1 
 
 
 
 
 
company registration no 5755897 
silverdell plc 
annual report and financial statements 
30 september 2011  
 
  silverdell plc 
 
 
contents 
 
2 
 
  
highlights 4 
group financial highlights 4 
chairmans statement 5 
our business 7 
chief executive’s statement 11 
case studies 18 
financial review 22 
key risks and mitigations 23 
directors and senior management 25 
advisers 26 
directors’ report 27 
corporate governance and risk management 32 
independent auditors report  33 
consolidated income statement 34 
consolidated statement of comprehensive income 35 
consolidated balance sheet 36 
consolidated statement of changes in equity 37 
consolidated statement of cash flows 38 
notes to the consolidated financial statements 39 
 
company balance sheet 70 
company notes to the financial statements 71  silverdell plc  
 
 
3 
 
 
 
overview 
 
silverdell plc works with major organisations both in the uk and overseas whose executives have a duty to protect 
people assets and reputation 
 
silverdell group provides peace of mind through its specialist environmental support services majoring on the 
management of asbestos and other hazardous materials 
 
which means our customers know that their interests are always protected 
 
the strategy ‘protecting lives creating value’ continues to take the business through its next stage of development 
as the market leader in its field 
 
the group provides managed solutions in highly regulated highhazard environments the group’s collaborative 
approach supports remediation and refurbishment projects and serves ongoing maintenance contract requirements for 
access and regulatory compliance from its origins in asbestos and licensed waste the group has developed into a 
highquality specialist environmental support services and regeneration organisation providing innovative solutions 
which meet customer requirements safely and costeffectively 
 
this has been achieved through growth in key market sectors these include public sector defence nuclear transport 
utilities construction industrial and petrochemical markets which provide a diverse range of commercial 
opportunities a track record of winning and delivering some of the largest and most challenging projects around the 
country is testament to the technical expertise within the group 
 
silverdell is committed to creating an improved and protected environment in which to live and work this 
commitment is the basis of our corporate vision to protect life 
 
  silverdell plc  
 
 
4 
 
 
 
highlights 
 
 order book up 73 to £107m at 31 october 2011 31 october 2010 £62m 
 magnox 10 year framework won in october 2011 
 national grid 3 year framework won 
 gross profit margin up 15 ppts at 274 2010 259 
 ebitda up 5 at £41m 2010 £39m 
 adjusted pretax profit up 15 at £30m 2010 £26m 
 statutory profit before tax of £25m 2010 £18m 
 adjusted eps up 56 at 14p 2010 09p 
 fully diluted eps up 100 at 10p 2010 05p 
 gearing slightly lower at 22 2010 23 
 a h allen and rds successfully acquired and integrating on track 
 
 
 earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation and also before goodwill impairment sharebased payments and nonrecurring 
items 
 
 before nonrecurring items impairments amortisation and sharebased payments 
 
 
group financial highlights 
 
 
    
2011 
£m 
2010 
£m 
continuing operations      
turnover    597 567 
operating profit    30 25 
      
adjusted operating profit    36 32 
adjusted operating margin     60 56 
      
 
     
earnings per share    pence pence 
adjusted basic    14 09 
      
basic    11 05 
diluted    10 05 
      
 
 
 
   before nonrecurring items impairments amortisation and share based payments 
  silverdell plc  
 
 
5 
 
 
 
chairman’s statement 
overview 
i am pleased to report encouraging results for the year ended 30 september 2011 especially considering the adverse 
weather earlier in the year and indeed the apprehension surrounding the government’s expenditure programmes the 
group continues to prove its resilience to fluctuating market conditions by maintaining its focus in the regulated 
environment where legislation is a key driver 
we have successfully achieved our objectives in the year in terms of organic growth and in terms of acquisitions 
achieving market expectations on margin and turnover both of the acquisitions a h allen and rds are being 
successfully integrated into the consulting business and are already producing positive results the group 
successfully raised £23m in a share placing during the year predominantly to fund these acquisitions 
 
strategy 
this is the second year of the ‘protecting lives creating value’ strategy which aims to deliver shareholder value by 
broadening our service offer and sustaining high quality repeatable revenues from large bluechip customers in the 
regulated and highhazard service sectors the group’s customer base now consists predominantly of large private 
and public sector organisations which place a high value on protecting the health of their customers staff and 
reputation while conditions in the wider economy are expected to remain difficult your board believes that the 
increasingly stringent regulation surrounding hazardous waste management will require customers to continue to 
prioritise nondiscretionary expenditure on facilities maintenance and regulatory compliance 
our ambition is to grow revenues to more than £100m per year within two years it is management’s view that whilst 
this could possibly be achieved organically it is most likely to come about through acquisitions and the board is 
actively exploring some options silverdell will only consider acquisitions which meet strict criteria they will be 
limited to organisations providing services which complement our group’s current service offer to highly regulated 
industrial sectors such as nuclear oil gas and energy as well as niche bolton consulting businesses and must be 
earnings enhancing within the first year 
silverdell has developed into a stable and resilient business in recognition of this fact and as a mark of our 
confidence in the future of the group we carried out a capital reduction exercise during the year which enables a 
dividend to be paid for the first time the board has determined that it will have a cautious but progressive dividend 
policy and it is our intention to pay our maiden dividend during 2012 
 
results 
revenues for the year ended 30 september 2011 were £597m 2010 £567m with adjusted ebitda of £41m 
2010 £39m and adjusted pretax profit of £30m 2010 £25m the order book at 31 october 2011 remains 
strong at £107m 2010 £62m at 31 october 2010 with £36m secured for 2012 at the year end the company’s net 
debt was £53m 2010£43m as the group required additional capital to support its growth particularly during the 
second half of the year 
 
 
board  people 
we now have a dynamic cohesive and committed management team led by our ceo sean nutley who have worked 
extremely hard over the last two years in revitalising the group and ensuring strong ties across each of the three 
principal divisions whilst maintaining their individual accountability and strict control disciplines i believe we are 
now in a strong position to take the group forward to its next stage of development 
in june matt griggs took over as md of the consulting business redhills and is successfully overseeing the 
integration of the two new acquisitions in november 2011 john potts joined the group from hertel to lead our 
industrial services division  silverdell plc  
 
 
6 
 
 
chairman’s statement continued 
 
board  people continued 
we remain a direct employer of our workforce such that their inherent skills are maintained and developed in the 
business providing an excellent basis for the training and development of future management coupled with the ease 
with which we maintain our licences to operate  
on behalf of the board i would like to express our gratitude and thank the management team and everyone in the 
group for their hard work dedication and commitment to our strategy during during the past year we have 
continued to deliver a good set of results despite the challenging economic climate around us  
 
summary 
silverdell performed robustly in the year ended 30 september 2011 the group has delivered significant growth both 
organically and by acquisition during the year and particularly during the last six months we believe that we now 
have a stable dynamic and flexible business which is very well positioned to deliver further growth and value to our 
shareholders as well as giving us confidence in our ability to pay a dividend during 2012  
 
stuart doughty 
nonexecutive chairman 
 
 
earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation and also before goodwill impairment sharebased 
payments and nonrecurring items 
 adjusted to exclude intangibles amortisation impairment charges nonrecurring items and sharebased payments silverdell plc  
 
 
7 
 
our business 
 
 
group structure 
 
 silverdell plc            remediation     consulting 
 
 remediation               silverdell          kitsons  
 
 consulting             redhills            safe training 
 
our solutions 
 
the solutions we provide are grouped in three strands 
 
environmental 
 
 asbestos surveying management and removal 
 land remediation and demolition 
 removal of lead and other hazardous contaminants 
 preconstruction and enabling works 
 environmental consulting  land carbon and energy management 
 
industrial 
 
 scaffolding and access systems 
 thermal insulation  tanks and lagging 
 specialist coatings 
 painting and general contracting 
 
regulatory compliance 
 
 asbestos and legionella testing and compliance 
 regulatory training for the built environment 
 waste management solutions 
 
 
our strategy 
 
the business strategy protecting lives creating value is designed to take the group forward and at the same time 
provide greater resilience in challenging economic times it comprises four commitments we make to our customers 
employees shareholders and stakeholder partners 
• protecting lives  removing hazardous waste materials before any longterm damage is done and eliminating the 
risk of further contamination 
• creating value  for customers by restoring the value of their assets for shareholders through a combination of 
organic and acquisitive growth 
• duty of care  protecting the reputation of our customers by employing the best people and finishing the job to 
the highest possible standard 
• legal compliance  in a highly regulated industry to be open transparent and auditable in everything we do 
 
 
  silverdell plc  
 
 
8 
 
our business continued 
 
our strategy continued 
 
it is a strategy formed from our vision  to protect life  and underpinned by our core values 
• caring about people standards and the environment 
• open to scrutiny approachable and auditable 
• positive dynamic energetic and creative in what we do 
 
together our vision values and strategy drive everything we do  
our markets 
we operate in the specialist asbestos support services and wider specialist hazardous infrastructure industrial support 
services sectors we are the uk’s largest provider of specialist asbestos services and the skills processes and 
reputation that we have developed in in this arena are equally applicable to other highly regulated highhazard 
materials this focus together with our other industrial capabilities increasingly enables us to rival larger competitors 
in the specialist industrial services sector 
we work for companies and organisations active across a broad spectrum of market segments 
private sector  
power generation utilities and industrial  
 nuclear decommissioning and dismantling maintaining conventional power stations and supporting the installation 
of new sites  
 supporting the facilities and transmission networks of customers across the electricity gas and water sectors 
maintaining oil and gas terminals  
 maintaining and refurbishing manufacturing and process plant and facilities 
 
construction 
 integrated enabling solutions in support of onsite teams 
 
retail commercial and rail  
 large and smallscale refurbishment of high street and office premises  
 supporting the regeneration of stations and trackside maintenance 
 
public sector 
local authorities and housing 
 supporting local government facilities management teams and registered social landlords 
 
healthcare  
 supporting nhs trusts through longterm framework arrangements 
  silverdell plc  
 
 
9 
 
 
our business continued 
 
our markets continued 
further and higher education  
 maintaining the fabric of our schools colleges and universities 
 
defence 
 assisting the uk ministry of defence to maintain and improve its estate 
 
our business  drivers for success 
 
since 2009 our group has transformed from being principally a specialist in the management and removal of asbestos 
to become a broad based environmental support services provider with operations focused on highly regulated high
hazard markets  
 
we expanded the skills capabilities and capacities we gained working with asbestos and applied them to similarly 
sensitive markets  nuclear defence and energy today we have migrated upstream to contend as a specialist 
contractor against competitors many times our size  
 
driving our success are 
 
our business focus and organisational structure 
 
awareness of the risks posed by hazardous substances to environmental health have never been higher the 
increasing requirements of public and workplace health and safety protection legislation in the uk europe and 
worldwide mean that expenditure on the management control and remediation of such substances can no longer be 
considered discretionary prominent publicity is given to events in which hazardous materials have failed to be 
contained 
 
environmental hazards are a fact of life although the use of asbestos was banned in the uk in 1999 its legacy will 
continue until 2050 fourteen million homes were built in the uk between 194599 some 19500 schools and 
500000 uk workplaces are estimated to have highhazard regulated asbestos containing materials acms in their 
structures 18m uk workers and tradespeople are estimated to be exposed to environmental asbestos every year 
annual deaths from asbestos related illnesses are predicted to peak at 5000 in 2015  
 
to counteract such hazards we have increased our range of capabilities and expanded our capacity to become a full 
service single source supplier of premium complementary high hazard regulated environmental support services  
from onsite consulting through to construction and remediation serving customers throughout the private and public 
sectors our skills are transferable sector to sector market to market our geographic reach extends throughout the 
uk and our scale enables us to follow our customers internationally 
 
 
our people 
 
our people are vital to our success we recruit people who share our work ethic and values and who understand and 
are committed to the duty of care we owe our customers  
 
 
 
  silverdell plc  
 
 
10 
 
our business continued 
 
our business  drivers for success 
 
whatever their level of skill or experience on joining we aim to help every one to reach their maximum potential and 
make a career with us on joining everyone undertakes a training needs assessment site staff progress through a 3  
tiered  ‘bronze’ ‘silver’ and ‘gold’ standard  development programme designed to increase the level of skills and 
competency and equip the individual to master tasks of different risk and complexity  
 
 
specialist training in working with hazardous materials at height or in confined spaces is provided by our own 
academy safe training and as needed by external providers high potential individuals participate in a fasttrack 
development programme in which exceptional people can progress from new operative to manager within four years 
operative supervisor or manager we provide a programme of continuing development designed to help them reach 
their full potential 
 
by training our people to the highest standards helping them to realise their potential and providing them with 
satisfying careers and industry leading benefits we aim to retain the best workforce in our industry 
 
 
barriers to entry 
 
we work in a highly regulated sector where legislative barriers to entry are increasingly restrictive and few can 
match our level of capability expertise and experience 
 
in addition significant nonlegislative barriers such as necessary security clearances insurance cover accreditations 
and a proven track record resources and capacity in such projects act to restrict access to our markets 
 
 
legislation 
 
increasingly stringent legislation while restricting entry to our markets is also acting to increase demand for our 
services the introduction of a ‘duty to manage’ under the uk control of asbestos regulations car in 2006 has 
increased demand for our consulting services the eu ruling in 2011 requiring the uk to implement the asbestos 
worker protection directive in full will necessitate many tradespeople receiving specialist training in working with 
asbestos while a 2011 ruling of the uk supreme court will open the path to action against employers and building 
owners by mesothelioma victims and increase attention to asbestos management and remediation 
 
 
reputation and credibility 
 
legislation and media attention have increased market sensitivity to compliance and risk management leading to a 
greater focus on health and safety issues and expenditure by business on corporate social responsibility programmes 
 
with our specialist focus track record of project delivery and ability to engage and work with our customers to create 
longterm relationships we are well positioned to succeed we are one of very few specialist environmental services 
businesses capable of putting the right people with the right skills in the right place at the right time and able to 
respond to the needs of those customers seeking the simplicity and certainty of a single source solution 
  silverdell plc  
 
 
11 
 
chief executive’s statement  
overview 
a strong foundation for profitable growth 
silverdell operates in two distinct markets in the uk the general domestic refurbishment and construction related 
market and the larger industrial support services market predominantly involved in the petrochemical and nuclear 
sectors both of which require a high degree of regulatory control the skills processes and importantly the culture 
that our operating teams have developed in providing asbestos services lend themselves to the handling and 
management of all hazardous materials in a safe and compliant manner where incidents could have dramatic 
repercussions on the operating efficiency of clients’ establishments and damage to their reputations to these 
customers we provide reassurance and peace of mind 
the group is the largest quoted specialist supplier of asbestos support services in the uk but despite that has only a 
small proportion of the wider industrial support services sector this is where we believe the next step in our growth 
strategy to be however because of our proven and wellregarded track record of delivering services in hazardous 
conditions we are a trusted and longstanding supplier to major companies in the nuclear defence petrochemical and 
energy sectors we are now actively building on this position to create new opportunities for growth in these sectors 
both in the uk and abroad we believe that the successful implementation of this strategy will help fulfil our 
ambition to increase the critical mass of the business and secure annual turnover in excess of £100m 
strategic review 
introduction 
we are in the second year of the strategy building the group up from the parlous financial state which existed in 
2009 the change in culture which has resulted from our pursuit of our “protecting lives creating value” strategy is 
providing improved cohesion better delivery of client services and positioning the group well for further growth  
increasingly our key customers are seeking to appoint partners that are capable of offering a single source solution to 
their service needs in a highly regulated market they are seeking to achieve longterm certainty and peace of mind 
by appointing reliable proven supply chain partners on a framework contract basis we operate in markets where 
there are very high barriers to entry and which therefore favour longestablished reputable companies such as 
silverdell plc  
furthermore we differentiate ourselves from our competitors by striving to provide a premium service across a 
spectrum of complementary services from onsite consulting through to remediation serving all sectors and public 
and private customers 
‘protecting lives creating value’ is a fourpronged strategy that is designed to enable our group to consolidate   its 
position as the uk’s leading provider of specialist environmental support services and take a larger share of the uk 
industrial support services market but with the capacity to follow our customers overseas or pursue opportunities in 
potentially attractive territories worldwide where similar legislation is in place 
objectives 
for the year ahead we plan to further strengthen the silverdell group and create shareholder value through 
 clearly demonstrating our position as a leading provider of  services in highhazard regulated environments 
through our competence and track record to customers suppliers employees and investors in order to 
differentiate ourselves from the competition and make silverdell their services partner of choice 
 developing our product and geographic capability through new service offerings through acquisition and by 
organic growth 
 
 improving existing client relationships by offering bundled services with unmatched quality 
 
 continuing to improve systems cost efficiencies and cash management across the group 
 
 
  silverdell plc  
 
 
12 
 
chief executive’s statement continued 
 
objectives continued 
in order to achieve this we continue our strategic approach to drive improving performance through 
 
 further development of our capabilities in regulated environmental and compliance markets other than 
asbestos management 
 development of our position in the industrial and power generation markets through securing longerterm      
framework contracts 
 development of our existing customer relationships to generate new business in areas such as specialist 
scaffolding insulation and specialist coatings training consulting and compliance  
 increasing our capability in hazardous materials consulting 
 
back in june 2010 our board set the group a number of challenging targets for the mediumterm 
 
 to grow our order book ahead of organic revenue growth  
 to drive revenue growth year on year ahead of market growth 
 to grow the ebitda margin to 10  
 to maintain working capital at not more than one month’s revenue 
 to grow the consulting business to 15 of group revenues 
 
i am pleased to report that we are making considerable progress in most of these areas in particular recent months 
have seen our order book increase by over 70 against last year while revenues are 6 higher yearonyear ebitda 
margins year on year continue to improve although the step to 10 will require a step change in our volumes to 
reduce the dilutive effect of our fixed overhead 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  silverdell plc  
 
