t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008 contents
02 at a glance 
03 financial performance 
04 chairman’s statement 
06 chief executive’s statement 
10 business review 
16 corporate social responsibility 
20 d irectors 
22 directors and advisors 
24 directors’ report 
27 corporate governance statement 
29 remuneration report 
32 independent auditors’ report –
consolidated financial statements
34 consolidated income statement
34 consolidated statement of recognised 
income and expense
35 consolidated balance sheet
36 consolidated cash flow statement
37 notes to the financial statements 
58 independent auditors’ report –
company financial statements
59 company balance sheet 
60 notes to the company financial statements
62 five year record
63 notice of annual general meeting
66 explanatory notes to the notice of 
annual general meeting
70 the t eam 
76 store locations “since our first outlet
opened in 1963 t opps
has successfully adapted
to changing consumer
tastes and swings in 
the economic cycle
our response to 
the current adverse
conditions is as 
vigorous as in 
previous downturns
the business is adapting
well to meet the
challenges it faces and 
i remain confident that
we have a strong
business that will grow
and prosper over the 
longer term”
stuart williams
group president and cofounder t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
2
at a glance
t opps tiles is a specialist tile retailer with 342 outlets 
across operating 3 retail brands across the uk and holland
in the uk we are the country’ s largest retailer of our kind
with a total of 320 stores and a 22 market share
the t opps’ strategy is focused on delivering outstanding
value to our customers this has enabled us to retain our
competitive advantage built upon the strong foundations 
of customer service store locations store layout product
choice and availability 
the retail trading environment has become increasingly
challenging during the year and our results have been
affected accordingly  we intend to strengthen further our
market leading position and believe that we will benefit
significantly when consumer confidence returns
our three core brands explained
t opps tiles
tile clearing house
t opps holland
t opps is the uk’ s leading branded tile retailer with 263 stores offering wall and floor tiles
natural stone laminate solid wood flooring and a comprehensive range of associated
products such as underfloor heating adhesives and grouts 
all of our stores carry a wide range and supply of stock we offer a loanatile service 
a free “how to” dvd a tile cutting service and a buyback service allowing customers 
to “sell back” undamaged tiles within 45 days of purchase in addition we have teamed 
up with traders local to each of our stores to provide customers with a t opps approved
tile installation service these services coupled with friendly and knowledgeable staff
offering expert technical advice led to 982 of customers surveyed expressing levels 
of satisfaction as “good to excellent” 2007 976
tile clearing house is the biggest clearance tile retailer in the uk with 57 stores
nationwide focusing on a cash and carry type format 
the brand is aimed at a slightly different customer sector which in the main are jobbing
builders small contractors and bulk purchases the customer offer is geared towards an
everyday value proposition with the addition of “when it’ s gone it’ s gone” type end of line
and discounted product offers the tile clearing house brand is located in prominent
positions in towns where t opps tiles are also sited
trading since 2002 t opps floorstore with its 22 stores across holland is the leading
specialist retailer of wood flooring in holland
we are continuing to develop the business and are focused on driving up sales densities
and improving business profitability t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
3
financial performance
 2008 operating profit includes a goodwill impairment charge noncash of £12 million 2007  £nil
 2008 profit before tax includes the following nonrecurring items in addition to the above note
– £15 million noncash charge relating to the interest rate hedging the group has in place per ias 39 
2007 £05 million
– property disposal gain of £09 million 2007 £03 million
 adjusted for post tax effect of nonrecurring items highlighted above plus
– £11 million deferred tax charge relating to withdrawal of industrial buildings allowances 2007 £nil
� t otal group revenue grew 01 to £2081 million
2007 £2079 million
� likeforlike revenue declined 54 2007 up 47
� group gross margin 618 2007 628
� operating profit of £346 million 2007 £443 million
� profit before tax of £277 million 2007 £378 million
� basic earnings per share of 956p 2007 1509p
� adjusted basic earnings per share of 1116p 
2007 1494p
� no final dividend declared in order to accelerate
reduction in net debt and improve financial flexibility
2007 695p per share
� net debt position of £920 million 2007 £952 million
� renegotiated loan facility  favourable relaxation 
of covenants and extension of the facility to 
january 2012
� sale and leaseback of four freehold properties for 
£4 million with a profit on disposal of £09 million
2007 £03 million
find out more
for more information please visit
wwwtoppstilescouk t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
4
this has been a challenging year for the t opps business in a difficult trading environment
however we are facing these challenges and managing the business in a robust and
prudent manner we have delivered a credible financial performance in a tough operating
environment i remain confident that our business will show resilience through this period
and we will be well positioned to capitalise on the strong foundations of the company as
the economic situation improves
financial results
t otal group revenue has been almost flat yearonyear at £2081 million 2007 
£2079 million with likeforlike revenue for the period showing a decline of 54 on 
last year operating profit for the period was £346 million 2007 £443 million giving a
profit before tax of £277 million 2007 £378 million basic earnings per share is 956p
2007 1509p during the period our banking facilities were renegotiated with a relaxation
of both covenants associated with the debt and the facility has been extended to 2012
there was a oneoff arrangement fee of £05 million which will be amortised over the
remaining period of the facility 
dividend
in order to reduce net debt and improve the company’ s financial flexibility the board has
decided not to pay a final dividend for this financial year we believe this is in the best
interests of the business in the prevailing economic environment and we will continue 
to review the dividend policy on a biannual basis 
board changes
in march this year we announced the appointment of alan white currently ceo of 
n brown group plc to the board as a nonexecutive director his appointment 
was effective from 1 april 2008 in addition we also announced the resignation from 
the board of alan mcintosh with effect from 31 march 2008 i would like to thank 
alan mcintosh for his support and contribution to the company during his 10 years 
as nonexecutive director
we are also announcing that victor watson will not seek reelection at the next agm 
after 10 very successful years on the board victor has decided to step down i would 
like to thank victor for all of his support and contribution to the company
chairman’ s statement
i am confident that we can capitalise on our position 
as market leader as we trade through the current
economic cycle and expect to benefit significantly
when consumer confidence returns
2008
2081
2007
2079
2006
1802
2005
1733
2004
1576
group revenue £m
£208 1 m
t otal group revenue 2007 £2079m  t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
5
people 
the company’ s staff are fundamental to the continuing success of the business 
their ability to deliver exceptional customer service is a key factor in differentiating 
t opps from its competitors and will contribute to the future success of the business 
i would like to extend the board’ s thanks and gratitude to everyone in the company 
for their continuing efforts and hard work
outlook
we have a very resilient business model and an extremely capable team who are
managing the business prudently the team have made significant progress during 
the year to ensure that the business is in the best possible condition for the year ahead 
we have again tightened our cost base for the coming year reviewed our plans for
growth focused our attention on cash management and extended our banking facilities
the board is confident that as a result of these actions the business can withstand a
sustained period of weak consumer activity
i am confident that we can capitalise on our position as market leader as we trade
through the current economic cycle and expect to benefit significantly when consumer
confidence returns
barry bester
chairman
£27 7m
profit before tax 2007 £378m 
find out more
for more information please visit
wwwtoppstilescouk
2008
277
2007
378
2006
391
2005
392
2004
338
profit before tax £m t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
6
we have maintained our market leading position and expect to capitalise on this during
the coming year we will achieve this by continuing to focus on excellent customer
service outstanding value ranges and an anticipated contraction in the competition 
we have delivered a credible performance and anticipate that our resilient business 
model will help us to create an even stronger business
uk store development and expansion
we are pleased to have achieved our store opening target with a net 19 new stores
opened in the period this now gives us an overall total of 320 trading outlets throughout
the uk for the coming year we will focus the majority of our attention on improvements
to our existing estate in the current economic climate we believe that a more cautious
approach to expansion is appropriate we anticipate that an easing of pressures in the
property market should create opportunities for us to open a small number of new stores
in strong trading locations
t opps tiles
we have opened a net 17 new stores and now have a total of 263 t opps outlets 
this includes 24 new openings offset by two closures three relocations and two 
rebrands to tile clearing house tch  
alongside our traditional retail channel we have this year launched our first online business
this offers a wide selection of our most popular ranges as well as some additional
complementary products not found in our stores these include bathrooms accessories
and heated towel radiators we have developed the online offer during the year and whilst
this element of the business is still in its infancy we look forward to it increasing sales as it
grows in popularity our online offer can be found at wwwtoppstilescouk
tile clearing house
tile clearing house remains focused on trade customers and jobbing builders operating
a “cash and carry” type format we have opened a net two new stores under the 
tile clearing house brand and now have a total of 57 outlets
holland
in holland we have opened a further net two stores during the year taking the total to 22
this consisted of three new openings and one closure due to a relocation the business 
has had to contend with a difficult trading environment and a number of other issues
against this backdrop we have seen a decline in likeforlike revenues and the business
has generated a loss for the year 
we have also conducted a review of the goodwill that arose on acquisition of the dutch
business and decided that against the context of the current year’ s results and a more
cautious outlook for the future it is appropriate to impair the goodwill and write it down 
by £12 million to £nil in the current year 
chief executive’ s statement
we will continue to maintain our focus on tight cost
control and prudent management of the business at
the same time as delivering the service element that
our customers expect we intend to capitalise on 
our market leading position and believe that we will
emerge from the current economic situation a stronger
business and benefit significantly when consumer
confidence returns
2008
346
2007
443
2006
388
2005
368
2004
325
operating profit £m
£34 6m
operating profit 2007 £4434m 
find out more
for more information please visit
wwwtoppstilescouk t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
7
whilst we operate a tight cost base which is appropriate for a small business the key
issues which we are tackling are store sales density and gross profit margins we have 
a new management team in place with a very clear agenda they will be focused on
driving sales and improving margins by upweighting the mix of tile sales the year ahead
is likely to be one of continued measured progress with less focus on expansion than 
we have seen previously
marketing advertising and sponsorship
over the last year we ran both national and regional marketing and advertising
campaigns these included the launch of a new tv advertising campaign on itv  
the campaign featured works of art created entirely from our tiles and wooden flooring
with the adverts appearing on itv three times a day straight after the national news 
this campaign served us well through the year and we have achieved our goal of
continuing to build consumer awareness of the brand during the year ahead we 
expect to focus on targeted regional and local marketing where the business requires it
t opps tiles is britains biggest supporter of community youth football and we currently
sponsor over 200 local teams nationwide 
staff development and customer service
a core part of our strategy is to deliver outstanding customer service in order to provide
this we place the highest importance on the development of our staff to deliver an
excellent standard of service we are rigorous in our recruitment and retention of capable
ambitious people and are committed to the development and career progression of our
employees we have a sophisticated instore elearning training system and additionally
we incentivise our staff with competitive employee benefit packages 
we continue to differentiate our business from the competition in a number of ways 
all of our stores carry a wide range and supply of stock we offer a loanatile service a
free “how to” dvd a tile cutting service and a buyback service allowing customers to
“sell back” undamaged tiles within 45 days of purchase in addition we have teamed 
up with traders local to each of our stores to provide customers with a t opps approved
tile installation service these services coupled with friendly and knowledgeable staff
offering expert technical advice led to 982 of customers surveyed expressing levels 
of satisfaction as “good to excellent” 2007 976
corporate responsibility
the management team at t opps tiles is committed to conducting the company’ s
business in a socially responsible manner taking into consideration social environmental
and ethical matters whilst at the same time ensuring the company achieves its
objectives our policy is published on our website at wwwtoppstilescouk and 
more detail on our achievements can be found in this report
t opps tiles is pleased to be a constituent member of the ftse4good uk index
our website was a hitwise t op 10 
award winner for the quarter ending 
july  september 2008
2008
1116
2007
1494
2006
1319
2005
1281
2004
963
adjusted basic earnings per share p
11 1 6p
adjusted basic earnings per share 
2007 1494p  t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
8
 the market
t opps continues to be the leading tile retailer in the uk with a market share in excess 
of 22 
as consumers preferences continue to converge with european tastes the relatively 
low consumption of tiles per head in the uk compared with the rest of europe 
roughly onethird of northern europe source mbd provides significant opportunities
consumers are continuing to refurbish the traditional tiling areas such as kitchens
bathrooms and conservatories and are also increasingly extending into general 
living areas helped by the broad range of under flooring heating products now 
commonly available
during the year we have also seen a reduction in customer choice as some consolidation
in the retail market has taken place particularly with smaller regional tile businesses
worldwide consumption for tiles in particular in the more developed tile markets is 
likely to continue to weaken in the short term this has begun to present some buying
opportunities with regard to both price and terms with a dedicated tile distribution
warehouse t opps is well positioned to take advantage of these opportunities
current trading and outlook
in the seven weeks of the new financial period group overall revenue decreased by
135 and likeforlike sales decreased by 183
at the half year we highlighted that the key driver of risk to the business was the general
economic climate and since then the economy has continued to weaken the business 
is well equipped to deal with the current economic cycle and we have made good
progress in tightening our cost base for the coming year focusing our attention on cash
management and improving our financial flexibility by renegotiating our banking facilities
we will continue to maintain our focus on tight cost control and prudent management 
of the business at the same time as delivering the service element that our customers
expect we intend to capitalise on our market leading position and believe that we will
emerge from the current economic situation a stronger business and benefit significantly
when consumer confidence returns
matthew williams
chief executive officer
chief executive’ s statement continued
22
group share of the uk tile market 
2007 22 
342
t otal number of stores trading 
across the group 2007 321  t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
9
the company’s staff are fundamental to
the ongoing success of the business
their ability to deliver exceptional
customer service will continue to be a key
differentiator for us in the coming year
alongside our traditional retail channel this
year we launched our first online business
which offers a wide selection of our most
popular ranges including some additional
complementary products
visit our website at wwwtoppstilescouk
for full details
topps stores are purposely located 
in highly visible low rental locations 
on or close to busy roads and always
with parking facilities
the business is well equipped to deal with the current
economic cycle and we have made good progress in
tightening our cost base for the coming year  focusing
our attention on cash management and improving our
financial flexibility by renegotiating our banking facilities t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
10
cautionary statement
this business review has been prepared solely to provide additional information to
shareholders to assess the company’ s strategies and the potential for those strategies 
to succeed the business review should not be relied on by any other party or for any
other purpose
the business review contains certain forwardlooking statements these statements are
made by the directors in good faith based on the information available to them up to the
time of their approval of this report and such statements should be treated with caution
due to the inherent uncertainties including both economic and business risk factors
underlying any such forwardlooking information
nature objectives and strategies of the business
t opps tiles is a specialist tile and wood flooring retailer with 342 outlets across the uk 
and holland in the uk we are the country’ s largest retailer of our kind with a total of 
320 stores and a 22 market share we operate two retail brands t opps tiles and 
tile clearing house t opps is the uk’ s leading branded tile retailer with 263 stores offering
wall and floor tiles natural stone laminate solid wood flooring and a comprehensive
range of associated products such as underfloor heating adhesives and grouts 
tile clearing house is the biggest clearance tile retailer in the uk with 57 stores
nationwide focusing on a mini warehouse type format and a “when it’ s gone it’ s 
gone” style customer offer
our european operation in holland provides a similar style of customer offer to the uk
t opps tiles stores and currently trades from 22 stores
the t opps’ strategy is focused on delivering outstanding value to our customers 
this has enabled us to retain our competitive advantage built upon the strong foundations
of customer service store locations store layout product choice and availability 
we believe that this strategy will continue to serve the company and its many
stakeholders well and will see us through the current economic downturn
key operational objectives
� deliver customers outstanding value for money to ensure they always “return 
and recommend”
� maintain our brand leading position in the market
� grow the store estate where excellent property opportunities arise
� continued to develop our in store customer offer to maintain our competitive advantage
� build an increased online presence and establish the brand as the market leader
� continued measured progress in holland towards a return to profitability
� ongoing review of the store portfolio to ensure our estate is keeping track with
consumer shopping patterns and our cost base is as efficient as possible
business review
the t opps’ strategy is focused on
delivering outstanding value to our
customers this has enabled us to
retain our competitive advantage 
built upon the strong foundations 
of customer service store locations
store layout product choice 
and availability 
2008
618
2007
628
2006
626
2005
613
2004
605
gross margins  t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
11
financial objectives
� maintaining an appropriate capital structure will continue to be a key financial objective
for the group
� continued management of the business with a priority on revenues cost control and
cash generation
� review our dividend policy on a biannual basis
� supplier tendering and benchmarking for nonstock suppliers has continued through 
the year and has seen a change in a number of key suppliers this will continue to
contribute towards our focus on cost control and ensuring that we are as efficient 
as possible
� manage the group’ s exposure to fluctuations in foreign exchange rates
key performance indicators kpis
the directors monitor a number of financial and nonfinancial metrics and kpis for the
group and by individual store including
52 weeks to 52 weeks to
27 september 29 september
financial kpis 2008 2007
likeforlike sales growth yearonyear –  –54 47
total sales growth yearonyear –  01 154
gross margin –  618 628
net debt £920m £952m
stock days 140 146
nonfinancial kpis
customer satisfaction –  982 976
number of stores 342 321
the directors receive regular information on these and other metrics and kpis for the
group as a whole these kpis are reviewed and updated as the directors feel is required
find out more
for more information please visit
wwwtoppstilescouk
982
customer satisfaction rating
2007 976 t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
12
risks and uncertainties
the key risks to the business continue to be its relationship with key suppliers the
potential threat of competitors the risk that key information technology or epos 
systems could fail the loss of key personnel the risk of a prolonged economic downturn
the impact of foreign exchange rates and the development of substitute products
following a modest weakening of results in the first half we highlighted at that time that
the key risk for the second half was the general economic climate the deterioration in 
the economy has been more pronounced during the second half of the year and when
reviewing risks and uncertainties this is currently accounting for the majority of the 
board’ s focus
the business has responded to these risks by taking the appropriate action as described
in this report specifically we have tightened our cost base reviewed our plans for growth
focused our attention on cash management and renegotiated and extended our banking
facilities we are also seeking to enhance and improve our retail operations where possible
by reviewing our product offer customer service and marketing strategies
we also highlighted at the half year point that an appreciation in the euro had put 
pressure on gross margins as a result of our overseas sourcing the us dollar has 
also strengthened over the course of the second half of the year the current general
weakness of the pound will put further pressure on margins for the coming year but we
are addressing this risk by constantly reviewing our sourcing opportunities during the year
approximately 20 of purchases were sourced from overseas
post the end of the financial reporting period there have been significant reductions in
interest rates the group will see a small amount of direct benefit from this via our cash
interest charge however a more significant benefit would be the potential improvement 
in consumer confidence
there are currently a number of risks and uncertainties that the group is managing 
if sales performance continues at the current levels we will need to manage costs and
cash even more tightly however the board remains confident the business will continue 
in its ability to generate positive returns and meet all of its financial commitments in full
the directors will continue to routinely monitor of all of these risks and uncertainties and the
board will take appropriate actions to mitigate the risks andor their potential outcomes
we have conducted a review of existing contractual relationships and have concluded
that there are none which are essential to the business
business review continued
find out more
for more information please visit
wwwtoppstilescouk t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
13
financial review
profit and loss account
revenue
revenue for the period ended 27 september 2008 increased by 01 to £2081 million
2007 £2079 million likeforlike store sales declined by 54 across the year falling 
by 09 in the first half and 98 in the second half of the year the deterioration in
performance reflects the tightening in the economy and the impact that this has had on
both the financial and consumer sector
gross margin
overall gross margin was 618 compared with 628 last year at the interim stage of
this period gross margin was 627 in the second half of the period we have generated
a gross margin of 608 erosion of gross margin reflects exchange rate impacts and
also the pressure of the current trading environment however the relatively small
deterioration in gross margin reflects the company’ s strong brand and business model 
as we are able to invest margin in a controlled way to drive transactions
operating expenses
t otal operating costs have increased from £862 million to £939 million an increase 
of 89 costs as a percentage of sales were 451 compared to 414 last year
the increase in costs has been mainly driven by our enlarged store estate the average
number of stores trading during the financial period was 329 2007 303 this has
generated an increase in our total operating expenses of 73
further to this there have been several nonrecurring items as follows
we have spent an additional £15 million on group marketing activities in particular 
a nationwide itv1 television campaign
we have incurred a £12 million noncash charge for goodwill impairment in relation to
the acquisition of the dutch joint venture this reflects the board’ s more cautious outlook
for the dutch business as described in the business review section of this report
