Furnishings 440 1,360 1,800 (2,108) (598) (2,706)
Gain on sale and leaseback of property – – – – 2,519 2,519
Unallocated central costs       
– unrealised foreign exchange loss (1,198) – (1,198) – – –
 – other (3,820) (18) (3,838) (2,663) (61) (2,724)
 1,019 342 1,361 (2,713) 1,657 (1,056)
Net ﬁ nance costs   (739)   (499)
Proﬁ t/(loss) before tax   622   (1,555)
       
 
(i)
The Spinning and Knitwear results for 2008 are stated after charging unrealised foreign exchange losses of £716,000 and £114,000 respectively.  
 
   2008   2007
 Assets Liabilities Net Assets Liabilities Net
Net assets £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
       
Spinning 19,390 (4,806) 14,584 20,002 (2,447) 17,555
Knitwear 4,224 (3,093) 1,131 4,794 (2,900) 1,894
Home Furnishings 14,570 (8,323) 6,247 18,850 (6,502) 12,348
Central 3,295 (5,333) (2,038) 425 (2,660) (2,235)
Net operating assets 41,479 (21,555) 19,924 44,071 (14,509) 29,562
Retirement beneﬁ t obligations – (6,730) (6,730) – (4,701) (4,701)
Taxation 1,500 (142) 1,358 1,500 (117) 1,383
Net funds/(debt) 9,900 (4,212) 5,688 6,093 (11,814) (5,721)
 52,879 (32,639) 20,240 51,664 (31,141) 20,523
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Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements (continued)
  
2 Segmental reporting (continued)  2008  2007
  Depreciation  Depreciation
 Capital and  Capital and
 Expenditure Impairment Expenditure Impairment
Other information £000 £000 £000 £000
     
Spinning 18 1,376 198 415
Knitwear 251 143 318 68
Home Furnishings 258 1,089 377 418
 527 2,608 893 901
     
 Secondary basis – Geographical segments 
   2008   2007
   Capital   Capital
 Revenue Assets Expenditure Revenue Assets Expenditure
 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
 
United Kingdom 48,578 38,915 486 50,231 41,136 840
Other European countries 21,034 –  –  17,430 –  – 
United States of America 35,604 4,064 41 23,519 4,435 53
Rest of the world 1,579 –  –  1,421 –  – 
Unallocated –  9,900 –  –  6,093 – 
 106,795 52,879 527 92,601 51,664 893
        
Unallocated assets comprise cash at bank. This is managed centrally and cannot be allocated to geographical segments on a reasonable basis. 
   
 2008 2007
3 Operating proﬁ t/(loss) £000 £000
  
Operating proﬁ t/(loss) is stated after charging/(crediting):   
Staff costs (note 5) 17 ,404  17,676 
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment
– base 776  783 
– impairment charge 1,475  – 
Amortisation of computer software
– base 33  118 
– impairment charge 324  – 
(Decrease)/increase in inventory net realisable value provision (438)  693 
Gain on disposal of property, plant and equipment –  (2,519)
Operating lease rentals  
– plant and machinery 10  35 
– other 759  634 
Auditors’ remuneration (as analysed below) 458  542 
   
Auditors’ remuneration:    
Audit of these ﬁ nancial statements 102  128 
Audit fees for subsidiaries pursuant to legislation 68  103 
Other services pursuant to such legislation 15  17 
Valuation and actuarial services 82  139 
Other services relating to taxation 191  95 
All other services –  60 
 458  542
Realised exchange losses are now reported as part of the cost of sales. A realised exchange gain of £408,000 in 2007 has been reclassiﬁ ed from 
other income to cost of sales.
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 2008 2007
4  Exceptional items £000 £000
   
Reorganisation costs
(i)
 
– cost of sales – (294)
– selling and distribution costs (145) (139)
– administrative expenses (30) (429)
 (1 75) (862)
Fixed asset impairment
(ii)
 (1,000) – 
Gain on disposal of Dorma Brand
(iii)
 1,51 7  – 
Gain on sale and leaseback of property
(iv)
 –  2,519 
 342  1 ,657 
   
Exceptional items are material, non-recurring items which are disclosed separately in order to give a more consistent comparison of ongoing 
trading results.   
  
(i)
   Reorganisation costs arise from the restructuring of the operating divisions and comprise redundancy costs, ﬁ xed asset write offs and 
associated fees. The projects are of ﬁ nite length but may span more than one accounting period.   
(ii)
  Fixed assets are regularly reviewed for evidence of impairment, where their value may not be recovered in future, either from fair value less costs 
to sell or from value in use. As a result of the latest review, an impairment charge of £1 million has been made in 2008.  
(iii)
   On 29 July 2008 the Company announced the sale of the Dorma trademark and associated rights to Dunelm Group plc for a cash consideration 
of £5 million and noted that it would incur costs of exiting its Dorma Branded business by January 2011 . Estimated costs of £3.5 million have 
been provided, £2.7 million cash costs and £0.8 million ﬁ xed asset impairment.   
(iv)
  On 27 June 2007 the Company concluded an agreement with Montgomery Hanson Property Limited for the sale and leaseback of its Kinross 
property. The net book value of the property was £0.9 million. Initial proceeds were £3.5 million resulting in a gain, after associated costs 
of £2.5 million. 
  
 2008 2007
5  Employees Number Number
 Average number of persons employed
Production 31 7  351 
Distribution 476  573 
 Administration 80  93 
  873  1,017 
 Aggregate employment costs £000 £000
 
Wages and salaries 15,649  15,802 
Social security costs 1,1 83  1 ,179 
Share-based payment expense (note 20) 85  98 
Pension costs – Deﬁ ned Beneﬁ t (note 19) 321  430 
 Pension costs – Deﬁ ned Contribution (note 19) 166  167 
  17 ,404  17,676 
Details of the remuneration of the Directors are contained in the Directors’ Report on Remuneration on pages 21 to 23.    
      
 2008 2007
6  Finance income/(costs) £000 £000
 Interest receivable on short-term deposits 65  120 
 Finance income 65  120 
 Interest payable on bank loans and overdrafts (930) (1,045)
 Finance costs (930) (1,045)
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Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements (continued)
  2008 2007 
7 Income tax expense £000 £000
(a) Recognised in the Income Statement   
 
 Current tax expense
 Current year –  – 
 Overseas taxation 146  277 
 Total current tax 146  277 
 Deferred tax expense   
 Origination and reversal of timing differences –  – 
 Total income tax expense in Income Statement 146  277 
(b) Current and deferred tax recognised directly in equity   
 There was no current or deferred tax charged or credited to any item recognised directly in equity.   
 