 
13 
 
 
chief executive’s statement continued 
 
what we said what we’ve done the future 
grow our order book ahead of organic 
revenue growth  
achieved order book has risen 73 
to £107m 2010 £62m 
continue focus on winning high 
margin consulting and high value 
framework contracts increasing our 
penetration of the wider industrial 
support services market  
drive revenue growth year on year 
ahead of market growth 
achieved group turnover increased 
by 5 to £597m 2010 £567m 
accelerate revenue growth to meet 
ambition of £100m within two years 
through organic growth acquisition 
and international expansion 
grow the ebitda margin to 10 progress while ebitda increased 
5 to £41m 2010 £39m the 
margin remains at 7  
continue to focus on order book and 
revenue growth while bearing down on 
costs and seeking cost synergies 
throughout the business 
maintain working capital at not more 
than one month’s revenue 
this has been challenged by the 
growth that has been experienced as 
a direct labour employer anything 
above modest growth requires 
additional working capital 
we will strive to optimise cash through 
improving terms wherever possible 
grow the consulting business to 15 
of group revenues 
achieved consulting now accounts 
for 18 of revenues on a running rate 
basis 
continue the assimilation of ah allen 
and rds into the business and pursuit 
of framework opportunities 
 
earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation and also before nonrecurring costs and sharebased payments 
 
most importantly silverdell is a very different group today than it was two years ago then despite having excellent 
site operations the group had considerable debt and profits were at an alltime low despite extremely difficult 
market conditions the group has been strengthened financially and operationally renegotiating its facilities and 
securing more funds from the market completely restructuring its senior management team and driving cultural and 
financial disciplines into the three core divisions whilst ensuring cooperation and cohesion with no loss of 
accountability  
two years on the decisive management actions we have taken have transformed silverdell into a robust growing 
business with stable and flexible financing  
we have done all this while maintaining our bestinclass operational reputation our credibility is now such that we 
increasingly find ourselves competing on a ‘tier 1’ basis for contracts in which we contract directly with the end 
customer where before we might only have been considered as a subcontractor 
the successful £23m fundraising we undertook in august to fund the acquisition of rds is testimony to our 
transformation  
 
 
  silverdell plc  
 
 
14 
 
chief executive’s statement continued 
 
acquisitions 
during the year we completed two acquisitions to strengthen our environmental consulting offering and having 
completed the acquisitions the key to success has been the smooth integration of the businesses into the group in 
april we purchased a h allen limited “a h allen” based in the north east the integration plan is going well and 
is on plan at the end of august 2011 we purchased rds asbestos management consultants uk limited “rds” 
which will strengthen our presence in the retail sector  the management teams are working together to ensure its 
smooth integration  
both ah allen and rds bring additional capacity and considerable expertise to the group’s consulting offering 
our consulting team is now over 180 strong compared to around 100 this time last year and so we expect both 
acquisitions to be earnings accretive with immediate effect  
 
summary and outlook 
our “protecting lives creating value” strategy has effectively prepared our group for the next stage of growth the 
board is currently developing the plan for the next phase of our group’s development which will be unveiled within 
the next six months  
the last two years has seen the group recover from a low point to build a stable foundation for growth and start to 
deliver that growth through some significant business wins the next phase of growth will see the group increase in 
reputation revenues and profits to become an established and high quality provider of hazardous industrial services 
with a truly international capability 
 
operational review 
 
  remediation  consulting 
  2011  2010  2011  2010 
public sector      
 local authorities  housing 12  11  14  20 
 defence 21  17  9  11 
 health  education 11  11  15  21 
  44  39  38  52 
         
private sector        
 utilities power  industrial 27  28  18  10 
 construction 8  15  1  5 
 retail commercial  rail 21  18  43  33 
  56  61  62  48 
  100  100  100  100 
 
in 2011 external remediation revenues rose by 2 to £515 m 2010 £505m the revenue base is now increasingly 
made up of longterm framework contracts with resilient repeatable revenues in particular in 2010 remediation 
benefitted from a £35m fixed price contract the loss of which has been more than compensated for by repeatable  
 
 
  silverdell plc  
 
 
15 
 
chief executive’s statement continued 
 
operational review continued 
revenues in 2011 operating margins in this segment were 69 in 2011 up from 62 in 2010 driven by operating 
cost efficiencies 
consulting has had a strong year boosted in the second half by two acquisitions which have improved both our 
capability and capacity external consulting revenues rose by 32 to £82m 2010 £62m nearly all of which is 
generated through framework contracts profitability also improved as a result of better overhead efficiency with the 
operating profit margin increasing by 09 ppts to 153 2010 144 the acquisitions will drive further 
improvements in revenue and profitability in 2012 
 excluding amortisation sharebased payments and nonrecurring items 
 
public sector 
there is a substantial asbestos legacy across the whole range of public sector property including local government 
buildings and social housing schools colleges and hospitals as well as defence establishments the public sector 
spend on maintenance and refurbishment projects exceeds £20bn per year and this is driven by regulatory 
requirements  
notwithstanding the coalition government’s comprehensive spending review in october 2010 and the associated 
freezes or reductions in a number of capital projects silverdell has seen public sector revenues rise by 13 during the 
year the share of total remediation revenues generated by public sector work increased to 44 in 2011 2010 39 
whilst the share of consulting revenues was 38 2010 52  
underlying public sector revenues in consulting were flat year on year with the principal elements of organic and 
acquisition growth in consulting delivering revenues predominantly in the private sectors    
 
local authority and housing  
2011 has been another year of success in winning local authority and housing framework contracts with the share of 
total remediation revenues rising to 12 201011 towards the end of the year we won a contract to survey and 
remediate 30000 homes over three years working for a consortium of registered social landlords  
we continued to win new contracts with social landlords such as peabody as well as several local housing 
authorities however with more significant revenue growth in other areas local authority revenues fell to 14 of our 
total consulting revenues 2010 21  
health and education 
health and education comprised 11 2010 11 of our remediation revenues particular success has been 
achieved in working with a major nhs trust in south wales the strength of this relationship driven by our 
understanding of the customer’s needs has opened the door to further opportunities with nhs trusts elsewhere in 
wales we are also the incumbent asbestos services provider for a number of russell group universities which have 
diverse property portfolios across a wide regional spread 
health and education work made up 15 of consulting revenues 2010 21 with notable work wins with a 
number of russell group universities providing survey and management services across their entire university 
estates 
 
defence 
the defence share of revenues for remediation was 21 201017 during 2011 we developed excellent 
relationships with the atomic weapons establishment which has seen our work with this customer increase threefold 
in less than two years our work with awe has developed well beyond our traditional asbestos offering and we now 
offer a number of additional services we have also extended the regional prime contracts relationship for a further 
six years which is a fantastic success for the group  silverdell plc  
 
 
16 
 
chief executive’s statement continued 
 
operational review continued 
consulting defence revenues represented 9 2010 11 of the total although this represents a slight increase in 
absolute terms a significant defence customer during the year has been awe with whom we have successfully 
developed new consulting opportunities out of the longstanding relationship with the customer 
 
private sector 
power generation utilities and industrial 
power generation utilities and industrial customers totalled 27 of remediation segment revenues in 2011 2010 
29 we have leveraged our strong relationship with magnox to win a share of a £304m framework contract for 
asbestos removal deplanting and decommissioning at their first generation nuclear power stations which will serve 
to replace current work at the chapelcross site as it scales down in 2013  
in addition to the magnox framework contract win we have won a nationwide scaffolding framework contract with 
national grid which will provide the basis for increased penetration in this attractive sector we have also completed 
thermal insulation works on a major newbuild power station in south wales during the year and whilst the final 
account is still under negotiation management remains confident of a successful outcome in our consulting 
business power generation utilities and industrial customers rose to 18 201010 of total revenues we 
acquired a h allen in april 2011 which has a longstanding framework contract with a large water utility in the 
north east more importantly however we have won a significant amount of new business from remediation 
customers in this sector such as national grid and magnox 
construction 
construction’s share of total remediation revenues fell in 2011 to 7 201015 hard hit by the economic 
downturn there has been an absence of property development opportunities especially outside london and the south 
east the outlook for the construction sector remains poor with industry forecasts anticipating no upturn before 
2014   
consulting’s construction share of total revenues also fell to 1 2010 5 
retail commercial and rail 
this segment comprised 21 201018 of remediation revenues and 43 of consulting revenues 2010 33  
as anticipated we have seen a number of retail refurbishment projects being undertaken this year and we have 
worked for a number of major high street brands as they have sought to refresh their stores after a twoyear period of 
underinvestment during the year we also won a national framework with crawfords a leading loss adjuster to 
provide insurancerelated remediation works and this relationship is responsible for the majority of the increase in this 
work we operate a nationwide network that offers a 247 emergency callout to both residential and commercial 
properties and combine this responsiveness with a high quality service under a demanding service level agreement  
during the year we completed works under a crossrail contract in central london with this client also providing 
work for the consulting division 
the bulk of the consulting work in this segment is the provision of survey and management services to a nationwide 
broadcaster we continue to provide consulting services to a number of major insurance companies throughout the 
uk and trade strongly with many national well established retailers including opticians chemists supermarkets and 
banks the acquisition of rds will increase activity in this segment in the future thanks to its particular focus on the 
retail high street pubs and clubs 
 
 
 
 
  silverdell plc  
 
 
17 
 
chief executive’s statement continued 
 
 
during the past two years silverdell plc has been successfully refocused and stabilised we are now standing on a 
strong platform and are poised for future growth  
i am very encouraged by recent progress made winning significant new business while making two successful 
acquisitions and we look forward to the future with confidence 
sean nutley 
chief executive  silverdell plc  
 
 
18 
 
 
 
case studies 
 
peabody  
making london a city of opportunity for all 
project  asbestos risk management and enabling works 
people  providing peace of mind to a diverse community 
business  working in partnership 
founded in 1862 by american banker diplomat and philanthropist george peabody the peabody group is london’s 
longest standing affordable housing provider and social entrepreneur its mission is to make london a city of 
opportunity for all by ensuring that as many people as possible have a good home a real sense of purpose and a 
strong feeling of belonging   
 
peabody defines “a good home” as a place that is safe warm clean light well maintained and evokes personal 
pride with safety first on their list of priorities and a portfolio of more than 20000 properties owned and managed 
across the capital for peabody the assessment and control of any risk to health that might be posed to their 50000 
residents through exposure to asbestos is paramount 
 
peabody’s relationship with silverdell plc’s consulting division redhills began in 2007 specialist in asbestos risk 
management redhills was appointed to assist peabody ensure its compliance with the recently introduced ‘duty to 
manage‘ legislation that arose from the implementation of regulation 4 of the control of asbestos regulations 2006 
 
redhills first task was to undertake an extensive programme of asbestos surveys which enabled peabody to formulate 
its corporate asbestos management plan and create an accurate register of asbestos risk the asbestos management 
plan details the strategy and processes peabody uses to safeguard its residents contractors and those in the wider 
community from risk of exposure to airborne asbestos fibres originating from its properties the asbestos register 
details the location and nature of current materials which are reinspected annually and updated to record any asbestos 
abatement works that have been undertaken     
 
in 2009 recognising the specific challenges arising from meeting the diverse needs of peabody’s residents  their 
languages and cultures the elderly and infirm individuals at high risk those with disabilities and young families  
redhills established a specialist housing team 
  
commenting on the benefits that redhills’ housing team have brought to the relationship gary jacobs building 
services asbestos coordinator at peabody said  
 
“having worked with redhills for over three years i have been consistently pleased by their honesty integrity and 
professional approach   
 
“redhills distinct advantage over other consultants is their dedicated and highly motivated housing team that 
understands the issues and problems faced by a social landlord and its tenants  their ability to meet our exacting 
kpi’s key performance indicators on a regular basis is testament to their customer focus   
 
“the word ‘partnering’ is often banded about but rarely understood  for me the relationship between peabody and 
redhills is what partnering is all about – an open and honest working relationship where trust is engendered in both 
parties” 
 
matt griggs managing director of redhills added 
“our specialist housing team is a practical example of how customer focus can bring real dividends to a relationship 
care is no soft virtue it’s a pragmatic means to deliver customer value” 
  silverdell plc  
 
 
19 
 
 
case studies continued 
 
since forming its specialist housing team redhills’ working partnership with peabody has developed to the extent 
that it now acts as a key consultant and stakeholder in all facets of peabody’s asbestos risk management   
 
 
delivering safety and efficiency in nuclear decommissioning 
 
project removing asbestos containing materials from firstgeneration nuclear reactor sites  
 
people ensuring peace of mind and a clean environment 
 
business asbestos remediation thermal insulation and scaffolding access  
 
 
kitsons’ relationship with the uk nuclear power industry began more than 20 years ago when we worked on the 
decommissioning of the berkeley reactor site on behalf of nuclear electric formerly cegb  
 
further asbestos removal contracts followed in the decommissioning of the ‘first generation’ reactors at trawsfynydd 
sizewell bradwell and hinkley point a in 2007 kitsons was awarded the contract to remove 3300 tons of asbestos 
containing materials acms from the chapelcross reactor site by magnox limited the site licensing company of the 
uk’s nuclear decommissioning agency nda 
 
the chapelcross contract was at the time the largest single asbestos removal project ever awarded in europe it 
differed from those that preceded it by being the first to be operated on an ‘open book target cost‘ basis in which the 
kitsons and magnox site teams became fully integrated to jointly plan and schedule the works in the delivery 
programme the objective of this transparent collaborative approach was to maximise efficiencies in the project 
programme and deliver real cost savings to the nda and the uk taxpayer  
 
the chapelcross project involved two phases that commenced with the design mechanical strengthening and erection 
of scaffold structures wrapped in a proprietary sheeting to completely contain the heat exchangers and provide a 
weather barrier this was followed by the removal and disposal of the asbestos containing and asbestos free thermal 
insulation present in the heat exchangers gas ducts pump houses pipework condensers and turbines on the site  
 
kitsons working directly for magnox in compliance with the uk health and safety legislation in two of the most 
highly regulated sectors of nuclear and asbestos creates safe containment structures around the areas to be stripped 
and then completes the bulk strip and fine clean of the site before conducting the safe disposal of the removed 
materials the project utilises kitsons asbestos removal thermal insulation and scaffolding capabilities 
 
commenced in 2007 the chapelcross project is on course for completion in 2012 such has been the success of the 
‘open book target cost’ approach that it has been instrumental in kitsons winning in a joint venture with its 
demolition and deplanting partner eds a share of a further £304m framework agreement with magnox the 10year 
agreement covers the removal of remaining acms from the ten first generation nuclear reactor sites operated by 
magnox 
 
commenting on the value of the ‘open book’ approach and the benefits of framework agreements andy watson 
kitsons managing director said 
 