offsetting these additional charges in part is a saving of £11 million on management
bonuses compared to the previous financial period this saving was due to management
bonus targets not being met during the period
when taking these items into account the underlying cost base has reduced by 02 
for the year as a whole
operating profit
operating profit for the period was £346 million 2007 £443 million operating profit 
as a percentage of sales was 166 2007 213
underlying operating profit excluding the noncash goodwill impairment highlighted
above was £358 million 2007 £443 million
61 8
gross margin 2007 628
£358m
underlying operating profit 2007 £443m t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
14
other gains and losses
other gains and losses include the impact of property disposals during the period we
completed the sale and leaseback of four freehold properties for £40 million which
generated a £09 million profit on disposal 2007 £03 million
financing
the cash interest charge for the year was £63 million 2007 £63 million excluding 
the impact of ias 39 revaluations despite higher interest rates we have maintained the
interest charge at the same level of the prior year through a combination of reducing net
debt and also the economic benefit we have received from the interest rate derivatives 
we have in place
the interest rate derivatives give rise to a “marked to market” revaluation per the
requirements of ias 39 “financial instruments recognition and measurement” 
this revaluation has generated a fair value noncash charge of £15 million 2007 
£05 million due to the nature of the underlying financial instrument ias 39 does not 
allow hedge accounting to be applied to these losses and hence this charge is being
applied direct to the income statement rather than offset against balance sheet reserves
net interest cover was 64 times based on earnings before interest tax and depreciation
excluding the impact of ias 39 in finance charges
profit before tax
reported profit before tax is £277 million 2007 £378 million
group profit before tax margin was 133 2007 182
tax
the effective rate of corporation t ax was 410 2007 320
there are a series of key items affecting the tax rate during the year as follows
the withdrawal of industrial buildings allowances has resulted in a oneoff deferred tax
charge of £11 million accounting for 41 of the effective tax rate
changes to the capital allowances regime and prior year adjustments have impacted the
tax charge by £12 million accounting for 44 of the effective tax rate
the impairment of goodwill described under “operating expenses” does not qualify for
corporation tax relief thereby increasing the effective tax rate by a further 12
the underlying tax rate excluding the above items was 313 2007 308
earnings per share
basic earnings per share were 956p 2007 1509p
diluted earnings per share were 955p 2007 1502p
business review continued
1 33
group profit before tax margin 
2007 182
£387m
cash generated by operations 
2007 £498m
find out more
for more information please visit
wwwtoppstilescouk t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
15
dividend and dividend policy
in order to reduce net debt and improve the company’ s financial flexibility the board has
decided not to pay a final dividend for this financial year we believe this is in the best
interests of the business in the prevailing economic environment and we will continue 
to review the dividend policy on a biannual basis
balance sheet
capital expenditure
capital expenditure in the period amounted to £66 million 2007 £97 million 
this includes the cost of developing two freehold sites for £12 million in addition we 
have opened 33 new outlets at a cost of £38 million refitted 11 existing sites at a cost 
of £06 million plus a further £10 million on other associated activities
at the period end the group owned eight freehold or long leasehold sites including 
two warehouse and distribution facilities with a total net book value of £156 million 
2007 £177 million
stock
stock at the period end represents 140 days turnover compared with 146 days for the
same period last year
capital structure and treasury
cash and cash equivalents at the period end were £140 million 2007 £158 million with
repayable borrowings at £1060 million 2007 £1110 million
this gives the group a net debt position of £920 million compared to £952 million as 
at 1 october 2007
during the period we renegotiated our current loan facility securing a favourable relaxation
of the covenants associated with our debt and an extension of the facility to january
2012 there is an associated oneoff fee of £05 million which will be amortised over 
the remaining period of the facility
cash flow
cash generated by operations was £387 million compared to £498 million last year
annual general meeting
the annual general meeting for the period to 27 september 2008 will be held on 
13 january 2009 at 1030am at t opps tiles plc thorpe way grove park enderby
leicestershire le19 1su
matt williams rob parker
chief executive officer finance director
140 
stock at period end as 
days turnover 2007 146
£920m
net debt 2007 £952m t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
16
corporate social responsibility “csr” continues to gain increasing importance in all
modern businesses and t opps tiles is no exception we have been working on our 
csr agenda since 2004 when we established a working party chaired by a main board
director we are proud of   our achievements in this area and focus our attentions across
four primary areas
� community relations
� environment
� workplace and employees
� supply chain
the group is a constituent member of the ftse4good index of socially responsible uk
quoted companies the ftse4good index is designed to measure the performance 
of companies that meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards and to
facilitate investment in those companies where csr issues are an influencing factor in 
the investors’ decision making process we aim to comply with the criteria set by the
operators of this index and are actively engaged in the continued developments of our
csr policies to ensure ongoing compliance
community relations
t opps tiles has been actively involved in supporting community relations over a long
period of time through our association with youth football t opps provides new kits and
equipment to junior teams local to our stores a simple and effective way of reaching out
to all our local communities and which makes us one of the biggest supporters of youth
football in the uk we currently support over 200 teams with plans to extend this to every
store over the coming year 
in addition to our football sponsorship t opps has also been a long term supporter of a
nominated corporate charity for the past six years we have supported asthma uk and
have successfully raised in excess of £600000 for their worthy causes over that period
we are very proud of our association with asthma uk and we wish them the very best 
of luck in all of their future fundraising efforts
in july we hosted our seventh annual charity golf day where uk and overseas suppliers 
meet with t opps friends and colleagues to raise money the day was dedicated to 
the prince’ s trust and we successfully raised £18985 to support the trust’ s work with
disadvantaged young people
“every penny raised goes to the cause rather than
overheads with the help of royalty  celebrities the
media and thousands of decent ordinary people 
we have already raised over £12 million there is a
great deal more to be done and we are indebted to
t opps tiles for their decision to support our work”
help for heroes founder  bryn parry
corporate social responsibility
200
the number of football teams 
that we sponsor in the uk t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
17
kate burt the prince’ s trust deputy director of fundraising confirmed “we need
visionary companies who believe that through investing in young people you can change
lives forever we are delighted that t opps tiles was inspired to join us and help more
young people realise their potential”
we have recently begun work with our new corporate charity help for heroes 
founded in 2007 help for heroes funds specialist rehabilitation and adaptive training for
servicemen and women maimed in the service of our country in iraq and afghanistan
many wounded servicemen and women come from communities served by our stores
and we want to give help for heroes the biggest “thank you” we can we aim to make
this our biggest ever fundraising drive and during the coming year our stores will be
staging their own heroes days with sponsored exploits by “homegrown heroes” who 
will compete for the coveted title of t opps no1 help for heroes fundraiser 
help for heroes founder bryn parry confirmed “every penny raised goes to the cause
rather than overheads with the help of royalty celebrities the media and thousands 
of decent ordinary people we have already raised over £12 million there is a great 
deal more to be done and we are indebted to t opps tiles for their decision to support 
our work”
environment
there are three primary areas where our business potentially impacts the environment
these are property waste and transport we regularly review our progress in these areas
and endeavour to use the most environmentally responsible practices possible
property – energy is a major driver of cost for the business and also forms a significant
part of our environmental impact energy efficient technology including low energy
lighting helps to reduce the impact and we are continuing trials to reduce further our
environmental impact by adopting new technology wherever possible 
waste – waste management is an important area for our business and we recycle as
much as possible stores return paper plastic and cardboard to the central warehouse 
for recycling
find out more
for more information please visit
wwwtoppstilescouk t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
18
environment continued
our offices recycle all used paper the majority of which is shredded and used as
packaging we continue to move our reporting away from being paper based and issue
increasing numbers of reports in electronic format 
transport – during the year we have started a move towards consolidation of deliveries 
to stores this means that we will reduce our reliance on third party transport further and
be able to achieve more of the deliveries required from our existing capacity this has 
the benefit of reducing the overall mileage and also reduces emissions as a result of us
operating our own modern and efficient fleet of vehicles all new lorries comply with the
euro 4 emissions regulations and come ready equipped with driver efficiency monitoring
systems this technology enables us to plan the most efficient routes and also monitor
our drivers’ performance all new vehicles this year now have new generation engines
giving in the region of a 16 saving on fuel our new trailers are now specially designed
for better weight distribution allowing more weight to be carried and less tyre wear
workplace and employees
we have a duty to our employees to provide them with a safe and comfortable working
environment we maintain regular dialogues with staff and our inhouse health and safety
team carries out regular assessment to ensure that this is happening we also operate a
health and safety committee which meets on a regular basis and is chaired by a main
board director
communication with our employees is vital and we have initiatives in place to ensure
regular and effective dialogue with staff we produce a bimonthly inhouse magazine
which updates all employees on what is happening across the business
in addition we operate an employee suggestion scheme which is overseen by our 
chief executive matthew williams this helps to improve the business across a number
of areas
we have a policy of internal promotion where possible and actively encourage our 
staff to apply for internal vacancies and promotions t o support this we conduct 
regular dialogues with employees on job and career development we are committed 
to being an equal opportunities employer and have policies in place which are clearly
communicated to all of our staff in april 2008 the company retained its investors in
people award for a further three years this award recognises our continued efforts to
ensure that all staff understand the goals of the company and are fully trained to ensure
they can contribute fully to achieving these goals
corporate social responsibility continued t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
19
supply chain
we source our goods for resale from around the world including tiles natural stone
wooden flooring and adhesives labour standards factory conditions and human rights
are issues we take seriously t o address any possible concerns our buyers conduct regular
supplier visits and factory tours and also insert a clause into all contracts with suppliers
which stipulates our requirements we have also developed a policy on timber products
and have adopted the principles and criteria of the forest stewardship council as 
our benchmark
our full policy and targets can be found on our website at wwwtoppstilescouk
in the investor section under corporate responsibility
16 
savings on fuel bills made by 
new vehicles using new 
generation engines
find out more
for more information please visit
wwwtoppstilescouk 20
t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
barry bester nonexecutive chairman aged 51
member of nomination committee
barry was a founder shareholder and director of t opps tiles in 1984 his principal
responsibility is group strategy
nonexecutive chairman
matthew williams chief executive officer aged 34
matt joined the company in 1998 after completing his chartered surveyors exams and
took up a role in the property department in 2004 he was promoted to chief operating
officer and on 1 april 2006 joined the plc board in november 2007 he was promoted 
to chief executive officer matt is also responsible for the employee suggestion scheme
executive directors
nicholas ounstead business development director aged 48
health and safety committee chairman
nick joined t opps tiles in april 1997 prior to this he was marketing director at bellegrove
ceramics plc which was a major supplier to diy chains and independent retailers 
in november 2007 he moved to the role of business development director responsible
for marketing online business and holland
robert parker finance director aged 36
company secretary
social and environmental responsibility chairman
rob joined t opps tiles in 2007 as finance director rob’ s previous role before joining 
the group was director of finance  it for savers health  beauty ltd prior to that 
rob was with the boots group plc for 10 years including five years with the international
side of the business ultimately as director of finance for boots retail international 
he is responsible for the accounting financial control treasury administration and 
group secretarial matters
directors 21
t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
rt hon michael jack privy councillor mp senior nonexecutive director aged 62
chairman of audit committee
member of nomination committee
chairman of remuneration committee
michael’ s business career has seen him in management capacities with proctor  gamble 
and marks  spencer in 1987 he became mp for fylde and by 1990 had begun a
ministerial career that saw him serve in the dss home office maff and finally the 
treasury as financial secretary he joined the board of t opps tiles in 1999
nonexecutive directors
victor watson cbe nonexecutive director aged 80
member of audit committee
chairman of nomination committee
member of remuneration committee
victor was formerly chairman of waddington plc he joined the board of t opps tiles
in 1997
alan white nonexecutive director aged 53
member of audit committee
member of nomination committee
member of remuneration committee
alan is the chief executive of n brown group plc a role he was appointed to in 2002 
he qualified as a chartered accountant with arthur andersen and has been group finance
director for sharp electronics uk n brown group plc and littlewoods plc he joined the
board of t opps tiles in april 2008 president
skm williams fca
directors
bf j bester
nonexecutive chairman
mt m williams
chief executive officer
nd ounstead
business development director
r parker acma
finance director
the rt hon jm jack privy counsellor mp
nonexecutive director
v h watson cbe
nonexecutive director
a white
nonexecutive director
secretary
r parker acma
registered number
3213782
registered office
thorpe way
grove park
enderby
leicestershire le19 1su
auditors
deloitte  t ouche llp
2 hardman street
manchester m60 2at
bankers
hsbc bank plc
56 queen street
cardiff cf10 2px
registrars
capita irg plc
bourne house
34 beckenham road
beckenham
kent br3 4tu
solicitors
tlt solicitors
1 redcliff street
bristol bs99 7jz
sinclair abson smith lawyers
19 market place
stockport sk1 1ha
beachcroft llp
st ann’ s house
st ann street
manchester m2 7lp
brokers
kbc peel hunt ltd
111 old broad street
london ec2n 1ph
22
t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
directors and advisors 23
t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
financial statements
contents
24 directors’ report 
27 corporate governance statement 
29 remuneration report 
32 independent auditors’ report –
consolidated financial statements
34 consolidated income statement
34 consolidated statement of recognised 
income and expense
35 consolidated balance sheet
36 consolidated cash flow statement
37 notes to the financial statements 
58 independent auditors’ report –
company financial statements
59 company balance sheet 
60 notes to the company financial statements
63 notice of annual general meeting
66 explanatory notes to the notice of 
annual general meeting
70 the t eam 
76 store locations the directors present their report on the affairs of the group together with the financial statements and auditors’ report for the 
52 week period ended 27 september 2008
principal activity
the principal activity of the group comprises the retail and wholesale distribution of ceramic tiles wood flooring and related products
business review
the company is required by the companies act to set out in this report a fair review of the business of the group during the financial
period ended 27 september 2008 and of the position of the group at the end of that financial period the company is also required to
set out a description of the principal risks and uncertainties facing the group
the information that fulfils the requirements of the enhanced business review can be found within the chairman’ s statement on 
pages 4 and 5 the ceo’ s statement on pages 6 to 8 the business review on pages 10 to 15 and the corporate social responsibility
statement on pages 16 to 19 which are incorporated in this report by reference
the directors monitor a number of financial and nonfinancial key performance indicators kpis for the group and by store and these
are detailed on page 11
results and dividends
the audited financial statements for the 52 week period ended 27 september 2008 are set out on pages 34 to 57 the group’ s profit
for the period after taxation was £16353000 2007 £25740000
an interim dividend of 300p per share £5117000 was paid on 7 july 2008 2007 375p per share £6396000
the board has decided not to pay a final dividend in order to accelerate the reduction in net debt and improve financial flexibility 
2007 final dividend of 695 pence per share £11860000 
directors
the directors of the company who served throughout the year and thereafter except as noted were as follows
bf j bester
nonexecutive chairman 
mt m williams
chief executive officer
nd ounstead
business development director
r parker
finance director
jm jack
senior nonexecutive director 
v h watson
nonexecutive director
a mcintosh
nonexecutive director resigned 31 march 2008
a white
nonexecutive director appointed 1 april 2008 
the directors’ interests in the shares of the company are set out on page 31 
share capital
details of the company’ s authorised and issued share capital are shown in note 21 to the financial statements
supplier payment policy
the group’ s policy is to negotiate terms of payment with suppliers when agreeing the terms of each transaction ensuring that suppliers
are made aware of the terms of payment and that both parties abide by those terms
the effect of the group’ s negotiated payment policy is that trade payables at the period end represented 48 days purchases 2007 65 days
t rade creditor days is calculated by dividing the trade and other payables creditor by the aggregate of cost of sales and relevant nonstock
expenditure multiplied by 365
24
t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
directors’ report charitable and political contributions
during the period the group made charitable donations of £10000 2007 £10000 the group made no political contributions 2007 £nil
substantial shareholdings
in addition to the directors’ shareholdings noted on page 31 on 31 october 2008 the company had been notified in accordance with
sections 198 to 208 of the companies act 1985 of the following interests in 3 or more of its issued share capital
number  held
williams skm esq 17718950 104
scottish widows investment partnership 12125643 71
axa framlington investment management 12003075 70
allianz global investors 10465000 61
mg investment management 7206166 42
legal  general investment management 6323225 37
new star asset management 5572502 33
disabled employees
applications for employment by disabled persons are always fully considered bearing in mind the aptitudes of the applicant concerned
in the event of members of staff becoming disabled every effort is made to ensure that their employment with the group continues 
and that appropriate training is arranged it is the policy of the group that the training career development and promotion of disabled
persons should as far as possible be identical with that of other employees
employee consultation
the group places considerable value on the involvement of its employees and has continued to keep them informed on matters
affecting them as employees and on the various factors affecting the performance of the group this is achieved through formal and
informal meetings and the company magazine employee representatives are consulted regularly on a wide range of matters affecting
their current and future interests
financial risk management objectives and policies
the group is exposed to certain financial risks namely interest rate risk currency risk and credit risk information regarding such 
financial risk is detailed in notes 15 16 1718 and 19 the group’ s risk management policies and procedures are also discussed 
in the business review on page 12
share option schemes
the directors recognise the importance of motivating employees and believe that one of the most effective incentives is increased
employee participation in the company through share ownership
this has been achieved through the introduction of a number of employee sharesave share bonus approved and unapproved share
option schemes since the flotation in 1997
the total of options held by employees including directors is 866934 2007 1306491 the directors will continue to incentivise
employees through additional employee share option schemes in the forthcoming financial period subject to the approval at the agm 
details on the share option scheme are given in note 29
information given to auditors
each of the directors at the date of approval of this report confirms that
� so far as the director is aware there is no relevant audit information of which the company’ s auditors are unaware and
� the directors have taken all the steps that they ought to have taken as a director to make themselves aware of any relevant audit
information and to establish that the company’ s auditors are aware of that information
this confirmation is given and should be interpreted in accordance with the provisions of section 234za of the companies act 1985
auditors
a resolution to reappoint deloitte  t ouche llp as the company’ s auditor will be proposed at the forthcoming annual general meeting
25
t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008 statement of directors’ responsibilities 
the directors are responsible for preparing the annual report directors’ remuneration report and the financial statements in
accordance with applicable law and regulations
company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial period the directors are required by the ias
regulation to prepare the group financial statements under ifrss as adopted by the european union the group’ s financial statements
are also required by law to be properly prepared in accordance with the companies act 1985 and article 4 of the ias regulation 
international accounting standard 1 requires that ifrs financial statements present fairly for each financial period the group’ s financial
position financial performance and cash flows this requires the faithful representation of the effects of transactions other events 
and conditions in accordance with the definitions and recognition criteria for assets liabilities income and expenses set out in the
international accounting standards board’ s “framework for the preparation and presentation of financial statements” in virtually 
all circumstances a fair presentation will be achieved by compliance with all applicable ifrss directors are also required to
� properly select and apply accounting policies
� present information including accounting policies in a manner that provides relevant reliable comparable and understandable
information and 
� provide additional disclosures when compliance with the specific requirements in ifrss are insufficient to enable users to understand
the impact of particular transactions other events and conditions on the entity’ s financial position and financial performance
the directors have elected to prepare the parent company financial statements in accordance with united kingdom generally accepted
accounting practice united kingdom accounting standards and applicable law the parent company financial statements are 
required by law to give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company in preparing these financial statements the directors 
are required to
� select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently
� make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent and
� state whether applicable uk accounting standards have been followed subject to any material departures disclosed and explained 
in the financial statements
the directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial
position of the company and enable them to ensure that the parent company financial statements comply with the companies act
1985 they are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention
and detection of fraud and other irregularities
the directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the company’ s website legislation in the united kingdom governing
the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions
directors’ responsibility statement
we confirm to the best of our knowledge
1 the group’ s financial statements prepared in accordance with ifrs and the company’ s financial statements prepared in
accordance with uk accounting standards give a true and fair view of the assets liabilities financial position and profit or loss of the
company and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole and
2 the business review which is incorporated into the directors’ report includes a fair review of the development and performance of