 2008 2008 2007 2007
 (c) Reconciliation of effective tax rate % £000 % £000
Proﬁ t/(loss) on ordinary activities before tax  622   (1,555)
Income tax using the UK corporation tax rate of 28.5% (2007: 30%) 28.5% 177  30% (467)
Effects of:    
Non-deductible expenditure 173% 1,079  -32% 500 
Non-taxable gain on sale and leaseback of property 0% –  49% (756) 
Differences in effective overseas tax rates 23% 146  -18% 277 
Tax losses (utilised)/available for carry forward -202% (1,256) -46% 723 
 23% 146  -18% 277 
(d) Factors that may affect future tax charges    
  As detailed in note 11 there are signiﬁ cant tax losses available for carry forward in both the UK and USA for which no beneﬁ t has been 
recognised because it is not possible to say with reasonable assurance that sufﬁ cient future taxable proﬁ t will be available against which 
the Group can utilise the beneﬁ t thereon.        
 2008 2007
8  Earnings per share pence pence
Basic earnings/(loss) per share 0.2  (0.8)
Effect of dilutive ordinary shares –  – 
Diluted earnings/(loss) per share 0.2  (0.8)
Reorganisation costs 0.1  0.4 
Fixed asset impairment 0.5  – 
Gain on disposal of Dorma brand (0.7) – 
Proﬁ t on sale and leaseback of property –  (1 . 1)
Adjusted earnings/(loss) per share 0.1  (1.5)
  000s 000s
Weighted average number of shares   
Basic weighted average shares in issue during the period 225,158  225,158 
Dilutive potential ordinary shares –  – 
 225,158 225,158
      
Basic earnings/(loss) per share is calculated on the proﬁ t for the ﬁ nancial period of £0.5 million (2007: £1 .8 million loss) and the weighted average 
number of shares during the period calculated in accordance with International Accounting Standard 33.    
Diluted earnings/(loss) per share adjusts for share options granted to employees where the exercise price is less than the average price of the 
Company’s shares during the period and when their exercise would reduce earnings per share or increase loss per share.
Adjusted earnings/(loss) per share is stated in order to give a comparable measure before exceptional items.      
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 2008 2007
9 Intangible ﬁ xed assets – Computer software costs £000 £000
Cost    
At beginning of period 1,923  1,993 
Additions 2  52 
Disposals –  (122)
At end of period 1,925  1,923 
   
Depreciation and impairment   
At beginning of period 1,437  1,441 
Charge for the period  33  118 
Impairment charge 324  – 
Disposals –  (122)
At end of period 1,794  1 ,437 
Net book value
At beginning of period 486  552 
At end of period 131  486 
         
An impairment charge of £324,000 was charged by the Home Furnishings division as a consequence of the decision to exit from the Dorma 
Branded business.   
  
    2008   2007
 Land and Plant and  Land and Plant and 
 buildings machinery Total buildings machinery Total
10 Property, plant and equipment £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Cost 
At beginning of period 1 ,168  19,189  20,357  4,380  22,433  26,813 
Additions –  525  525  –  841  841 
Disposals –  (2,902) (2,902) (3,206) (4,078) (7,284)
Translation adjustments 121  194  315  (6) (7) (13)
At end of period 1 ,289  17,006  18,295  1 ,168  19,189  20,357 
       
  
Depreciation and impairment       
At beginning of period 1 ,034  15,283  16,317  3,334  18,454  21 ,788 
Charge for the period  –  804  804  (11) 794  783 
Impairment charge –  1 ,475  1 ,475  –  –  – 
Disposals –  (2,846) (2,846) (2,284) (3,958) (6,242)
Translation adjustments 84  176  260  (5) (7) (12)
At end of period 1 ,118  14,892  16,010  1 ,034  15,283  16,317 
  
Net book value       
At beginning of period 134  3,906  4,040  1 ,046  3,979  5,025 
At end of period 171  2,114  2,285  134  3,906  4,040 
         
An impairment charge of £1 ,000,000 was charged by the Spinning division following the annual impairment review conducted in accordance 
with IAS 36.
An impairment charge of £475,000 was charged by the Home Furnishings division as a consequence of the decision to exit from the Dorma 
Branded business.
       
   
 
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Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements (continued)
 2008 2007
11 Deferred tax asset £000 £000
Temporary differences on property, plant and equipment 8,323  9,014 
Other temporary differences 3,044  1,754 
Tax losses available to carry forward 12,372  22,237 
Total potential deferred tax asset 23,739  33,005 
Deferred tax asset not recognised  
– UK (20,681) (28,923)
– USA (1,558) (2,582)
Deferred tax asset recognised 1,500  1,500 
         
The deferred tax asset in the USA is subject to the provisions of s.382 of the Internal Revenue Service code which limits the amount of brought 
forward losses which can be offset against future taxable proﬁ ts in the event of a 50 per cent change in the shareholder base of the Parent 
Company in any three year period.        
         
 2008 2007
12  Inventories £000 £000
Raw materials 3,235  2,181 
Work in progress 1,759  1,999 
Finished goods 19,096  21 ,808 
 24,090  25,988
 2008 2007
1 3  Trade and other receivables £000 £000
Due within one year
Trade receivables 13,783  13,657 
less provision for impairment of receivables (1,709) (1,173)
Net trade receivables 12,07 4  12,484 
Other receivables 2,238  476 
Prepayments and accrued income 661  597 
 14,973  13,557 
   
   
 2008 2007
14 Cash and cash equivalents £000 £000
Bank current account balances 9,500  5,693  
Bank deposit
(i)
 400  400 
 9,900  6,093 
(i)
The bank deposit collateralises a duty deferment scheme guarantee given by Bank of Scotland. 
The Group’s exposure to interest rate risk and sensitivity analysis for ﬁ nancial assets and liabilities are disclosed in note 17.   
            
   
   
   
   
   
 
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 2008 2007
1 5  Trade and other payables £000 £000
Trade payables 9,897  7,079 
Other payables 666  1 ,276 
Other taxation and social security costs 700  1,193 
Accruals and deferred income 4,313  3,338 
 15,576  12,886 
 
   
 2008 2007
16  Borrowings  £000 £000
Gmac Commercial Finance
Sterling 4,155  10,318 
Euro 12  1,390 
US Dollar 45  101 
Other –  5 
 4,212  11,814 
Bank of America
US Dollar –  – 
 4,212  11,814 
UK operations are funded by two working capital facilities from Gmac Commercial Finance Limited. The maximum amount which may be drawn 
under these facilities is £21 . 1 million however the amount which may be drawn is restricted by, and varies according to the working capital 
employed by the UK businesses. The facility is secured against the assets of the UK operations and by cross guarantees.   
The US operation is funded by a working capital facility from Bank of America. The maximum amount which may be drawn under this facility 
is $25 million however the amount which may be drawn is restricted by, and varies according to the working capital employed by the US business. 
The facility is secured against the assets of the US operation. 
Further details are given in note 17, Financial instruments.          
    
               
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Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements (continued)
17 Financial instruments         
Financial instruments arise from funding activities, principally cash retained within the business and borrowings, and from operating activities, 
principally trade receivables and trade payables, where there is a contractual obligation to receive or to deliver cash.     
Cash and cash equivalents and trade and other receivables have been classiﬁ ed as loans and receivables, trade and other payables have been 
classiﬁ ed as ﬁ nancial liabilities, each measured at amortised cost. Derivative ﬁ nancial instruments arise when contracts are entered into which are 
based on an underlying rate or index, such as forward currency contracts, which may result in the receipt or delivery of cash at some future date 
depending on changes in that rate or index. 
  