“openness is a value shared throughout the silverdell group it helps us to develop trusted enduring relationships 
with our customers as we have here with magnox the collaboration that results generates a productive approach to 
joint planning and problem solving that ensures that project delivery is optimised”  
 
 
  silverdell plc  
 
 
20 
 
case studies continued 
 “from our customers’ standpoint this drives efficiencies avoids unnecessary delay and releases real cost savings in 
the project delivery framework agreements allow customers such as magnox to retain the learning with a buy once 
and use again approach certain of the capabilities and skills of their service partners benefiting from the supply 
chain and process improvements they have created with them over time” 
 
ensuring the safety of people at heathrow airport 
 
project the old control tower london heathrow airport 
 
people the passengers airport workers and public at the world’s busiest international airport 
 
business asbestos removal and remediation 
 
baa’s london heathrow is one of the busiest airports in the world with more than 186000 passengers passing through it every 
day and a place of work for some 76000 people as capacity demands have grown baa has sought to expand the airport’s 
facilities but with finite space available the operator is pressed to redevelop old facilities along with creating new 
 
in april 2007 in anticipation of the opening of the new terminal 5 and the changing demands of the airport baa moved the air 
traffic control facilities that oversee up to 480000 aircraft movements a year to a new tower immediately baa set about 
redeveloping the 50year old former control tower and office complex sited in the heart of the airport’s busy central area  
 
silverdell uk first became involved in the works in 2011 when appointed by baa’s main contractor mansell construction 
services to undertake a small project to remove various known nonnotifiable and notifiable asbestos bearing materials from three 
floors of the south and west wings of the old control tower buildings 
 
during the programmed asbestos removal works in the south wing silverdell discovered additional previously unidentified 
asbestos materials that required immediate action baa has a firm ‘sustainability commitment’ to ensure that heathrow is “a safe 
healthy and secure airport for staff and passengers” and when notified of silverdell’s discoveries the baa project team mansell 
and silverdell immediately set about developing a swift and safe plan of action to reduce their effect on the ensuing demolition 
works       
  
together with mansell and baa’s asbestos consultants wsp silverdell first undertook a full visual survey of the south wing to 
identify areas of concern and then assisted wsp to complete a full demolition survey without disturbance to the asbestos the 
surveys complete mansell with silverdells assistance led the project to isolate the electrical and mechanical connections needed to 
enable the safe completion of the planned asbestos removal and demolition works 
 
with the site prepared silverdell was then contracted to remove and dispose of the asbestosbearing materials identified in the 
wsp survey the project required 1300 man days to complete and resulted in the removal of 1200m
3
 of asbestos bearing 
materials from the site in 33 waste containers  delivered and collected at night to conform to airport regulations concerning 
hazardous waste movements 
 
given the sensitive location of the project site and its proximity to the airport central area’s public transport hub the works were 
subject to rigorous health and safety audit on 25 occasions in the course of their completion silverdell’s project management and 
site personnel were consistently commended by the mansell and baa audit teams for the excellence with which the site 
workforce and waste product removal were managed  the completed works being assessed as to amongst the highest standards yet 
experienced at the airport 
 
silverdell uk has subsequently been approached by baa’s ‘major projects’ team to assist where possible in the planning and 
programming of the remaining works to the west wing and old control tower building 
 
 
“silverdell is as assertive of site health and safety as we are in mansell we set demanding standards for our projects and 
silverdell met them impeccably at every stage  
 
 “on all of our many site visits we found silverdell’s work zones to be very well organised and all credit must be given to the 
professional commitment and safety culture shown by everyone in their team  supervisors and operatives alike 
 
“as the project progressed so our confidence and that of our baa client grew we have chosen to recognise silverdell’s 
contribution to the heathrow old control tower project by making them our ‘supplier of the month’ for september 2011” 
 
 
  silverdell plc  
 
 
21 
 
case studies continued 
 
 
chris gordon 
senior project manager 
mansell construction services ltd 
 
 
“responsiveness innovation and flexibility combined with application control and a committed execution are all qualities that 
the silverdell team were proud to have been able to demonstrate on the heathrow old control tower project 
 
“as a result we have built trusted relationships with both our baa customer and their main contractor on the project mansell 
construction which have opened the door to further opportunities at the airport  
 
“we will use this success as the spur to further improve what we do” 
 
wayne farmer 
regional director 
silverdell uk 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  silverdell plc  
 
 
22 
 
financial review 
group turnover increased by 5 to £597m 2010 £567m on the back of a particularly strong second half where we 
recorded £318m of revenue 2010 £288m in h2 as we won a number of new and significant framework contracts 
particularly in consulting the revenue from our acquisitions in the year was £09m 2010 £nil gross profit was 
increased to £163m 2010£147m and the gross margin percentage therefore increased by 15 percentage points 
ppts to 274 2010 259 the main driver of this improvement was the business mix changing during the year 
with consulting revenues now comprising 14 of the group revenues 2010 11 where consulting gross margins 
are more than double the gross margins earned by the remediation segment subject to any further changes in the 
composition of the group this accretive impact on margin will continue through 2012 as the full year impact of the 
two acquisitions takes effect 
administration costs increased to £130m 2010£116m at the beginning of the year we introduced a number of 
employment benefits to all our salaried staff including a money purchase pension scheme on an optout basis which 
has been introduced ahead of the government’s proposed deadline this will help us to continue to attract and retain 
the best people we have also invested in management training and development during the year and this has 
delivered improvements in our business win ratio in each of our brands operating profit increased by £04m to 
£36m 2010 £32m  
as a result of the two acquisitions related integration costs and the capital reduction exercise we incurred an 
additional £03m of nonrecurring costs in the year 2010£nil 
finance charges were £05m 2010£07m profit before tax improved by 15 to £30m 2010 £26m statutory 
profit before tax improved by 39 to £25m 2010 £18mthe tax charge for the year was £08m 2010 £11m 
the effective corporation tax rate is 32 201060 profit after tax was £21m 2010 £15m and adjusted 
earnings per share was up 56 on last year at 14 pence 2010 09 pence statutory profit after tax was £17m 
2010 £07m the directors intend to pay a maiden dividend in 2012  
net debt at 30 september 2011 was up by £10m at £53m 2010£43m with gearing at 22 2010 23 of this 
the working capital outflow amounted to £36m 2010 £20m outflow this arose as a result of the volume growth 
particularly during q4 2011 which resulted in trade receivables being £26m higher at 30 september 2011 than at the 
same point last year we also have included in receivables amounts recoverable under contracts of more than £2m 
which we expect to recover during the first half of 2012 after the yearend the group’s revolving credit facility was 
extended by £1m to £35m 
the order book is significantly higher than last year the addition of £20m to the order book in respect of the magnox 
10 year framework contract as well as the impact of strong q4 orders and acquisitions brings the order book total up 
to £107m 2010£62m of which £36m 2010£34m relates to the new financial year 
the group uses derivatives designed to protect it from the interest rate risk that arises in respect of its borrowings for 
the majority of which the group applied hedge accounting in accordance with ias 39 at 30 september 2011 a 
liability was held on the balance sheet of £01m 2010£01m in respect of these derivatives all assets liabilities 
including borrowings and cash flows in the year were denominated in sterling and accordingly the group did not 
have an exposure to currency risk and has no related hedging products a full discussion of the financial risks to 
which the group is exposed along with the definitions of its key performance indicators is included in the 
statements on key risks and mitigations on pages 23 and 24 and corporate governance and risk management on 
page 32 
we completed two acquisitions during the year both in the second half in april we purchased ah allen limited a 
consulting business based in the north east for around £09m assuming achievement of stretch earnout targets at 
the end of august 2011 we raised £23m net of costs from a share placing of 235 million shares the proceeds of 
which went towards the purchase of rds asbestos management consultants uk limited “rds” for a maximum 
consideration of £23m again assuming achievement of stretch earnout targets this acquisition also included 
issuing 555 million shares to the vendors of rds as part of the total consideration as a result the number of issued 
allotted and fully paid up shares increased to end the year at 1808m 2010 1517m  
ian johnson 
chief financial officer 
 
 adjusted to exclude intangibles amortisation impairment charges nonrecurring items and sharebased payments  silverdell plc  
 
 
23 
 
key risks and mitigations 
the identification assessment and management of risk is fundamental to the achievement of the group’s strategic 
objectives the principal risks to the business as determined by the board are set out below the board recognises 
that the nature and scope of the risks faced by the business can change and so periodically reviews the risks and the 
controls in place to mitigate them andor transfer them to third parties 
market related risk 
the group is exposed to the risk of the general macroeconomic environment as well as government spending 
priorities we monitor the forward order books to ensure that appropriate resources are allocated to fulfil orders and 
procure new work either from existing clients or new customers 
regulatory risks 
the group operates in a sector overseen by a number of environmental regulators as such the regulatory landscape 
is constantly changing increasing the risk of noncompliance and the resultant reputational damage that may arise 
we remain fully committed to our teams being appraised of any changes in the regulatory framework through an 
extensive training programme outlined above we are members of all the recognised trade associations in the sectors 
we operate in and in particular one of our senior executives is a past chairman of the asbestos remediation trade 
body arca 
contractual risk 
the group operates in a sector where fixedprice contracts are common and this may result in a loss arising from a 
failure to properly reflect the operational risks in the contract price and terms all significant contracts are reviewed 
by the executive directors and independent legal advisors and all reasonable efforts are made to consider the 
potential extent of the work involved and the consequent risk of increased cost to provide reasonable certainty that the 
group has the capacity and capability to meet the requirements of the contract 
acquisition effectiveness 
the group’s strategy acknowledges that specific acquisitions may be required to enhance the group’s capability in 
certain areas there is a risk that an acquisition will fail to meet its strategic financial or operational objectives the 
board has set key investment criteria that must be made by any acquisition target all appropriate due diligence will 
be performed and contractual protections sought from the vendor to safeguard the group’s interests the board will 
review the requirement to retain the target’s key personnel and detailed integration plans will be put in place for 
implementation postacquisition 
people risk 
our people are our greatest asset and provide the basis for our competitive advantage we will seek to ensure that our 
operatives are trained through the application of a comprehensive training strategy and a policy that offers sufficient 
remuneration and incentives to retain our best people consistent with the market rates recruitment processes are 
applied that are appropriate to the seniority of the position being filled and to minimise the risk of an unsuitable 
appointment 
financial risks 
interest rate risk 
the group finances its operations through a mix of equity and debt funding all borrowings are denominated in 
sterling predominantly at variable rates of interest accordingly the group has hedged a proportion of its interest 
costs through an interest rate swap as mitigation against the risk of rising variable rates the board reviews the 
appropriateness of this policy from time to time taking into consideration expectations for future interest rates and the 
underlying level of borrowings 
 
credit including counterparty risk 
credit risk arises from the risk of having credit exposures to customers including outstanding receivables and 
retentions the group monitors the credit ratings of all customers with which it has or may have significant credit 
balances and takes any appropriate action it considers necessary including obtaining guarantees and ensuring that no 
single customer failure would present a significant risk to the achievement of the group’s strategic objectives  
  silverdell plc  
 
 
24 
 
key risks and mitigations continued 
counterparty risk arises from holding cash and cash equivalents with financial institutions the group controls this 
risk by ensuring that it enters into relationships only with highly creditrated financial institutions 
liquidity risk 
liquidity risk is the risk that the group does not have sufficient cash resources to meet its commitments whether 
short or long term the group has a mixture of borrowing facilities such as an overdraft to provide shortterm 
flexibility as well as a threeyear longterm facility arrangement the group prepares a rolling 13week cash flow 
forecast which is updated every two weeks which is reviewed by both management and the board to consider whether 
the group’s cash resources are sufficient 
covenant risk 
the group must comply with a number of financial covenants as the conditions of its banking facility the group 
monitors compliance with its covenants on an actual and forecast basis at each board meeting 
treasury risk 
treasury risk includes the risk of unauthorised or unsuitable transactions the group operates under a strict mandate 
in respect of its cash disbursements and all financial derivative contracts must be reviewed and approved by the 
board the group does not use derivative financial instruments for speculative purposes all new bank accounts or 
facilities and all new relationships with financial institutions must be approved by the board 
the group does not have an exposure to foreign currency risk 
 
health and safety 
our employees operate on construction sites and risk exposure to asbestos and other hazardous materials as such 
there is a significant threat to personal safety health and safety is the board and management’s highest priority we 
monitor and manage our safety processes and ensure that policies are reviewed and communicated at all levels all 
staff are of the highest industry standard through our internal training consulting safe the company also takes out 
appropriate insurance policies 
 
key performance indicators kpis 
the board monitors the performance of the group by regular reference to a small number of kpis which are 
 adjusted ebitda this is earnings before amortisation and impairment costs in respect of                      
intangible assets depreciation finance costs corporation tax and excludes nonrecurring costs and sharebased 
payment charges 
 gross margin percentage this is the percentage of profit to revenue after deducting direct costs 
but before the deduction of any fixed or variable overhead costs 
 administration costs as a percentage of revenue this is the central overhead cost both divisional 
and corporate as a percentage of total revenue 
 operating margin this is operating profit as a percentage of revenue operating profit is 
calculated before corporation tax and finance costs which includes depreciation charges but excludes amortisation 
and impairment charges relating to intangible assets sharebased payment charges and any nonrecurring costs 
 earnings per share this is the adjusted posttax earnings per basic ordinary share adjusted post
tax earnings is the profit after finance charges and corporation tax but excluding any nonrecurring expenses 
sharebased payment charges and finance charges relating to deferred consideration the basic number of ordinary 
shares is the weighted average number of shares in issue including contingently issuable shares during the 
financial year before considering the dilutive effect of share options that are or may become exercisable 
 gearing this is the net debt expressed as a percentage of shareholders’ funds 
the group’s performance against these kpis is discussed in the financial review 
  silverdell plc  
 
 
25 
 
directors and senior management 
 
directors 
 
stuart doughty cmg nonexecutive chairman 
stuart doughty previously served as chief executive officer of costain group plc he has over 40 years experience 
in the construction industry 
stuarts past responsibilities include acting as nonexecutive chairman of alstec group limited beck  pollitzer 
limited and somero plc and kennedy construction group limited as well as senior nonexecutive director of 
somero plc and scott wilson plc 
currently stuart serves as senior nonexecutive director of aigis blast protection limited and hurley palmer and 
flatt limited 
 
sean nutley chief executive officer 
sean was previously chief operating officer of silverdell plc and a board member since 2006 before being 
promoted to chief executive 
sean has more than 20 years experience in the asbestos and environmental sectors and is a fellow of the institute of 
directors 
 
ian johnson chief financial officer 
previously ian was group finance director of mcbride plc ian has also held senior finance roles within taylor 
wimpey plc including commercial director for taylor morrison inc in north america 
ian has also had senior finance positions within the support service sector including roles at regus plc and exel plc 
 
mark watts nonexecutive director 
mark is a partner in marwyn capital llp and marwyn investment management llp mark holds directorships in 
several other marwyn investments praesepe plc acs plc and entertainment one ltd 
previously mark was a management consultant completing strategic development projects for many bluechip 
companies including ford motor company and barclays bank 
 
senior management team 
andrew watson managing director kitsons 
andrews career with kitsons spans 25 years gaining successive promotions from estimator to operations director 
before becoming managing director in 2007 
andrew has been fundamental to the development of kitsons industrial expertise and its overall business growth over 
that time 
  silverdell plc  
 