the business and the position of the company and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole together with 
a description of the principal risks and uncertainties they face
after making enquiries the directors have formed a judgement at the time of approving the financial statements that there is a
reasonable expectation that the group has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future 
for this reason the directors continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements
on behalf of the board
r parker
director and company secretary
24 november 2008
26
t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
directors’ report continued corporate governance statement
corporate governance statement
the company is committed to the principles of corporate governance contained in the combined code of corporate governance 
that was issued in 2006 by the financial reporting council “the code” for which the board is accountable to shareholders 
statement of compliance with the code of best practice
the company has complied throughout the period with the provisions of the code of best practice set out in section 1 of the code
except for provision a61 as the board does not currently undertake formal appraisal of its own performance and that of its
committees the company complies with all other provisions of the code
the board of directors comprises seven members of whom three are independent nonexecutive directors and three are executive
directors led by the company’ s nonexecutive chairman mr barry bester the senior independent nonexecutive director is the 
rt hon michael jack who also chairs the audit committee brief biographical details of all directors are given on pages 20 and 21
the board meets at least 12 times a year certain defined issues are reserved for the board including approval of financial statements
and circulars annual budgets strategy directors’ appointments service agreements and remuneration internal control and risk
management corporate governance key external and internal appointments and pensions and employee incentives
in advance of board meetings directors are supplied with uptodate information about trading performance the group’ s overall financial
position and its achievement against prior year budgets and forecasts 
where required a director may seek independent professional advice at the expense of the company all directors have access to the
company secretary and they may also address specific issues to the senior independent nonexecutive director 
in accordance with the articles of association all directors are subject to reelection every third year directors are elected at the first
agm after appointment therefore alan white will be subject to election at the forthcoming annual general meeting the board regards
mr white to be independent and considers his broad retail experience and position as a ceo of a plc business to be of great benefit 
to the group 
all nonexecutive directors have written letters of appointment these letters of appointment stipulate threeyear renewable terms 
of office in line with the code all nonexecutive directors who have served for nine years or more will be subject to annual reelection 
as such the rt hon michael jack will be subject to reelection at the forthcoming annual general meeting although his length of
service exceeds nine years the board regards him to be independent and considers his broad based commercial experience and
extensive business specific knowledge to be extremely beneficial 
mr victor watson will not seek reelection at the forthcoming annual general meeting and will retire from the board effective from the
date of the annual general meeting
the board considers that messrs alan white and the rt hon michael jack are independent for the purposes of the code the terms
and conditions for the appointment of nonexecutive directors are available for inspection on request
the board will review the independence of nonexecutive directors on an ongoing basis
the board also operates three committees these are the nomination committee the remuneration committee and the audit
committee all of these committees meet regularly and have formal written terms of reference which are available for inspection 
on request
attendance at boardcommittee meetings
the following table shows the number of board and committee meetings held during the 52 week period ended 27 september 2008
and the attendance record of the individual directors
board audit remuneration nomination
of directors committee committee committee
number of meetings 10222
bfj bester 9222
m williams 10 2 na na
nd ounstead 9 2 na na 
r parker 10 2 na na
wa mcintosh resigned 31 march 2008 1111
vh watson 10222
jm jack 10222
a white appointed 1 april 2008 4111
27
t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008 corporate governance statement continued
t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
28
statement about applying the principles of good governance
the company has applied the principles of good governance set out in section 1 of the combined code by complying with the 
code of best practice as reported above further explanation of how the principles have been applied in connection with directors’
remuneration is set out in the remuneration report
audit committee
the audit committee consists of nonexecutive directors the chairman is the rt hon michael jack the other members are 
victor watson and alan white who has served on the committee since his appointment on 1 april 2008 
the audit committee considers the nature and scope of the audit process both internal and external and its effectiveness 
the committee reviews and approves the internal audit programme meets with the external auditors and considers the annual and
interim financial statements before submission to the board the committee reviews the arrangements by which staff may in confidence
raise concerns about possible improprieties in matters of financial reporting or other matters the committee also reviews the group’ s
system of internal control and reports its findings twice yearly to the board the committee meets with the external auditors the rest of
the board attend at the invitation of audit committee chairman
as stated above part of the role of the audit committee is to review the independence of the company’ s auditors the company’ s
external auditors deloitte  t ouche llp have provided nonaudit services to the company in the form of tax advice the audit
committee is aware that providing audit and nonaudit advice could give rise to a potential conflict of interest the audit committee 
has concluded that the auditors deloitte  t ouche llp  are independent
nomination committee
the nomination committee is chaired by victor watson the other members are alan white and the rt hon michael jack the formal
terms of reference for this committee require it to make recommendations to the board for appointments of directors and other senior
executive staff 
appointments to the board are made on merit against objective criteria taking into account the skills and experience required 
where appropriate external search consultants are enlisted
dialogue with institutional shareholders
the directors seek to build on a mutual understanding of objectives between the company and its institutional shareholders by making
annual presentations and communicating regularly throughout the year the company also posts financial information on its website
wwwtoppstilescouk
maintenance of a sound system of internal control
the board has applied principle c2 of the combined code by establishing a continuous process for identifying evaluating and
managing the significant risks the group faces the board regularly reviews the process which has been put in place from the start of
the period to the date of the approval of this report and which is in accordance with the revised guidance on internal control published 
in october 2005 the turnbull guidance the board is responsible for the group’ s system of internal control and for reviewing its
effectiveness such a system is designed to manage rather than eliminate the risk of failure to achieve business objectives and can 
only provide reasonable and not absolute assurance against material misstatement or loss
in compliance with provision c21 of the combined code the board continuously reviews the effectiveness of the group’ s system 
of internal control the board’ s monitoring covers all controls including financial operational and compliance controls and risk
management it is based principally on reviewing reports from management to consider whether significant risks are identified 
evaluated managed and controlled and whether any significant weaknesses are promptly remedied and indicate a need for more
extensive monitoring the board has also performed a specific assessment for the purposes of this annual report this assessment
considers all significant aspects of internal control arising during the period covered by the report including the work of internal audit 
the audit committee assists the board in discharging its review responsibilities
during the course of its review of the system of internal control the board has not identified nor been advised of any failings or
weaknesses which it has determined to be significant therefore a confirmation in respect of necessary actions has not been 
considered appropriate  t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
29
remuneration report
introduction
this report has been prepared in accordance with schedule 7a to the companies act 1985 the report also meets the relevant
requirements of the listing rules of the financial services authority and describes how the board has applied the principles relating to
the directors’ remuneration in the combined code as required by the act a resolution to approve the report will be proposed at the
annual general meeting of the company at which the financial statements will be approved
the act requires the auditors to the company’ s members on certain parts of the directors’ remuneration report and to state whether
their opinion on those parts of the report have been properly prepared in accordance with the companies act 1985 the report has
therefore been divided into separate sections for the audited and unaudited information
unaudited information
remuneration committee
the company has established a remuneration committee which is constituted in accordance with the recommendations of the
combined code the members of the committee are the rt hon michael jack victor watson and alan white who are all independent
nonexecutive directors the committee is chaired by the rt hon michael jack
none of the committee has any personal financial interest other than as shareholders conflicts of interests arising from cross
directorships or daytoday involvement in running the business the committee makes recommendations to the board no director
plays a part in any discussion about his own remuneration
remuneration policy
executive remuneration packages are prudently designed to attract motivate and retain directors of the high calibre needed to maintain
the group’ s position as a market leader and to reward them for enhancing value to shareholders the performance measurement 
of the executive directors and key members of senior management and the determination of their annual remuneration package are
undertaken by the committee the remuneration of the nonexecutive directors is determined by the board within limits set out in the
articles of association
there are three main elements of the remuneration package for executive directors
� basic annual salary including directors’ fees and benefits
� annual bonus payments and
� pension arrangements
basic salary
an executive director’ s basic salary is reviewed and determined by the committee prior to the beginning of each year and when an
individual changes position or responsibility in deciding appropriate levels the committee considers the group as a whole and relies on
objective research which gives uptodate information on a comparator group of companies basic salaries were reviewed in september
2008 with no increases taking effect this year executive director’ s contracts of service which include details of remuneration will be
available for inspection at the annual general meeting
in addition to basic salary the executive directors receive certain benefitsinkind principally a car and private medical insurance
annual bonus payments
a discretionary annual cash bonus scheme represents the short term incentive element of the overall remuneration package for 
mr williams mr parker and mr ounstead the remuneration committee establishes the objectives that must be met in the financial
period if a cash bonus is to be paid the maximum bonus achievable in the period was 100 of basic salary based on group
performance against budgeted operating profit for the period ending 27 september 2008 there will be no bonus paid the annual
bonus scheme for the period to september 2009 is also up to a max of 100 of basic salary based upon the achievement of budgeted
group operating profit
pension arrangements
mr bester mr ounstead and mr parker received contributions into their own personal pension schemes as disclosed in the table 
on page 31 t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
30
directors’ contracts
executive directors
it is the company’ s policy that executive directors are offered permanent contracts of employment providing for a maximum of 
six months’ notice
nonexecutive directors
all nonexecutive directors have specific terms of engagement and their remuneration is determined by the board within the limits 
set by the articles of association and based on independent surveys of fees paid to nonexecutive directors of similar companies 
the basic fee paid to each nonexecutive director in the period was £33000 it is the company’ s policy that nonexecutive directors
should have contracts with an indefinite term providing for a maximum of six months notice nonexecutive directors cannot participate
in any of the company’ s share option schemes and are not eligible to join the company’ s pension scheme
the details of the nonexecutive directors’ contracts are summarised in the table below
date of contract or letter unexpired notice
name of director of appointment term period
bfj bester 27 may 1997 na 6 months
jm jack 26 january 1999 na 6 months
vh watson retires 13 january 2009 27 may 1997 na 6 months
a white 1 april 2008 na 6 months
performance graph
the following graph shows the company’ s performance measured by total shareholder return “tsr” compared with the performance
of the ftse 250 index also measured by tsr the index chosen for the comparison demonstrates the group’ s tsr in comparison to
the average for ftse 250 companies
this index has changed from prior year was previously ftse mid 250 but the comparative remains consistent and presents a similar
picture the ftse 250 index is considered a relevant comparator as the business has formed a part of this index for the majority of the
time period presented
audited information
aggregate directors’ remuneration
the total amounts for directors’ remuneration were as follows
2008 2007
£’000 £’000
emoluments 1055 1876
money purchase pension contributions 30 26
1085 1902
remuneration report continued
total shareholder return charting 
275
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
250
225
200
175
150
125
100
75
50
25
0
–25
–50
–75
topps tiles plc ftse 250 t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
31
directors’ emoluments 
money
purchase
basic vehicle benefits pension
fees salary allowance inkind contributions bonus 2008 2007
name of director £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
mtm williams – 339 – 20 – – 359 519
nd ounstead – 253 24 2 14 – 293 643
r parker – 199 16 2 9 – 226 161
a liggett
retired 27 april 2007 ––––––– 180
nonexecutive directors
bfj bester – 104 – 1 7 – 112 324
wa mcintosh 
resigned 31 march 200813 ––––– 13 25
vh watson – 32–––– 32 25
jm jack – 33–––– 33 25
a white 
appointed 1 april 2008 17 ––––– 17 –
30 960 40 25 30 0 1085 1902
directors’ share options
aggregate emoluments disclosed above do not include any amounts for the value of options to acquire ordinary shares in the company
granted to or held by the directors share options held by the directors relate to 2008 save as you earn scheme no options have been
exercised in the period
date
30 sept 27 sept exercise from which expiry
name of director scheme 2007 acquired 2008 price exercisable date
n ounstead save as you earn feb 2008 – 7328 7328 £131 1 feb 1 aug 
2011 2011
r parker save as you earn feb 2008 – 12824 12824 £131 1 feb 1 aug 
2013 2013
m williams save as you earn feb 2008 – 12824 12824 £131 1 feb 1 aug 
2013 2013
the market price of the ordinary shares at 27 september 2008 was 5825p and the range during the year was 21125p to 3950p
directors interests
the directors had the following interest in the shares of the company all interests relate solely to ordinary shares
2008 2007
ordinary shares of ordinary shares of 
333p each 333p each
bfj bester 16406200 13906200
m williams 450205 380205
nd ounstead 427750 370125
vh watson 132000 132000
r parker 30000 10000
jm jack 20250 15250
a white 15000 –
approval
this report was approved by the board of directors on 24 november 2008 and signed on its behalf by
rt hon jm jack
chairman of remuneration committee t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
32
we have audited the group financial statements of t opps tiles plc for the 52 weeks ended 27 september 2008 which comprise the
consolidated income statement the consolidated statement of recognised income and expense the consolidated balance sheet 
the consolidated cash flow statement and the related notes 1 to 30 these group financial statements have been prepared under the
accounting policies set out therein we have also audited the information in the directors’ remuneration report that is described as
having been audited
we have reported separately on the parent company financial statements of t opps tiles plc for the 52 weeks ended 27 september 2008 
this report is made solely to the company’ s members as a body in accordance with section 235 of the companies act 1985 
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 auditors’ report and for no other purpose t o 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 the remuneration report and the group financial statements in accordance
with applicable law and international financial reporting standards ifrss as adopted by the european union are set out in the statement
of directors’ responsibilities
our responsibility is to audit the group financial statements and the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited in
accordance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements and international standards on auditing uk and ireland
we report to you our opinion as to whether the group financial statements give a true and fair view whether the group financial
statements have been properly prepared in accordance with the companies act 1985 and article 4 of the ias regulation and whether
the part of the remuneration report described as having been audited has 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 group
financial statements the information given in the directors’ report includes that specific information presented in the business review
that is cross referred from the business review section of the directors’ report
in addition we report to you if in our opinion we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit or if
information specified by law regarding directors’ remuneration and other transactions is not disclosed
we review whether the corporate governance statement reflects the company’ s compliance with the nine provisions of the 2006
combined code specified for our review by the listing rules of the financial services authority and we report if it does not we are 
not required to consider whether the board’ s statements on internal control cover all risks and controls or form an opinion on the
effectiveness of the group’ s corporate governance procedures or its risk and control procedures
we read the other information contained in the annual report and consider whether it is consistent with the audited group financial
statements the other information comprises only the directors’ report the chairman’ s statement the chief executive’ s statement 
the unaudited part of the remuneration report the business review and the corporate governance statement we consider the
implications for our report if we become aware of any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the group financial
statements our responsibilities do not extend to any further information outside the annual report
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 group financial statements
and the part of the remuneration report to be audited it also includes an assessment of the significant estimates and judgements
made by the directors in the preparation of the group financial statements and of whether the accounting policies are appropriate 
to the group’ 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 sufficient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the group financial statements and the part of the 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 group financial statements and the part of the
remuneration report to be audited
independent auditors’ report – consolidated financial statements
to the members of topps tiles plc t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
33
opinion
in our opinion
� the group financial statements give a true and fair view in accordance with ifrss as adopted by the european union of the state 
of the group’ s affairs as at 27 september 2008 and of its profit for the 52 week period then ended
� the group financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with the companies act 1985 and article 4 of the 
ias regulation 
� the part of the remuneration report described as having been audited has been properly prepared in accordance with the
companies act 1985 and
� the information given in the directors’ report is consistent with the group financial statements
separate opinion in relation to ifrss
as explained in note 2 to the group financial statements the group in addition to complying with its legal obligation to comply with ifrss
as adopted by the european union has also complied with the ifrss as issued by the international accounting standards board
in our opinion the group financial statements give a true and fair view in accordance with ifrss of the state of the group’ s affairs as at
27 september 2008 and of its profit for the 52 week period then ended
deloitte  t ouche llp
chartered accountants and registered auditors 
manchester united kingdom
24 november 2008 t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
34
2008 2007
notes £’000 £’000
group revenue 34 208084 207898
cost of sales 79537 77344
gross profit 128547 130554
operating expenses
employee profit sharing 6514 7943
distribution costs 66142 61504
other operating expenses 7024 5093
administration expenses 8082 7027
sales and marketing 6165 4645
group operating profit before impairment of goodwill 35805 44342
impairment of goodwill 12 1185 –
group profit from operations 4 34620 44342
other gains 7 877 270
investment revenue 8 992 1012
finance costs 8 8766 7791
profit before taxation 5 27723 37833
taxation 9 11370 12093
profit after taxation for the period attributable to equity holders of the parent company 16353 25740
earnings per ordinary share 11
– basic 956p 1509p
– diluted 955p 1502p
all of the above results relate to continuing operations
consolidated income statement 
for the 52 weeks ended 27 september 2008
2008 2007
£’000 £’000
exchange differences on retranslation of overseas operation 248 –
tax effect of share options exercised – 195
deferred tax on share options taken directly to equity 20 305 157
profit for the period 16353 25740
total recognised income and expense for the period attributable to equity holders 
of the parent company 16296 25778
for the 52 weeks ended 27 september 2008
consolidated statement of recognised income and expense t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
35
as at 27 september 2008
consolidated balance sheet
2008 2007
notes £’000 £’000
noncurrent assets
goodwill 12 245 1430
property plant and equipment 13 40386 41851
40631 43281
current assets
inventories 30496 31067
trade and other receivables 15 7909 7002
cash and cash equivalents 16 13977 15781
52382 53850
total assets 93013 97131
current liabilities
trade and other payables 17 29961 31016
derivative financial instruments 19 2110 481
bank loans 18 7250 4907
current tax liabilities 8878 8752
48199 45156
net current assets 4183 8694
noncurrent liabilities
bank loans 18 97963 105737
deferred tax liabilities 20 1964 1062
total liabilities 148126 151955
net liabilities 55113 54824
equity
share capital 21 5703 5686
share premium 22 1001 681
merger reserve 23 240 240
sharebased payment reserve 24 322 222
capital redemption reserve 25 20359 20359
foreign exchange reserve 26 248 –
retained earnings 27 82986 82012
total deficit 55113 54824
the accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements
the financial statements on pages 34 to 57 were approved by the board of directors on 24 november 2008 and signed on its 
behalf by
m williams
director
r parker
director t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
36
cash flow from operating activities
2008 2007
£’000 £’000
group profit from operations 34620 44342
adjustments for
depreciation of property plant and equipment 4792 4424
impairment of goodwill 1185 –
share option charge 100 56
loss on sale of fixed assets 513 772
increase in receivables 833 1144
decreaseincrease in inventories 877 2624
decreaseincrease in payables 2557 4000
cash generated by operations 38697 49826
interest paid 6154 7805
payment of loan arrangement fee 530 –
taxation paid 10650 10980
net cash from operating activities 21363 31041
cash flows from investing activities
acquisition of joint venture – 1286
interest received 960 1012
purchase of property plant and equipment 6622 9674
proceeds on sale of property plant and equipment 4004 1166
net cash used in investment activities 1658 8782
cash flows from financing activities
proceeds from issue of share capital 337 158
repayment of loans 5000 5000
dividends paid 17014 18169
net cash used in financing activities 21677 23011
net decrease in cash and cash equivalents 1972 752
cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 15781 16533
effect of foreign exchange rate changes 168 –
cash and cash equivalents at end of period 13977 15781
consolidated cash flow statement
for the 52 weeks ended 27 september 2008 t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
37
1 general information
t opps tiles plc is a company incorporated in the united kingdom under the companies act 1985 the address of the registered
office is given on page 22 the nature of the group’ s operations and its principal activity is set out in the directors’ report on page 24
these financial statements are presented in pounds sterling because that is the currency of the primary economic environment in
which the group operates foreign operations are included in accordance with the policies set out in note 2j
at the date of authorisation of these financial statements the following standards and interpretations which have not been applied 
in these financial statements were in issue but not yet effective
standards and interpretations in issue but not yet effective 
ifrs 8 operating segments 
ias 23 amendment “borrowing costs” 
ifrs 3 revised “business combinations” 