The policy of the Group is that ﬁ nancial instruments, including derivative ﬁ nancial instruments, will not be held for speculative purposes. Derivative 
ﬁ nancial instrument contracts are entered into solely for the purpose of mitigating the risk of adverse movements in the underlying rate or index as 
discussed below:         
   
 2008 2007
Analysis of ﬁ nancial instruments £000 £000
Financial assets
Cash and cash equivalents (note 14) 9,900  6,093
Net trade receivables (note 13) 12,07 4  12,484 
 21,974  18,577 
Financial liabilities
Borrowings (note 16) 4,212  11,814 
Trade payables (note 15) 9,897  7,079 
Fair value of forward foreign exchange contracts 2,028  – 
 16,1 37  18,893 
During the year the Company entered into forward foreign exchange contracts to hedge some of its operational exposure to ﬂ uctuations in the
US Dollar and Euro. All of the forward foreign currency contracts, in place as at 3 January 2009, have a maturity of less than one year from the 
reporting date. The forward foreign exchange contracts did not meet the criteria for hedge accounting and as such the contracts are carried 
in the balance sheet as other ﬁ nancial liabilities at fair value at the reporting date with any change in fair value reported in the Income Statement 
in the year. 
The fair values of the Group’s ﬁ nancial assets and liabilities are not signiﬁ cantly different to their book values.
The main risks associated with ﬁ nancial instruments are liquidity risk, credit risk and market risk. Each of these is discussed below together with 
the policies adopted by the Board to mitigate them.
 Liquidity risk
The Group is ﬁ nanced by working capital facilities in both the UK and the USA which are normally renewed on a triennial basis. The renewal date 
for the two UK facilities is 31 October 2009 and for the US facility 30 June 2010. The nature of these facilities is such that the funding available to 
the Group varies throughout the year, reﬂ ecting the seasonality of its working capital requirements. Funding is also directly impacted by customers’ 
credit rating and ageing proﬁ le.
Details of the Group borrowing facilities are given in note 16. The two Gmac facilities operate on a pooled basis, supported by cross guarantees 
between each business. The US business normally remits its proﬁ t after tax to the UK, either by dividend or by loan, following the year end audit 
of results.
The Board reviews liquidity as part of the budget approval process and subsequent quarterly forecast updates for the year. Performance against 
these forecasts is monitored by means of a weekly rolling twelve week cash ﬂ ow forecast.
Credit risk
As noted above, the credit rating of the Group’s customers has a direct bearing on its ability to borrow funds. The Group’s policy is therefore 
normally only to accept business from customers which have a satisfactory credit rating and to mitigate the risk of default with trade credit 
insurance where possible.
The maximum exposure to credit risk from trade receivables, before credit insurance, is as follows:      
    
 2008 2007
Aged proﬁ le of trade receivables £000 £000
Fully performing 9,059  7,895 
0 - 30 days overdue 2,304  3,475 
30 - 60 days overdue 320  532 
60 - 90 days overdue 11 0  306
90 days + overdue 281  276 
 12,07 4  12,484
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1 7 Financial instruments (continued)
 Market risk
Market risk is the risk that changes in market prices, such as raw material prices, foreign exchange rates and interest rates will affect the Group’s 
income or the values of any ﬁ nancial instruments held.
 (i) Raw material prices
  The main element of cost of sales for the Spinning business is cashmere ﬁ bre which is of ﬁ nite and variable supply causing volatility in price 
which can be difﬁ cult to pass on to customers. 
 (ii) Currency
  For businesses based in the UK, which have Sterling as their functional currency, a signiﬁ cant proportion of cost of sales is in US Dollars and 
a signiﬁ cant proportion of sales in Euros. To the extent that purchases are from China, there is an indirect exposure to the Remnimbi exchange 
rate which potentially impacts US Dollar prices. The Board regularly reviews the exposure to US Dollar payments and Euro receipts and can 
offset the risk of currency ﬂ uctuation by means of forward foreign exchange contracts.
  For the US business, which has US Dollars as its functional currency, all purchases and sales are US Dollar denominated but again there 
is an indirect exposure to the Remnimbi exchange rate which is not offset by use of ﬁ nancial instruments. The currency risk arising on 
translation of the US business’ net assets is not offset by any ﬁ nancial instrument.
 2008 2008 2007 2007
Principal exchange rates: Average Year end Average Year end
Euro 1.255  1.040  1.461  1.355 
US Dollar 1.848  1.450  2.001  1 .993
     
 Currency proﬁ le of ﬁ nancial assets and ﬁ nancial liabilities:      2008
 Sterling Euro US Dollar US Dollar
(i)
 Other Total
  £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Trade receivables 5,377  4,028  1,221  1,448  –  12,074  
Cash and cash equivalents 1,054  418  215  8,1 74  39  9,900 
Trade payables (3,075) (286) (6,429) (107) –  (9,897) 
Other ﬁ nancial liabilities –  (2,338) 310  – – (2,028)
 Borrowings (4,155)  (12)  (45)  –  –  (4,212) 
  (799)  1,810  (4,728) 9,515  39  5,837 
 
(i)
US Dollar ﬁ nancial assets and liabilities for US Dollar functional business reported separately. 
       2007
 Sterling Euro US Dollar US Dollar
(i)
 Other Total
  £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Trade receivables 7,976  2,825  307  1 ,374  2  12,484  
Cash and cash equivalents 1 ,080  386  156  4,468  3  6,093  
Trade payables (4,699) (282) (1 ,943) (155) –  (7,079)
 Borrowings (10,318) (1,390) (101) –  (5) (11,814)
  (5,961) 1 ,539  (1 ,581) 5,687  –  (316)
(i)
US Dollar ﬁ nancial assets and liabilities for US Dollar functional business reported separately.      
  
          
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Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements (continued)
1 7 Financial instruments (continued)
 Market risk (continued)
 (iii)  Interest rates
 The Group borrows only at ﬂ oating rates of interest and does not seek to offset this exposure by use of ﬁ nancial instruments.
 Finance income and expense recognised in the Income Statement is analysed in note 6. 
  There is no ﬁ nance income or expense recognised directly in equity, except for the foreign currency translation difference arising 
on the consolidation of foreign operations, which is included in the translation reserve.
 (iv) Sensitivity analysis
  The following sensitivity analysis estimates the impact of adverse movements in raw material prices, foreign currency exchange rates 
and interest rates. Each sensitivity assumes all other factors hold constant and that no derivative ﬁ nancial instruments are employed.   
      
   2008 2007
Sensitivity analysis Basis £000 £000
Raw material price – Cashmere ﬁ bre prices increase $10/kilo
  Spinning division raw material cost of sales (1,082) (1,000)
Foreign currency rates – USD strengthens $0.05   
  Sterling functional businesses cost of sales (850) (782)
  Sterling functional businesses sales 44 50
  USD functional business Sterling reported proﬁ ts 91 58 
   (715) (674) 
 –  Euro weakens u0.05  
  Sterling functional businesses sales (787) (602)
Average net borrowings –  Interest rates increase by 1% 
  Average net borrowings of £4.9 million (2007: £6.0 million) (49) (60)
          
    Other 
 Opening Charged Utilised movements Closing
18  Provisions £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Reorganisation costs (i) 216  2,768  (514) 38  2,508 
Customer claims   44  273  –  –  317
Environmental clean-up costs (ii)  1 ,276  –  (198) (32) 1 ,046
Post retirement beneﬁ ts  87  –  (7) –  80 
  1 ,623  3,041  (719) 6  3,951 
          
(i)   The provision for reorganisation costs relates mainly to the exit from the Home Furnishings Branded business. It is expected that this will be 
completed by January 2011 .
(ii)   Provision has been made for environmental remediation costs which have arisen from previously owned dyeing operations in the UK and USA. 
In each case a long-term remediation programme has been agreed with the relevant environmental agency.      
   