 
26 
 
directors and senior management continued 
 
dave rhodes managing director silverdell uk 
dave has been involved in the asbestos industry for over 20 years since leaving school he joined silverdell uk in 
2000 as a regional manager and was promoted to managing director in 2009 
matthew griggs managing director redhills 
matt first joined redhills as a senior analyst in 1998 after a period working for external consultancies he returned 
to redhills as operations director in 2009 matt’s contribution has been key to the planning and implementation of 
the redhills growth strategy in the last year he was appointed to managing director in 2011 
 
advisers 
 
advisers   
company secretary 
susan fadil fcis 
tmf management uk limited 
6 st andrew street 
london  
ec4a 3ae 
solicitors 
dla piper uk llp 
101 barbirolli square 
bridgewater 
manchester 
m2 3dl 
registrars 
capita irg plc 
the registry 
34 beckenham road 
beckenham 
kent 
br3 4tu 
 
auditors 
kpmg audit plc 
8 salisbury square 
 
london 
ec4y 8bb 
nomad and broker 
finncap 
60 new broad st 
london 
ec2m 1jj  
 
financial pr 
college hill associates ltd 
the registry 
royal mint court 
london 
ec3n 4qn 
 
 
  silverdell plc 
 
 
directors’ report  
 
27 
 
the directors have pleasure in presenting their report and the audited financial statements for the year ended 
30 september 2011 
principal activities 
silverdell plc “the company” is the parent company of a group of companies providing asbestos industrial and 
environmental solutions from consulting and remediation perspectives  the principal subsidiaries all of which have 
been included in the consolidated accounts are shown in note 32 
business review 
details of the group’s performance and activities during the year are contained within the chairman’s statement and 
the chief executive’s statement on pages 5 and 6 and 11 to 17 and are incorporated in this report by reference 
information about the use of financial instruments by the group is given in note 22 to the financial statements and is 
incorporated into this report by reference 
results 
the group results for the year and the group’s financial position at the end of the year are shown in the attached 
financial statements 
future developments 
an indication of the future developments is contained in the chairman’s statement and the chief executive’s 
statement 
dividends 
the directors do not recommend the payment of a dividend 2010 £nil 
directors and their interests in the shares of the company 
the directors of the company in office during the period together with their beneficial interests in the issued share 
capital of 1p 2010 1p ordinary shares required to be disclosed were as follows 
 
 
30 september 
2011 
shares 
30 september 
2011 
options 
30 september 
2010 
shares 
30 september 
2010  
options 
stuart doughty  150000    1633333        125000    1633333 
mark watts                                                           
sean nutley 4832350    1633333     3558350    1633333 
ian johnson  222500    1333333        108500    1333333 
 
    
there have been no changes in the directors’ interests between the yearend date and the date of this report and 
accounts 
 
in accordance with the articles stuart doughty retires at the forthcoming agm and offers himself for reelection 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   silverdell plc 
 
directors’ report continued 
 
28 
 
directors and their interests in the shares of the company continued 
the directors had the following interests in share options during the year ended 30 september 2011 
 
as at 
1 october 
2010 
exercised 
in period 
forfeited 
in  period 
 
awarded 
in period 
as at 30 
september 
2011 
exercise 
period 
fromto 
exercise 
price 
        
 
   
 
 
  
sean nutley 333333    333333 20122019 90p 
 1300000    1300000 20122019 90p 
 
   
 
 
  
 1633333    1633333   
 
   
 
 
  
ian johnson 333333    333333 20122019 90p 
 1000000    1000000 20122019 90p 
 
   
 
 
  
 1333333    1333333   
 
   
 
 
  
stuart doughty 333333    333333 20122019 90p 
 1300000    1300000 20122019 50p 
 
   
 
 
  
 1633333    1633333   
 
   
 
 
  
 4599999    4599999   
  
    
  
the market price of the company’s shares as at 30 september 2011 was 109p 30 september 2010 80p and the 
range during the year was 65p to 138p 2010 80p to 125p 
directors’ remuneration 
it is the board’s policy to provide executive compensation packages that attract and retain management talent and 
properly motivate executives to deliver the board’s strategy and provide longterm value to shareholders the 
compensation of the executive directors and the senior management comprises a number of elements including both 
shortterm and longterm incentive plans designed to optimise the individual’s performance and align the interests of 
the manager with those of the shareholders  the directors consider that the overall balance of executive pay should 
be weighted in favour of performance incentives both short and long term  
the remuneration of senior executives comprises base pay and benefits including pension contributions private 
health care insurance and car allowances annual bonus payments and share options 
the base pay and benefits of executive directors and senior management is reviewed at least annually by the 
remuneration committee with particular regard to the base pay and benefits of similar positions in comparable 
organisations taking appropriate advice from qualified advisers 
the annual bonus scheme pays up to 100 of the base pay of senior executives and is predominantly linked to overall 
profit performance relative to a budget set at the commencement of the financial year recognising the importance 
that the directors place on health  safety part of the annual bonus is determined by health  safety performance 
measured against an internal standard 
the share option scheme provides the senior executives with the opportunity to participate in the future success of the 
group along with its shareholders share options may be granted up to the value of 100 of an executive’s base pay  
options will then vest according to a set of performance criteria set by the board based on the growth of group post
tax profits ahead of inflation over a three year period   silverdell plc 
 
directors’ report continued 
 
29 
 
 
substantial interests in the share capital at october 2011 
in addition to the directors the company had been notified of the following shareholders who held 3 or more of 
the ordinary share capital in issue of the company 
 number of shares  
 
marwyn  investment management 41779545 231 
paul anthony bell 29025000 160 
fidelity investments 15726700 87 
octopus investments 6150000 34 
   
going concern 
the directors have performed a review of the company’s banking arrangements short medium and longterm 
business forecasts and potential cash requirements under a variety of trading scenarios 
the directors have a reasonable expectation that the group has adequate resources to continue operating for the 
foreseeable future  on these grounds the board have continued to adopt the going concern basis for the preparation 
of the financial statements 
health and safety policy 
the group is a specialist operator in the handling of hazardous waste in particular asbestos all teams are required to 
attend at least annual training sessions to ensure they are up to date and reappraised of the environmental risks and 
health  safety policy the group’s systems are accredited to occupational health and advisory services ohsas 
18001 standards and are designed to protect our employees and those living and working in close proximity to our 
sites we have been a royal society for the prevention of accidents rospa gold award winner for two years 
consecutively in 2008 and 2009 the group has an inhouse training function “safe” that is recognised throughout 
the industry and often used to train client teams the safe team works to ensure that all operatives are equipped with 
superior technical and safety management skills all operatives are required to carry out induction training upon 
arriving at a site and health  safety policies and procedures are rigidly adhered to and enforced including 
monitoring systems and subsequent demobilisation and project review our audit systems are then designed to ensure 
that all safety procedures are adopted on a timely basis and without compromise 
the group provides services which meet the most demanding industry accreditations including iso 9901 iso 200 
iso 14001 iso 18001 iso 17025 and iso 17020 as well as the uk’s industrial accreditation service ukas 
finally the group has appropriate insurance covers to protect against the risk of material loss in the event of a failure 
in these preventative systems 
donations 
the group did not make political donations in the year 2010£nil during the year the group made charitable 
donations of £31000 2010£7789 
creditor payments policy 
the group’s policy in respect of the payment of suppliers is to agree payment terms in advance with its suppliers and 
pay in accordance with those terms subject to any disputes and the timely presentation of purchase invoices the 
average number of days credit taken at 30 september 2011 was 69 days 2010 45 days 
disabled employees 
the group makes every reasonable effort to provide employment opportunities for work training and career 
development for disabled applicants and employees commensurate with their abilities in the recruitment and 
subsequent career development of employees consideration is only given to an individual’s aptitudes and abilities 
irrespective of race gender religion marital status sexuality or disability 
   silverdell plc 
 
directors’ report continued 
 
30 
 
employee involvement 
the group places considerable value on the involvement of its employees and encourages the development of 
employee involvement in each of its operating companies through formal and informal meetings  
directors’ indemnities 
the company has made qualifying third party indemnity provisions for the benefit of its directors which were made 
during the year and remains in force at the date of this report 
statement of directors’ responsibilities in respect of the annual report and the financial statements 
the directors are responsible for preparing the annual report and the group and parent company financial 
statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations 
company law requires the directors to prepare group and parent company financial statements for each financial 
year as required by the aim rules of the london stock exchange they are required to prepare the group financial 
statements in accordance with ifrss as adopted by the eu and applicable law and have elected to prepare the parent 
company financial statements in accordance with uk accounting standards and applicable law uk generally 
accepted accounting practice 
under company law the directors must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a 
true and fair view of the state of affairs of the group and parent company and of their profit or loss for that period in 
preparing each of the group and parent company financial statements the directors are required to 
• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently 
• make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent 
• for the group financial statements state whether they have been prepared in accordance with ifrss as adopted by 
the eu 
• for the parent company financial statements state whether applicable uk accounting standards have been 
followed subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements and 
• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the group and 
the parent company will continue in business 
the directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the 
parent companys transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the parent 
company and enable them to ensure that its financial statements comply with the companies act 2006 they have 
general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of the group and to 
prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities 
the directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on 
the companys website legislation in the uk governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements 
may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions 
auditors 
each of the persons who is a director at the date of approval of this report confirms that 
 
 
   silverdell plc 
 
directors’ report continued 
 
31 
 
 
 
 
auditors continued 
 so far as the director is aware there is no relevant information of which the group’s auditors are 
unaware 
 
 the director has taken all the steps that he ought to have taken as a director in order to make 
himself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the group’s auditors are aware of that 
information 
 the financial statements prepared in accordance with ifrss as adopted by the eu give a true 
and fair view of the assets liabilities financial position and profits or loss of the group and 
 the business review and directors’ report includes a fair review of the development and 
performance of the business and the position of the group together with a description of the principal risks and 
uncertainties they face 
this confirmation is given and should be interpreted in accordance with the provisions of s418 of the companies act 
2006 
the group’s auditors kpmg audit plc have expressed their willingness to continue in office as auditors  in 
accordance with section 489 of the companies act 2006 a resolution for the reappointment of kpmg audit plc as 
auditors of the company is to be proposed at the forthcoming annual general meeting 
 
approved by the board of directors and signed on behalf of the board 
 
 
 
 
susan fadil fcis 
 
company secretary 
  
29 november 2011 
 
    silverdell plc 
 
 
corporate governance and risk management 
 
32 
 
statement by the directors on compliance with the combined code 
as an aim listed company silverdell plc is not required to comply with the provisions of the uk corporate 
governance code “the code” that applies to companies with a full london stock exchange listing however the 
board recognises the importance and value of good corporate governance and accordingly have detailed below those 
elements of the code that they consider most relevant and appropriate to the group given its size and structure 
the board 
the composition of the board is detailed on page 25 there are three executive directors and one nonexecutive 
director the board recognises that the current composition of the board is not in line with best practice as identified 
in the higgs review and will seek to address any shortcomings during the forthcoming year  in particular the board 
will seek to appoint additional nonexecutive directors who if appointed will also sit on each of the subcommittees 
the board has two subcommittees comprising the following 
the audit committee the purpose of the audit committee is to provide formal and transparent arrangements for 
considering how to apply the financial reporting and internal control principles and to maintain the appropriate 
relationship with the company’s auditors this is chaired by stuart doughty and includes mark watts as the other 
member ian johnson and sean nutley are invited to attend each meeting 
the remuneration committee the purpose of the remuneration committee is to establish a formal and transparent 
procedure for developing a policy on executive remuneration and to set the remuneration packages for individual 
directors this is chaired by mark watts and includes stuart doughty as the other member 
risk management and internal controls 
the directors are responsible for the group’s system of internal controls and reviewing its effectiveness the role of 
management is to execute the strategy whilst adhering to and enforcing throughout the business the board’s policies 
on risk management and internal control any system of internal control is designed to manage rather than eliminate 
the risk of failure to achieve the group’s strategic objectives and can only provide reasonable and not absolute 
assurance against material misstatement or loss 
the group operates a system of internal controls that is designed to meets its needs these controls include a clearly 
defined organisational structure an annual strategic planning and budgeting process regular forecasting and detailed 
monthly reporting the organisational structure makes clear the lines of authority and responsibility throughout the 
business while the budget process ensures that targets are properly established and communicated the board 
reviews and approves the annual budget and the period reforecasts to ensure that targets and plans are consistent with 
the group’s overall objectives progress against the budget and forecasts are then reviewed each month by the board 
including the cash flow forecast and other key performance indicators “kpis” as outlined in the statement on key 
risks and mitigations on pages 23 and 24 a comprehensive series of management reports is made each month to the 
executive management committee which comprises the chief executive officer chief financial officer subsidiary 
managing directors and finance directors and these reports are also summarised for the board 
the board has established a clear set of delegated authorities and accounting policies the application of these 
policies is reviewed by executive management in the normal course of business as well the external auditors the 
board has considered the need for an internal audit function but has determined that current procedures are sufficient 
given the scale scope and complexity of the group’s operations 
recognising the potentially hazardous nature of the group’s operations the board has a comprehensive health  
safety policy health  safety is a mandated agenda item for all executive management committee and board 
meetings the group has a dedicated health  safety team that provides expert advice to operational teams and also 
performs regular comprehensive audits at all operational sites including spot checks 
 
 
    
 
33 
 
 independent auditor’s report to the members of silverdell plc 
 
we have audited the financial statements of silverdell plc for the year ended 30 september 2011 as set out on pages 
34 to 74 the financial reporting framework that has been applied in the preparation of the group financial 
statements is applicable law and international financial reporting standards ifrss as adopted by the eu the 
financial reporting framework that has been applied in the preparation of the parent company financial statements is 
applicable law and uk accounting standards uk generally accepted accounting practice 
 
this report is made solely to the companys members as a body in accordance with chapter 3 of part 16 of the 
companies act 2006 our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the companys members those 
matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose to the fullest extent 
permitted by law we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the company and the companys 
members as a body for our audit work for this report or for the opinions we have formed 
 
respective responsibilities of directors and auditor 
as explained more fully in the directors responsibilities statement set out on page 30 the directors are responsible 
for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view  
 
our responsibility is to audit and express an opinion on the financial statements in accordance with applicable law 
and international standards on auditing uk and ireland those standards require us to comply with the auditing 
practices boards apbs ethical standards for auditors 
 
scope of the audit of the financial statements 
a description of the scope of an audit of financial statements is provided on the apbs website at 
wwwfrcorgukapbscopeprivatecfm 
 
opinion on financial statements 
in our opinion 
• the financial statements give a true and fair view of the state of the groups and of the parent companys affairs as 
at 30 september 2011 and of the groups profit for the year then ended 
• the group financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with ifrss as adopted by the eu 
• the parent company financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with uk generally accepted 
accounting practice 
• the financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the companies act 2006 
 
opinion on other matter prescribed by the companies act 2006 
in our opinion the information given in the directors report for the financial year for which the financial 
statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements  
  
matters on which we are required to report by exception 
we have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the companies act 2006 requires us to report 
to you if in our opinion 
• adequate accounting records have not been kept by the parent company or returns adequate for our audit have not 
been received from branches not visited by us or 
• the parent company financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns or 
• certain disclosures of directors remuneration specified by law are not made or 
• we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit 
  
matt lewis senior statutory auditor 
 
for and on behalf of kpmg audit plc 
chartered accountants and statutory auditors 
8 salisbury square 
london ec4y 8bb 
united kingdom                 
 
 
29 november 2011  silverdell plc 
 
consolidated income statement 
for the year ended 30 september 2011  
 
34 
 
 
 
  
before 
nonrecurring 
items and 
amortisation 
see note 10 
 non
recurring 
items and 
amortisation 
see note 10   
 notes 
 
2011 
£’000 
2011  
£’000 
2011 
£’000 
2010 
£’000 
      
continuing operations      
revenue 5 59696  59696 56674 
cost of sales  43364  43364 41974 
 
 
    
gross profit  16332  16332 14700 
 
  
   
administrative expenses  13028  13028 11595 
 amortisation of intangible assets   30 30 601 
 nonrecurring expenses   298 298  
 
 
    
operating profit  6 3304 328 2976 2504 
finance costs 8 514  514 672 
 
 
    
profit before tax  2790 328 2462 1832 
income taxation charge 9 868 89 779 1095 
 
 
    
profit for the year   1922 239 1683 737 
 
 
    
earnings per share pence       
 
basic earnings per ordinary share 11   11 05 
 
   
  
 
 
    
diluted earnings per ordinary share 11   10 05 
 
   
    silverdell plc  
 
consolidated statement of comprehensive income 
for the year ended 30 september 2011 
35 
  
2011 
£’000 
2010 
£’000 
 
 
 
profit for the year  1683 737 
 
other comprehensive income 
cash flow hedges 
 gain arising during the year  40 86 
 related tax charge  10 24 
  