ias 27 amendment “consolidated and separate financial statements” 
ifrs 2 amendment to “sharebased payment” 
ifric 12 service concession arrangements 
ifric 13 customer loyalty programmes 
ifric 14 ias 19 – the limit on a deferred benefit asset minimum funding requirements and their interaction 
ifric 15 agreements for the construction of real estate 
ifric 16 hedges of a net investment in a foreign operation
the directors anticipate that the adoption of these standards and interpretations in future periods will have no material impact on 
the financial statements of the group
adoption of new and revised standards
in the current year the group has adopted ifrs 7 financial instruments disclosures which is effective for annual reporting periods
beginning on or after 1 january 2007 and the related amendment to ias 1 presentation of financial statements the impact of the
adoption of ifrs 7 and changes to ias 1 has been to expand the disclosures provided in these financial statements regarding the
group’ s financial instruments and management of capital see notes 2o 15 17 and 19
2 accounting policies
a basis of accounting
the financial statements have been prepared in accordance with international financial reporting standards ifrss the financial
statements have also been prepared in accordance with ifrs’ s adopted by the european union and therefore the group financial
statements comply with article 4 of the eu ias regulation the financial statements have been prepared on the historical cost basis
except for the revaluation of financial instruments the principal accounting policies adopted are set out below
b basis of consolidation
the consolidated financial statements incorporate the financial statements of the company and entities controlled by the company
its subsidiaries made up to the saturday nearest to the 30 september each year control is achieved where the company has 
the power to govern the financial and operating policies of an investee so as to obtain benefits from its activities
the results of subsidiaries acquired or sold are consolidated for the periods from or to the date on which control passed 
all intragroup transactions balances income and expenses are eliminated on consolidation
c financial period
the accounting period ends on the saturday which falls closest to 30 september resulting in financial periods of either 
52 or 53 weeks
throughout the financial statements directors’ report and financial review references to 2008 mean at 27 september 2008 
or the 52 weeks then ended references to 2007 mean at 29 september 2007 or the 52 weeks then ended
d business combinations
the acquisition of subsidiaries is accounted for using the purchase method the cost of the acquisition is measured at the
aggregate of the fair values at the date of exchange of assets given liabilities incurred or assumed and equity instruments issued
by the group in exchange for control of the acquiree plus any costs directly attributable to the business combination the acquiree’ s
identifiable assets liabilities and contingent liabilities that meet the conditions for recognition under ifrs 3 are recognised at their fair
value at the acquisition date except for noncurrent assets or disposal groups that are classified as held for sale in accordance
with ifrs 5 noncurrent assets held for sale and discontinued operations which are recognised and measured at fair value less
costs to sell
goodwill arising on acquisition is recognised as an asset and initially measured at cost being the excess of the cost of the business
combination over the group’ s interest in the net fair value of the identifiable assets liabilities and contingent liabilities recognised
notes to the financial statements
for the 52 week period ending 27 september 2008 t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
38
2 accounting policies continued
e goodwill
goodwill arising on consolidation represents the excess of the cost of acquisition over the group’ s interest in the fair value of the
identifiable assets and liabilities of a subsidiary at the date of acquisition goodwill is initially recognised as an asset at cost and is
subsequently measured at cost less any accumulated impairment losses goodwill which is recognised as an asset is reviewed for
impairment at least annually any impairment is recognised immediately in the income statement and is not subsequently reversed
for the purpose of impairment testing goodwill is allocated to each of the group’ s cashgenerating units expected to benefit from
the synergies of the combination cashgenerating units to which goodwill has been allocated are tested for impairment annually 
or more frequently when there is an indication that the unit may be impaired if the recoverable amount of the cashgenerating 
unit is less than the carrying amount of the unit the impairment loss is allocated first to reduce the carrying amount of any goodwill
allocated to the unit and then to the other assets of the unit prorata on the basis of the carrying amount of each asset in the unit 
an impairment loss recognised for goodwill is not reversed in a subsequent period
goodwill arising on acquisitions before the date of transition to ifrss has been retained at the previous uk gaap amounts subject
to being tested for impairment at that date goodwill of £15080000 written off to reserves under uk gaap prior to 1998 has not
been reinstated and is not included in determining any subsequent profit or loss on disposal
f revenue recognition
revenue is measured at the fair value of the consideration received or receivable and represents amounts receivable for goods 
and services provided in the normal course of business net of discounts vat and other salesrelated taxes sales of goods are
recognised when title has passed sales returns are provided for based on past experience and deducted from income
interest income is accrued on a time basis by reference to the principal outstanding and at the effective interest rate applicable
which is the rate that exactly discounts estimated future cash receipts through the expected life of the financial asset to that asset’ s
net carrying amount
dividend income from investments is recognised when the shareholders’ rights to receive payment have been established
g property plant and equipment
property plant and equipment are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation and any recognised impairment loss
depreciation is charged so as to write off the cost of assets less estimated residual value over their estimated useful lives 
on the following bases
freehold buildings 2 per annum on cost on a straightline basis
short leasehold land and buildings over the period of the lease up to 25 years on a straightline basis
fixtures and fittings over 10 years or at 25 per annum on reducing balance basis as appropriate
motor vehicles 25 per annum on reducing balance
freehold land is not depreciated
residual value is calculated on prices prevailing at the date of acquisition
h inventories
inventories are stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value and relate solely to finished goods for resale cost comprises
purchase price of materials and an attributable proportion of distribution overheads based on normal levels of activity and is valued
at standard cost net realisable value is based on estimated selling price less further costs expected to be incurred to completion
and costs to be incurred – marketing selling and distribution provision is made for those items of inventory where the net realisable
value is estimated to be lower than cost 
i taxation
the tax expense represents the sum of the tax currently payable and deferred tax
the tax currently payable is based on taxable profit for the year t axable profit differs from net profit as reported in the income
statement because it excludes items of income or expense that are taxable or deductible in other years and it further excludes items
that are never taxable or deductible the group’ s liability for current tax is calculated using tax rates that have been enacted or
substantively enacted by the balance sheet date
deferred tax is the tax expected to be payable or recoverable on differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities 
in the financial statements and the corresponding tax bases used in the computation of taxable profit and is accounted for using 
the balance sheet liability method deferred tax liabilities are generally recognised for all taxable temporary differences and deferred
tax assets are recognised to the extent that it is probable that taxable profits will be available against which deductible temporary
differences can be utilised such assets and liabilities are not recognised if the temporary difference arises from the initial recognition
of goodwill or from the initial recognition other than in a business combination of other assets and liabilities in a transaction that
affects neither the tax profit nor the accounting profit
notes to the financial statements continued
for the 52 week period ending 27 september 2008 t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
39
2 accounting policies continued
i taxation continued
deferred tax liabilities are recognised for taxable temporary differences arising on investments in subsidiaries and interests in jointly
controlled entities except where the group is able to control the reversal of the temporary difference and it is probable that the
temporary difference will not reverse in the foreseeable future
deferred tax is calculated at the tax rates that are expected to apply in the period when the liability is settled or the asset is realised
deferred tax is charged or credited in the income statement except when it relates to items charged or credited directly to equity 
in which case the deferred tax is also dealt with in equity
deferred tax assets and liabilities are offset when there is a legally enforceable right to set off current tax assets against current tax
liabilities and when they relate to income taxes levied by the same taxation authority and the group intends to settle its current tax
assets and liabilities on a net basis
j foreign currency
transactions in currencies other than the entity’ s functional currency foreign currencies are recorded at the rates of exchange
prevailing on the dates of transactions at each period end monetary assets and liabilities that are denominated in foreign currencies
are retranslated at the rates prevailing on that date nonmonetary items carried at fair value that are denominated in foreign
currencies are retranslated at the rates prevailing at the date when the fair value was determined nonmonetary items that are
measured in terms of historical cost in a foreign currency are not retranslated
exchange differences arising on the settlement of monetary items and on the retranslation of monetary items are included in the
income statement for the period exchange differences arising on the retranslation of nonmonetary items carried at fair value are
included in profit or loss for the period except for differences arising on the retranslation of nonmonetary items in respect of which
gains and losses are recognised directly in equity for such nonmonetary items any exchange component of that gain or loss is
also recognised directly in equity
for the purpose of presenting consolidated financial statements the assets and liabilities of the group’ s foreign operation are
translated at exchange rates prevailing at period end dates income and expense items are translated at the average exchange 
rates for the period unless exchange rates fluctuate significantly during the period in which case the exchange rates at the dates 
of transactions are used exchange differences arising are classified as equity and transferred to the group’ s translation reserve
such differences are recognised as income or expense in the period in which the operation is disposed of
k leases
rentals under operating leases are charged on a straightline basis over the lease term even if the payments are not made on such
a basis benefits received and receivable as an incentive to sign an operating lease are similarly spread on a straightline basis over
the lease term
l investments
fixed asset investments are shown at cost less provision for impairment
m retirement benefit costs
for defined contribution schemes the amount charged to the income statement in respect of pension costs is the contributions
payable in the year differences between contributions payable in the year and contributions actually paid are shown as either
accruals or prepayments in the balance sheet
n finance costs
finance costs which are directly attributable to the construction of tangible fixed assets are capitalised as part of the cost of those
assets the commencement of capitalisation begins when both finance costs and expenditures for the asset are being incurred 
and activities that are necessary to get the asset ready for use are in progress capitalisation ceases when substantially all the
activities that are necessary to get the asset ready for use are complete
all other finance costs of debt are recognised in the income statement over the term of the debt at a constant rate on the 
carrying amount
o financial instruments
financial assets and financial liabilities are recognised in the group’ s balance sheet when the group becomes a party to the
contractual provisions of the instrument
financial assets are classified into the following specified categories financial assets “at fair value through profit or loss” fvtpl
“heldtomaturity” investments “availableforsale” afs financial assets and “loans and receivables” the classification depends 
on the nature and purpose of the financial assets and is determined at the time of initial recognition
financial assets at fvtpl
financial assets are classified as at fvtpl where the financial asset is either held for trading or it is designated as at fvtpl 
the group has no designated fvtpl financial assets t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
40
2 accounting policies continued
o financial instruments continued
a financial asset is classified as held for trading if
• it has been acquired principally for the purpose of selling in the near future or
• it is a part of an identified portfolio of financial instruments that the group manages together and has a recent actual pattern of
shortterm profittaking or
• it is a derivative that is not designated and effective as a hedging instrument
financial assets at fvtpl are stated at fair value with any resultant gain or loss recognised in profit or loss the net gain or loss
recognised in profit or loss incorporates any dividend or interest earned on the financial asset fair value is determined in the manner
described in note 2t
loans and receivables
trade receivables loans and other receivables that have fixed or determinable payments that are not quoted in an active market 
are classified as loans and receivables loans and receivables are measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method
less any impairment interest income is recognised by applying the effective interest rate except for shortterm receivables when 
the recognition of interest would be immaterial
impairment of financial assets
financial assets other than those at fvtpl are assessed for indicators of impairment at each balance sheet date financial assets
are impaired where there is objective evidence that as a result of one or more events that occurred after the initial recognition of the
financial asset the estimated future cash flows of the investment have been impacted
for certain categories of financial asset such as trade receivables assets that are assessed not to be impaired individually are
subsequently assessed for impairment on a collective basis objective evidence of impairment for a portfolio of receivables could
include the group’ s past experience of collecting payments an increase in the number of delayed payments in the portfolio past the
average credit period of 94 days as well as observable changes in national or local economic conditions that correlate with default
on receivables
the carrying amount of the financial asset is reduced by the impairment loss directly for all financial assets with the exception of
trade receivables where the carrying amount is reduced through the use of an allowance account when a trade receivable is
considered uncollectible it is written off against the allowance account subsequent recoveries of amounts previously written off are
credited against the allowance account changes in the carrying amount of the allowance account are recognised in profit or loss
if in a subsequent period the amount of the impairment loss decreases and the decrease can be related objectively to an event
occurring after the impairment was recognised the previously recognised impairment loss is reversed through profit or loss to the
extent that the carrying amount of the investment at the date the impairment is reversed does not exceed what the amortised cost
would have been had the impairment not been recognised
cash and cash equivalents
cash and cash equivalents comprise cash on hand and demand deposits and other shortterm highly liquid investments that are
readily convertible to a known amount of cash within three months and are subject to an insignificant risk of changes in value
derecognition of financial assets
the group derecognises a financial asset only when the contractual rights to the cash flows from the asset expire or it transfers the
financial asset and substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership of the asset to another entity if the group neither transfers nor
retains substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership and continues to control the transferred asset the group recognises its
retained interest in the asset and an associated liability for amounts it may have to pay if the group retains substantially all the risks
and rewards of ownership of a transferred financial asset the group continues to recognise the financial asset and also recognises 
a collateralised borrowing for the proceeds received
financial liabilities and equity
financial liabilities and equity instruments are classified according to the substance of the contractual arrangements entered into 
an equity instrument is any contract that evidences a residual interest in the assets of the group after deducting all of its liabilities
equity instruments issued by the group are recorded at the proceeds received net of direct issue costs
financial liabilities are classified as at fvtpl where the financial liability is either held for trading or it is designated as at fvtpl 
the group does not have any designated fvtpl liabilities
a financial liability is classified as held for trading if
• it has been incurred principally for the purpose of disposal in the near future or
• it is a part of an identified portfolio of financial instruments that the group manages together and has a recent actual pattern 
of shortterm profit taking or
• it is a derivative that is not designated and effective as a hedging instrument
for the 52 week period ending 27 september 2008
notes to the financial statements continued t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
41
2 accounting policies continued
o financial instruments continued
financial liabilities at fvtpl are stated at fair value with any resultant gain or loss recognised in profit or loss the net gain or loss
recognised in profit or loss incorporates any interest paid on the financial liability fair value is determined in the manner described 
in note 2t
other financial liabilities
other financial liabilities including borrowings are initially measured at fair value net of transaction costs other financial liabilities 
are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method with interest expense recognised on an effective
yield basis the effective interest method is a method of calculating the amortised cost of a financial liability and of allocating interest
expense over the relevant period the effective interest rate is the rate that exactly discounts estimated future cash payments
through the expected life of the financial liability or where appropriate a shorter period
derecognition of financial liabilities
the group derecognises financial liabilities when and only when the group’ s obligations are discharged cancelled or they expire
derivative financial instruments
the group’ s activities expose it primarily to the financial risks of changes in foreign currency exchange rates and interest rates
the group uses foreign exchange forward contracts and interest rate swap contracts to manage these exposures the group does
not hold or issue derivative financial instruments for speculative purposes
the use of financial derivatives is governed by the group’ s policies approved by the board of directors on the use of 
financial derivatives
derivatives are initially recognised at fair value at the date a derivative contract is entered into and are subsequently remeasured to
their fair value at each balance sheet date the resulting gain or loss is recognised in profit or loss immediately
a derivative is presented as a noncurrent asset or a noncurrent liability if the remaining maturity of the instrument is more than 
12 months and it is not expected to be realised or settled within 12 months other derivatives are presented as current assets or
current liabilities
derivatives embedded in other financial instruments or other host contracts are treated as separate derivatives when their risks 
and characteristics are not closely related to those of the host contracts and the host contracts are not measured at fair value 
with changes in fair value recognised in profit or loss
p sharebased payments
the group has applied the requirements of ifrs 2 sharebased payments in accordance with the transitional provisions 
ifrs 2 will be applied to all grants of equity instruments after 7 november 2002 that were unvested as of 1 october 2005
the group issues equity settled sharebased payments to certain employees equity settled sharebased payments are 
measured at fair value at the date of grant the fair value determined at the grant date of the sharebased payment is expensed 
on a straightline basis over the vesting period based on the group’ s estimate of shares that will eventually vest fair value is
measured by use of the black scholes model 
the group provides employees with the ability to purchase the group’ s ordinary shares at 80 of the current market value through
the operation of its share save scheme the group records an expense based on its estimate of the 20 discount related to shares
expected to vest on a straightline basis over the vesting period
q trade payables
trade payables are initially measured at fair value and are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest 
rate method
r profit from operations
profit from operations is stated after charging restructuring costs but before property disposals investment income and finance costs
s provisions
provisions are recognised when the group has a present obligation as a result of a past event and it is probable that the group will
be required to settle that obligation provisions are measured at the directors’ best estimate of the expenditure required to settle the
obligation at the balance sheet date and are discounted to present value where the effect is material t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
42
2 accounting policies continued
t critical accounting judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty
in the application of the group’ s accounting policies which are described above the directors are required to make judgements
estimates and assumptions about the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources 
the estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant
actual results may differ from these estimates
the estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis revisions to accounting estimates are recognised 
in the period in which the estimate is revised if the revision affects only that period or in the period of the revision and future periods 
if the revision affects both current and future periods
the following are the critical judgements apart from those involving estimations which are dealt with separately below that the
directors have made in the process of applying the group’ s accounting policies and that have the most significant effect on the
amounts recognised in financial statements
management consider the detailed criteria for the recognition of revenue from the sale of goods set out in ias 18 revenue and 
in particular whether the group has transferred to the buyer the significant risks and rewards of ownership of the goods and only
recognise revenue where this is the case
key sources of estimation uncertainty
the key assumptions concerning the future and other key sources of estimation uncertainty at the balance sheet date that have 
a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next financial year are
discussed below
impairment of goodwill
determining whether goodwill is impaired requires an estimation of the value in use of the cashgenerating units to which goodwill
has been allocated the value in use calculation requires the entity to estimate the future cash flows expected to arise from the 
cashgenerating unit and to discount by a suitable discount rate in order to calculate the present value the carrying amount of
goodwill at the balance sheet date is £02 million during the period the group has incurred an impairment charge of £12 million
details of the impairment charge calculation are provided in note 12
fair value of derivatives and other financial instruments
as described above the directors use their judgement in selecting an appropriate valuation technique for financial instruments 
not quoted in an active market valuation techniques commonly used by market practitioners are applied such as discounted 
cash flows and assumptions regarding market volatility
tax
the directors are aware of the material impact that corporation tax has on the group accounts and therefore they ensure that the
group continues to provide at a sufficient level for both current and deferred tax liabilities
3 revenue 
an analysis for the 52 week period of revenue is as follows
2008 2007
£’000 £’000
nontrade customers 184107 182830
trade customers 23977 25068
revenue from the sale of goods 208084 207898
interest received on interest rate swaps 347 165
interest receivable 645 847 
total revenue 209076 208910
interest receivable represents gains on loans and receivables there are no other gains recognised in respect of loans 
and receivables
for the 52 week period ending 27 september 2008
notes to the financial statements continued t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
43
4 business segments
the group is currently organised into three retail operating divisions t opps tiles t opps and tile clearing house tch both based
in the uk and t opps floorstore holland these divisions are the basis on which the group reports its primary segment information
segmental revenue and profit before taxation by business activity were as follows
segmental information for the 
52 weeks to 27 september 2008
topps
topps tch floorstore consolidated
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
revenue 175312 23977 8795 208084
operating profit before central costs 34353 3112 758 36707
head officedistribution centre costs 2087
group profit from operations 34620
other gains 877
finance costs less investment revenue 7774
profit before taxation 27723
other information
head office
topps distribution