          
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19 Retirement beneﬁ ts schemes
The Group operates a number of pension schemes, the assets of which are held independently from the Group. The assets of the UK deﬁ ned 
beneﬁ t plans are held in trustee administered funds. 
The principal plans are:
� Two deﬁ ned beneﬁ t plans in the UK which are closed to new members.
� A deﬁ ned beneﬁ t plan in the USA which is closed to all members.
� A deﬁ ned contribution scheme in the UK.
� A 401K plan in the USA.
 Deﬁ ned contribution plans
The Group operates a deﬁ ned contribution pension plan in the UK and a 401K plan in the USA. The pension costs charge for the period 
represents contributions payable by the Group to the schemes which amounted to £166,000 (2007: £167,000) for the UK scheme and $127,000 
(2007: $117,000) for the USA scheme.
 Deﬁ ned beneﬁ t plans
In the UK full actuarial valuations are made triennially by an independent, professionally qualiﬁ ed actuary using the projected unit method. 
Between valuations the actuary performs regular funding updates which reassess the funding position of the plans. In the USA, full actuarial 
valuations are made annually by an independent, professionally qualiﬁ ed actuary using the projected unit method. Based on these, together 
with any other signiﬁ cant factors affecting the proﬁ le of the plans, the actuaries recommend variations to the funding rates to be applied 
in the year. As the plans are closed to new members it is likely that the current service cost will increase as the members of the plan 
approach retirement.
Proﬁ les of the deﬁ ned beneﬁ t plans are as follows:
     
Membership as at 3 January 2009 Staff Works UK Total USA
Active 52 103 155 – 
Deferred 556 1,293 1,849 149
Retired 831 672 1,503 849
 1,439 2,068 3,507 998
 Staff Works UK Total USA
 5 Apr 06 5 Apr 06 5 Apr 06 31 Dec 08
Summary of last full actuarial valuations £000 £000 £000 £000
Market value of assets 78,898 22,241 101 ,139 4,708
Deﬁ cit – Ongoing basis (10,299) (6,923) (17,222) n/a
– FRS17 (10,226) (7,906) (18,132) n/a
– s. 179 basis (3,444) (11 ,084) (14,528) n/a
 UK Total USA
Contributions paid in the year £000 £000
Employer  1,208 – 
Employees 146 – 
 1,354 –
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Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements (continued)
1 9  Retirement beneﬁ ts schemes (continued)     
   
Principal assumptions UK schemes Discontinued USA scheme
 2008 2007  2008 2007
Discount rate for liabilities 6.50% 6.10%  5.50% 6.00%
Weighted average expected return on scheme assets
(i)
 5.85% 6.50%  5.00% 6.30%
Salary growth 2.40% 2.35%  n/a n/a
Pension increases 3.15% 3.45%  n/a n/a
Life expectancy beyond normal retirement date (years)
– Male 20.7 20.7  20.7 20.7
– Female 23.6 23.6  23.6 23.6
(i) 
The UK plans are invested in a Total Investment Governance Solution (TIGS). An analysis of the return on scheme assets by class of asset would 
not be meaningful due to the dynamic nature of the underlying investments. 
 Analysis of balance sheet deﬁ cit   2008   2007
  UK USA Total UK USA Total
  £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Equities 23,125  1,883  25,008  37,182  1 ,678  38,860 
Bonds 48,857  1,883  50,740  52,858  1 ,860  54,718 
Other
(i)
 21,702  942  22,644  9,426  919  10,345 
Total market value of assets 93,684  4,708  98,392  99,466  4,457  103,923 
Actuarial value of liabilities (98,204) (6,918) (105,122) (103,740) (4,884) (108,624)
Net liability before deferred tax (4,520) (2,210) (6,730) (4,274) (427) (4,701)
No deferred tax asset has been recognised on the basis that the Group has yet to demonstrate a sufﬁ cient future income stream to utilise that asset.
(i)
Other includes cash balances and property.
 Pension Plans Deﬁ cit
 Decrease Increase
Sensitivity of the balance sheet deﬁ cit to changes in the principal actuarial assumptions £000 £000
Corporate bond rates increase/(decrease) by 0.5% 6,240  (6,998)
Life expectancy reduces/(increases) by 1 year 2,655  (2,649)
Inﬂ ation reduces/(increases) by 0.25% 1 ,164  (1 ,033)
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19 Retirement beneﬁ ts schemes (continued)       
 2008 2007
 Movement in the fair value of the scheme assets £000 £000
Fair value of scheme assets at beginning of period 103,923  103,546
Expected return on scheme assets 6,627  6,842 
Actuarial (loss)/gain recognised in equity (9,661) 1,331
Contributions from employer 1,208  1,827
Contributions by members 146  140 
Beneﬁ ts paid (5,214) (9,692)
Exchange differences 1,363  (71)
Fair value of scheme assets at end of period 98,392  103,923 
 2008 2007
Movement in the liability for deﬁ ned beneﬁ t obligations £000 £000
Liability for deﬁ ned beneﬁ t obligations at beginning of period 108,624  123,296 
Current service cost 321  430  
Interest costs 6,501  6,416  
Actuarial gain recognised in equity (7,128) (11,867) 
Contributions by members 146  140  
Beneﬁ ts paid (5,214) (9,692) 
Exchange differences 1,872  (99)
Liability for deﬁ ned beneﬁ t obligations at end of period 105, 1 22  108,624
 2008 2007
Income/(expense) recognised in the Income Statement £000 £000
Operating proﬁ t
Current service cost (321) (430)
 (321) (430)
Net ﬁ nance income on pension assets/liabilities
Expected return on pension scheme assets 6,627  6,842  
Interest on obligation (6,501) (6,416)
 126  426
 
 2008 2007
Actuarial gains recognised directly in equity £000 £000
Cumulative amount of actuarial gains at start of period 21,897  8,699
Recognised (loss)/gain during the period (2,533) 13,198
Cumulative amount of actuarial gains at end of period 19,364  21 ,897
  
       
History of experience adjustments recognised in the 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004
Statement of Recognised Income and Expense: £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Fair value of scheme assets  98,392 103,923 103,546 103,947 92,867
Present value of deﬁ ned beneﬁ t obligation  (105,122) (108,624) (123,296) (133,652) (122,126)
Net retirement beneﬁ t obligation  (6,730) (4,701) (19,750) (29,705) (29,259)
Experience adjustment on scheme assets  (9,661) 1,331 (2,453) 7,666 (602)
Percentage of scheme assets  -1 0% 1% -2% 7% -1%
Experience adjustment on scheme liabilities  7,128 11,867 11,152 (8,007) (10,571)
Percentage of scheme liabilities  7% 11% 9% -6% -9%
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Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements (continued)
20 Share-based payments
 Employee share option scheme
The Group has an employee share option scheme which was established in 1996 and expired in 2006 whereby the Directors could grant options 
to eligible employees. Two types of option could be granted: 
(i)  Standard options, which are subject to the achievement of sustained improvement in the underlying ﬁ nancial performance of the Company 
as speciﬁ ed by the Directors at the date of grant. Standard options normally vest after three years, expire after ten years and lapse in the event 
of the participant leaving employment.
(ii)  Super options, which are subject to the achievement of exceptional ﬁ nancial performance of the Company as speciﬁ ed by the Directors at 
the date of grant. Super options normally vest after ﬁ ve years, expire after ten years and lapse in the event of the participant leaving employment.
In each case the option price could be no less than the higher of the nominal value of a share and the middle market quotation of the dealing day 
last preceding the date of grant.            
  