  
  30 62 
  
  
total comprehensive income for the year  1713 799 
  
   silverdell plc company registration number 5755897 
 
consolidated balance sheet 
at 30 september 2011 
36 
 
 
  
  notes  
 2011 
£’000 
2010 
£’000 
assets      
noncurrent assets      
goodwill  12  17761 16156 
other intangible assets  13  453  
property plant and equipment  15  2652 1999 
trade and other receivables  18  1001 1001 
    
  
    21867 19156 
    
  
current assets      
inventories and work in progress  16  3064 998 
trade and other receivables  18  17305 12774 
cash and cash equivalents   2567 3626 
    
  
    22936 17398 
    
  
total assets   44803 36554 
    
  
noncurrent liabilities     
borrowings 20  4038 4777 
trade and other payables 23  1001 1001 
contingent consideration 21  109  
deferred tax liabilities 9  221 15 
    
  
    5369 5793 
    
  
liabilities     
current liabilities     
borrowings 20  3793 3117 
trade and other payables 23  10864 8114 
other financial liabilities 17  31 71 
contingent consideration 21  326  
current tax liabilities   749 506 
    
  
   15763 11808 
    
  
total liabilities   21132 17601 
    
  
net assets   
 
23671 18953 
    
  
equity      
share capital  24  1808 1516 
share premium account    2456 17813 
equity reserve    721 464 
hedging reserve    22 52 
capital reserve     3749 
other reserve    4135 16635 
retained earnings    14573 21172 
    
  
total equity   23671 18953  
    
  
 
these financial statements were approved by the board of directors on 29 november 2011 signed on behalf of the 
board of directors  
 
ian johnson 
director 
   silverdell plc  
 
consolidated statement of changes in equity 
for the year ended 30 september 2011 
37 
 
 
 
 
 
share 
capital 
£’000 
share 
premium 
£’000 
other 
reserve 
£’000 
equity 
reserve 
£’000 
hedging 
reserve 
£’000 
capital 
reserve 
£’000 
retained 
earnings 
£’000 
      total 
     £’000 
         
at 1 october 2009 5265 17813 16635 334 114  
     
21909 18024 
         net profit for year       737         737 
 other comprehensive income     62             62 
          
total comprehensive income for 
the year     62  737         799 
shares cancelled  3749     3749   
share based payment charge 
including tax    130              130 
 
        
at 1 october 2010 1516 17813 16635 464 52 3749 21172 18953 
 net profit for year       1683      1683 
 
 other comprehensive income     30            30 
          
 total comprehensive income 
for the year     30  1683    1713 
shares issued 292 2456            2748 
capital cancellation  17813 12500   3749 34062               
share based payment charge     257          257 
 
        
at 30 september 2011 1808 2456 4135 721 22  14573 23671 
 
        
 
 
 following special resolutions of the company which were confirmed by the high court on 16 february 
2011 the company cancelled the share premium account and capital reserve and also cancelled £125m of 
deferred shares from the other reserve which increased retained earnings by a total of £341m 
the other reserve is nondistributable and represents the remaining balance of the premiums arising on the issuance 
of certain warrants and of shares issued in order to acquire group companies further details are provided in note 36  silverdell plc 
 
consolidated statement of cash flows 
for the year ended 30 september 2011 
38 
 notes  
 2011 
£’000 
2010 
£’000 
cash flows from operating activities      
profit for the year   1683 737 
income taxation charge  9  779 1095 
finance costs 8  514 672 
amortisation of intangibles  13  30 601 
depreciation on property plant and equipment 15  525 701 
profit on disposal of property plant and equipment   2 34 
share based payments 26  257 130 
movements in working capital     
 increase  decrease in inventories   2066 626 
 increase in trade and other receivables   3599  
 increase  decrease in trade and other payables   2114 2591 
   
  
cash generated from operations   235 1937 
     
income tax paid   628 269 
   
  
net cash outflow  inflow from operating activities   393 1668 
   
  
cash flows from investing activities     
purchase of property plant and equipment   656 363 
proceeds from sale of property plant and equipment   17 75 
acquisition of subsidiaries net of cash acquired   1348  
   
  
net cash outflow from investing activities   1987 288 
   
  
cash flows from financing activities     
interest paid   433 744 
interest paid on finance leases   6 1 
payments for hire purchase contracts principals   53 124 
proceeds from bank loans    5500 
repayments of bank loans   930 6450 
proceeds from issue of equity shares net   2198  
   
  
net cash inflow  outflow from financing activities   776 1819 
   
  
net decrease in cash and cash equivalents   1604 439 
   
  
cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year   1286 1725 
   
  
cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year   318 1286 
   
  
cash and cash equivalents comprises 
cash at bank and in hand 
 
19  2567 3626 
bank overdrafts 19  2885 2340 
   
  
   318 1286 
   
   39 
 
note to the financial statements 
 
1 general information 
silverdell plc is a company incorporated in great britain under the companies act 2006  the address of the 
registered office is 14 buckingham street london wc2n 6df the nature of the group’s operations and its 
principal activities are set out in the directors’ report on pages 27 to 31 
 
2 basis of preparation 
the annual consolidated financial statements of the group have been prepared in accordance with international 
reporting standards ifrs as adopted by the european union eu ifrs as adopted by the eu  
going concern 
detailed cash flow forecasts are prepared and regularly reviewed by the board to assess the group’s financial 
position the current economic conditions do create some uncertainty and the group’s borrowings do 
fluctuate but the continued planned actions on improving working capital management has enabled the 
repayment of £08m of debt during the year ended  30 september 2011 further the group has a number of 
long term framework contracts with customers and suppliers across industries as a consequence the directors 
believe that the group is well placed to manage its business risks successfully despite the current economic 
outlook for further information on liquidity please refer to note 22 and the directors’ report 
after the balance sheet date additional loan facilities were agreed with the bank and certain covenants relaxed 
the directors have a reasonable expectation that the group has adequate resources to continue operating for 
the foreseeable future  on these grounds the board have continued to adopt the going concern basis for the 
preparation of the financial statements 
 
31  standards not yet adopted 
a number of new standards amendments to standards and interpretations are effective for accounting periods 
beginning on or after 1 january 2013 and have not been applied in preparing these consolidated financial 
statements  none of these is expected to have a significant impact on the group’s financial statements with 
the exception of ifrs 9 financial instruments which could change the presentation and classification of 
financial assets and liabilities the group does not plan to adopt this standard early and the extent of the 
impact has not yet been determined 
 
32 accounting policies  
basis of accounting 
the consolidated financial information has been prepared in accordance with ifrss adopted by the european 
union and therefore the group financial statements comply with article 4 of the eu ias regulation 
the consolidated financial information has been prepared on the historical cost basis except for the revaluation 
of certain financial instruments measured at fair value the principal accounting policies adopted are set out 
below 
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 30 september each year control is achieved where 
the company has the power to govern the financial and operating policies of an investee entity so as to obtain 
benefits from its activities 
the results of subsidiaries acquired or disposed of during the year are included in the consolidated income 
statement from the effective date of acquisition or up to the effective date of disposal as appropriate 
where necessary adjustments are made to the financial statements of subsidiaries to bring the accounting 
policies used in line with those used by the group 
all intragroup transactions balances income and expenses are eliminated on consolidation 
 
  40 
 
 
32 accounting policies continued 
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 acquire 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 
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 if after reassessment the group’s interest in the net fair value 
of the acquiree’s identifiable assets liabilities and contingent liabilities exceeds the cost of the business 
combination the excess is recognised immediately in profit or loss 
separately identifiable intangible assets are recognised on acquisition where appropriate and amortised over 
their useful economic life 
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 profit or loss 
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 
revenue recognition 
revenue is measured at the fair value of the consideration received or receivable and represents amounts 
receivable for services provided in the normal course of business net of discounts vat and other salesrelated 
taxes 
profit is recognised on longterm contracts if the final outcome can be assessed with reasonable certainty by 
including in the income statement revenue and related costs as contract activity progresses revenue is 
calculated by reference to the value of work performed to date as a proportion of total contract value 
leasing 
leases are classified as finance leases whenever the terms of the lease transfer substantially all the risks and 
rewards of ownership to the lessee all other leases are classified as operating leases 
assets held under finance leases are recognised as assets of the group at their fair value or if lower at the 
present value of the minimum lease payments each determined at the inception of the lease  
the corresponding liability to the lessor is included in the balance sheet as a finance lease obligation lease 
payments are apportioned between finance charges and reduction of the lease obligation so as to achieve a 
constant rate of interest on the remaining balance of the liability finance charges are charged directly against 
income 
rentals payable under operating leases are charged to income on a straightline basis over the term of the 
relevant lease 
benefits received and receivable as an incentive to enter into an operating lease are also spread on a straight
line basis over the lease term 
 
 
 
  41 
 
32 accounting policies continued 
borrowing costs 
borrowing costs are recognised in profit or loss in the period in which they are incurred 
retirement benefit costs  
payments to defined contribution retirement benefit schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due  
taxation 
the tax expense represents the sum of the tax currently payable and the movements in deferred tax 
the tax currently payable is based on taxable profit for the year taxable 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 
deferred tax liabilities are recognised for taxable temporary differences arising on investments in subsidiaries 
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 
the carrying amount of deferred tax assets is reviewed at each balance sheet date and reduced to the extent that 
it is no longer probable that sufficient taxable profits will be available to allow all or part of the asset to be 
recovered 
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 to other comprehensive income in which case the deferred tax is also dealt with in other 
comprehensive income 
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 
property plant and equipment 
property plant and equipment is stated at cost less accumulated depreciation and any recognised impairment 
loss 
depreciation is charged so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets other than land and assets under 
construction over their estimated useful lives on the following bases 
freehold property 4 on cost 
leasehold property 10 on cost 
plant and machinery 10 on cost 
office equipment 16625 on cost 
motor vehicles 25 on reducing balance 
assets held under finance leases are depreciated over their expected useful lives on the same basis as owned 
assets or where shorter over the term of the relevant lease 
the gain or loss arising on the disposal or retirement of an asset is determined as the difference between the 
sales proceeds and the carrying amount of the asset and is recognised in income  42 
 
32 accounting policies continued 
impairment of tangible and intangible assets excluding goodwill 
at each balance sheet date the group reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible and intangible assets to 
determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss if any such 
indication exists the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in order to determine the extent of the 
impairment loss if any where the asset does not generate cash flows that are independent from other assets 
the group estimates the recoverable amount of the cashgenerating unit to which the asset belongs 
recoverable amount is the higher of fair value less costs to sell and value in use in assessing value in use the 
estimated future cash flows are discounted to their present value using a pretax discount rate that reflects 
current market assessments of the time value of money and the risks specific to the asset for which the 
estimates of future cash flows have not been adjusted 
if the recoverable amount of an asset or cashgenerating unit is estimated to be less than its carrying amount 
the carrying amount of the asset cashgenerating unit is reduced to its recoverable amount an impairment 
loss is recognised as an expense immediately where an impairment loss subsequently reverses the carrying 
amount of the asset cashgenerating unit is increased to the revised estimate of its recoverable amount but so 
that the increased carrying amount does not exceed the carrying amount that would have been determined had 
no impairment loss been recognised for the asset cashgenerating unit in prior years a reversal of an 
impairment loss is recognised as income immediately  
inventories and work in progress 
inventories are stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value cost comprises direct materials and where 
applicable direct labour costs and those overheads that have been incurred in bringing the inventories to their 
present location and condition cost is calculated using the weighted average method net realisable value 
represents the estimated selling price less all estimated costs of completion and costs to be incurred in 
marketing selling and distribution 
work in progress on service contracts is stated at cost plus where the outcome can be assessed with reasonable 
certainty estimated profits attributable to the stage of completion less provision for any expected losses and 
progress payments received on account  amounts recoverable on long term service contracts which are 
included in trade and other receivables are stated at the net sales value of the work done less progress 
payments received on account excess progress payments are included on trade and other payables 
cumulative costs incurred less amounts transferred to cost of sales less provision for contingencies and 
expected future losses on service contracts are included as longterm service contract balances in inventories 
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 instruments are classified into the following categories financial assets at fair value through profit 
and loss “fvtpl” held for trading ‘loans and receivables’ at amortised cost financial liabilities  derivatives 
designated as cash flow hedges and financial liabilities at amortised cost 
the classification depends on the nature and purpose of the financial instruments  
trade receivables 
trade receivables are measured at initial recognition at fair value appropriate allowances for estimated 
irrecoverable amounts are recognised in profit or loss when there is objective evidence that the asset is 
impaired  43 
 
32 accounting policies continued 
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 and are subject to an insignificant risk of 
changes in value 
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 
bank borrowings 
interestbearing bank loans and overdrafts are recorded at the proceeds received net of direct issue costs 
finance charges including premiums payable on settlement or redemption and direct issue costs are accounted 
for on an accrual basis in profit or loss using the effective interest rate method and are added to the carrying 
amount of the instrument to the extent that they are not settled in the period in which they arise 
trade payables 
trade payables are initially measured at fair value 
derivative financial instruments and hedge accounting 
the group’s activities expose it primarily to the financial risk of changes in interest rates the group uses 
interest rate swap contracts to hedge this exposure the group does not use derivative financial instruments for 
speculative purposes 
the use of financial derivatives is governed by the group’s policies approved by the board of directors which 
provide written principles on the use of financial derivatives   
changes in the fair value of derivative financial instruments that are designated and effective as hedges of 
future cash flows are recognised in other comprehensive income and the ineffective portion is recognised 
immediately in the income statement if the cash flow hedge of a firm commitment or forecasted transaction 
results in the recognition of an asset or a liability then at the time the asset or liability is recognised the 
associated gains or losses on the derivative that had previously been recognised in other comprehensive income 
are included in the initial measurement of the asset or liability for hedges that do not result in the recognition 
of an asset or a liability amounts deferred in other comprehensive income are recognised in the income 
statement in the same period in which the hedged item affects net profit or loss 
changes in the fair value of derivative financial instruments that do not qualify for hedge accounting are 
classified as fvtpl held for trading and the gains and losses are recognised in the income statement as they 
arise these are classified as held for trading as they have not been hedge accounted and have not been 
“designated” as fvtpl 
hedge accounting is discontinued when the hedging instrument expires or is sold terminated or exercised or 
no longer qualifies for hedge accounting at that time any cumulative gain or loss on the hedging instrument 
recognised in other comprehensive income is retained there until the forecasted transaction occurs if a hedged 
transaction is no longer expected to occur the net cumulative gain or loss recognised in other comprehensive 
income is transferred to the income statement for the period 
investments 
investments in subsidiaries are stated at cost less provision for any impairment 
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 
 
 
  44 
 
32 accounting policies continued 
 
sharebased payments 
the group issues equitysettled sharebased payments to certain employees equitysettled sharebased 
payments are measured at fair value excluding the effect of non marketbased vesting conditions at the date 
of grant the fair value determined at the grant date of the equitysettled sharebased payments is expensed on 
a straightline basis over the vesting period and is recognised as an employee expense with a corresponding 
increase in equity based on the group’s estimate of shares that will eventually vest and adjusted for the effect 
of non marketbased vesting conditions 
fair value is measured by use of the blackscholes model or the binomial method as appropriate the expected 
life used in the model has been adjusted based on management’s best estimate for the effects of non
transferability exercise restrictions and behavioural considerations 
intangible assets 
customer relationships 
customer relationships are measured as the present value of cash flows attributable to the relationship after 
deduction of appropriate contributory assets charged  the relationship is amortised over its expected useful 
life typically three years 
order book 
order book is the value of confirmed orders on the date of acquisition after appropriate costs have been 
deducted  the order book is amortised over the period in which it is expected to unwind 
4  critical accounting judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty  
the preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with ifrs requires management to make 
judgements estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities and the amount of 
income and revenue recognised in the period  actual results may differ from these estimates 
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   
revenue and profitmargin recognition 
the group’s revenue recognition turnover and long term contracts policies are set out in the notes above  
management exercises judgement to estimate the total expected contract costs and determine the percentage of 
completion in order to recognise the appropriate revenue and profit in the period  the assessment of 
profitability and recognition is assessed on an ongoing basis which ensures adequate controls are in place that 
appropriate amounts are calculated 
recognition and measurement of intangible assets under ifrs 3 ‘business combinations’ 
in order to determine the value of the separately identifiable intangible assets on the acquisition of a business 
combination management are required to make estimates on secured customer contracts other contracts and 
customer relationships and goodwill  the group engaged outside independent parties to perform these 
calculations and determine the fair value and estimated useful lives of these assets  45 
 