topps tch floorstore centre consolidated
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
capital additions 4260 651 401 1310 6622
goodwill impairment – – – 1185 1185
depreciation 2922 440 353 1077 4792
balance sheet
segment assets 75283 8833 4644 – 88761
unallocated corporate assets – – – 4252 4252
consolidated total assets 75283 8833 4644 4252 93013
segment liabilities 16897 5285 3749 – 25931
unallocated corporate liabilities – – – 122195 122195
consolidated total liabilities 16897 5285 3749 122195 148126
segmental information for the 
52 weeks to 29 september 2007
topps
topps tch floorstore consolidated
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
revenue 175380 25068 7450 207898
operating profit before central costs 40448 5273 314 46035
head officedistribution centre costs 1693
group profit from operations 44342
other gains 270
finance costs less investment revenue 6779
profit before taxation 37833 t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
44
4 business segments continued
other information
head office
topps distribution
topps tch floorstore centre consolidated
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
capital additions 4733 1087 881 2973 9674
depreciation 268345127110194424
balance sheet
segment assets 72626 10063 5044 – 87733
unallocated corporate assets – – – 9398 9398
consolidated total assets 72626 10063 5044 9398 97131
segment liabilities 17272 1578 3712 – 22562
unallocated corporate liabilities – – – 129393 129393
consolidated total liabilities 17272 1578 3712 129393 151955
5 profit before taxation
profit before taxation for the period has been arrived at after chargingcrediting
2008 2007
£’000 £’000
depreciation of property plant and equipment 4792 4424
staff costs see note 6 42574 40156
impairment of goodwill 1185 –
operating lease rentals 19861 16725
cost of inventories recognised as expense 77735 75331
net foreign exchange gains 32 270
analysis of auditors’ remuneration is provided below
2008 2007
£’000 £’000
audit services
statutory audit of the company’s annual accounts 32 15
audit of company’s subsidiaries pursuant to legislation 105 110
total audit fees 137 125
tax services
compliance services 59 57
advisory services 2 73
total nonaudit fees 61 130
198 255
a description of the work of the audit committee is set out on page 28 and includes an explanation of how auditor objectivity and
independence is safeguarded when nonaudit services are provided by the auditors
for the 52 week period ending 27 september 2008
notes to the financial statements continued t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
45
6 staff costs
the average monthly number of employees including executive directors was
2008 2007
number number
employed employed
selling 1553 1541
administration 190 181
1743 1722
2008 2007
£’000 £’000
their aggregate remuneration comprised
wages and salaries including ltip 38713 36524
social security costs 3666 3397
other pension costs see note 28b 195 235
42574 40156
details of directors’ emoluments are disclosed on page 31
employee profit sharing of £65 million 2007 £79 million is included in the above and comprises sales commission and bonuses
7 other gains and losses
other gains and losses in 2008 relates to the sale of four freehold properties and in 2007 to the sale of a long leasehold property
8 investment revenue and finance costs
2008 2007
£’000 £’000
bank interest receivable and similar income 992 1012
finance costs
interest on bank loans and overdrafts 7302 7325
fair value loss on interest rate swaps 1464 480
interest costs capitalised – 14
finance costs 8766 7791
no finance costs are appropriate to be capitalised in the period in the prior period finance costs in respect of development sites
were capitalised based on a capitalisation rate of 51 last year which was the weighted average of rates applicable to the group’ s
general borrowings outstanding during the period
interest on bank loans and overdrafts represent gains and losses on financial liabilities measured at amortised cost there are no
other gains or losses recognised in respect of financial liabilities measured at amortised cost t otal losses from the movement in fair
value on held for trading on assets and liabilities derivative instruments were £1464000 2007 £480000 included within bank
interest and similar income is £347000 2007 £165000 being interest received on interest rate swaps
9tax
2008 2007
£’000 £’000
current tax – charge for the year 9711 11975
current tax – adjustment in respect of previous periods 1209 446
deferred tax – chargecredit for year note 20 434 334
deferred tax – adjustment in respect of previous periods note 20 16 6
11370 12093
corporation tax in the uk is calculated at 29 2007 30 of the estimated assessable profit for the year t axation for other
jurisdictions is calculated at the rates prevailing in the respective jurisdictions t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
46
9 t ax continued
the charge for the year can be reconciled to the profit per the income statement as follows
2008 2007
£’000 £’000
profit before taxation 27723 37833
tax at the uk corporation tax rate of 29 2007 30 8040 11350
tax effect of expenses that are not deductible in determining taxable profit 604 90
tax effect of iba release 1129 –
tax effect of change in tax rate – 119
tax effect of profit in excess of chargeable gains on sale of freehold property 36 6
tax effect of different tax rates on overseas earnings 29 –
tax effect of tangible fixed assets which do not qualify for capital allowances 379 326
tax effect of adjustment in respect of prior periods 1225 452
tax expense for the period 11370 12093
10 dividends
amounts recognised as distributions to equity holders in the period
2008 2007
£’000 £’000
final dividend paid for the 52 weeks ended 29 september 2007 of 695p 
2006 690p per ordinary share 11860 11767
interim dividend paid for the 26 weeks ended 29 march 2008 of 300p 2007 375p 5117 6396
under provision in respect of the prior period final dividend 45 6
17022 18169
proposed final dividend for the 52 weeks ended 27 september 2008 of 000p 
2007 695p per share – 11860
11 earnings per share
the calculation of earnings per share is based on the earnings for the financial period attributable to equity shareholders and the
weighted average number of ordinary shares as follows
2008 2007
number number 
of shares of shares
weighted average number of shares
for basic earnings per share 171008982 170536121
weighted average number of shares under option 175931 823079
for diluted earnings per share 171184913 171359200
12 goodwill
£’000
cost at 1 october 2006 551
acquisition of joint venture 879
cost and carrying value at 30 september 2007 1430
impairment of goodwill in the period 1185
cost and carrying value at 27 september 2008 245
the balance of goodwill remaining is the carrying value that arose on the acquisition of surface coatings ltd in 1998
the group tests goodwill annually for impairment or more frequently if there are indications that goodwill might be impaired
for the 52 week period ending 27 september 2008
notes to the financial statements continued t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
47
12 goodwill continued
the recoverable amounts are determined from value in use calculations the key assumptions for the value in use calculations 
are those regarding the discount rates growth rates and expected changes to selling prices and direct costs during the period
management estimates discount rates based on the group’ s weighted average cost of capital the growth rates are based on
industry growth forecasts changes in selling prices and direct costs are based on past practices and expectations of future
changes in the market discounted cash flows are calculated using a post tax rate of 58 2007 75
the group prepares cash flow forecasts derived from the most recent financial budgets approved by management for the next 
five years and extrapolates cash flows for the following five years based on an estimated growth rate of 2 this rate does not
exceed the average long term growth rate for the relevant markets
as a result of the annual test of impairment of goodwill the directors have decided that an impairment of the goodwill relating to 
the dutch operation is prudent at this stage the review of the business valuation has taken into account the operating loss in 
the period of £758000 and local managements internal budgets and expectations for the next five years as a result of this it is
considered that a business valuation can support the carrying value of the current tangible fixed assets but not the goodwill that
arose on acquisition therefore the group has impaired the full carrying value of goodwill relating to the acquisition of t opps 
holding bv  
13 property plant and equipment
land and buildings
fixtures
short and motor
freehold leasehold fittings vehicles total
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
cost
at 1 october 2006 16482 2397 32882 111 51872
additions 2040 115 7288 221 9664
acquisition of joint venture – – 1879 156 2035
disposals – 746 2390 146 3282
at 30 september 2007 18522 1766 39659 342 60289
foreign exchange movement 142 16 373 3 534
additions 1231 60 5311 20 6622
disposals 3247 – 1740 22 5009
at 27 september 2008 16648 1842 43603 343 62436
accumulated depreciation and impairment
at 1 october 2006 588 902 13482 43 15015
acquisition of joint venture – – 649 30 679
charge for the period 268 130 3954 72 4424
eliminated on disposals – 28 1591 61 1680
at 30 september 2007 856 1004 16494 84 18438
foreign exchange movement 9 10 169 1 189
charge for the period 281 131 4307 73 4792
eliminated on disposals 124 – 1233 12 1369
at 27 september 2008 1022 1145 19737 146 22050
carrying amount
at 27 september 2008 15626 697 23866 197 40386
at 29 september 2007 17666 762 23165 258 41851
freehold land and buildings include £4104000 of land 2007 £4104000 on which no depreciation has been charged in the
current period
cumulative finance costs capitalised included in the cost of tangible fixed assets amount to £nil 2007 £422000 see note 8 
for further details
the group has no contractual commitments for the acquisition of property plant and equipment 2007 £nil t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
48
14 subsidiaries
a list of the significant subsidiaries including the name country of incorporation and proportion of ownership interest is given 
in note 3 to the company’ s separate financial statements
15 trade and other receivables
2008 2007
£’000 £’000
amounts falling due within one year
amounts receivable for the sale of goods 493 357
other debtors and prepayments
– rent and rates 4693 4277
– derivative financial instruments 165 –
– other 2558 2368
7909 7002
the directors consider that the carrying amount of trade and other receivables at 27 september 2008 and 29 september 2007
approximates to their fair value on the basis of discounted cash flow analysis
credit risk
the group’ s principal financial assets are bank balances and cash and trade receivables
the group considers that it has no significant concentration of credit risk the majority of sales in the business are cash based sales
in the stores
t otal trade receivables net of allowances held by the group at 27 september 2008 amounted to £05 million 2007 £04 million
these amounts mainly relate to insurance generated sales and sundry trade accounts in relation to these sales the average 
credit period taken is 94 days and no interest is charged on the receivables trade receivables between 60 days and 120 days are
provided for based on estimated irrecoverable amounts from the sale of goods determined by reference to past default experience
before accepting any new customer the group uses an external credit scoring system to assess the potential customer’ s credit
quality and defines credit limits by customer limits and scoring attributed to customers are reviewed periodically of the trade
receivables balance at the end of the year £137000 2007 £46000 is due from independent inspections the group’ s largest
customer there are no other customers who represent more than 5 of the total balance of trade receivables
included in the group’ s trade receivable balance are debtors with a carrying amount of £228000 2007 £92000 which are past 
due at the reporting date for which the group has not provided as there has not been a significant change in credit quality and the
amounts are still considered recoverable the group does not hold any collateral over these balances the average age of these
receivables is 200 days 2007 340 days however this ageing is distorted by one account of £6000 2007 two accounts totalling
£6300 which is overdue by 1092 days 2007 834 days
ageing of past due but not impaired receivables
2008 2007
£’000 £’000
60–120 days 228 92
the allowance for doubtful debts was £5000 at the beginning and end of the period 2007 £5000 given the minimal receivable
balance the directors believe that there is no further credit provision required in excess of the allowance for doubtful debts
the allowance for doubtful debts includes no individually impaired trade receivables 2007 £nil which have been placed 
under liquidation
16 cash and cash equivalents
cash and cash equivalents comprise cash held by the group and shortterm bank deposits with associated right of set off with 
an original maturity of three months or less the carrying amount of these assets approximates their fair value a breakdown of
significant bank and cash balances by currency is as follows
2008 2007
£’000 £’000
sterling 13906 18386
us dollar 316 462
euro 245 2143
total cash and cash equivalents 13977 15781
for the 52 week period ending 27 september 2008
notes to the financial statements continued t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
49
17 other financial liabilities
trade and other payables
2008 2007
£’000 £’000
amounts falling due within one year
trade payables 15373 19702
other payables 7339 4743
accruals and deferred income 7249 6571
29961 31016
trade payables and accruals principally comprise amounts outstanding for trade purchases and ongoing costs the average credit
period taken for trade purchases is 48 days 2007 65 days no interest is charged on these payables
the directors consider that the carrying amount of trade payables at 27 september 2008 and 29 september 2007 approximates 
to their fair value on the basis of discounted cash flow analysis
18 bank loans
2008 2007
£’000 £’000
bank loans all sterling 105213 110644
the borrowings are repayable as follows
on demand or within one year 7500 5000
in the second year 7500 5000
in the third to fifth year 91000 101000
106000 111000
less total unamortised issue costs 787 356
105213 110644
less amount due for settlement within 12 months shown under current liabilities 7500 5000
issue costs to be amortised within 12 months 250 93
amount due for settlement after 12 months 97963 105737
the weighted average interest rates paid were as follows
2008 2007
 
loans 64658 61286
the group borrowings are arranged at floating rates thus exposing the group to cash flow interest rate risk
the group has one principal bank loan of £116 million taken out on 1 august 2006 during the period the banking facilities were
renegotiated with a relaxation of both covenants associated with the debt repayments commenced on 28 july 2007 and will
continue for an extended period until 28 january 2012 there was a oneoff arrangement fee of £05 million which is being
amortised over the remaining period of the facility the loan is secured by upstream guarantees provided by certain subsidiaries 
the libor margin shall be adjusted between 15 and 275 dependent on the group’ s level of compliance with a net debt 
to ebitda covenant
at 27 september 2008 the group had available £5 million 2007 £5 million of undrawn committed banking facilities t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
50
19 financial instruments
capital risk management
the group manages its capital to ensure that entities in the group will be able to continue as a going concern while maximising the
return to stakeholders through the optimisation of the debt and equity balance the capital structure of the group consists of debt
which includes the borrowings disclosed in note 18 cash and cash equivalents disclosed in note 16 and equity attributable to equity
holders of the parent comprising issued capital reserves and retained earnings as disclosed in notes 21 to 27
significant accounting policies
details of the significant accounting policies and methods adopted including the criteria for recognition the basis of measurement
and the basis on which income and expenses are recognised in respect of each class of financial asset financial liability and equity
instrument are disclosed in note 2 to the financial statements
categories of financial instruments
carrying value and 
fair value
2008 2007
£’000 £’000
financial assets
held for trading 165 –
loans and receivables including cash and cash equivalents 21721 22783
financial liabilities
held for trading 2110 481
amortised cost 135174 141660
the group considers itself to be exposed to risks on financial instruments including market risk including currency risk credit risk
liquidity risk and cash flow interest rate risk 
the group seeks to minimise the effects of these risks by using derivative financial instruments to hedge these risk exposures
economically the use of financial derivatives is governed by the group’ s policies approved by the board of directors which provide
written principles on foreign exchange risk interest rate risk credit risk the use of financial derivatives and nonderivative financial
instruments and the investment of excess liquidity the group does not enter into or trade financial instruments including derivative
financial instruments for speculative purposes 
market risks
the group’ s activities expose it primarily to the financial risks of changes in foreign currency exchange rates and interest rates 
the group enters into a variety of derivative financial instruments to manage its exposure to interest rate and foreign currency 
risk including 
• forward foreign exchange contracts to hedge the exchange rate risk arising on the import of goods from south america 
and china and
• interest rate swaps and collars to mitigate the risk of movements in interest rates
for the 52 week period ending 27 september 2008
notes to the financial statements continued t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
51
19 financial instruments continued
foreign currency risk management
the group undertakes certain transactions denominated in foreign currencies hence exposures to exchange rate fluctuations
arise exchange rate exposures are managed within approved policy parameters utilising forward foreign exchange contracts 
the carrying amounts of the group’ s foreign currency denominated monetary assets and monetary liabilities at the reporting date
are as follows
assets liabilities
2008 2007 2008 2007
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
euro 1471 552 5278 4889
us dollar 317 – 323 1091
foreign currency sensitivity analysis
the group is mainly exposed to the currency of the netherlands euro currency and the currency of china and brazil us dollar
currency and stock purchases from various european countries euro the following table details the group’ s sensitivity to a 
10 increase and decrease in the sterling against the relevant foreign currencies 10 represents management’ s assessment 
of the reasonably possible change in foreign exchange rates the sensitivity analysis includes only outstanding foreign currency
denominated monetary items and adjusts their translation at the period end for a 10 change in foreign currency rates 
the sensitivity analysis includes external loans as well as loans to foreign operations within the group where the denomination 
of the loan is in a currency other than the currency of the lender or the borrower a positive number below indicates an increase 
in profit and other equity where sterling strengthens 10 against the relevant currency for a 10 weakening of sterling against 
the relevant currency there would be an equal and opposite impact on the profit and other equity and the balances below would 
be negative
2008 2007
£’000 £’000
profit or loss movement on a 10 strengthening in sterling against the euro 479 642
profit or loss movement on a 10 strengthening in sterling against the us dollar 1 213
currency derivatives
the group utilises currency derivatives to hedge significant future transactions and cash flows the group uses foreign currency
forward contracts in the management of its exchange rate exposures the contracts are denominated in us dollars and euros
at the balance sheet date the total notional amount of outstanding forward foreign exchange contracts that the group has
committed to are as below
2008 2007
£’000 £’000
forward foreign exchange contracts 400 7800
these arrangements are designed to address significant exchange exposures for the first half of 2008 and are renewed on a
revolving basis as required
at 27 september 2008 the fair value of the group’ s currency derivatives is a £62000 liability 2007 a liability of £251000 
these amounts are based on market value of equivalent instruments at the balance sheet date
gains of £189000 are included in operating profit in the year 2007 losses of £251000
interest rate risk management
the group is exposed to interest rate risk as entities in the group borrow funds at floating interest rates the risk is managed by the
group by maintaining an appropriate mix between fixed and floating rate borrowings by the use of interest rate swap contracts and
collars the group’ s exposures to interest rates on financial assets and financial liabilities are detailed in the liquidity risk management
section of this note t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
52
19 financial instruments continued
interest rate sensitivity analysis
the sensitivity analyses below have been determined based on the exposure to interest rates for both derivatives and nonderivative
instruments at the balance sheet date for floating rate liabilities the analysis is prepared assuming the amount of liability outstanding
at balance sheet date was outstanding for the whole year a 50 basis points increase or decrease is used when reporting interest
rate risk internally to key management personnel and represents management’ s assessment of the possible change in interest rates
if interest rates had been 50 basis points higherlower and all other variables were held constant the group’ s profit would be
impacted as follows
50 basis points 50 basis points 
increase in interest rates decrease in interest rates
2008 2007 2008 2007
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
profit or loss 558 689 3208 1808
the group’ s sensitivity to interest rates has decreased during the current period mainly due to the reduction in variable rate debt
instruments and the increase in interest rate swaps
interest rate swaps
the group uses interest rate swaps to manage its exposure to interest rate movements on its bank borrowings 
the group’ s interest rate swaps comprise
• five year interest rate cap with a notional value of £20 million with interest capped at 6
• five year interest rate swap with a notional value of £20 million paying interest at a fixed rate of 563
• ten year cancellable collar with a notional value of £60 million with a cap of 56 and a floor of 449 the interest rate within this
range is libor less 04 where libor falls below the floor the interest rate resets to a fixed level of 555 
the fair value liability of the swaps entered into at 27 september 2008 is estimated at £1945000 2007 £481000 amounts of
£1464000 have been charged to finance costs in the year 2007 £481000
credit risk management
credit risk refers to the risk that a counterparty will default on its contractual obligations resulting in financial loss to the group
management have considered the counterparty risk associated with the cash and derivative balances and do not consider 
there to be a material risk the group has a policy of only dealing with creditworthy counterparties the group’ s exposure to its
counterparties is reviewed periodically trade receivables are minimal consisting of a number of insurance companies and sundry
trade accounts further information is provided in note 15 
the carrying amount of financial assets recorded in the financial statements which is net of impairment losses represents the
group’ s maximum exposure to credit risk without taking account of the value of any collateral obtained
liquidity risk management
ultimate responsibility for liquidity risk management rests with the board of directors the group manages liquidity risk by maintaining
adequate reserves banking facilities and reserve borrowing facilities by continuously monitoring forecast and actual cash flows and
matching the maturity profiles of financial assets and liabilities included in note 18 is a description of additional undrawn facilities that
the group has at its disposal to reduce liquidity risk further
for the 52 week period ending 27 september 2008
notes to the financial statements continued t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
53
19 financial instruments continued
liquidity and interest risk tables
the following tables detail the group’ s remaining contractual maturity for its nonderivative financial liabilities the tables have been
drawn up based on the undiscounted cash flows and on the assumption that the variable interest rate remains constant at the
latest fixing level of 74536 of financial liabilities based on the earliest date on which the group can be required to pay the table
includes both interest and principal cash flows
less than 3 months 
1 month 1–3 months to 1 year 1–5 years 5 years total
2008 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
noninterest bearing 29961 –––– 29961
variable interest rate instruments – 3190 12553 114863 – 130606
less than 3 months 
1 month 1–3 months to 1 year 1–5 years 5 years total
2007 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
noninterest bearing 31016–––– 31016
variable interest rate instruments – 1900 10242 129412 – 141554
the group has access to financing facilities of which the total unused amount is £5 million at the balance sheet date 2007 
£5 million the group expects to meet its other obligations from operating cash flows and proceeds of maturing financial assets
the group expects to continue to reduce its debt to equity ratio which is currently 192
the following table details the group’ s liquidity analysis for its derivative financial instruments the table has been drawn up based 
on the undiscounted net cash inflowsoutflows on the derivative instrument that settle on a net basis and the undiscounted gross
inflows and outflows on those derivatives that require gross settlement when the amount payable or receivable is not fixed the
amount disclosed has been determined by reference to the projected interest and foreign currency rates as illustrated by the yield
curves existing at the reporting date
less than 3 months 
1 month 1–3 months to 1 year 15 years 5 years total
2008 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
interest rate swaps payments – – 679 2462 – 3141
foreign exchange forward 
contracts payments 400 –––– 400
interest rate swaps receipts 18 58 – – – 77
foreign exchange forward 
contracts receipts 338 – – – 338
less than 3 months 
1 month 1–3 months to 1 year 1–5 years 5 years total
2007 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
interest rate swaps payments – – – 3141 – 3141
foreign exchange forward 
contracts payments 600 1200 5400 600 – 7800
interest rate swaps receipts 29 171 144 22 – 366
foreign exchange forward 