  2008  2007
  Weighted  Weighted
 Number of  average  Number of  average 
 share options exercise  share options exercise 
 000s price (p) 000s price (p)
Outstanding at the beginning of period 16,225  8.0  16,825  8.3 
Lapsed (5,200) 6.3  (600) 10.5
Outstanding at the end of period 11,025  8.7  16,225  8.0
Exercisable at the end of period 1,300  14.2  5,100  7.2 
For share options outstanding at 3 January 2009 the range of exercise prices and the average weighted remaining term to expiry were as follows: 
     
 Number Term 
 000s Years
Share option scheme   
58.5p 100  2.2  
10.5p 2,400  6.4  
7.625p  8,525  7.3 
 11 ,025  7. 1 
The fair value of options are calculated using the Black-Scholes model and are expensed to the Income Statement over the vesting period 
of the beneﬁ t. No options were granted or modiﬁ ed during the period. The amount expensed to the Income Statement in the period was £85,000 
(2007: £98,000).     
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 2008 2007
21 Share capital £000 £000
Authorised share capital 
2,526,207,225 ordinary shares of 1 pence each  25,262  25,262
101 ,505,975 deferred shares of 49 pence each 49,738  49,738 
50,000,000 preference shares of £1 each 50,000  50,000 
75,000,000 preference shares of $1 each 46,000  46,000 
 171,000  171,000
Issued equity share capital
Allotted, called up and fully paid:
225,158,542 ordinary shares of 1 pence each 2,251  2,251
101 ,505,975 deferred shares of 49 pence each  49,738  49,738 
 51,989  51,989 
               
 Share Translation Retained 
 Premium Reserve Earnings Total
22  Reserves £000 £000 £000 £000
At 30 December 2006 5,489  (806) (47,548) (42,865)
Retained loss for the period –  –  (1 ,832) (1 ,832)
Actuarial gain on deﬁ ned beneﬁ t pension schemes –  –  13,198  13,198 
Share-based payments –  –  98  98 
Translation adjustments –  (65) –  (65)
At 29 December 2007 5,489  (871) (36,084) (31 ,466)
Retained proﬁ t for the period –  –  476  476 
Actuarial loss on deﬁ ned beneﬁ t pension schemes –  –  (2,533) (2,533)
Share-based payments –  –  85 85 
Translation adjustments –  1 ,689  –  1 ,689 
At 3 January 2009 5,489  818  (38,056) (31 ,749)
   
   
 2008 2007
23  Capital commitments £000 £000
  
 Capital expenditure contracted 1 307
      
   2008  2007
 Land and  Land and 
 buildings Other buildings Other
24  Operating lease commitments £000 £000 £000 £000
Total non-cancellable operating lease rentals are payable as follows:
– within one year 593 41 608 78
– between two and ﬁ ve years 1,267 23 1,319 41
– after ﬁ ve years 1,088 –  –  – 
 2,948 64 1,927 119
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Company Balance Sheet
at 3 January 2009
             
  2008 2007
 Note £000 £000
Fixed assets
Investments in subsidiaries 2  32,826  32,826 
  32,826  32,826 
Current assets
Debtors due within one year 4  53,941  56,720 
Cash and deposits  64  35 
  54,005  56,755 
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Other creditors 5  (67,775) (69,058)
Net current liabilities  (13,770) (12,303)
Net assets  19,056  20,523 
Capital and reserves
Called up share capital 6  51,989  51,989 
Share premium 7  5,489  5,489 
Proﬁ t and loss account 7 (38,422) (36,955)
Equity shareholders’ funds  19,056  20,523 
These ﬁ nancial statements were approved by the Board of Directors on 10 March 2009 and signed on its behalf by:
Andy Bartmess, Chief Executive
David Cooper, Finance Director
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Notes to the Company Financial Statements
1 Accounting policies
 
Basis of preparation 
The Company ﬁ nancial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention and in accordance with the Companies 
Act 1985 and applicable UK accounting standards (UK GAAP).
No proﬁ t and loss account is presented as permitted by section 230(4) of the Companies Act 1985. 
Under FRS1 the Company is exempt from the requirement to prepare a cash ﬂ ow statement on the grounds that Dawson International PLC 
has included a consolidated cash ﬂ ow statement within its Group accounts.
 
The following accounting policies have been applied consistently in dealing with items which are considered material in relation 
to the Group’s ﬁ nancial statements.
Fixed asset investments
Investments in subsidiaries are stated at cost less provisions for impairment.
Amounts receivable from subsidiary undertakings
Amounts receivable from subsidiary undertakings are recorded at cost. The ability of subsidiary undertakings to satisfy these obligations 
is kept under review and recognises that they may rely in turn on the settlement of inter-company balances owed by fellow subsidiary undertakings 
all of whom are under the control of the Company.
Amounts payable to subsidiary undertakings
Amounts payable to subsidiary undertakings are recorded at cost.
Share-based payments
The Company has issued equity settled share-based beneﬁ ts to certain employees. The fair value of options granted is recognised as an 
employee expense with a corresponding increase in equity. The fair value is measured at the grant date and spread over the period during which 
the employees become unconditionally entitled to the options. The fair value of the options granted is measured using a Black-Scholes model, 
taking into account the terms and conditions upon which the share options were granted. 
Retirement beneﬁ t obligation
The Company is a participating employer in the deﬁ ned beneﬁ t pension schemes operated by the Group but it is unable to identify its share of the 
underlying assets and liabilities of the schemes on a consistent and reasonable basis and therefore, as permitted by FRS17, ‘Retirement Beneﬁ ts’ , 
accounts for the scheme as if it were a deﬁ ned contribution scheme. As a result, the amount charged to the Company’s proﬁ t and loss account 
represents the contributions payable to the scheme in respect of the accounting period and no deﬁ cit is reﬂ ected in the Company balance sheet.
 Beginning Recognised End of
 of period in period period
2 Fixed asset investments £000 £000 £000
Gross carrying value 156,350  –  156,350
Provision for permanent diminution in value (123,524) –  (123,524)
Net book value 32,826  –  32,826 
The principal subsidiary businesses are as follows:      
       
  Country of registration/   
 Business incorporation Principal activity  
       
 Spinning      
 Todd Duncan
+
 Scotland Spinning of cashmere and blended yarns  
       
 Knitwear      
 Barrie knitwear
+
 Scotland  Manufacture, sourcing, distribution and marketing of Barrie, Glenmac 
and John Laing cashmere knitwear and contract haute couture
 
 Dawson Forte* USA  Design, sourcing, distribution and marketing of Chinese cashmere knitwear 
       
 Home Furnishings      
 Dawson Home Group Limited* England  Design, sourcing, distribution and marketing of branded and private label 
bed linen  
       
 Other      
 Dawson International Holdings (UK) Ltd Scotland Management services and holding company  
 
 Dawson International Trading Ltd* Scotland Management services and holding company  
       
All companies’ share capital is wholly owned and all operate principally in their country of incorporation.     
 
+
Divisions of Dawson International Trading Ltd      
*Not directly owned by Dawson International PLC      
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Notes to the Company Financial Statements (continued)
3  Employees 
 The emoluments of the three Executive Directors, who are the only employees of the Company, are given in the Directors’ Report on Remuneration 
on pages 21 to 23.
 2008 2007
4  Debtors – due within one year £000 £000
Owed by subsidiary undertakings 53,941  56,720 
 53,941  56,720
 2008 2007
5  Creditors – amounts falling due within one year £000 £000
Owed to subsidiary undertakings 67,739  69,018 
Other creditors 36  40 
 67,775  69,058 
 2008 2007
6  Share capital £000 £000
Authorised share capital
2,526,207,225 ordinary shares of 1 pence each  25,262  25,262
101 ,505,975 deferred shares of 49 pence each 49,738  49,738 
50,000,000 preference shares of £1 each 50,000  50,000
75,000,000 preference shares of $1 each 46,000  46,000 
 171,000  171 ,000 
Issued equity share capital
Allotted, called up and fully paid:
225,158,542 ordinary shares of 1 pence each 2,251  2,251
101 ,505,975 deferred shares of 49 pence each  49,738  49,738 
 51,989  51 ,989 
 Share Proﬁ t and 
 premium loss account Total
7  Reserves £000 £000 £000
At beginning of period  5,489  (36,955) (31 ,466)
Retained loss for the period –  (1 ,552) (1 ,552)
Share-based payments –  85  85 
At end of period 5,489  (38,422) (32,933)
8  Contingent liabilities 
(i) The Company is party to cash offset arrangements on banking facilities made available to the Group.
(ii)  The Company has guaranteed the obligations of a subsidiary company, Dawson Home Group Limited, under contracts for the provision 
of warehousing and distribution services and administration facilities.
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Five Year Financial Record            
 