4 critical accounting judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty continued 
impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets 
there are a number of assumptions management have considered in performing impairment reviews of 
goodwill and intangible assets 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 directors to estimate the future cash flows expected to arise from the cashgenerating unit and a suitable 
discount rate in order to calculate present value  note 12 details the assumptions that have been applied for 
goodwill 
5  segmental information 
the group has two reportable segments as described below which are the group’s strategic divisions  the 
strategic divisions offer different services and are managed separately because they have some differences in 
their risks and operating models for each of the strategic divisions the group’s ceo the chief operating 
decision maker reviews internal management reports on at least a monthly basis  the following summary 
describes the operations in each of the group’s reportable segments 
remediation – provides services related to the direct remediation and removal of environmental risks the     
principal two group companies in this segment being silverdell uk and kitsons 
consulting – provides environmental survey monitoring and project management services the principal          
company in this segment being redhill analysts and its subsidiaries rds and a h allen 
information regarding the results of each reportable segment is included below  performance is measured 
based on segment profit before tax as included in the internal management reports that are reviewed by the 
group’s ceo  segment profit is used to measure performance as management believes such information is the 
most relevant in evaluating the results of certain segments relative to other entities that operate within these 
industries 
2011 
remediation 
£’000 
consulting 
£’000 
unallocated 
£’000 
group 
£’000 
     
for the year ended 30 september 2011     
     
revenue     
total revenue 53889 8805  62694 
less between segments 2399 599  2998 
 
    
external revenue 51490 8206  59696 
 
    
  46 
 
5  segmental information continued 
sales between segments are charged at prevailing market prices 
 
 2011 
 
remediation 
£’000 
consulting 
£’000 
unallocated 
£’000 
group 
£’000 
     
for the year ended 30 september 2011     
     
result     
operating profit before amortisation and non
recurring items 3554 1252 1502 3304 
intangible assets amortisation  30  30 
nonrecurring expenses 24 50 224 298 
finance costs  17 5 492 514 
 
    
profit  loss before tax 3513 1167 2218 2462 
taxation 1111 369 701 779 
 
    
profit  lossfor the year 2402 798 1517 1683 
 
    
 
at 30 september 2011     
balance sheet     
     
total assets 32206 12446 151 44803 
 
    
total liabilities 13605 2643 4884 21132 
 
    
other information     
     
capital expenditure 656 197 28 881 
depreciation 440 68 17 525 
 
    
 
as the group’s activities are almost entirely based in the uk no geographic segmental analysis is required 
 
 
2010 
 
remediation 
£’000 
consulting 
£’000 
unallocated 
£’000 
group 
£’000 
     
for the year ended 30 september 2010     
     
revenue 50673 6293  56966 
total revenue 221 71  292 
less between segments 
    
external revenue 50452 6222  56674 
 
    
  47 
 
5  segmental information continued 
sales between segments are charged at prevailing market prices 
 
2010 
 
remediation 
£’000 
consulting 
£’000 
unallocated 
£’000 
group 
£’000 
     
for the year ended 30 september 2010     
     
result     
operating profit before amortisation and non
recurring items 
 
3643 897 1435 3105 
intangible assets amortisation 515 86  601 
finance costs 10 13 669 672 
 
    
profit  loss before tax 3138 798 2104 1832 
taxation 1329 262 496 1095 
 
    
profit  loss for the year 1809 536 1608 737 
 
    
     
     
at 30 september 2010     
balance sheet     
     
total assets 28040 8129 385 36554 
 
    
total liabilities 9551 850 7200 17601 
 
    
other information     
     
capital expenditure 293 52 52 397 
depreciation 573 111 17 701 
 
    
unallocated costs relate principally to head office costs and interest charges on bank borrowings of the 
group’s holding company unallocated assets and liabilities represent the assets and liabilities of the holding 
company including bank borrowings as the group’s activities are almost entirely based in the uk no 
geographic segmental analysis is required 
6  operating profit  
 
 
 2011 
£’000 
2010 
£’000 
operating profit is stated after charging crediting   
share based payment charge  257 130 
amortisation of intangible assets see note 13 30 601 
depreciation of   
 owned assets 450 459 
 assets held under finance leases 75 242 
auditors’ remuneration see below 87 75 
hire of plant and machinery 1422 988 
operating lease rentals – land and buildings 574 337 
profit on disposal of fixed assets 2 34 
   
 
  48 
 
6  operating profit continued 
 
analysis of auditors’ remuneration 
 2011 
£’000 
2010 
£’000 
audit services   
 audit of companys annual accounts 17 16 
 audit of companys subsidiaries pursuant to legislation 57 49 
   
  
 74 65 
other services   
 other services relating to tax compliance 13 10 
   
  
auditors’ remuneration 87                 75 
 
  
 
7  staff costs including directors’ remuneration 
directors’ remuneration and transactions 
 salary 
and fees 
£’000 
benefits 
£’000 
performance 
bonus 
£’000 
total 
emoluments 
£’000 
pension 
contributions 
£’000 
total 
 2011 
£’000 
total 
2010 
£’000 
        
nonexecutive 
directors 
       
stuart doughty 75   75  75 80 
mark watts 30   30  30 30 
        
executive directors        
sean nutley 220 2 20 242 20 262 225 
ian johnson 188 3 14 205 16 221 173 
 
       
total 513 5 34 552 36 588 508 
 
       
 
the pension contributions disclosed above were all in respect of money purchase arrangements  49 
 
 
7  staff costs including directors’ remuneration continued 
directors’ remuneration and transactions continued 
 
options over ordinary shares 
the directors’ interests in share options are disclosed in the directors’ report on page 27 and 28 
staff costs 
    2011 2010 
employees    number number 
average number of persons including directors employed by the group in the year  
operational sales and other   693 632 
administrative    167 142 
   
  
   860 774 
   
  
the payroll costs in respect of the employees included in the table above were 
   
2011 
£’000 
2010 
£’000 
     
salaries and wages   29944 26354 
social security costs   3167 2715 
pension costs   284 119 
share based payment charge note 26   257 130 
   
  
   33652 29318 
   
  
certain subsidiary undertakings of the group operate defined contribution pension schemes  the assets of the 
schemes are held separately from those of the group by independently administered funds  
remuneration of key management personnel 
in accordance with ias 24 related party disclosures key management personnel are those persons having 
authority and responsibility for planning directing and controlling the activities of the entity directly or 
indirectly including any director executive and non executive of the group 
 
 2011 
£’000 
2010 
£’000 
   
shortterm employee benefits 917 899 
postemployment benefits 77 56 
 
  
key management personnel include members of the board and the managing directors of the principal 
subsidiaries 
  50 
 
8  finance costs 
  
 2011 
£’000 
2010 
£’000 
    
interest on bank overdrafts and loans  502 662 
interest on obligation under finance leases  6 1 
change in fair value of derivative financial instrument  9 
finance charge on contingent consideration  6  
 
 
  
total finance costs  514 672 
  
  
9  tax on profit on ordinary activities 
income tax recognised in profit or loss 
  
2011 
£’000 
2010 
£’000 
tax charge comprises    
united kingdom corporation tax based on the profit for the year  795 915 
adjustment in respect of previous years  89 226 
 
 
  
total current tax expense   706 1141 
    
deferred tax income relating to the origination and reversal of 
temporary differences  24 239 
adjustment in respect of previous years  97 193 
 
 
  
total deferred tax expense  credit  73 46 
 
 
  
total tax expense  779 1095 
  
  
the charge for the year can be reconciled to the profit per the income statement as follows 
 
2011 
£’000 
 2011 
 
2010 
£’000 
2010 
 
     
profit before tax 2462  1832  
 
 
 
 
 
income tax expense calculated at the standard rate of 
27 2010 28 665 27 513 28 
share based payment charge  25 1 36 2 
effect of expenses that are not deductible in 
determining taxable profit 81 4 127 7 
prior year adjustment 8  419 23 
     
income tax charge recognised in profit or loss 779 32 1095 60 
 
    
the finance no 2 act 2010 which was substantively enacted on 20 july 2010 included legislation reducing 
the main rate of corporation tax from 28 to 27 from 1 april 2011 an additional 1 reduction reducing the 
rate to 26 also effective from 1 april 2011 was announced by the uk government in the budget on 23 
march 2011 and substantively enacted on 29 march 2011 these changes to tax rates are not expected to have 
a material effect on the group 
the group’s planned level of capital investment is expected to remain at similar levels  therefore it expects 
to be able to claim allowances in excess of depreciation in future years at a similar level to the current year  51 
 
 
9  tax on profit on ordinary activities continued 
there were no unrecognised deferred tax assets 
            the movement in deferred tax was as follows  asset liability 
  £’000 £’000 
    
at 1 october 2009  120  
credited to income statement   111  
charged to hedging reserve  24  
reclassified as liability  15 15 
  
  
at 30 september 2010   15 
    
charged to income statement   73 
charged to hedging reserve   10 
    
acquired with subsidiary undertakings   123 
  
  
at 30 september 2011   221 
  
  
           the deferred tax liability comprises  
 2011 
£’000 
2010 
£’000 
    
accelerated tax depreciation  132 34 
intangible assets  123  
share based payments  44  
other  10 19 
 
 
  
  221 15 
  
  
10  nonrecurring expenses and amortisation 
nonrecurring items impairments and amortisation are shown separately on the face of the income statement 
in order to reflect the group’s underlying financial performance  the items comprise the following 
  
 2011 
£’000 
2010 
£’000 
    
amortisation of intangible assets                      see note 13  30 601 
nonrecurring expenses                                     see below  298  
  
  
  328 601 
related income tax credit  89 157 
  
  
   239 444 
  
  
 the nonrecurring expenses of £298000 2010 £nil can be analysed further as follows 
business acquisition costs of £70000 2010 £nil comprise costs of the acquisition and subsequent integration 
of subsidiary undertakings acquired in 2011 overseas business development of £68000 2010 £nil represent 
fees and expenses incurred in developing potential business ventures overseas corporate rebranding fees were 
incurred of £57000 2010 £nil while the group also incurred costs of £52000 2010 £nil on internal 
business restructuring and fees of £51000 2010 £nil in connection with the capital restructuring during the 
year 
  
  52 
 
11  earnings per share 
basic earnings per share is calculated by dividing the earnings attributable to ordinary shareholders by the 
weighted average number of ordinary shares during the year determined in accordance with the provisions of 
ias 33 “earnings per share” 
diluted earnings per share is calculated by adjusting the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue 
on the assumption of conversion of all dilutive potential ordinary shares  
adjusted basic earnings per share is calculated by dividing the earnings attributed to ordinary shareholders 
before intangible assets amortisation sharebased payment charges nonrecurring expenses and finance 
charges on deferred consideration by the weighted average number of ordinary shares during the year 
  
 2011 
earnings  
per share 
basic  diluted  
2010 
earnings 
per share 
basic  diluted  
            earnings £’000 pence pence £’000 pence pence 
       
       
profit attributable to ordinary 
shareholders 
 
1683 
 
11 10 
 
737 
 
05 05 
nonrecurring items 
impairments amortisation and 
share based payments  453 03 03 574 04 03 
 
      
profit for adjusted earnings per 
share 2136 14 13 1311 09 08 
 
      
the adjusted numbers have been reported in order that the impact of the above charges against reported profit 
can be fully appreciated 
number of shares 
  
 
2011 
no 
 
2010 
no 
restated 
weighted average number of ordinary shares used in calculation of 
basic earnings per share   155663646 151654717 
    
effect of dilutive potential ordinary shares    
share options  2087492 353309 
warrants  11374179 11374179 
  
  
weighted average number of ordinary shares used in calculation of 
diluted earnings per share  169125317 163382205 
  
  
 
the prior year comparative has been restated to be consistent with the inclusion this year of warrants held by 
barclays bank plc from the prior year calculation of diluted earnings per share  other warrants are anti
dilutive details of all warrants over the shares of the company are disclosed in note 24 53 
 
12  goodwill 
 
 £’000 
cost   
at 30 september 2009 and 30 september 2010  35611 
acquisition of allens note 14  478 
acquisition of rds note 14  1127 
   
at 30 september 2011  37216 
  
 
   
  £’000 
accumulated impairment losses    
at 30 september 2009  30 september 2010 and 30 september 2011  19455 
  
 
carrying amount    
at 30 september 2011  17761 
  
 
at 30 september 2010  16156 
  
 
the carrying amount of goodwill relates to the group’s two business segments as follows 
 
  
 2011 
£’000 
2010 
£’000 
remediation  10869 10869 
consulting  6892 5287 
  
  
  17761 16156 
  
  
the group tests goodwill annually for impairment or more frequently if there are indications that goodwill 
might be impaired  goodwill is allocated for impairment testing to cash generating units cgu which reflects 
how it is monitored for internal management purposes  the recoverable amounts of the cgus are determined 
from value in use calculations value in use is calculated using pretax cashflow projections based on the 
financial budgets and business plans covering a three year period which take into account historical trends and 
market conditions which have been approved by the board the key assumptions for the value in use 
calculations are those regarding the discount rates and growth rates for the period  management estimates 
discount rates using pretax rates that reflect current market assessments of the time value of money and the 
risks specific to the cgus equivalent to a real pre tax discount rate which average 12 2010 12  the 
growth rates are based on industry growth forecasts and longterm growth in gross domestic product  
the group prepares cash flow forecasts derived from the most recent financial budgets approved by 
management for the next three years and extrapolates cash flows for the following years based on an estimated 
annual growth rate of 1  the rates do not exceed the average longterm growth rate for the relevant markets  
the rates used to discount the cash flows in both 2011 and 2010 for all cgus have been based on the group’s 
weighted average cost of capital because the cgus do not have significantly differing risk profiles   
the group’s impairment review is sensitive to changes in the key assumptions used the major assumptions 
that result in significant sensitivities are the revenue growth and the discount rate given the group’s 
sensitivity analysis a reasonably possible change in a single assumption will not result in further impairments  54 
 
12  goodwill continued 
at 30 september 2011 goodwill was allocated to the kitsons environmental europe limited “kitsons” 
silverdell uk limited “silverdell uk” and redhill analysts limited “redhills” cgus  the goodwill 
arising on the acquisitions of allens and rds during the year see note 14 has been allocated to the redhills 
cgu because these businesses are being integrated within the redhills business 
as a result of impairment reviews in previous years the goodwill relating to these cgus was reduced to its 
recoverable amount by recognising accumulated impairment losses as follows 
  
 
£’000 
  
silverdell uk 9990 
kitsons 8366 
redhills 1099 
 
 
 19455 
 
 
13  other intangible assets 
  
order  
backlog 
customer 
contracts total 
cost     
     
at 1 october 2009 and 30 september 2010  1480 5434 6914 
acquisition of allens note 14   122 122 
acquisition of rds note 14   361 361 
 
 
   
at 30 september 2011  1480 5917 7397 
  
   
accumulated amortisation      
at 1 october 2009  1480 4833 6313 
amortisation charge    601 601 
 
 
   
     
at 30 september 2010  1480 5434 6914 
amortisation charge   30 30 
 
 
   
at 30 september 2011  1480 5464 6944 
 
 
   
carrying amount     
at 30 september 2011   453 453 
  
   
at 30 september 2010     
  
   
 
all amortisation charges in the year have been included in administrative expenses 
14  acquisitions 
 
the group acquired 100 of the issued share capital of two new subsidiary undertakings during the year both 
of which were acquired by redhill analysts limited ah allen limited “allens” was acquired on 1 april 
2011 and rds asbestos management consultants uk limited “rds” was acquired on 30 august 2011 
both allens and rds operate environmental consulting businesses in the uk and both businesses are being 
integrated into the group’s consulting division 
 
 
 
  55 
 
 
14  acquisitions continued 
 
the fair values of the assets and liabilities acquired are set out in the tables below 
allens 
  
book value 
£’000 
fair value 
adjustments 
£’000 
fair value  
£’000 
     
intangible assets   122 122 
property plant and equipment  241  241 
trade and other receivables  261 14 247 
cash and cash equivalents  91  91 
trade and other payables  91 7 98 
bank borrowings  130  130 
current tax liability  63  63 
deferred tax liability   32 32 
     