contracts receipts 594 1157 5208 590 – 7549 t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
54
19 financial instruments continued
fair value of financial instruments
the fair values of financial assets and financial liabilities are determined as follows
• foreign currency forward contracts are measured using quoted forward exchange rates and yield curves derived from quoted
interest rates matching maturities of the contracts
• interest rate swaps are measured at the present value of future cash flows estimated and discounted based on the applicable 
yield curves derived from quoted interest rates
• interest rate collars are measured using applicable yield curves derived from quoted interest rates and market volatilities
20 deferred tax
the following are the major deferred tax liabilitiesassets recognised by the group and movements thereon during the current and
prior reporting period
accelerated tax sharebased exchange interest
depreciation tax losses payments rate differences rate hedging rent free total
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
at 2 october 2006 2088 – 696 17 – 142 1233
chargedcredit to income 143 – 18 53 135 21 328
share options exercised 
in the period – – 195––– 195
credit to equity – – 38 – – – 38
at 30 september 2007 1945 557 70 135 121 1062
chargecredit to income 1109 215 28 74 410 80 450
share options exercised 
in the period – – 147––– 147
charge to equity – – 305––– 305
at 27 september 2008 3054 215 133 4 545 201 1964
21 calledup share capital
2008 2007
£’000 £’000
authorised 240000000 2007 240000000 ordinary shares of 333p each 2007 333p 8000 8000
authorised 37000000 2007 37000000 redeemable b shares of £054 each 19980 19980
authorised 124890948 2007 124890948 irredeemable c shares of £0001 each 125 125
28105 28105
issued and fullypaid 171092506 2007 170579936 ordinary shares of 333p each 
2007 333p 5703 5686
total 5703 5686
during the period the group allotted 512570 2007 272096 ordinary shares with a nominal value of £17000 2007 £8000 
under share option schemes for an aggregate cash consideration of £337000 2007 £158000
for the 52 week period ending 27 september 2008
notes to the financial statements continued t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
55
22 share premium
2008 2007
£’000 £’000
balance at start of period 681 531
premium on issue of new shares 320 150
balance at end of period 1001 681
23 merger reserve
2008 2007
£’000 £’000
balance at start of period 240 399
premium on issue of new shares – 639
balance at end of period 240 240
250000 ordinary shares with a market value of £647500 were issued in 2007 as consideration for the acquisition of t opps tiles
holdings bv leading to an increase in the merger reserve of £639000
24 sharebased payment reserve
2008 2007
£’000 £’000
at start of period 222 166
share option charge 100 56
at end of period 322 222
25 capital redemption reserve
2008 2007
£’000 £’000
at start of period 20359 20254
cancellation of shares – 105
at end of period 20359 20359
26 foreign exchange reserve
2008 2007
£’000 £’000
at start of period – –
exchange differences on consolidation of overseas operations 248 –
at end of period 248 –
27 retained earnings
£’000
at 1 october 2006 89621
dividends paid 18169
deferred tax on sharesave scheme taken directly to equity 157
tax effect of share options exercised 195
net profit for period 25740
at 30 september 2007 82012
dividends paid 17022
deferred tax on sharesave scheme taken directly to equity 305
net profit for the period 16353
at 27 september 2008 82986 t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
56
28 financial commitments
a capital commitments
at the end of the period there were no capital commitments contracted 2007 £nil
b pension arrangements
the group operates separate defined contribution pension schemes for employees the assets of the schemes are held separately
from those of the group in independently administered funds the pension cost charge represents contributions payable by the
group to the funds and amounted to £195000 2007 £235000
c lease commitments
the group has entered into non cancellable operating leases in respect of motor vehicles equipment and land and buildings
minimum lease payments under operating leases recognised an expense for the period were £19861000 which includes property
service charges of £593000 2007 £16725000 including property service charges of £470000  
at the balance sheet date the group had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under noncancellable
operating leases which fall due as follows
2008 2007
land and land and
buildings other buildings other
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
– within one year 17953 1021 16642 858
– within two to five years 60203 1519 56421 1435
– after five years 66116 104 64131 168
144272 2644 137194 2461
operating lease payments primarily represent rentals payable by the group for certain of its office and store properties leases are
negotiated for an average term of 15 years and rentals are fixed for an average of five years 2007 same 
29 sharebased payments
the group operates two share option schemes in relation to group employees 
equity settled share option scheme
options are exercisable at the middle market closing price for the working day prior to the date of grant and are exercisable three
years from the date of grant if the employee is still employed by the group at that date
details of the share options outstanding during the period are as follows
option price exercisable number of options outstanding
date of grant p period 2008 2007
26 january 2001 054p 7 years 108520 345345
12 february 2002 054p 7 years 40779 47445
149299 392790
movements in share options are summarised as follows
2008 2007
weighted weighted
average number of average
number of exercise price share options exercise price
share options £ ££
outstanding at beginning of period 392790 054 422135 054
exercised during the period 243491 054 28345 054
expired during the period –– 1000 054
outstanding at end of period 149299 054 392790 054
exercisable at end of period 149299 054 392790 054
the weighted average share price at the date of exercise for options exercised in the period was 13388p 2007 25910p 
the options outstanding at 27 september 2008 had a weighted averaged exercise price of 54p 2007 54p and a weighted 
average remaining contractual life of three years 2007 four years
for the 52 week period ending 27 september 2008
notes to the financial statements continued t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
57
29 sharebased payments continued
other sharebased payment plans
the employee share purchase plans are open to almost all employees and provide for a purchase price equal to the daily average
market price on the date of grant less 20 the shares can be purchased during a twoweek period each year the shares so
purchased are generally placed in the employee share savings plan for a three or fiveyear period
movements in sharebased payment plan options are summarised as follows
2008 2007
weighted weighted
number of average number of average
share options exercise price share options exercise price
outstanding at beginning of period 913701 129p 1009538 96p
issued during the period 376805 131p 198211 217p
expired during the period 303792 129p 72768 96p
exercised during the period 269079 76p 221280 60p
outstanding at end of period 717635 135p 913701 129p
exercisable at end of period 717635 135p 913701 129p
the group recognised a total expenses of £100000 2007 £56000 relating to sharebased payments
the inputs to the blackscholes model are as follows
2008 2007
weighted average share price – pence 1400 1448
weighted average exercise price – pence 1120 1158
expected volatility –  882 278
expected life – years 3 or 5 3 or 5
risk – free rate of interest –  45 43
dividend yield –  46 44
expected volatility was determined by calculating the historical volatility of the group’ s share price over the previous three years 
the expected risk used in the model has been adjusted based on management’ s best estimate for the effects of nontransferability
exercise restrictions and behavioural forces
30 related parties
skm williams has the nonstatutory role of president advising on property matters and is a related party by virtue of his 104
shareholding 17718950 ordinary shares in the group’ s issued share capital 
at 27 september 2008 skm williams was the landlord of two properties leased to multi tile limited a trading subsidiary 
of t opps tiles plc for £66000 2007 £66000 per annum
no amounts were outstanding at 27 september 2008 2007 £nil
the lease agreements on both properties are operated on commercial arm’ slength terms his salary for the year in his role 
as president was £40000 2007 £96000
transactions between the company and its subsidiaries which are related parties have been eliminated on consolidation and are
not disclosed in this note 
the remuneration of the board of directors who are considered key management personnel of the group was £11 million 
2007 £19 million further information about the remuneration of the individual directors is provided in the remuneration report 
on pages 29 to 31 t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
58
we have audited the parent company financial statements of t opps tiles plc for the period ended 27 september 2008 which comprise
the balance sheet and the related notes 1 to 7 these parent company financial statements have been prepared under the accounting
policies set out therein
we have reported separately on the group financial statements of t opps tiles plc for the period ended 27 september 2008 and on 
the information in the directors’ remuneration report that is described as having been audited 
this report is made solely to the company’ s members as a body in accordance with section 235 of the companies act 1985 
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 auditors’ report and for no other purpose t o 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 parent company financial statements in accordance with
applicable law and united kingdom accounting standards united kingdom generally accepted accounting practice are set out 
in the statement of directors’ responsibilities
our responsibility is to audit the parent company financial statements in accordance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements and
international standards on auditing uk and ireland
we report to you our opinion as to whether the parent company financial statements give a true and fair view and whether the parent
company financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with the companies act 1985 we also report to you whether
in our opinion the directors’ report is consistent with the parent company financial statements the information given in the directors’
report includes that specific information presented in the business review that is cross referred from the business review section 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 specified 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 parent company
financial statements the other information comprises only the directors’ report the chairman’ s statement the chief executive’s
statement and the business review we consider the implications for our report if we become aware of any apparent misstatements 
or material inconsistencies with the parent company financial statements our responsibilities do not extend to any further information
outside the annual report
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 parent company financial
statements it also includes an assessment of the significant estimates and judgements made by the directors in the preparation of 
the parent company financial statements and of whether the accounting policies are appropriate to the 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 sufficient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the parent company financial statements 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 parent company financial statements
opinion
in our opinion
� the parent company financial statements give a true and fair view in accordance with united kingdom generally accepted accou nting
practice of the state of the company’ s affairs as at 27 september 2008
� the parent company financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with the companies act 1985 and
� the information given in the directors’ report is consistent with the parent company financial statements
deloitte  t ouche llp
chartered accountants and registered auditors 
manchester united kingdom
24 november 2008
to the members of topps tiles plc
independent auditors’ report – company financial statements t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
59
2008 2007
notes £’000 £’000
fixed assets
investments 3 4497 4397
4497 4397
current assets
debtors within one year 4 26 –
debtors after one year 4 221200 221740
cash at bank and in hand 18243 25101
239469 246841
creditors amounts falling due within one year 5 2286 1023
net current assets 237183 245818
net assets 241680 250215
capital and reserves
calledup share capital 6 5703 5686
share premium 7 1001 681
sharebased payment reserve 7 322 222
merger reserve 7 639 639
capital redemption reserve 7 20359 20359
other reserve 7 6200 6200
profit and loss account 7 207456 216428
equity shareholders’ funds 241680 250215
the financial statements were approved by the board of directors on 24 november 2008 and signed on its behalf by
m williams
director
r parker
director
company balance sheet
as at 27 september 2008 t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
60
notes to the company financial statements
for the 52 week period ending 27 september 2008
1 basis of accounting
the separate financial statements of the company are presented as required by the companies act 1985 they have been
prepared under the historical cost convention and in accordance with united kingdom accounting standards and law
the principal accounting policies are summarised below they have all been applied consistently throughout the year and the
preceding year
the company issues equity settled sharebased payments to certain employees equity settled sharebased payments are
measured at fair value at the date of grant in previous periods the fair value determined at the grant date of the sharebased
payment has been expensed on a straightline basis over the vesting period based on the company’ s estimate of shares that will
eventually vest in the current period the company has adopted the guidance principles of ifric 11 a parent grants rights to its
equity instruments to employees of its subsidiaries with the charge being added to the cost of investment in those subsidiaries
whose employees receive the benefit of the share options
fixed asset investments are shown at cost less provision for impairment
the company has taken advantage of the exemption in frs 8 from disclosing transactions with other members of the group 
and the exemption in frs 29 for making disclosures relating to financial instruments
2 profit for the year
as permitted by section 230 of the companies act 1985 the company has elected not to present its own profit and loss 
account for the year t opps tiles plc reported a retained loss for the financial year ended 27 september 2008 of £8972000 
2007 profit of £1358000
the auditor’ s remuneration for services to the company was £32000 for audit related work 2007 £15000 for audit related work
no fees were payable in either year in relation to nonaudit work
the company had no other employees other than the directors 2007 same their remuneration is detailed on page 31
3 fixed asset investments
shares total
£’000 £’000
at 30 september 2007 4397 4397
share options granted to employees of subsidiary companies 100 –
at 27 september 2008 4497 4397
the company has investments in the following subsidiaries which principally affected the profits or net assets of the group t o avoid
a statement of excessive length details of investments which are not significant have been omitted
percentage of 
subsidiary undertaking issued shares held principal activity
topalpha limited 100 property management and investment
multi tile limited 100 retail and wholesale of ceramic tiles wood flooring and related products
topps tiles holdings 100 intermediate holding company
topps tiles uk limited 100 retail and wholesale of ceramic tiles wood flooring and related products
topps tiles distribution ltd 100 wholesale and distribution of ceramic tiles wood flooring and related products
topps tiles holdings bv 100 retail and wholesale of ceramic tiles wood flooring and related products
held directly by t opps tiles plc
the investments are represented by ordinary shares
all undertakings are incorporated in great britain and are registered and operate in england and wales except for t opps tiles
holland bv and t opps tiles holdings bv which are registered and incorporated in the netherlands t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
61
4 debtors
2008 2007
£’000 £’000
amounts falling due within one year
prepayments and accrued income 26 –
amounts falling due after one year
amounts owed by subsidiary undertaking 221200 221740
5 creditors amounts falling due within one year
2008 2007
£’000 £’000
trade and other creditors 8 17
amounts owed to group companies 1863 673
accruals and deferred income 415 333
2286 1023
6 called up share capital
2008 2007
£’000 £’000
authorised 240000000 2007 24000000 ordinary shares of 333p each 2007 333p 8000 8000
authorised 37000000 2007 37000000 redeemable b shares of £054 each 19980 19980
authorised 124890948 2007 124890948 irredeemable c shares of £0001 each 125 125
28105 28105
issued and fullypaid 171092506 2007 170579936 ordinary shares of 333p each 
2007 333p 5703 5686
total 5703 5686
during the period the group allotted 512570 2007 272096 ordinary shares with a nominal value of £17000 2007 £8000 under
share option schemes for an aggregate cash consideration of £337000 2007 £158000
7 reserves
sharebased capital profit
share payment merger redemption other and loss
premium reserve reserve reserve reserves account
company £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
at 30 september 2007 681 222 639 20359 6200 216428
premium on issue of new shares 320 –––––
sharebased payment reserve movement – 100 ––––
profit for the period ––––– 8050
dividend paid to equity shareholders ––––– 17022
at 27 september 2008 1001 322 639 20359 6200 207456
at 27 september 2008 the directors consider the other reserve of £6200000 to remain nondistributable 
the directors consider £203106000 of the profit and loss account reserves not to be distributable at 27 september 2008 due 
to them arising on an unrealised gain on the disposal of subsidiary companies t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
62
53 weeks
ended 52 weeks 52 weeks 52 weeks 52 weeks 
2 october ended ended ended ended
2004 1 october 30 september 29 september 27 september 
uk gaap 2005 2006 2007 2008
unaudited £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
group revenue 157612 173326 180180 207898 208084
group profit from operations 32548 36822 38869 44342 34620
profit before taxation 33794 39191 39064 37833 27723
shareholders’ fundsdeficit 47062 52230 63600 54824 55113
basic earnings per share
1
1130p 1333p 1280p 1509p 956p
dividend per share
1
800p 950p 1040p 1070p 300p
dividend cover 141 141 141 141 319
average number of employees 1327 1513 1582 1722 1743
share price period end
1
1789p 1720p 2590p 1968p 5825p
1 adjusted for share subdivision of 51 in may 2004
five year record t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
63
notice is hereby given that the annual general meeting of t opps tiles plc the “company” will be held at t opps tiles plc 
thorpe way grove park enderby leicestershire le19 1su on tuesday 13 january 2009 at 1030am for the following purposes
ordinary business
1 t o receive and adopt the company’ s annual report and financial statements for the financial period ended 27 september 2008
together with the last directors’ report the last directors’ remuneration report and the auditors’ report on those accounts and
the auditable part of the directors’ remuneration report
2 t o reelect alan white who has been appointed since the last agm as a director of the company
3 t o reelect matthew williams as a director of the company
4 t o reelect nicholas ounstead as a director of the company
5 t o reelect the rt hon michael jack as a director of the company
6 t o reappoint deloitte  t ouche llp as auditors to hold office from the conclusion of the meeting to the conclusion of the next
meeting at which the annual report and financial statements are laid before the company at a remuneration to be determined 
by the directors
7 t o approve the directors’ remuneration report for the financial period ended 27 september 2008 as set out in the annual report
and financial statements for that period
special business
t o consider and if thought fit to pass the resolutions set out below which in the case of resolution 8 will be proposed as an ordinary
resolution and in the case of resolutions 9 to 12 will be proposed as special resolutions
8 that the directors of the company be and they are generally and unconditionally authorised for the purposes of and pursuant to
section 801 of the companies act 1985 the “act” to exercise all the powers of the company to allot relevant securities as defined
in section 802 of the act up to an aggregate nominal amount of £1889510 in substitution forto any existing authorities under the
act to such persons at such times and upon such terms and conditions as they may determine subject always to the articles of
association of the company provided that this authority shall unless previously revoked varied or extended by the company in
general meeting expire at the conclusion of the next annual general meeting or 15 months from the date of the passing of this
resolution if earlier save that the company may before such expiry make an offer agreement or arrangement which would or 
might require relevant securities to be allotted after the expiry of such period and the directors may then allot relevant securities
pursuant to any such offer agreement or arrangement as if the authority or power conferred hereby had not expired
9 that subject to and conditional on the passing of resolution 9 set out above the directors of the company be and they are
authorised and empowered pursuant to section 95 of the act to allot equity securities as defined in section 94 of the act for 
cash pursuant to the general authority and power conferred by resolution 9 above as varied from time to time by the company in
general meeting as if section 891 of the act did not apply to any such allotment provided that this authority and power shall unless
renewed varied or revoked expire at the conclusion of the next annual general meeting of the company or 15 months from the
date of the passing of this resolution if earlier and provided further that this authority and power shall be limited to
a the allotment of equity securities pursuant to a rights issue or similar offer to ordinary shareholders where the equity securities
respectively attributable to the interests of all ordinary shareholders are proportionate or as nearly as practical and taking into
account any prohibitions against or difficulties concerning the making of an offer of allotment to shareholders whose registered
address or place of residence is overseas and subject to such exclusions as the directors of the company may deem necessary
or expedient to deal with fractional entitlement or record dates to the respective numbers of ordinary shares held by them and
b the allotment otherwise than pursuant to paragraph a above of equity securities up to an aggregate nominal amount of the
greater of £283429 or 5 of the issued share capital of the company
10 that the company be generally and unconditionally authorised for the purposes of section 166 of the act to make market
purchases within the meaning of section 1633 of the act of ordinary shares of 3
1
⁄ 3p each in the capital of the company 
“ordinary shares” provided that
a the maximum number of ordinary shares hereby authorised to be purchased is 25338618 representing 149 of the
company’ s issued ordinary share capital
b the minimum price exclusive of any expenses which may be paid for an ordinary share is 3
1
⁄ 3p
c the maximum price exclusive of any expenses which may be paid for an ordinary share is an amount equal to 105 of the
average of the middle market quotations for an ordinary share derived from the london stock exchange daily official list for 
the five business days immediately preceding the date on which such ordinary share is contracted to be purchased
d unless previously renewed varied or revoked the authority conferred shall expire at the close of the next annual general meeting
of the company or 12 months from the date of this resolution if earlier and
notice of annual general meeting t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
64
e the company may make a contract for the purchase of ordinary shares under this authority before the expiry of this authority
which would or might require to be executed wholly or partly after the expiry of such authority and may make purchases of
ordinary shares in pursuance of such a contract as if such authority had not expired
11 that the draft articles of association signed by the chairman for identification be adopted as the articles of association in
substitution for and to the exclusion of all the existing articles of association
12 that 
a the t opps tiles plc 2008 sharesave scheme “the sharesave scheme” in the form produced at the meeting and initialled by
the chairman of the meeting for the purpose of identification be approved and adopted subject to any amendments required
by hm revenue  customs in order to obtain approval of the sharesave scheme under the income t ax earnings and
pensions act 2003 and
b the directors of the company be authorised to do all acts and things which they may consider necessary or expedient for the
purposes of implementing and giving effect to the same
notes
1 this notice has been sent to all ordinary shareholders who are entitled to attend or be represented at the meeting as at the close 
of business on the date of this notice the company’ s issued share capital comprised 171092506 ordinary shares of 333 pence
each each ordinary share carries the right to one vote at a general meeting of the company
2 members are entitled to appoint a proxy to exercise all or any of their rights to attend and to speak and vote on their behalf at the
meeting members may appoint more than one proxy in relation to the annual general meeting provided that each proxy is
appointed to exercise the rights attached to a different share or shares held by that shareholder
3 a proxy need not be a shareholder of the company but must attend the meeting to represent you a form of proxy is enclosed and
instructions for use are shown on the form you can only appoint a proxy using the procedures set out in these notes and the notes
to the proxy form the fact that shareholders may have completed forms of proxy will not prevent them from attending and voting in
person should they afterwards decide to do so details of how to appoint the chairman of the meeting or another person as your
proxy using the proxy form are set out in the notes to the proxy form if you wish your proxy to speak on your behalf at the meeting
you will need to appoint your own choice of proxy not the chairman and give your instructions directly to them
4 t o be valid a form of proxy and any power or authority under which it is signed must be lodged with the company’ s registrars