  IFRS   UK GAAP
Financial period 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004
     restated
(ii)
 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Results
Revenue 106,795  92,601  102,093  111 ,620  70,199 
Operating proﬁ t/(loss) before exceptional items 1,01 9  (2,713) (1,511) 2,126  882 
Exceptional items 342  1,657  (1,617) (1,057) 2,415 
Proﬁ t/(loss) on ordinary activities before interest 1,361  (1,056) (3,128) 1,069  3,297 
Net ﬁ nance charges (739) (499) (610) (962) (2,346)
Proﬁ t/(loss) on ordinary activities before taxation 622  (1,555) (3,738) 107  951 
Taxation (146) (277) (434) (507) (5)
Proﬁ t/(loss) after taxation 476  (1,832) (4,172) (400) 946 
Adjusted earnings per share
(i)
 0.1p (1.5)p (1.2)p 0.6p (1.4)p
      
Net assets      
Intangible assets 131  486  552  230  – 
Property, plant and equipment 2,285  4,040  5,025  5,272  2,564 
Working capital 17,508  25,036  24,905  19,140  11 ,354 
Net operating assets 19,924  29,562  30,482  24,642  13,918 
Taxation and dividends 1,358  1,383  1,386  1,361  1,471 
Net funds/(debt) 5,688  (5,721) (2,994) 9,309  6,166 
Net assets excluding pension liability 26,970  25,224  28,874  35,312  21 ,555 
Pension liability (6,730) (4,701) (19,750) (29,704) (29,261)
Net assets/(liabilities) 20,240  20,523  9,124  5,608 (7,706)
Capital expenditure 527  893  1 ,591  2,577  506 
Net gearing
(iii)
 nil 28% 33% nil nil
             
(i)
Adjusted earnings per share are based on the results of continuing operations before exceptional items.     
(ii)
2004 ﬁ gures were restated to reﬂ ect the impact of FRS17 – Retirement Beneﬁ ts. 
(iii)
Net gearing is deﬁ ned as the ratio of total borrowings net of short-term investments, cash and deposits to equity shareholders funds.  
          
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Information for Shareholders
Financial calendar
Annual General Meeting 8 May 2009
2009 interim results announcement  August 2009
End of ﬁ nancial period 2 January 2010
2009 preliminary results announcement March 2010
Key advisers
Brokers/Nominated Advisor: W H Ireland Limited
 11 St James Square
 MANCHESTER
 M2 6WH
Auditors: KPMG Audit Plc
 Saltire Court
 20 Castle Terrace
 EDINBURGH 
 EH1 2EG
Solicitors: Dundas & Wilson CS LLP 
 191 West George Street
 GLASGOW 
 G2 2LD 
Share dealing service
Stocktrade operate a telephone share dealing service which provides 
shareholders with a way of buying or selling the Company’s shares 
or any other UK listed company shares. Commission is 0.5 per cent 
up to £10,000 and 0.2 per cent thereafter, subject to a £15 minimum. 
To use this service please call 0845 601 0995 and quote LOW C0175. 
Postal dealing packs are available on request. 
Registrars and dividend payments
Enquiries regarding shareholdings, lost certiﬁ cates, change of address 
and dividend payments should be addressed to the Company’s 
registrars, Capita Registrars, Northern House, Woodsome Park, 
Fenay Bridge, Huddersﬁ eld, West Yorkshire, HD8 0GA. 
Telephone 0871 664 0300 (calls cost 10p per minute plus network 
extras). Requests for dividend payments to be made direct to a bank 
or building society account should also be made to the registrars.
 