  
   
net assets acquired  309 69 378 
  
   
consideration paid     
     
cash payable    626 
contingent consideration    230 
  
   
total    856 
  
   
goodwill arising    478 
  
   
rds 
  
book value 
£’000 
fair value 
adjustments 
£’000 
fair value  
£’000 
     
intangible assets   361 361 
property plant and equipment  71  71 
trade and other receivables  879 116 763 
cash and cash equivalents  82  82 
trade and other payables  344 10 354 
finance lease obligations  20  20 
current tax liability  52 13 65 
deferred tax liability   91 91 
     
  
   
net assets acquired  616 131 747 
  
   
consideration paid     
     
cash payable    1120 
shares in silverdell plc    555 
contingent consideration    199 
  
   
total    1874 
  
   
goodwill arising    1127 
  
   
  56 
 
 
14  acquisitions continued 
 
the fair value adjustments for both companies related to the adjustment of revenue recognition to be consistent 
with group policy provision for doubtful trade receivables recognition of intangible assets on acquisition and 
adjustments to tax balances 
allens contributed revenue of £590000 and operating profit of £72000 to the group results in the year ended 
30 september 2011 rds contributed revenue of £362000 and operating profit of £127000 these results are 
included within the results of the consulting division in the segmental analysis in note 5 
 
15  property plant and equipment 
 
freehold 
and 
leasehold 
property 
£’000 
motor 
vehicles 
£’000 
office 
equipment 
£’000 
plant and 
machinery 
£’000 
total 
£’000 
cost      
at 1 october 2009 648 1176 860 2774 5458 
additions 41 59 72 225 397 
disposals  451  10 461 
 
     
      
at 1 october 2010 689 784 932 2989 5394 
additions 19 156 107 599 881 
acquisitions 219 18  77 314 
disposals  281   281 
 
     
at 30 september 2011 927 677 1039 3665 6308 
 
     
accumulated depreciation      
at 1 october 2009 108 775 624 1608 3115 
depreciation charge for the year 38 258 122 283 701 
disposals  418  3 421 
 
     
      
at 30 september 2010 146 615 746 1888 3395 
depreciation charge for the year  21 99 56 349 525 
disposals   264   264 
 
     
at 30 september 2011 167 450 802 2237 3656 
 
     
carrying amount      
at 30 september 2011 760 227 237 1428 2652 
 
     
at 30 september 2010 543 169 186 1101 1999 
 
     
 
the net book value of assets held under finance leases is £372000 2010 £332000 
the book value of freehold land not depreciated is £269000 2010 £219000 
 
 
 
 
 
  57 
 
 
 
16  inventories 
  
 2011 
£’000 
2010 
£’000 
    
raw materials and consumables  220 266 
work in progress  2844 732 
  
  
  3064 998 
  
  
the cost of inventories recognised as an expense and included in ‘cost of sales’ amounted to £4300000  
2010 £2566000 the directors consider that the carrying amount of inventories approximates to their fair 
value   
 
17  derivative financial liabilities 
  
 2011 
£’000 
2010 
£’000 
    
    interest rate cap    
  
  
    interest rate swaps  31 71 
  
  
the notional principal amount of the outstanding interest rate cap contract was £1477500 2010 £1247500 
the interest cap was at libor at 35 and the contract expires on 31 december 2011 this derivative is 
treated as at fvtpl – held for trading 
the notional principal amount of the outstanding interest rate swap contracts at 30 september 2011 was 
£2250000 2010 £1750000 at 30 september 2011 £1500000 was subject to a fixed interest rate of 21 
and £750000 was subject to a fixed interest rate of 58 the main floating rates were gbp libor    
 
18  trade and other receivables 
 
  
 2011 
£’000 
2010 
£’000 
noncurrent 
    
other receivables see note 23   1001 1001 
   
  
total noncurrent   1001 1001 
   
  
     
current 
    
trade receivables   13401 10797 
less provision for impairment   226 243 
   
  
trade receivables net   13175 10554 
     
prepayments and accrued income 
due from customers for contract work   
1482 
2648 
 
1150 
1070 
   
  
total current   17305 12774 
   
  
total    18306 13775 
   
   58 
 
18 trade and other receivables continued 
the average credit period taken on sales is 67 days 2010 58 days  the group has different provision 
policies for its various divisions which have been determined by reference to past default experience and 
specific provisions are raised after taking an individual view to the debtor’s recoverability   
due to the nature of the group’s operations it is common practice for customers to hold retentions in respect 
of contracts completed  retentions held by customers as at 30 september 2011 were £646000 2010  
£1086000 
the group’s exposure to credit risk and impairment losses related to trade and other receivables are disclosed 
in note 22 
under the normal course of the business the group does not charge interest on its overdue receivables 
the directors consider that the carrying amount of trade and other receivables approximates to their fair value 
 
included in trade and other receivables are costs incurred in respect of a significant customer contract totalling 
£29m the group is in the process of validating and negotiating its final account with the main contractor the 
opinion of the directors is that as negotiations are at an advanced stage no provision is required against this 
debtor 
 
19  analysis of net debt position 
 
2010 
£’000 
 cash flow 
 £’000 
other non
cash changes 
£’000 
 2011 
 £’000 
     
cash at bank and in hand 3626 1059  2567 
 
    
     
     
bank loans 5513 930 130 4713 
bank overdraft 2340 545  2885 
finance lease obligations 41 53 245 233 
     
 4268 621 375 5264 
 
    
the group’s exposure to interest rate risks and a sensitivity analysis for financial assets and liabilities is 
disclosed in note 22  59 
 
 
20  borrowings 
 
   2011 
£’000 
2010 
£’000 
noncurrent     
bank loans    3913 4754 
obligations under finance lease contracts   125 23 
   
  
   4038 4777 
   
  
current     
bank loans and overdrafts   3685 3099 
obligations under finance lease contracts   108 18 
   
  
   3793 3117 
   
  
     
total   7831 7894 
   
  
further information on the principal features of the group’s borrowings is set out in note 22 
the group’s bank overdraft and loan facilities are secured by debentures over the assets of the group  the 
debenture agreement includes a fixed and floating charge over the assets of the group  finance lease liabilities 
are secured on the assets to which the contracts relate 
the bank loan is at both fixed and variable rates of interest  £750000 2020 £1750000 is subject to an 
interest rate swap the amount amortises by £250000 per quarter and the rate on the amortised amount is fixed 
at 58  a further £1477500 2010 £1247500 was subject to an interest rate cap agreement at 30 
september 2011 placing a 35 cap on 3month libor the amount of notional borrowings covered by the 
cap agreement is scheduled to vary each quarter in order to achieve the group’s objective of 55 of certain 
elements of its banking facilities being covered by the combined hedge the remaining elements of the 
group’s facilities are subject to interest at variable rates over libor  the finance leases are at variable rates 
of interest  the weighted average interest rate on the fixed rate facilities is 58 for a weighted average period 
of 15 years  
as at 30 september 2011 the group had an undrawn committed revolving credit facility of £nil 2010 £nil 
the net overdraft facility available as at 30 september 2011 was £2750000 2010 £2750000 and the 
headroom available at the yearend was £2432000 2010 £4036000  
the non –current obligations under finance leases are all repayable within one and five years the present 
value of future minimum lease payments is not materially different from the carrying amounts of the 
obligations under finance leases 
 
21  contingent consideration 
 
   2011 
£’000 
2010 
£’000 
noncurrent   109  
   
  
current   326  
   
  
total   435  
   
  
 
the contingent consideration relates to the acquisitions of allens and rds see note 14 these acquisitions 
provide for contingent consideration to become payable based on the performance of the businesses in the two 
years immediately following acquisition by the group with gross profit and earnings before interest tax 
depreciation and amortisation being the key target measures the amount has been discounted from the 
acquisition date since the date of acquisition the discount has unwound and will continue to unwind for the 
next 2 years 60 
 
 
 
22  financial instruments 
a  financial risk management 
all companies are exposed to capital and market risk but the board considers the group’s key elements of 
financial risk to be   
 credit risk 
 liquidity risk 
 interest rate risk 
this note presents information about the group’s exposure to each of the above risks the group’s management 
of capital and the group’s objectives policies and procedures for measuring and managing risk  please refer 
also to the principal business risks in the statement on key risks and mitigations on pages 23 and 24 
 
capital risk management  
the board is responsible for overall group strategy acquisition and divestment policy approval of major 
capital expenditure projects and consideration of significant financing matters the board 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 as well as sustaining the future development of the business  in order to maintain or adjust the 
capital structure the group may adjust the amount of dividends paid to shareholders return capital to 
shareholders issue new shares or sell assets to reduce debt  
the capital structure of the group consists of debt which includes the borrowings disclosed in note 20 cash 
and cash equivalents and equity attributable to equity holders of the parent comprising issued capital reserves 
and retained earnings as set out in the statement of changes in equity 
market risk 
market risk is the risk that changes in the market prices such as foreign exchange rates and interest rates will 
affect the group’s income or the value of its holdings of financial instruments  the objective of market risk 
management is to manage and control market risk exposures within acceptable parameters while optimising 
the return on risk 
the group’s activities expose it mainly to the financial risks of changes in interest rates  the board reviews 
and agrees the policy for managing interest rate risk and foreign currency risk and the potential impact of any 
significant economic changes are discussed at monthly board meetings   
the group reviews its treasury position daily placing any surplus cash on shortterm deposits    61 
 
22 financial instruments continued 
b categories of financial instruments 
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 3 to the financial statements 
 
   2011 
£’000 
2010 
£’000 
financial assets
1
     
at amortised cost     
     loans and receivables   13175 10554 
     cash and cash equivalents   2567 3626 
   
  
total financial assets   15742 14180 
   
  
1  financial assets exclude prepayments amounts due under longterm contracts other receivables and other noncurrent 
receivables 
 
   2011 
£’000 
2010 
£’000 
financial liabilities
2
     
at amortised cost     
 trade and other payables     8766 6381 
 obligations under finance leases   233 41 
 other borrowings and overdrafts   7598 7853 
 contingent consideration   435  
derivatives – designated as cash flow hedges    31 71 
   
  
total financial liabilities   17063 14346 
   
  
2 financial liabilities exclude tax and social security deferred income and other noncurrent payables 
 
c  credit risk 
the group’s principal financial assets are cash and cash equivalents and trade and other receivables which 
represent the group’s maximum exposure to credit risk in relation to financial assets 
the group’s credit risk is primarily attributable to its trade and other receivables  the amounts presented in 
the consolidated balance sheet are net of allowances for doubtful receivables estimated by the group’s 
management based on prior experience and their assessment of the current economic environment 
credit risk refers to the risk that a counterparty will default on its contractual obligations resulting in financial 
loss to the group the group has adopted a policy of only dealing with creditworthy counterparties as a means 
of mitigating the risk of financial loss from defaults  
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   
the group’s exposure and the credit ratings of its counterparties are continuously monitored and the aggregate 
value of transactions concluded is spread amongst approved financial institutions   62 
 
22 financial instruments continued 
c  credit risk continued 
trade receivables 
trade receivables consist of a large number of customers spread across diverse areas within the uk and the 
group’s exposure to credit risk is influenced mainly by the individual characteristics of each customer the 
demographics of the group’s customer base including default risk of the industry and country in which the 
customers operate has less of an influence on credit risk 
 
the directors consider that the carrying amount of trade and other receivables which are noninterest bearing 
approximates to their fair value   
the group does not have any significant credit risk exposure to any single counterparty or any group of 
counterparties having similar characteristics the group defines counterparties as having similar characteristics 
if they are related entities   
 
before accepting any new customer the group runs credit checks to assess the potential customer’s credit 
quality  the group monitors exposure to individual clients and all customers are subject to standard terms of 
payment for each division which are on average 30 days 
the analysis of trade receivables in excess of 30 days old but not impaired is as follows 
  
 
2011 
£’000 
2010 
£’000 
   
31 – 60 days 3084 2479 
61 – 90 days 1176 859 
91120 days 517 311 
121 – 150 days 699 148 
more than 151 days 501 715 
 
  
 5977 4512 
 
   63 
 
22 financial instruments continued 
c  credit risk continued 
the group establishes an allowance for impairment that represents its estimate of incurred losses in respect of 
trade and other receivables and investments when there is objective evidence that the asset is impaired  the 
main components of this allowance are a specific loss component that relates to individually significant 
exposures and a collective loss component established for groups of similar assets in respect of losses that 
have been incurred but not yet identified  the collective loss allowance is determined by references to past 
default experience and historical data of payment statistics for similar financial assets   
movement in the provision for impairment 
 
  2011 
£’000 
2010 
£’000 
     
balance at beginning of the year   243 353 
decrease  increase in impairment provision recognised   11 167 
acquired with subsidiary undertakings   135  
receivables written off  written back    129 277 
   
  
   226 243 
   
  
the creation and release of provisions for impaired receivables has been included in ‘administrative expenses’ 
in the income statement 
in determining the recoverability of a trade receivable the group considers any change in the credit quality of 
the trade receivable from the date credit was initially granted up to the reporting date the concentration of 
credit risk is limited due to the customer base being large and unrelated accordingly the directors believe that 
there is no further credit provision required in excess of the above amount 
d  liquidity risk 
liquidity risk is the risk that the group will not be able to meet its financial obligations as they fall due  
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 bank covenant compliance forecast and actual cash flows and matching the maturity profiles of 
financial assets and liabilities details of additional undrawn facilities that the group has at its disposal to 
further reduce liquidity risk are disclosed in note 20 
liquidity and interest risk tables 
the following tables detail the group’s expected maturity for its financial assets and liabilities the tables 
below have been drawn up based on the undiscounted contractual maturities of the financial assets and 
liabilities no material interest is expected to accrue on the interest bearing assets which represent cash 
deposits 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  64 
 
22 financial instruments continued 
d  liquidity risk continued 
 
 
 book 
value 
  undiscounted cashflows 
30 september 2011  
 
£’000 
 less than 
1 month 
£’000 
1 – 3 
months
 
£’000
 
3 months 
to 1 year 
£’000 
15 
years 
£’000 
5  
years 
£’000 
total 
£’000 
         
financial assets         
 
noninterest bearing  
 
13175 
  
13175 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
13175 
 
 
variable interest rate 
instruments 
 
 
 
2567 
  
 
 
2567 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2567 
 
 
 
      
 15742  15742     15742 
 
 
 
      
         
financial liabilities         
 
noninterest bearing 
 
9232 
  
8797 
 
 
 
326 
 
109 
 
 
 
9232 
 
 
variable interest rate 
instruments 
 
 
 
7831 
  
 
 
2894 
 
 
 
227 
 
 
 
672 
 
 
 
4038 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7831 
 
 
 
      
 17063  11691 227         998 4147  17063 
 
 
 
      
         
 
30 september 2010 
  less than 
1 month 
£’000 
1 – 3 
months
 
£’000
 
3 months 
to 1 year 
£’000 
1 – 5 
years 
£’000 
5  
years 
£’000 
total 
£’000 
         
financial assets         
noninterest bearing   
10554 
  
10554 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10554 
 
 
variable interest rate 
instruments 
 
 
 
3626 
  
 
 
3626 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3626 
 
 
 
      
 14180  14180     14180 
 
 
 
      
         
financial liabilities         
noninterest bearing  
6422 
  
6422 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
6422 
variable interest rate 
instruments 
 
 
 
7924 
  
 
 
2344 
 
 
 
290 
 
 
 
853 
 
 
 
5253 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8740 
 
 
 
      
 14346  8766 290 853 5253  15162 
 
 
 