capita registrars proxy department po box 25 beckenham kent br3 4br no later than 48 hours before the time appointed 
for the holding of the annual general meeting
5 you may appoint more than one proxy provided each proxy is appointed to exercise rights attached to different shares you may not
appoint more than one proxy to exercise rights attached to any one share
6 a vote withheld is not a vote in law which means that the vote will not be counted in the calculation of votes for or against the
resolution if no voting indication is given your proxy will vote or abstain from voting at his or her discretion your proxy will vote 
or abstain from voting as he or she thinks fit in relation to any other matter which is put before the meeting the notes to the proxy
form explain how to direct your proxy how to vote on each resolution or withhold their vote
7 in the case of joint holders where more than one of the joint holders purports to appoint a proxy only the appointment submitted by
the most senior holder will be accepted seniority is determined by the order in which the names of the joint holders appear in the
companys register of members in respect of the joint holding the first named being the most senior
8 crest members who wish to appoint a proxy or proxies by utilising the crest electronic proxy appointment service may do 
so for the annual general meeting and any adjournments thereof by utilising 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
providers should refer to their crest sponsor or voting service providers who will be able to take the appropriate action on their
behalf in order for a proxy appointment made by means of crest to be valid the appropriate crest message a “crest proxy
instruction” must be properly authenticated in accordance with euroclear’ s specifications 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 issuer’ s
agent idra10 by the latest times for receipt of proxy appointments specified in the notice of meeting for this purpose the time of
receipt will be taken to be the time as determined by the timestamp applied to the message by the crest applications host from
which the issuer’ s agent is able to retrieve the message by enquiry to crest in the manner prescribed by crest  after this time
any change of instructions to proxies appointed through crest should be communicated to the appointee through other means 
notice of annual general meeting continued t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
65
crest members and where applicable their crest sponsors or voting service providers should note that euroclear 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 providers to procure that
his crest sponsor or voting service providers takes 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 providers 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 355a of the uncertificated
securities regulations 2001
9 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 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 wwwicsaorguk for further details of this procedure the guidance includes a sample form of
appointment letter if the chairman is being appointed as described in i above
10 the following documents are available for inspection by members at the registered office of the company except bank holidays
during the normal business hours and at the place of the meeting not less than 15 minutes prior to and during the meeting
a the register of directors’ interests required to be kept under section 809 of the companies act 2006
b copies of the directors’ service contracts and
c the proposed articles of association of the company
r parker registered office registered no
company secretary thorpe way 3213782
24 november 2008 grove park
enderby
leicestershire le19 1su t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
66
the annual general meeting of the company will be held at the company’ s premises at thorpe way grove park enderby
leicestershire le19 1su on tuesday 13 january 2009 at 1030am
five of the resolutions are to be taken at this year’ s annual general meeting as special business by way of explanation of these and
certain other resolutions
ordinary business
resolutions 2 3 4 and 5
reelection of directors
m williams and n ounstead are the directors retiring by rotation this year and they offer themselves for reelection and a white offers
himself for reelection as a new appointment to the board all members of the board of directors submit themselves for reelection at
least every three years with the exception of the rt hon jm jack who has served for at least nine years and therefore retires and
offers himself for reelection annually brief biographical details about the directors standing for reelection appear on pages 20 and 21 
of the annual report and financial statements
special business
resolutions 8 and 9
appointment of authority to issue shares and the disapplication of statutory rights of preemption
resolution 8 the right of the directors to allot further shares in the capital of the company requires in most cases the prior authorisation
of the shareholders in general meeting under section 80 of the companies act 1985 “the act” resolution 9 will be put to members as
special business to authorise the directors to allot ordinary shares with a nominal value of £1889510 out of the company’ s unissued
share capital representing approximately 333 of the company’ s current issued share capital excluding shares held in treasury 
the company currently holds nil ordinary shares in treasury
the directors have no current intention of exercising the authority to allot further shares the authority shall expire immediately following
the annual general meeting next following the resolution or if earlier 15 months following the resolution being passed
resolution 9 this proposed resolution seeks to obtain power under section 95 of the act to enable the directors to allot for cash
shares with an aggregate nominal value of £283429 equal to approximately 5 of the company’ s current issued share capital 
without being required first to offer such securities to existing shareholders the company will thereby be given greater flexibility when
considering future opportunities but the interests of existing shareholders will be protected as except in the case of a rights issue or 
the allotment of shares under the company’ s share option schemes the directors have no present intention to allot any part of the
unissued share capital of the company or without the prior approval of the company in general meeting to make any issue which
would effectively alter the control of the company or the nature of its business this authority will expire immediately following the 
annual general meeting next following the resolution or if earlier 15 months following the resolution being passed
resolution 10
authority to purchase ordinary shares
at the annual general meeting ordinary shareholders are being invited under resolution 10 to grant authority to the company to make
market purchases of its ordinary shares it is proposed such authority shall expire on the conclusion of the annual general meeting to
be held in 2009 or 12 months from the date of this resolution if earlier
this authority will be limited to the purchase of not more than 149 of the ordinary shares currently in issue this represents the
maximum amount of ordinary share capital in issue which is permitted before tender or partial offer to all shareholders is require to 
be made to perform any share buyback the maximum price payable under this authority will be 105 of the average of the middle
market quotations of an ordinary share for the five business days before the relevant purchase and the minimum price will be 3
1
⁄ 3p 
per ordinary share
in considering whether or not to purchase ordinary shares under the market purchase authority the directors will take into account
cash resources the effect on gearing and other investment opportunities before exercising the authority in addition the company 
will only exercise the authority to make such a purchase in the market when the directors consider it is in the best interests of the
shareholders generally to do so and it should result in an increase in earnings per ordinary share
as at 24 november 2008 there were options to subscribe for 878584 equity shares outstanding under various schemes representing
approximately 051 of the current issued share capital of the company if the authority sought by resolution 10 was exercised in full 
the number of outstanding options would represent approximately 087 of the issued share capital following the repurchase of shares
explanatory notes to the notice of annual general meeting t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
67
resolution 11
amendment to articles of association
it is proposed that the company adopts amended articles of association which take account of further changes brought about as 
at the date of this meeting as a result of the continued implementation of the companies act 2006 the “2006 act” the proposed 
new articles of association reflect further provisions of the 2006 act which have been implemented since the date of the last agm 
it is expected that further amendments may be required at the next agm to deal with the final changes brought about later in 2009 by
the implementation of the remainder of the 2006 act the new set of articles of association contains certain key differences from the
current articles of association of the company the key changes are set out below
articles 124a and 124b  conflicts of interest
the 2006 act sets out directors’ general duties which largely codify the existing law but with some changes under the 2006 act a
director must now avoid a situation where he has or can have a direct or indirect interest that conflicts or possibly may conflict with the
company’ s interests the requirement is very broad and could apply for example if a director becomes a director of another company
or a trustee of another organisation the 2006 act allows directors of public companies to authorise conflicts and potential conflicts
where appropriate where the articles of association contain a provision to this effect the 2006 act also allows the articles of association
to contain other provisions for dealing with directors’ conflicts of interest to avoid a breach of duty these new articles give the directors
authority to approve such situations and to include other provisions to allow conflicts of interest to be dealt with in a similar way to the
current position
there are safeguards that will apply when directors decide whether to authorise a conflict or potential conflict first only directors 
who have no interest in the matter being considered will be able to take the relevant decision and secondly in taking the decision the
directors must act in a way they consider in good faith will be most likely to promote the company’ s success the directors will be 
able to impose limits or conditions when giving authorisation if they think this is appropriate
it is also proposed that the new articles should contain provisions relating to confidential information attendance at board meetings 
and availability of board papers to protect a director being in breach of duty if a conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest arises
these provisions will only apply where the position giving rise to the potential conflict has previously been authorised by the directors 
it is the boards intention to report annually on the company’ s procedures for ensuring that the board’ s powers of authorisation of
conflicts are operated effectively and that the procedures have been followed
the proposed new articles of association are available to view at the company’ s website – wwwtoppstilescouk 
resolution 12
adoption of sharesave scheme
it is proposed that the company adopts the t opps tiles plc 2008 sharesave scheme “sharesave scheme” the proposed scheme is
in substantially the same form as the last scheme previously adopted by the company and which lapsed earlier this year except that it
has been updated to accommodate changes in legislation
the principal features of the sharesave scheme are outlined below
general
the sharesave scheme is intended to be a saveasyouearn share option scheme approved by the hm revenue  customs in
accordance with schedule 3 to itepa 2003
the uk sharesave scheme shall be administered by the board or a duly authorised committee thereof
eligibility
all uk tax resident executive directors and employees of the company and participating companies within the group with at least five
years service must be entitled to participate 
the board may also permit executive directors and employees with a shorter period of service to participate in the sharesave scheme
invitations to apply for options under the sharesave scheme will be made to all eligible executive directors and employees who have
completed three months service with the company or one or more of its subsidiaries at the date invitations under the sharesave
scheme are made thereafter the board will determine the basis upon which any future invitations to apply for options will be made t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
68
the savings contract
t o participate in the uk sharesave scheme an eligible employee must enter into a saveasyouearn contract the “savings contract”
with an appropriate savings carrier approved by the company thereby agreeing to make monthly contributions of between £5 and £250
for a specified period of three five or seven years the board has discretion to determine which of the savings contracts will be available
in respect of any invitation to apply for options 
scaling down
applications to participate in the sharesave scheme may be scaled down by the board in accordance with procedures laid down in the
rules of the sharesave scheme if applications exceed such number that represents 3 of the ordinary share capital of the company in
issue immediately prior to that date or 5 thereof when that date falls within the period of 48 months commencing on the first day on
which options are granted under the sharesave scheme
option price 
options granted to acquire shares under the sharesave scheme will have an option price determined by the board which will be not
less than the higher of
a 80 of the middle market quotation for such shares as derived from the official list for the period of three dealing days immediately
preceding the date on which invitations to apply for options are issued to employees and
b where shares are to be subscribed their nominal value 
grant of options
the number of shares which may be allocated under the sharesave scheme on any day shall not when added to the aggregate
number of shares which have been allocated in the previous three years under the sharesave scheme and under any other employees’
share scheme adopted by the company or any subsidiary exceed such number that represents 3 of the ordinary share capital of the
company in issue immediately prior to that date or 5 thereof when that date falls within the period of 48 months commencing on the
first day on which options are granted under the sharesave scheme
options may be granted within the six weeks following the date on which the sharesave scheme is adopted by the company or
approved by hmrc thereafter options may normally only be granted in the six weeks following the announcement by the company 
of its results for any period or following a change in the legislation relating to sharesave schemes or where there are circumstances
considered by the committee to be exceptional 
no options may be granted later than ten years after the approval of the sharesave scheme by shareholders
no payment will be required for the grant of an option options will not be taken into account in determining a participant’ s pension rights
under a final salary pension scheme or the employer’ s contributions to a defined contributions scheme options are not transferable
other than on death in which case they may be exercised by a participant’ s personal representatives
limits on the issue of shares
in any tenyear period not more than 10 of the issued ordinary share capital of the company from time to time may be issued or
issuable pursuant to rights acquired under the sharesave scheme and any other employees’ share scheme adopted by the company
for the purposes of this limit options or other rights to acquire shares which lapse or have been released do not count however new
shares subscribed by the trustees of an employee benefit trust to satisfy rights granted under any employees’ share scheme adopted 
by the company do count towards this limit 
exercise of options
options will only normally be exercisable for a period of six months commencing on the date on which a bonus is payable under the
savings contract and if not exercised by the end of that period the option will lapse 
earlier exercise may however be permitted in specified circumstances including termination of employment as a result of injury
disability redundancy retirement or the sale of the subsidiary or business for which the participant works in such cases options may 
be exercised within six months of cessation of employment but only to the extent of his total savings plus any interest accrued to the
date of exercise in the event of death of an option holder the personal representative of the deceased may normally exercise within 
one year of the date of death
early exercise may also be permitted where a participant reaches pensionable age but remains in employment in such a case options
may be exercised within six months of reaching that age if he continues after that date to hold the office or employment by virtue of
which he is eligible to participate in the sharesave scheme
options may be satisfied by the issue of new shares or by the transfer of existing shares from an employee benefit trust established by
the company from treasury or otherwise
explanatory notes to the notice of annual general meeting continued t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
69
rights attaching to shares
all shares allotted or transferred under the sharesave scheme will rank pari passu with all other common stock of the company for the
time being in issue save as regards any rights attaching to such shares by reference to a record date prior to the date of allotment or
transfer and the company will apply for any new shares issued under the sharesave scheme to be admitted to the official list and to
trading on the london stock exchange
takeover of the company
in the event of a takeover reconstruction or winding up of the company options may be exercised within six months of the change of
control alternatively options may be exchanged for new equivalent options over shares in the acquiring company where appropriate 
variation of capital 
in the event of any rights or capitalisation issue subdivision consolidation reduction or other variation of share capital the board may
make subject to receiving prior approval of the hmrc such adjustments as they consider appropriate to the number of shares subject
to options andor the price payable on the exercise of options 
alterations to the sharesave scheme
the directors may make certain alterations and additions to the sharesave scheme but any such changes made after hm revenue 
customs has approved the scheme shall not take effect until such changes have been approved by hm revenue  customs 
permitted alterations or additions include minor ones that benefit the administration of the sharesave scheme or ones that are
necessary to obtain hm revenue  customs approval under any relevant legislation or are necessary to obtain favourable taxation
exchange control or regulatory treatment for the company or associated companies
all other changes must be sanctioned by the company by ordinary resolution of the members in general meeting
additionally no amendment can be made which would adversely affect the rights of participants without their consent as if they were 
a separate class of shareholder
termination
the sharesave scheme may be terminated at any time by resolution of the board or of the company in general meeting and shall in any
event terminate on the tenth anniversary of the date on which the sharesave scheme is adopted by the company in general meeting
t ermination will not affect the outstanding rights of participants aadam nozeer
aamir jamil
aaran spence
aaron meszaros
aaron nelson
aaron venus
abul khashad
ad van hirsel
adam boshir
adam campion
adam davies
adam ford
adam gale
adam haseldine
adam ireland
adam levett
adam nuttall
adam t owner
adam ward
adam whittaker
adam wolniewicz
adil rajah
adrian clarke
adrian earley
adrian rimmington
aidan ward
aileen crossley
ajay bhakri
akiyemi orekoya
akommil ali
akushu mulenga
alan cooper
alan cordery
alan law
alan mcdonald
alan monk
alan parker
alan rogers
alan russell
alan saunders
alan sinclair
alan smalley
alan sproston
alan wrighting
aldwin ridderstap
alex paterson
alexander onions
alexandria murphy
ali afzal
ali faheem
ali rizvi
ali sadique
alice ashton
alicia mcgill
alison hunt
alistair payne
alister mackay
allan chigariro
allan duffy
allan harper
allan hughes
alvin chinyanga
alvin lapao
amanda green
amanda hullett
amin ladhu
amy cartey
andre van zyl
andrew baillie
andrew barker
andrew barrett
andrew baxter
andrew belson
andrew bowden
andrew brookfield
andrew burns
andrew chapman
andrew clay
andrew collins
andrew cox
andrew curr
andrew curtis
andrew davis
andrew davis
andrew duffey
andrew green
andrew hainge
andrew hall
andrew hanson
andrew harrison
andrew hastings
andrew heads
andrew hill
andrew jones
andrew keattch
andrew leigh
andrew mcguire
andrew middleton
andrew page
andrew parnell
andrew phillips
andrew robertson
andrew rudgley
andrew salkeld
andrew scorgie
andrew scott
andrew warne
andrew warwick
andrew waterfield
andrew wathan
andrew whiteley
andrew winterburn
andrew wood
andrew woodhouse
andrew woods
andrew young
andrew young
andy playfoot
angela capp
angela tremelling
ann mathias
anna timney
annmarie malone
ansar ahmed
anthony bradford
anthony butts
anthony christopher
anthony cox
anthony davies
anthony gibby
anthony gilbert
anthony hamilton
anthony holt
anthony humphrey
anthony linsell
anthony marshall
anthony molyneux
anthony oleru
anthony t ownsend
antony alveranga
antony belham
antony rea
anub varghese
arif chaudhary
arjan van den berg
arjan zuidhof
arnold harrison
arreon turner
arron eldridge
arron sorrell
ashish modi
ashleigh mackinnon
ashley cutler
ashley george
ashley kent
ashley mcdonnell
ashley scott
ashley wale
astone davids
autumn wharmby
barclay pope
barrie palmer
barry bester
barry blackmore
barry edwards
barry hodges
barry stevens
barry t aylor
barry veasey
barry webber
beckie clarke
ben armitage
ben bright
ben brink
ben brooker
ben davis
ben holloway
ben lee
ben williams
ben woollins
benjamin morais
benjamin rich
bernadette peasland
bernard cope
bernard fallon
bertil boyles
beth boulton
bharat patel
bhaskar patani
bilal mukhtar
bill wylie
billy decaille
billy stevens
bob barlow
brad potts
bradley maple
bradley wheeler
brandon abels
brant wells
brendan flynn
brent phebey
brett case
brett goulden
brian aitken
brian burke
brian cariello
brian crews
brian davies
brian dicks
brian fisher
brian flatters
brian king
brian kirwin
brian mcgowan
brigita rekasiute
bronwyn stevenson
bruce fielding
bruce smith
bruno alves
bryan hartley
cade somerville
calbert hall
callum burns
campbell marr
carl beveridge
carl collins
carl cook
carl courtney
carl cumberbatch
carl dyke
carl edlundhrose
carl higgins
carl markham
carl paternoster
carl roberts
carl whatley
carlo pillay
carlos chowdhury
carly hayes
carol lakin
carol livingstone
carolina buendia
caroline bennett
caroline head
caroline may
catherine platt
chan gokani
charles ross
charles t aylor
charlotte heaton
charlotte mcquaid
cheryl vearncombe
chessdeep singh
chetna shah
chioma onyeakazi
choudre grobler
chris bland
chris cartey
chris curtis
chris davies
chris gough
chris heyes
chris howe
chris lambert
chris lyle
chris markham
chris mcmillan
chris moyes
christer leth
christian banham
christian nicandro
christian pearson
christian stokes
christina langridge
christine hendry
christoper mcwatt
christopher bloy
christopher bowles
christopher bray
christopher burgess
christopher collins
christopher collins
christopher cooper
christopher fleming
christopher harbutt
christopher holland
christopher holt
christopher hughes
christopher hunter
christopher iley
christopher jones
christopher lamb
christopher
moorhouse
christopher nottle
christopher stobbs
christopher sturdy
christopher turley
cian mills
claire barksby
claire chaffe
claire rayton
clare barden
clare hogg
colin cooke
colin griffiths
colin hoban
colin joy
colin markham
colin rymer
colin skinner
colin t aylor
conrad harrup
cora morrison
corrina bowers
corrine clark
craig conway
craig cooper
craig deveson
craig dickson
craig dolling
craig featherbe
craig fern
craig gardener
craig hill
craig johnson
craig lewis
craig muldoon
craig murphy
craig nammontri
craig nicholson
craig ollard
craig reed
craig robertson
craig solkhon
craig t etlow
cyriel struijk
daan rubens
dale hoy
dale mccormack
dale stone
dale weatherly
damian boyle
d
c
b
a
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annual report  financial statements 2008
70
the t eam  t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
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damon short
dan hall
dan matthews
daniel ayles
daniel bath
daniel branson
daniel britt
daniel burton
daniel chant
daniel fallows
daniel fulcher
daniel grant
daniel gray
daniel hughes
daniel ingham
daniel jones
daniel jones
daniel lewis
daniel little
daniel mclean
daniel merrett
daniel musguin
daniel robinson
daniel smith
daniel stiven
daniel sycamore
daniel thornley
daniel van aswegen
daniel wren
danielle t aylor
danielle ten hoven
danielle whittaker
dannielle fry
danny costen
danny williams
darone dubois
gayere
darran wood
darrell nelson
darren banks
darren beatty
darren bebbington
darren connor
darren crick
darren doughty
darren dutton
darren ferguson
darren fletcher
darren goode
darren harper
darren irving
darren mitchell
darren morgan
darren rawlings
darren square
darren swaffield
darren walker
darron kerr
dave jobling
dave marsh
dave t aylor
david atherton
david augustus
david binns
david blades
david bolingbroke
david burnikell
david carpenter
david clutterham
david coster
david critchlow
david dorney
david evans
david fisher
david fitzpatrick
david gibson
david grenfell
david hamilton
david harper
david hatton
david hayers
david henderson
david hill
david hirst
david hook
david hulse
david jaye
david kershaw
david kettlewell
david macartney
david mallyon
david martin
david martin
david matthews
david meers
david murray
david nadin
david noble
david oliver
david parr
david price
david prime
david quarshie
david savage
david smith
david smyth
david steel
david stott
david sutcliffe
david thomasson
david t ownsley
david vepers
david whitelaw
david williams
david wilson
dawn beeston
dawn gale
dean bull
dean carter
dean everitt
dean johnson
dean macmillan
dean mallabone
dean marshall
dean miller
dean samuel
dean stokes
dean titchen
dean woolley
debbie demes
deborah white
debra harding
denis o’brien
denise fishwick
denise pierce
dennis bîdeker
dennis cragen
dennis de jong
dennis jepson
denzil johns
derek fegen
derek lambourn
derek sim
derek smith
derrick hart
devin blewitt
devindren govender
diane finlayson
diane 
shatfordbutcher
dilawar ali
dilip parmar
dinesh amin
dishon meade
divyesh javiya
dominic reilly
donna boulton
donna whall
douglas hartness
duncan foy
eamonn clancy
edmund smith
edward derbyshire
edward gardiner
edward moore
edward murphy
elaine francois
elizabeth morrissey
elizabeth selfridge