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Notice of Annual General Meeting
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the thirty-sixth Annual General Meeting 
of Dawson International PLC will be held at Lochleven Mills, Kinross, 
KY13 8GL on 8 May 2009 at 12 noon for the following purposes:
As Ordinary Business
1.  To receive and consider the Directors’ Report and ﬁ nancial 
statements for the ﬁ nancial period ended 3 January 2009 
(Resolution 1).
2.  To adopt the Directors’ Report on Remuneration for the ﬁ nancial 
period ended 3 January 2009 (Resolution 2). 
3.  To re-elect Andy Bartmess retiring by rotation as a Director of the 
Company in accordance with the Company’s Articles of Association 
(Resolution 3).
4.  To re-elect Stephen Russell retiring by rotation as a Director of the 
Company in accordance with the Company’s Articles of Association 
(Resolution 4).
5.  To consider and, if thought ﬁ t, pass the following Resolution as an 
Ordinary Resolution of the Company:
   “That KPMG Audit Plc be and are hereby appointed auditors of the 
Company to hold ofﬁ ce from the conclusion of this meeting until the 
conclusion of the next general meeting at which ﬁ nancial statements 
are laid before the Company at a remuneration to be ﬁ xed by the 
Directors” (Resolution 5).
As Special Business
To consider and, if thought ﬁ t, pass the following Resolutions, Resolution 
6 as an Ordinary Resolution of the Company and Resolutions 7 and 8 as 
Special Resolutions of the Company:
6.  THAT the Directors of the Company be and they are hereby generally 
and unconditionally authorised pursuant to Section 80 of the 
Companies Act 1985 (the “Act”) (and in addition to any existing such 
authority which they may have under such section) to allot relevant 
securities (as deﬁ ned in Section 80(2) of the Act) up to an aggregate 
nominal amount of £749,777.94, being 33.3 per cent of the issued 
ordinary share capital of the Company as at 10 March 2009, provided 
that the authority hereby given shall expire 15 months after the 
passing of this resolution or at the conclusion of the next Annual 
General Meeting of the Company, whichever is the earlier, unless 
previously revoked, varied or extended by the Company in general 
meeting save that the Company may at any time prior to the expiry 
of such authority make an offer or enter into an agreement which 
would or might require relevant securities to be allotted after the 
expiry of such authority and the Directors may allot relevant securities 
in pursuance of such an offer or agreement as if such authority had 
not expired and so that this authority shall be in substitution for all 
previous authorities conferred upon the Directors pursuant to Section 
80 of the Act but without prejudice to the allotment of any relevant 
securities already made or to be made pursuant to such authorities 
(Resolution 6).
7.   THAT where they are generally authorised for the purpose of Section 
80 of the Act the Directors be and they are hereby empowered 
pursuant to Section 95 of the Act (in addition to any existing such 
authority which they may have pursuant to Section 95 of the Act) to 
allot equity securities (within the meaning of Section 94 of the Act) 
for cash, as if Section 89 (1) of the Act did not apply to any such 
allotment provided that this power shall:
 (a) be limited to the allotment of equity securities:
  (i)  in connection with an offer of securities, open for acceptance 
for a period ﬁ xed by the Directors, by way of rights to holders 
of ordinary shares in proportion (as near as may be) to their 
holdings on a record date ﬁ xed by the Directors (subject to 
such exclusions or other arrangements as the Directors may 
deem necessary or expedient to deal with problems under 
the laws of any territory or the requirements of any regulatory 
body or any stock exchange in any territory or in connection 
with any fractional entitlements or otherwise howsoever);
  (ii)  to holders of ordinary shares who shall have elected to 
receive an allotment of equity securities in lieu of any 
dividend pursuant to authority given to the Directors; or
  (iii)  (otherwise than pursuant to sub-paragraphs (i) and (ii) above) 
up to an aggregate nominal amount of £112,579 – being ﬁ ve 
per cent of the issued ordinary share capital of the Company 
as at 10 March 2009; and
 (b)  unless renewed, expire 15 months after the passing of this 
resolution or at the conclusion of the next Annual General 
Meeting of the Company, whichever is the earlier, save that the 
Company may, prior to such expiry, make an offer or agreement 
which would or might require equity securities to be allotted 
after such expiry and the Directors may allot equity securities in 
pursuance of such offer or agreement as if the power conferred 
hereby had not expired (Resolution 7).
8.  THAT the Company be and is hereby generally and unconditionally 
authorised in accordance with Section 166 of the Companies Act 
1985 (as amended) (the “Act”) to make market purchases (within 
the meaning of Section 163 of the Act) of ordinary share capital 
of the Company (“shares”) provided that:
 (a)  the maximum number of shares hereby authorised to be 
purchased shall be 22,515,854, representing 10 per cent 
of the issued ordinary share capital of the Company as at 
10 March 2009;
 (b)  the maximum price which may be paid for a share shall be not 
more than ﬁ ve per cent above the average of the middle market 
quotations derived from the Daily Ofﬁ cial List of the London 
Stock Exchange for the ﬁ ve business days immediately 
preceding the date of purchase of the share;
 (c)  unless renewed the authority hereby conferred shall expire 15 
months after the passing of this Resolution or at the conclusion 
of the next Annual General Meeting of the Company, whichever 
is the earlier, save that the Company may, prior to such expiry, 
enter into a contract to purchase shares which will or may be 
executed wholly or partly after such expiry and purchase shares 
pursuant to such contract (Resolution 8).
Dated: 10 March 2009
By order of the Board
David Cooper, Secretary,
Lochleven Mills
Kinross
KY13 8GL
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Notice of Annual General Meeting (continued)
Notes
1. Votes
All shareholders who wish to attend and vote at the meeting 
must be entered on the Company’s register of members no later 
than 6.00pm on Wednesday 6 May 2009 or, in the case of an 
adjournment, as at 48 hours prior to the time of the adjourned 
meeting. Changes to entries on the register after that time will 
be disregarded in determining the rights of any person to attend 
or vote at the meeting.
2. Proxies
2.1  Members entitled to vote at the meeting may appoint a proxy 
or proxies to exercise all or any of their rights to attend and to 
speak and vote at a meeting of the Company. A member may 
appoint more than one proxy in relation to a meeting, provided 
that each proxy is appointed to exercise the rights attached to 
a different share or shares held by them. Such a proxy need 
not be a member of the Company and the appointment of 
such proxy does not preclude members from subsequently 
attending and voting in person at the meeting or adjournment 
of the meeting.
2.2  To be effective, the instrument appointing a proxy and any 
authority under which it is executed (or a copy of such authority 
notarially certiﬁ ed or certiﬁ ed is some other way approved by 
the Board) must be deposited with the Company’s registrar, 
Capita Registrars Limited, 34 Beckenham Road, Beckenham, 
Kent BR3 4TU, not less than 48 hours before the time for 
holding the meeting or, in the event of an adjournment, 
not less than 48 hours before the time of the adjournment. 
2.3  CREST members who wish to appoint a proxy or proxies 
through the CREST electronic proxy appointment service 
may do so for the meeting and any adjournment(s) thereof 
by using the procedures described in the CREST Manual. 
CREST personal members or other CREST sponsored 
members, and those CREST members who have appointed 
a voting service provider(s) should refer to their CREST 
sponsors or voting service provider(s), who will be able 
to take the appropriate action on their behalf.
  In order for a proxy appointment or instruction made 
by means of CREST to be valid, the appropriate CREST 
message (a “CREST Proxy Instruction”) must be properly 
authenticated in accordance with Euroclear UK & Ireland 
Limited’s speciﬁ cations and must contain the information 
required for such instructions, as described in the CREST 
Manual. The message must be transmitted so as to be 
received by the Company’s agent, Capita Registrars Limited 
(CREST Participant ID: RA10), no later than 48 hours before 
the time appointed for the meeting. For this purpose, the time 
of receipt will be taken to be the time (as determined by the 
time stamp applied to the message by the CREST Application 
Host) from which the Company’s agent is able to retrieve the 
message by enquiry to CREST in the manner prescribed 
by CREST.
  CREST members and, where applicable, their CREST 
sponsors or voting service provider(s) should note that 
Euroclear UK & Ireland Limited does not make available 
special procedures in CREST for any particular messages. 
Normal system timings and limitations will therefore apply 
in relation to the input of CREST Proxy Instructions. It is 
the responsibility of the CREST member concerned to take 
(or, if the CREST member is a CREST personal member 
or sponsored member or has appointed a voting service 
provider(s), to procure that his CREST sponsor or voting 
service provider(s) take(s)) such action as shall be necessary 
to ensure that a message is transmitted by means of the CREST 
system by any particular time.
In this connection, CREST members and, where applicable, 
their CREST sponsors or voting service provider(s) are referred 
in particular to those sections of the CREST Manual concerning 
practical limitations of the CREST system and timings.
The Company may treat as invalid a CREST Proxy Instruction in 
the circumstances set out in Regulation 35(5) of the Uncertiﬁ cated 
Securities Regulations 2001 .
3. Directors’ Interests and Service Contracts 
The register of Directors’ interests, copies of the Directors’ service 
contracts and copies of the Non-Executive Directors’ terms of 
appointment are available for inspection by members at the 
registered ofﬁ ce of the Company during normal working hours 
on any weekday from the date of this notice until the date of the 
meeting and will be available for inspection at the place of the 
meeting from 15 minutes prior to the meeting until its conclusion.
4. Corporate Representatives
In order to facilitate voting by corporate representatives at the 
meeting, arrangements will be put in place at the meeting so that 
(i) if a corporate shareholder has appointed the Chairman of the 
meeting as its corporate representative with instructions to vote on 
a poll in accordance with the directions of all of the other corporate 
representatives for that shareholder at the meeting, then on a poll 
those corporate representatives will give voting directions to the 
Chairman and the Chairman will vote (or withhold a vote) as 
corporate representative in accordance with those directions; 
and (ii) if more than one corporate representative for the same 
corporate shareholder attends the meeting but the corporate 
shareholder has not appointed the Chairman of the meeting as its 
corporate representative, a designated corporate representative will 
be nominated, from those corporate representatives who attend, 
who will vote on a poll and the other corporate representatives will 
give voting directions to that designated corporate representative. 
Corporate shareholders are referred to the guidance issued by the 
Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators on proxies and 
corporate representatives (www.icsa.org.uk) for further details of this 
procedure. This guidance includes a sample form of representation 
letter to appoint the Chairman as a corporate representative as 
described in (i) above.
5. CREST
The Company, pursuant to Regulation 41 of the Uncertiﬁ cated 
Securities Regulations 2001 , speciﬁ es that only those holders 
of ordinary shares registered in the register of members of the 
Company at 6.00pm on Wednesday 6 May 2009 or, if the meeting 
is adjourned, in the register of members at 6.00pm on the second 
day prior to the day of any adjourned meeting, shall be entitled to 
attend and vote at the Annual General Meeting in respect of such 
number of shares registered in their name at that time. 
Changes to entries in the register of members after 6.00pm 
on Wednesday 6 May 2009 or, if the meeting is adjourned, in the 
register of members at 6.00pm on the second day prior to the day 
of any adjourned meeting, shall be disregarded in determining the 
rights of any person to attend, speak or vote at the meeting or any 
such adjournment. 
6. Communication
Members who have general queries about the Meeting should 
use the following means of communication (no other method 
of communication will be accepted):
E-mail to: enquiries@dawson-international.co.uk
This e-mail address should only be used to communicate with the 
Company for enquiries regarding the AGM Notice and Proxy Card.
DAW-100408 ACCOUNTS shuffle.indd   54 DAW-100408 ACCOUNTS shuffle.indd   54 8/4/09   10:49:00 8/4/09   10:49:00 55
Form of Proxy 
(For use at the Annual General Meeting of Dawson International PLC (“the Company”) to be held at Lochleven Mills, Kinross, KY13 8GL on 8 May 2009 
and at any adjournment thereof.)
I/We being a member of the Company, holding
 –––––––––––––––– 
ordinary shares (see note 3) of one pence each in the capital of the Company hereby 
appoint the Chairman of the meeting, or
 –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 
(see note 1) as my/our proxy vote for me/us on my/our behalf as indicated 
below at the Annual General Meeting of the Company to be held on 8 May 2009 and at any adjournment thereof. 
If you are appointing more than one proxy please place an X in the box opposite. 
Ordinary Business   For Against Vote Withheld (see note 6)
1 Adoption of Directors’ Report and ﬁ nancial statements   
2 Adoption of Directors’ Report on Remuneration   
3 Re-election of Andy Bartmess as a Director   
4 Re-election of Stephen Russell
+
*
~
 as a Director   
5 Appointment of KPMG Audit Plc as auditors    
   
Special Business   
6 Authorisation to allot relevant securities   
7 Disapplication of pre-emption rights    
8 Authorisation to make market purchases of shares   
+
Member of the Audit Committee
*Member of the Remuneration Committee
~
Member of the Nominations Committee 
Unless otherwise indicated, the proxy may vote as they think ﬁ t, or withhold their vote, on the above Resolutions or on other business conducted at the meeting.
Signed this
 –––––––––––––––– 
day of
 –––––––––––––––– 
2009 (Please insert date and sign. If a corporation, see note 5)
Signature
 ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Name of registered holder (IN BLOCK CAPITALS, PLEASE)
 ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
 
Notes 
1.  A member entitled to attend, speak and vote at the meeting is also entitled to appoint one or more proxies to attend, speak and vote instead 
of them. To appoint as a proxy a person other than the Chairman of the meeting insert the full name in the space provided. A proxy need not 
be a member of the Company. You can also appoint more than one proxy provided each proxy is appointed to exercise the rights attached 
to a different share or shares held by you. The following options are available:
 (a)  To appoint the Chairman as your sole proxy in respect of all your shares, simply ﬁ ll in any voting instructions in the appropriate box and 
sign and date the form of proxy;
 (b)  To appoint a person other than the Chairman as your sole proxy in respect of all your shares, delete the words ‘the Chairman of the 
meeting (or)’ and insert the name and address of your proxy in the space provided. Then ﬁ ll in any voting instructions in the appropriate 
box and sign and date the form of proxy;
 (c)   To appoint more than one proxy, you may photocopy this form. Please indicate the proxy holder’s name and the number of shares in relation 
to which they are authorised to act as your proxy (which, in aggregate, should not exceed the number of shares held by you). Please also 
indicate if the proxy instruction is one of multiple instructions being given. If you wish to appoint the Chairman as one of your multiple proxies, 
simply write ‘the Chairman of the meeting’ . All forms must be signed and should be returned together in the same envelope.
2. Unless otherwise indicated the proxy will vote as they think ﬁ t or, at their discretion, abstain from voting.
3.  Please enter number of ordinary shares of one pence each in the capital of the Company held by you. If no number is entered, it shall be 
presumed that the proxy is entitled to vote in respect of all such ordinary shares held by you as registered holder.
4.  To be valid for the meeting, this form of proxy should be completed, signed and lodged with the Company’s registrars, Capita Registrars, 
at The Registry, 34 Beckenham Road, Beckenham, Kent BR3 4TU during usual business hours not later than 48 hours before the time set for 
the meeting or in the event of an adjournment, not less than 48 hours before the time of the adjourned meeting, accompanied by any power 
of attorney under which it is executed (if applicable).  
5. A corporation must execute the form of proxy under either its common seal or the hand of a duly authorised ofﬁ cer or attorney.
6.  The ‘Vote Withheld’ option is to enable you to abstain on any particular Resolution. Such a vote is not a vote in law and will not be counted 
in the votes ‘For’ and ‘Against’ a Resolution.
7.  Completion and return of the form of proxy will not preclude you from attending and voting in person at the meeting should you subsequently 
decide to do so.
8.  In the case of joint holders, the vote of the senior holder who tenders a vote, whether in person or by proxy, shall be accepted to the exclusion 
of the votes of other joint holders. For this purpose, seniority shall be determined by the order in which the names of such holders stand in the 
register of members in respect of the joint holding.
9. Any amendments made to this form of proxy must be initialled by the person who signs it.
10.  CREST members should use the CREST electronic proxy appointment service and refer to Note 2.3 of the Notice of Annual General Meeting 
in relation to the submission of a proxy appointment via CREST.
DAW-100408 ACCOUNTS shuffle.indd   55 DAW-100408 ACCOUNTS shuffle.indd   55 8/4/09   10:49:00 8/4/09   10:49:00 56
DAW-100408 ACCOUNTS shuffle.indd   56 DAW-100408 ACCOUNTS shuffle.indd   56 8/4/09   10:49:00 8/4/09   10:49:00 Dawson International plc is composed of three operating divisions:
01
01 SPINNING
  The Spinning division comprises the 
Todd & Duncan business based in 
Kinross, Scotland. It is a manufacturer 
of highest quality cashmere, blended 
and woollen yarns.
02 KNITWEAR
  The Knitwear division comprises the 
Dawson Forte Cashmere business 
based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA 
and the Barrie Knitwear business 
based in Hawick, Scotland.
03 HOME FURNISHINGS
  The Home Furnishings division 
comprises two businesses: a Branded 
business, selling Dorma branded home 
furnishings direct to end consumers 
and through retailers and a Private 
Label business, selling own label home 
furnishings direct to retailers. 
03
02
02
01  Financial and Operational Highlights
02 Chairman’s Statement
04 Chief Executive’s Statement
06 Business Review
16 Financial Review 
18 Board of Directors
19 Accounts Contents
20 Directors’ Report
21 Directors’ Report on Remuneration
24  Statement of Directors’ Responsibilities
in respect of the Directors’ Report and the 
Financial Statements
25  Independent Auditors’ Report to the Members 
of Dawson International PLC
26 Consolidated Financial Statements
29 Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements
48 Company Balance Sheet
49 Notes to the Company Financial Statements
51 Five Year Financial Record
52 Information for Shareholders
53 Notice of Annual General Meeting
55 Form of Proxy
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Corporate Directory
DAWSON INTERNATIONAL PLC 
Secretary and Corporate Ofﬁce
David Cooper
Lochleven Mills, Kinross, 
KY13 8GL, Scotland
Tel 01577 867000 
Fax 01577 867010
Registered Ofﬁce
Lochleven Mills, Kinross, 
KY13 8GL, Scotland
Registered Number SC54505
website: www.dawson-international.co.uk
e-mail: enquiries@dawson-international.co.uk
DAW-100408 COVER.indd   2 DAW-100408 COVER.indd   2 27/3/09   17:38:16 27/3/09   17:38:16 DAWSON INTERNATIONAL PLC Report & Accounts 2008
DAW-100408 COVER.indd   1 DAW-100408 COVER.indd   1 27/3/09   17:38:04 27/3/09   17:38:04