elton borg
emdadur rahman
emily lenton
emma brookes
emma hatton
emma kenney
emma whatson
emran mannan
eric mcloughlin
eric stork
eric watson
erik rubens
ermiyas girma
esther ten hoven
fabian koopen
faisal ashraf
farid haddad
felipe da rocha west
finbarr mcquaid
fiona cadd
fiona finnigan
fiona grant
fiona mckeracher
fitz martin
fleur salter
fran hearne
frances aylward
francesca ballerini
francesca wright
francis tully
frank hibbert
fred whitehouse
g style
gareth carnegie
gareth davies
gareth hammond
gareth huntley
gareth ward
garry case
garry hardy
garry padgett
gary ashdown
gary asher
gary bloomfield
gary clarkson
gary curtis
gary gardner
gary gear
gary hudgell
gary marshall
gary parrismunn
gary wilcox
gary woolmore
gary yuen
gavin bartram
gavin bennett
gavin collins
gavin curwen
gavin meek
gavin mitchell
gediminas merkys
gemma stephens
geoffrey wilson
george lathan
george mallyon
george peck
george skinner
george tuplin
george wilson
geraint thorne
gerald mclean
gerard mallon
gethin jordan
gianfranco zanolini
gillian grace
glen holloway
glendale canoville
glenn claridge
glenn goddard
glenn rivers
glyn nunn
glyn rogers
gîkhan t arim
gordon davies
graeme milner
graham bain
graham bosdet
graham brophy
graham davidson
graham davies
graham jones
graham lawrence
graham livingstone
graham smith
graham vance
graham williams
grant avory
grant woolway
gregory barwick
gregory carolina
gurdeep panesar
gursharn ladhar
guy barrow
guy ferguson
haim cohen
hannah shepherd
harjit dhaliwal
harrison davis
harry biggs
harry grey
harry mills
harry vreeswijk
harshani
mahalekamge
harveer singh basra
hayley bover
hayley reader
hayley thorpe
hazel millington
helen bosworth
helen goldfarb
helen gosling
herman kreikamp
holly unwin
hugh selley
ian aikman
ian bloomfield
ian hobson
ian hughes
ian jones
ian marshall
ian marshall
ian mcalinden
ian mcinteer
ian mcloughlin
ian noon
ian paterson
ian stevens
ian sykes
ian winterburn
ibrahim cisse
ilan daniel
imran ashraf
inderjeet jutlay
irene dickinson
ishmael amos
ivo zwanenburg
iwan jones
izabela krzyszkowska
jack carslake
jack o’neill
jack whitehead
jacob gonzales
jacqueline byrne
jagir reehal
jailuene peake
jajwinder harar
jake missen
jake print
jake shopland
james aspey
james baird
james barrie
james beresford
james biesty
james bott
james butler
j
i
h
g
f
e t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
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james cameron
james clifford
james collins
james copestick
james eastham
james edge
james fell
james heard
james hollingshead
james judkins
james koroma
james mcardle
james metcalf
james morgan
james patston
james pearson
james pilfold
james reece
james robertson
james rolfe
james smith
james stark
james stevens
james t aylor
james thorning
james vander plank
jamie axten
jamie bannon
jamie barratt
jamie evans
jamie keeling
jamie parkes
jamie sia
jamie wall
jamie wenborn
jammel benbrikait
jan reddi
jan sloterwijk
janet riley
janice millett
jaroslaw wanat
jason bradford
jason clarke
jason d’arcy
jason ealden
jason field
jason harris
jason meadows
jason perry
jason pratt
jason reeve
jason thomas
jason t yler
jasvinder bagh
jayandrie chetty
jayaprakash paragjee
jaymal arjan
jayne sewell
jeannette hastie
jed sanderson
jeffrey armstrong
jeffrey nelson
jennifer donlan
jenny seabrook
jeremy byrne
jeremy harris
jeremy nicholls
jermaine t aylor
jeroen brockhuis
jeroen ligtelijn
jeroen van loveren
jeroen verheul
jessica mackenzie
jessica thiari
jill cox
jill savage
jim tuvey
joan hicks
joanna 
barneswarden
joanna martin
joanne bennett
joanne elton
joanne lee
jodie baigrie
jodie hickman
joe cole
joe cox
joe dewey
joe gregorace
joe smith
johann manz
john bourke
john chinn
john cook
john duffy
john ellis
john fawkes
john forden
john foster
john fredericks
john gardner
john harris
john hickey
john hughes
john johnston
john jones
john keouski
john lamb
john mason
john mcelhatton
john moat
john nelson
john nicholson
john page
john paine
john reynoulds
john shaw
john smith
john smith
john stephenson
john strong
john summers
john t ait
john thompson
john vaughan
john wade
john williams
john wright
jon parmenter
jon pringle
jonathan 
bainbridge coombs
jonathan benn
jonathan hargreaves
jonathan morgan
jonathan smith
jonathan wade
jonathan wallace
jonathan williams
jonathan woodroff
jonathon hall
jonathon perkins
jonathon sheerin
jones adzrah
jonothan bean
jonpaul hughes
jos kantelberg
jos verlaat
josef kinski
joseph obidiah
josephine hilldrup
josh dempster
josh wyatt
joshua groener
joshua stilwell
juginder gill
julian flake
julie brachtvogel
julie cox
julie fewings
julie jordan
juliet wilford
justin bradley
justin pugh
kamlesh shah
kane thayer
kara robinson
karen brook
karen forber
karen sutcliffe
karinajade tubb
karl batterham
karl bezemer
karl gaskin
karl jackson
karl jones
karl stephens
kashan lennon
kashif munir
kate hopkins
katherine rudkin
kathryn robinson
katrina crawford
kawaljit gulati
kees van wijk
keith ambrose
keith carr
keith earl
keith fitzpatrick
keith hughes
keith johnson
keith pugh
keith rudkin
keith storrier
keith truesdale
kelly bell
kelly ellison
kelly illsley
kelly savile
kellyanne o’connor
kenneth owen
kenneth pettengale
kenneth williams
kenny keir
kerri atkinson
kerri reed
kerry hume
kerry saunders
kevan richardson
kevin baker
kevin bowtle
kevin burchell
kevin fox
kevin haigh
kevin hailes
kevin hartley
kevin hastings
kevin jeans
kevin jones
kevin nicol
kevin peacock
kevin rowe
kevin sherwood
kevin thorne
kevin tully
kevin tuohy
kieran barneswarden
kieron clarke
kieron ile
kim groves
kim liddle
kimberley baker
kimberly cooper
kirsten mortlock
kirsti altass
kirsty allen
kirsty bover
kirsty deeprose
kishore naker
klaas dijkstra
kranthi kondaveeti
kris maple
kristina kane
kuldeep singh
kunal pandya
laith alrawi
lance cale
laura davidson
laura edwards
laura gunter
laura johnson
laura kershaw
lauren kemp
laurence loxam
laurie jones
leah norris
leanne foweather
leanne west
lee arrowsmith
lee battrick
lee baxter
lee ciasullo
lee clarke
lee dover
lee downing
lee durrant
lee fisher
lee futcher ‘smith
lee galloway
lee gornall
lee hartness
lee jacovou
lee james
lee maxey
lee mayfield
lee read
lee shillibeer
lee stephenson
lee t aylor
lee weatherill
lee west
lee whiteley
lee wilkinson
leena joory
lefter bregu
leigh holden
leigh hyam
leigh t aylor
leigh williams
leighton williams
leon kerr
leon o’neill
leonard finch
léonie van der valk 
lesley wilson
leslie maher
lester marshall
levi simpson
lewis axford
lewis edwards
lewis haighton
lewis timson
lewis walter
liam allan
liam curran
liam fields
liam hunt
liam lawler
liam t anner
liam walls
lianne 
harrisonallcock
lindsay perkins
lisa algar
lisa holmes
lisa smith
loretta daley
lorna hislop
loucas louca
louis green
louis johnson
louis raadman
louise stevens
louise sutton
luke cobham
luke francis
luke halford
luke harrison
luke jacobs
luke jones
luke stephens
luuc zuur
lyndsey wheeler
lynette grimes
lynn pearson
k
l
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annual report  financial statements 2008
73
mabs alam
majid rehman
malcolm 
fergusonthomas
malik ahmad
mandy aidney
mansoor ali
marc breeze
marc middleton
marc stevens
marcin sakowicz
marco knip
marcus birch
margaret lawrie
margaret potter
mario van der valk
mark aveling
mark ayres
mark bell
mark bianchi
mark bober
mark bradbury
mark bridges
mark brown
mark brownseyjoyce
mark coe
mark collyer
mark dennis
mark discombe
mark frisby
mark fuller
mark gasson
mark geary
mark hadfield
mark hilton
mark hughes
mark hunter
mark johnson
mark johnson
mark johnston
mark lafreniere
mark lever
mark maciver
mark palmer
mark reilly
mark stone
mark strong
mark t ennant
mark thompson
mark vaughan
mark waldock
mark winder
mark wright
marlon barnes
marlon bright
martijn geerlings
martijn klarenbeek
martin baker
martin derricott
martin horton
martin kennell
martin moore
martin morris
martin mudde
martin siggers
martin sloan
martin smyth
martin watt
martin winterburn
martin wys
martyn gardner
martyn gilbert
martyn spring
mary smith
masaya rose
mathew johnson
mathew whittet
matt hammersley
matt hay
matt loader
matthew attwood
matthew clamp
matthew coward
matthew dunne
matthew elton
matthew fisher
matthew foster
matthew foulger
matthew hawley
matthew hill
matthew king
matthew king
matthew lloyd
matthew lucas
matthew moore
matthew pickering
matthew prentice
matthew rayner
matthew robinson
matthew sigley
matthew stewart
matthew welsby
matthew wesson
matthew williams
matthew woodhouse
matthew wright
max fryer
mehmet asdoyuran
mel thomas
melanie gray
melissa stevens
melton thompson
melvin conjamalay
melvyn chamberlain
merlin hassoldt
michael asumadu
michael blackman
michael blinkhorne
michael boughton
michael bowden
michael buckley
michael cameron
michael campbell
michael clark
michael cosgrove
michael darroch
michael earls
michael fannon
michael finn
michael foley
michael georgiou
michael haggett
michael hall
michael harvey
michael henshaw
michael hopper
michael jack
michael jenks
michael knowles
michael litster
michael lovelock
michael lovelock
michael queen
michael simcoe
michael slater
michael t ownsend
michael van sittert
michele poxon
michelle hill
michelle kempson
michelle lawson
michelle mannion
michelle ward
michelle wright
mike birkbeck
mike butler
mike ingham
mike king
mike potter
mike skinner
milly van der linden
mita limbachia
mo islam
mohamed abdi
mohamed akhtar
mohamed patel
mohammad 
t ayyabulhabib
mohammed amin
mohammed jamil
mohammed jimale
mohammed parvaz
monique boerma
mubashir uddin
muhammad nawaz
murdo martin
murray hunt
narinder chatha
natasha bouwhof
nathan austin
nathan coulthard
nathan heape
nathan rodger
nathan wolowicz
navesh naidoo
neal baker
neil brownley
neil charles
neil crozier
neil davies
neil dyas mckenna
neil goodbourn
neil hendy
neil homan
neil hughes
neil hyne
neil jones
neil southgate
neil t opping
neil wardlaw
neil williams
neill wiltshire
nelson minj
nicholas billyeald
nicholas donkin
nicholas gadd
nicholas kershaw
nicholas lawrence
nicholas lewis
nicholas ounstead
nicholas payne
nicholas walch
nicholas withers
nicholaus buchanan
nick gussow
nick hielckert
nick lodge
nick wardman
nicola gately
nicolas wassell
nigel fleming
nigel hickman
nigel houston
nigel martinbrooks
nigel parry
nigel scott
nikola robinsonrex
nikola sutton
niroshan
araliyakankanamge
numan usman
osemar masaya
pamela cuffin
pasquale santaniello
patrick burke
patrick colman
patrick mcgee
patrique janssen
paul baxter
paul beckett
paul burkett
paul burrow
paul burton
paul carleton
paul carr
paul carter
paul cartledge
paul chapman
paul clark
paul collett
paul colyer
paul cull
paul dalby
paul davey
paul davies
paul fitzsimmons
paul galvin
paul hendrey
paul hill
paul holmes
paul horne
paul hutchinson
paul irving
paul jardine
paul kelly
paul lathrope
paul laverty
paul mackin
paul miller
paul mills
paul noyes
paul okrzeja
paul renyard
paul rockett
paul ruddle
paul sartain
paul sharkey
paul shek
paul silvester
paul sluiter
paul smith
paul smith
paul smith
paul smitheringale
paul starkey
paul swift
paul t ennant
paul van der zee
paul whittington
paul wiltshaw
paula budsworth
pauline harrison
pawel warych
peter anderson
peter charters
peter davey
peter davidson
peter gallagher
peter hogg
peter hughes
peter jones
peter lea
peter lettis
peter lynn
peter mcgowan
peter mcintyre
peter nicholson
peter simmonds
peter t assenaar
peter walmsley
peter watts
peter woods
phil kelly
phil rogers
phil shelton
philip cranston
philip dunn
philip english
philip gallop
philip lewis
philip mccarney
philip threlfall
philip trevis
phillip corlet
phillip goodeve
phillip hillier
phillip hunt
phillip walters
phillipa hewitt
pim van zuidam
piotr bienkowski
m
n o
p t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
74
the t eam continued
prakash mistry
premyslaw swisloki
quadeer ahmed
rachel donaghey
rachel dykes
rachel jack
rachid bouras
rachit vadgama
raj surani
raja sohall
rajan mehta
rajiv vadgama
ravendra bishun
ray jeakins
ray leathen
rebecca derricott
rebecca ellis
rebecca harris
rebecca heather
rebecca oblein
rebecca stokes
reepal patel
reg anderton
remel morgan
rené dewit
rené ossendrijver
rhys hedges
rhys kelland
ricardo malcolm
rich hoyle
richard amoah
richard banton
richard bickers
richard booth
richard brookfield
richard carter
richard chiverton
richard clark
richard davies
richard desmond
richard edwards
richard fellows
richard forrester
richard harris
richard homan
richard hopkin
richard hutcheson
richard knight
richard lee
richard lewington
richard norman
richard oates
richard oldale
richard slack
richard small
richard sumner
richard young
rickey singleton
riki spadone
rob chawner
rob ferris
rob owen
robel ghebrewold
robert adams
robert adkins
robert avery
robert baylis
robert bellamy
robert bosman
robert brewin
robert bumstead
robert cairns
robert clarke
robert clarke
robert curd
robert donnelly
robert england
robert exley
robert ford
robert george
robert gilbert
robert gladwin
robert howker
robert jay
robert king
robert knight
robert lamb
robert lynch
robert moss
robert myers
robert parker
robert power
robert prince
robert reynolds
robert scheggetman
roberto xavier
robin beil
robin parry
rodney meyer
roger bailey
roger gridley
romaldo rodrigues
roman kojhuharov
ronald evers
ronald van veenen
ronnie francis
ronnie webster
ross ashbrook
ross darrah
ross godfrey
ross mcnair
ross philpot
roxanne evans
roxanne martingault
roy peasland
roy redgate
russell adgey
russell maltby
russell mogg
russell potlin
russell shafer
russell thornton
ruud sterling
ryan apark
ryan curd
ryan haddon
ryan jones
ryan randall
ryan sinclair
saad maqsood
sachin radia
sadrul amin
sagren naidoo
sajid ahmad
sajid aibani
saladdin beqqada
sally hallsworth
salman bawani
sam bellis
sam nortey
sam orton
sam ripley
samantha barrett
samantha mussett
samantha sayer
sameer jamdar
samson okolosi
samuel carey
samuel major
sander faber
sandra myles
sandra ramsay
sanjeepan
balasubramaiam
sara bremner
sarah bacon
sarah churcher
sarah dobson
sarah drake
sarah earthey
sarah kite
sarah shirley
sarah skinner
scott ahmad
scott ambrose
scott currie
scott dye
scott hatton
scott laughland
scott meadows
scott t aylor
scott williams
scott winchester
sean cahill
sean collins
sean dare
sean feeney
sean green
sean kerry
sean mcvey
sean scard
sean weatherby
selena simpson
shane baker
shane bryan
shane daley
shane malone
shane till
shanil ranchod
shannon woods
sharon beckett
sharon henderson
shaun bryan
shaun douglas
shaun hutchins
shaun mayes
shaun scott
shawanna hafiz
sheila myrie
sheila robertson
shelley rutter
shilpa champaneri
shirley moore
shohale ali
sian griffiths
silvonne mclean
simon brookfield
simon brookfield
simon casey
simon chappell
simon collishaw
simon cripps
simon duggins
simon dunsford
simon eldridge
simon frew
simon green
simon jones
simon lacey
simon lasham
simon leslie
simon loach
simon lovett
simon morgan
simon neal
simon partridge
simon pitt
simon roberts
simon tuckley
simon whittaker
simon witham
simone turner
siobhan waters
sjoerd cobussen
soile carpenter
sonia cummings
sophie walker
stacey shirley
stephanie ailwood
stephanie nevett
stephanie shrubb
stephen adams
stephen ainsworth
stephen benson
stephen bloomfield
stephen cliff
stephen collins
stephen corkett
stephen crane
stephen creasey
stephen dutton
stephen france
stephen getty
stephen green
stephen lewis
stephen machin
stephen marshall
stephen pike
stephen porter
stephen rafot
stephen ruddick
stephen seymour
stephen smisson
stephen spurgeon
stephen starkie
stephen unsworth
stephen waltham
stephen welsby
stephen west
stephen williams
steve freeman
steve gaylor
steve smith
steve smith
steve thompson
steve wood
steven atkinson
steven boyle
steven buxton
steven christie
steven edge
steven godwin
steven hooper
steven jenkins
steven jones
steven jones
steven kernot
steven macarthur
steven mackie
steven pressley
steven richards
steven saunders
steven walker
steven whitehead
stewart creaser
stuart baigent
stuart bartlett
stuart booker
stuart clarke
stuart cooper
stuart corlett
stuart davey
stuart dixon
stuart graham
stuart hitch
stuart munton
stuart pemberton
stuart rees
stuart roscoe
stuart ross
stuart t aylor
stuart whitby
stuart williams
stuart williams
sue bill
sue foulds
sumade de silva
suresh bhudia
suresh mistry
surmukh jandu
susan attwell
susan groombridge
susan henshall
susan hulme
r
q
s t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
75
t aimur malik
t alat khan
t ami robinson
t anya sharpe
t erance langford
t erence dooley
t errence forbes
t erry bridger
t erry howard
t erry hutchinson
t erry timmins
t erry webb
theresa scrase
thomas clutterbuck
thomas cunningham
thomas fry
thomas newman
thomas otley
thomas pearson
thomas pressley
thomas ryan
thomas stampfer
thomas steel
thomas stone
thomas swain
thomas thornton
thomas wade
tim ives
tim t atlock
timothy bentley
timothy boardman
timothy kilminster
timothy lowe
timothy olsen
timothy stanhope
timothy tuff
t oby collins
t oby hutton
t odd routledge
t om evans
t om lewis
t om mcdowell
t om scott
t om siddell
t om wood
t ony dedman
t ony martin
t ony nunn
t ony simoes
t ony watson
tracy ryan
tracy wickenden
trevor barden 
trevor thomas 
tristian waghorn 
t yler atheis 
t yrone alexander 
t yrone madden 
umar ullah 
upali herath 
upendra dudhaiyia 
urmila bhudia 
vedran beader 
victor watson 
victoria harding 
victoria mann 
vilius meilus 
vincent barber 
vinod joshi 
vinsen velvindron 
visvanathapillai 
mahendrakumar 
vivienne johns 
wadzanai musa 
warnakulasuriya
fernando 
warren bester 
warren daly 
warren gunnis 
warren russell 
warren wise 
wayne farini 
wayne gillan 
wayne jannotti 
wayne oliver 
wayne quaintance 
wayne randall 
wayne smith 
wayne wheeler 
wendy altimas 
wendy bruce 
wesley harrop 
wesley neukermans 
wesley west 
will bailey 
william brownsell 
william cruickshank 
william gunshon 
william lewinton 
william mcphee 
william ryves 
willliam barreda 
willy silupya 
wim strik 
wim van staden 
yusuf ali 
yusuf mursal 
yvonne archer 
yvonne burgess 
zaccai newman 
zahid sharif butt 
zainab idris 
zoe atkinson 
zoe derry 
zoe maeer 
zoe mills 
t
u
w
z
y store locations
topps tiles
tile clearing house
total 
342 stores


Summary:
 t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
6
we have maintained our market leading position and expect to capitalise on this during
the coming year we will achieve this by continuing to focus on excellent customer
service outstanding value ranges and an anticipated contraction in the competition 
we have delivered a credible performance and anticipate that our resilient business 
model will help us to create an even stronger business
uk store development and expansion
we are pleased to have achieved our store opening target with a net 19 new stores
opened in the period this now gives us an overall total of 320 trading outlets throughout
the uk for the coming year we will focus the majority of our attention on improvements
to our existing estate in the current economic climate we believe that a more cautious
approach to expansion is appropriate we anticipate that an easing of pressures in the
property market should create opportunities for us to open a small number of new stores
in strong trading locations
t opps tiles
we have opened a net 17 new stores and now have a total of 263 t opps outlets 
this includes 24 new openings offset by two closures three relocations and two 
rebrands to tile clearing house tch  
alongside our traditional retail channel we have this year launched our first online business
this offers a wide selection of our most popular ranges as well as some additional
complementary products not found in our stores these include bathrooms accessories
and heated towel radiators we have developed the online offer during the year and whilst
this element of the business is still in its infancy we look forward to it increasing sales as it
grows in popularity our online offer can be found at wwwtoppstilescouk
tile clearing house
tile clearing house remains focused on trade customers and jobbing builders operating
a “cash and carry” type format we have opened a net two new stores under the 
tile clearing house brand and now have a total of 57 outlets
holland
in holland we have opened a further net two stores during the year taking the total to 22
this consisted of three new openings and one closure due to a relocation the business 
has had to contend with a difficult trading environment and a number of other issues
against this backdrop we have seen a decline in likeforlike revenues and the business
has generated a loss for the year 
we have also conducted a review of the goodwill that arose on acquisition of the dutch
business and decided that against the context of the current year’ s results and a more
cautious outlook for the future it is appropriate to impair the goodwill and write it down 
by £12 million to £nil in the current year 
chief executive’ s statement
we will continue to maintain our focus on tight cost
control and prudent management of the business at
the same time as delivering the service element that
our customers expect we intend to capitalise on 
our market leading position and believe that we will
emerge from the current economic situation a stronger
business and benefit significantly when consumer
confidence returns
2008
346
2007
443
2006
388
2005
368
2004
325
operating profit £m
£34 6m
operating profit 2007 £4434m 
find out more
for more information please visit
wwwtoppstilescouk t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
7
whilst we operate a tight cost base which is appropriate for a small business the key
issues which we are tackling are store sales density and gross profit margins we have 
a new management team in place with a very clear agenda they will be focused on
driving sales and improving margins by upweighting the mix of tile sales the year ahead
is likely to be one of continued measured progress with less focus on expansion than 
we have seen previously
marketing advertising and sponsorship
over the last year we ran both national and regional marketing and advertising
campaigns these included the launch of a new tv advertising campaign on itv  
the campaign featured works of art created entirely from our tiles and wooden flooring
with the adverts appearing on itv three times a day straight after the national news 
this campaign served us well through the year and we have achieved our goal of
continuing to build consumer awareness of the brand during the year ahead we 
expect to focus on targeted regional and local marketing where the business requires it
t opps tiles is britains biggest supporter of community youth football and we currently
sponsor over 200 local teams nationwide 
staff development and customer service
a core part of our strategy is to deliver outstanding customer service in order to provide
this we place the highest importance on the development of our staff to deliver an
excellent standard of service we are rigorous in our recruitment and retention of capable
ambitious people and are committed to the development and career progression of our
employees we have a sophisticated instore elearning training system and additionally
we incentivise our staff with competitive employee benefit packages 
we continue to differentiate our business from the competition in a number of ways 
all of our stores carry a wide range and supply of stock we offer a loanatile service a
free “how to” dvd a tile cutting service and a buyback service allowing customers to
“sell back” undamaged tiles within 45 days of purchase in addition we have teamed 
up with traders local to each of our stores to provide customers with a t opps approved
tile installation service these services coupled with friendly and knowledgeable staff
offering expert technical advice led to 982 of customers surveyed expressing levels 
of satisfaction as “good to excellent” 2007 976
corporate responsibility
the management team at t opps tiles is committed to conducting the company’ s
business in a socially responsible manner taking into consideration social environmental
and ethical matters whilst at the same time ensuring the company achieves its
objectives our policy is published on our website at wwwtoppstilescouk and 
more detail on our achievements can be found in this report
t opps tiles is pleased to be a constituent member of the ftse4good uk index
our website was a hitwise t op 10 
award winner for the quarter ending 
july  september 2008
2008
1116
2007
1494
2006
1319
2005
1281
2004
963
adjusted basic earnings per share p
11 1 6p
adjusted basic earnings per share 
2007 1494p  t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
8
 the market
t opps continues to be the leading tile retailer in the uk with a market share in excess 
of 22 
as consumers preferences continue to converge with european tastes the relatively 
low consumption of tiles per head in the uk compared with the rest of europe 
roughly onethird of northern europe source mbd provides significant opportunities
consumers are continuing to refurbish the traditional tiling areas such as kitchens
bathrooms and conservatories and are also increasingly extending into general 
living areas helped by the broad range of under flooring heating products now 
commonly available
during the year we have also seen a reduction in customer choice as some consolidation
in the retail market has taken place particularly with smaller regional tile businesses
worldwide consumption for tiles in particular in the more developed tile markets is 
likely to continue to weaken in the short term this has begun to present some buying
opportunities with regard to both price and terms with a dedicated tile distribution
warehouse t opps is well positioned to take advantage of these opportunities
current trading and outlook
in the seven weeks of the new financial period group overall revenue decreased by
135 and likeforlike sales decreased by 183
at the half year we highlighted that the key driver of risk to the business was the general
economic climate and since then the economy has continued to weaken the business 
is well equipped to deal with the current economic cycle and we have made good
progress in tightening our cost base for the coming year focusing our attention on cash
management and improving our financial flexibility by renegotiating our banking facilities
we will continue to maintain our focus on tight cost control and prudent management 
of the business at the same time as delivering the service element that our customers
expect we intend to capitalise on our market leading position and believe that we will
emerge from the current economic situation a stronger business and benefit significantly
when consumer confidence returns
matthew williams
chief executive officer
chief executive’ s statement continued
22
group share of the uk tile market 
2007 22 
342
t otal number of stores trading 
across the group 2007 321  t opps tiles plc
annual report  financial statements 2008
9
the company’s staff are fundamental to
the ongoing success of the business
their ability to deliver exceptional
customer service will continue to be a key
differentiator for us in the coming year
alongside our traditional retail channel this
year we launched our first online business
which offers a wide selection of our most
popular ranges including some additional
complementary products
visit our website at wwwtoppstilescouk
for full details
topps stores are purposely located 
in highly visible low rental locations 
on or close to busy roads and always
with parking facilities
the business is well equipped to deal with the current
economic cycle and we have made good progress in
tightening our cost base for the coming year  focusing
our attention on cash management and improving our
financial flexibility by renegotiating our banking facilities