       65 
 
22 financial instruments continued 
e  interest rate risk 
interest rate risk is the risk that the value of a financial instrument or cash flows associated with the instrument 
will fluctuate due to changes in market interest rates  as the group has no significant interestbearing assets 
the group’s income and operating cash flows are substantially independent of changes in market interest rates 
the group is exposed to interest rate risk primarily though borrowing funds at floating interest rates  
borrowings issued at variable rates expose the group to cash flow interest rate risk  the group manages 
interest rate risk on borrowings by ensuring access to diverse funding and through monitoring interest rate 
movements with weekly reports   
interest rate risk is reviewed on a regular basis and if considered necessary a strategy to minimise any potential 
risk through interest rate swaps will be discussed and implemented   
based on the various scenarios the group manages its cash flow interest rate risk by using a combination of 
floatingtofixed interest rate swaps and an interest rate cap the interest rate swap has the economic effect of 
converting borrowings from floating rates to fixed rates  generally the group raises long term borrowings at 
floating rates and swaps them into fixed rates that are lower than those available if the group borrowed at fixed 
rates directly  under the interest rate swap the group agrees with other parties to exchange at specified 
intervals primarily quarterly the difference between fixed contract rates and floating rate instrument amounts 
calculated by reference to the agreed notional amounts the interest rate cap ensures that for the specified 
portion of borrowings floating rate interest will apply only up to a specified ceiling 
the group’s exposures to interest rates on financial assets and financial liabilities are detailed below   
interest rate sensitivity analysis 
if interest rates had been 100 basis points higher or lower and all other variables were held constant the 
group’s profit for the year would increase or decrease by £45000 2010 £61000 in respect to exposure to the 
group’s borrowings and cash and cash equivalents  for floating rate liabilities the analysis is prepared 
assuming the amount of the liability at the balance sheet date was outstanding for the whole period 
f  fair value of financial instruments 
the fair value of interest rate swaps is calculated at the present value of the estimated future cash flows 
the directors consider that the carrying amounts of financial assets and financial liabilities recorded at 
amortised cost in the financial statements approximate to their fair values due to the short maturity of the 
instruments or because they bear interest at rates approximate to the market    66 
 
23 trade and other payables 
 
   
2011 
£’000 
2010 
£’000 
noncurrent     
other payables   1001 1001 
   
  
in 2006 the group recorded a provision of £10m in respect of a contingent liability arising on the acquisition 
of silverdell uk limited  the group has a corresponding asset relating to the indemnities from the vendors 
of silverdell uk limited in respect of this provision 
 
   
2011 
£’000 
2010 
£’000 
current     
trade payables   6031 4037 
other taxation and social security   2098 1733 
other payables   2735 2344 
     
   10864 8114 
     
an analysis of the maturity of debt is given in note 22d   
the directors consider that the carrying amount of trade payables approximates to their fair value  
the group’s policy is to fix payment terms when agreeing the terms of each transaction  it is the group’s 
general policy to pay suppliers according to the agreed terms and conditions provided that the supplier has 
complied with those terms   
trade creditors and accruals principally comprise amounts outstanding for trade purchases and ongoing cost 
and they include retention amounts held over defect liability periods  the average credit period taken for trade 
purchases is 69 days 2010 45 days for the group  the group has financial risk management policies in 
place to ensure that all payables are paid within the credit timeframe 
there are no suppliers who represent more than 10 of the total balance of trade creditors in either 2011 or 
2010 
the group has financial risk management policies in place to ensure that all payables are paid within the credit 
timeframe therefore under the normal course of business the group is not charged interest on overdue 
payables  67 
 
 
24 share capital 
  2011 2010 
 
 
no £’000 
 
no 
 
£’000 
authorised     
ordinary shares of 1p each  260000000 2600 260000000 2600 
 
    
 
allotted called up and fully paid     
ordinary shares of 1p each  180839717 1808 151654717 1516 
 
    
 
movement in issued share capital     
at 1 october   1p ordinary shares 151654717 1516 526547188 5265 
shares issued in the year 29185000 292   
1p deferred shares cancelled   374892471 3749 
 
    
at 30 september 180839717 1808 151654717 1516 
 
    
the company issued 23635000 shares at 10p per share in a placing on 11 august 2011 generating net 
proceeds of £2192000 after expenses the nominal value of the shares issued was £237000 and the premium 
arising after expenses was £2001000  the purpose of the placing was to fund the acquisition of rds see 
note 14 and to provide additional resources for the group to grow 
the company subsequently issued a further 5550000 shares at 10p per share to the vendors of rds as part of 
the consideration for that acquisition the nominal value of the shares issued was £55000 and the premium 
arising was £500000 
in march 2010 the company cancelled all the 1p deferred shares in issue 
barclays bank plc holds 11374179 2010 11374179 warrants valid until 2017 to subscribe for ordinary 
shares in the company at 5p 2010 5p per ordinary share  marwyn neptune fund lp holds warrants valid 
until 2013 to acquire up to 3220105 2010 3220105 ordinary shares in the company at 75p 2010 75p per 
ordinary share details of options over the company’s share capital are disclosed in note 26  68 
 
25 capital and other commitments 
at 30 september 2011 the group had no capital commitments 2010 £nil 
 
operating leases 
the group had outstanding total commitments under noncancellable operating leases at 30 september which 
fall due as follows 
 2011 2010 
 
land and 
buildings 
£’000 
 
other 
£’000 
land and 
buildings 
£’000 
 
other 
£’000 
operating leases which expire     
within one year 331 715 432 546 
within two to five years 730 734 620 257 
after five years 159 2 229 66 
 
    
 1220 1451 1281 869 
 
    
26 employee share schemes  
the group has adopted share incentive arrangement plans as set out below 
equitysettled share option scheme 
the group has a share option scheme for certain employees of the group  options are exercisable at a price 
equal to the average quoted market price of the company’s shares on the date of grant  the vesting period is 
three years  if the options remain unexercised after a period of five years from the date of grant the options 
expire  options are forfeited if the employee leaves the group before the options vest 
details of the share options outstanding during the year are as follows 
  2011 2010 
 
 
 
 
number of 
share 
options 
weighted 
average 
exercise 
price 
£ 
number of 
share 
options 
weighted 
average 
exercise 
price 
£ 
     
outstanding at beginning of year 13225247 0087 2905104 0945 
granted during the year 2190190 0115 13956046 0087 
forfeited during the year 359171 0090 3635903 0773 
 
    
outstanding at the end of the year 15056266 0090 13225247 0087 
 
    
exercisable at the end of the year     
 
    
the number of options granted in in the prior year has been reduced by 2754679 to correct an error in the 
prior year disclosure 
the options outstanding at 30 september 2011 had a weighted average remaining contractual life of 8 years 
2010 9 years  in 2011 options over 2190190 shares were granted in april 2011 the aggregate of the 
estimated fair values of the options granted on that date is £105000 
of the options outstanding at 30 september 2011 4800000 awarded to the chairman and executive directors 
have a marketbased performance condition dependent on the level of the company’s future share price the 
remaining options are subject to performance conditions relating to the company’s future adjusted earnings per 
share 
the options with marketbased performance conditions were valued using the binomial method while other 
options were valued using the black scholes option pricing model  69 
 
26 employee share schemes continued  
the inputs into the valuation models used for options granted each year are as follows 
 
  2011 
 
2010 
 
     
weighted average share price   £0105 £0090 
weighted average exercise price   £0115 £0087 
expected volatility   77 77 
expected life   65 years 65 years 
riskfree rate   350 335 
expected dividend yield   0 0 
   
  
expected volatility was determined by calculating the historical volatility of the group’s share price over the 
previous 15 years  the expected life used in the model has been adjusted based on management’s best 
estimate for the effects of nontransferability exercise restrictions and behavioural considerations  the risk 
free rate of return is the yield on zero coupon uk government bonds with a term similar to the expected life of 
the option 
the charge in the income statement relating to the above sharebased payments was £257000 2010 
£130000 
27  contingent liabilities 
there are group cross guarantees from the company for all monies due to certain of the group’s banks and 
surety lenders the total potential exposure to the group’s banks under such guarantees was £5031000 2010 
£4227000 no monies were outstanding at 30 september 2011 2010 £nil in the normal course of business 
there are contingent liabilities including the provision of bonds in respect of completed and uncompleted 
contracts 
28 related party transactions 
during the year to 30 september 2011 the group paid £30000 2010 £30000 to marwyn capital llp for 
corporate finance services and directors’ fees and £90000 2010 £92071 to marwyn partners limited for 
rent and other office services at the end of that year £nil 2010 £nil remained outstanding 
mark watts is a partner in marwyn capital llp and marwyn investment management llp and a shareholder 
in marwyn investments group limited which owns 100 of marwyn partners limited  marwyn neptune 
fund lp is managed by marwyn investment management llp and beneficially owns shares and warrants in 
the group 
during the year to 30 september 2011 kalistar llp a partnership of certain of the executive directors of 
silverdell uk limited charged £48000 2010 £48000 for the provision of cars used by some of the 
directors of silverdell uk limited  at the end of that year £14000 2010 £nil remained outstanding 
one property occupied by silverdell uk limited is owned by the pension fund in which sean nutley has an 
interest  the property is subject to a market rent of £29000 2010 £29000 per annum and £nil 2010 £nil 
remained outstanding at the yearend 
 
29  post balance sheet events 
after the balance sheet date a £1m extension of the revolving credit facility was agreed with the bank and 
the cash flow covenant was relaxed for 12 months  silverdell plc                                                  company registration number 5755897 
 
 
company balance sheet 
at 30 september 2011 
 
70 
  notes 
 
  2011 
£’000 
2010 
£’000 
fixed assets      
investments 32  24121 23943 
tangible assets 33  49 38 
     
    24170 23981 
  
 
   
current assets      
debtors  amounts falling due within one year  34  6087 6371 
  
 
   
      
creditors  amounts falling due within one year 35  9582 10129 
 
 
 
   
net current liabilities    3495 3758 
  
 
   
total assets less current liabilities   20675 20223 
  
 
   
creditors  amounts falling due after one year  35  3913 4755 
      
    
  
total net assets    16762 15468 
    
  
capital and reserves      
called up share capital  24  1808 1516 
share premium account  36  2456 17813 
equity reserve  36  721 464 
other reserve  36  4135 16635 
capital reserve  36   3749 
profit and loss account  36  7642 24709 
  
 
   
total shareholders’ funds    16762 15468 
  
 
   
 
the financial statements were approved by the board of directors and authorised for issue on 29 november 2011  
they were signed on behalf of the board of directors 
 
 
ian johnson 
 
director 
 
    silverdell plc 
 
 notes to the financial statements 
at 30 september 2011 
71 
30  significant accounting policies 
the separate financial statements of the company have been prepared on the historical cost basis and under the going 
concern assumption the accounting policies are summarised below and have been applied consistently throughout 
the year and the preceding year the separate financial statements are presented as required by the companies act 
2006  as permitted by that act the separate financial statements have been prepared in accordance with united 
kingdom accounting standards 
taxation 
the tax currently payable is based on the taxable profit for the year taxable profit differs from net profit as reported 
in the income statement because it excludes items of income and expense se that are taxable or deductible in other 
years and it further excludes items which are never taxable or deductible the company’s liability for current tax is 
calculated using tax rates that have been enacted or substantively enacted at the balance sheet date  
deferred taxation is provided in full on all timing differences that result in an obligation at the balance sheet date to 
pay more tax or a right to pay less tax at a future date subject to the recoverability of deferred tax assets  deferred 
tax assets and liabilities are not discounted 
sharebased payments 
the company has applied the requirements of frs 20 sharebased payment  in accordance with the transitional 
provisions frs 20 has been applied to all grants of equity instruments after 7 november 2002 that had not vested as 
at 1 january 2005 
the company makes equity settled sharebased payments to the directors which are measured at fair value at the date 
of grant the fair value of share options issued with nonmarket vesting conditions has been calculated using the 
black scholes model  for all other share awards the fair value is determined by reference to the market value of the 
share at the date of grant  for all share schemes with nonmarket related vesting conditions the likelihood of vesting 
has been taken into account when determining the associated charge  vesting assumptions are reviewed during each 
reporting period to ensure they reflect current expectations 
the company also makes equity settled sharebased payments to certain employees of certain subsidiary 
undertakings  equity settled sharebased payments that are made to employees of the company’s subsidiaries are 
treated as increases in equity over the vesting period of the award with a corresponding increase in the company’s 
investments in subsidiaries based on an estimate of the number of shares that will eventually vest 
any payments received from subsidiaries are applied to reduce the related increases in investments in subsidiaries 
accounting for sharebased payments is the same as under ifrs 2 and details on the schemes and option pricing 
models relevant to the charge included in the company financial statements are set out in note 25 to the consolidated 
financial statements of the group for the year ended 30 september 2010 
investments 
investments represent equity holdings in subsidiaries joint ventures and associates and are held at cost less provision 
for impairment 
tangible fixed assets and depreciation 
tangible fixed assets are stated at historic purchase cost net of accumulated depreciation and any provision for 
impairment cost comprises the original purchase price of the asset and the cost attributable to bringing the asset to its 
working condition for its intended use depreciation is provided on all tangible fixed assets at rates calculated to 
write off the cost or valuation less estimated residual value of each asset on a straightline basis over its expected 
useful life as follows 
computer equipment    33 on cost 
impairments in the value of fixed assets are charged to the profit and loss account     silverdell plc 
 
 notes to the financial statements 
at 30 september 2011 
72 
31       parent company profit and loss account 
 
the company has taken advantage of the exemption afforded by the companies act 2006 and has not presented its 
own profit and loss account  the loss for the year dealt with in the financial statements of the parent company is 
£1711000 2010£1606000 
 
32  investments 
    
 2011 
£’000 
cost     
 
  
 
 
at 1 october 2010    40663 
capital contributions to subsidiaries arising from 
share based payments    178 
   
 
 
at 30 september 2011   
 
40841 
    
 
 
impairment     
at 1 october 2010 and 30 september 2011   
 
16720 
    
 
carrying amount     
at 30 september 2011    24121 
    
 
at 30 september 2010     23943 
    
 
details of the principal subsidiary undertakings are as follows 
company 
country of 
incorporation 
proportion 
of ordinary 
shares held principal activity 
    
silverdell uk ltd england and wales 100 asbestos and environmental services 
redhill analysts ltd england and wales 100 consulting services 
kitsons group ltd england and wales 100 asbestos and environmental services 
ah allen ltd england and wales 100 consulting services 
rds asbestos management 
consultants uk ltd england and wales 100 consulting services 
kitsons group ltd england and wales 100 asbestos and environmental services 
 
 held via redhill analysts ltd 
    silverdell plc 
 
 notes to the financial statements 
at 30 september 2011 
73 
 
33  tangible fixed assets 
the company acquired owned computer equipment with a cost of £30000 2010 £55000 during the year 
and incurred a depreciation charge on these assets of £19000 2010 £17000 the closing net book value of 
tangible fixed assets was £49000 2010 £38000 
 
34  debtors 
amounts falling due within one year 
 
   
2011 
£’000 
2010 
£’000 
     
other debtors and prepayments   169 265 
amounts due from group undertakings   5917 5106 
corporation tax recoverable    985 
deferred tax asset   1 15 
   
  
   6087 6371 
   
  
the deferred tax asset relates to timing differences on tangible fixed assets and the amount charged to the profit and 
loss account for the year was £14000 2010 credit of £15000 
 
35  creditors 
 
 amounts falling due within one year 
 
   
 2011 
£’000 
2010 
£’000 
     
bank overdraft   2072 2340 
bank loans   800 759 
other creditors and accruals   465 306 
amounts due to subsidiary undertakings   6245 6724 
     
   9582 10129 
     
the carrying amount of trade payables approximates to their fair value 
 
 amounts falling due after more than one year 
 
   
 2011 
£’000 
2010 
£’000 
     
bank loan   3913 4755 
     
full details of the company’s bank loans are disclosed in notes 20 and 22 to the group financial statements    silverdell plc 
 
 notes to the financial statements 
at 30 september 2011 
74 
36  share premium account and reserves 
 
 
share 
premium 
account 
£’000 
equity 
reserve 
£’000 
other 
reserves 
£’000 
capital 
reserve 
£’000 
profit and 
loss 
account 
£’000 
total 
£’000 
       
at at 1 october 2010 17813 464 16635 3749 24709 13952 
sharebased payment credit in the year  257    257 
retained loss for the year     1711 1711 
shares issued 2456     2456 
capital restructuring 17813  12500 3749 34062  
 
 
  
 
  
at 30 september 2011 2456 721 4135  7642 14954 
 
      
 
following special resolutions of the company which were confirmed by the high court on 16 february 2011 the 
company cancelled the share premium account and capital reserve and also cancelled £125m of deferred shares from 
the other reserve which increased retained earnings by a total of £341m 
the remaining balance in other reserves is not distributable and relates to the premium arising on shares issued as 
consideration for the acquisition of subsidiary companies and warrants issued to marwyn neptune fund lp in 
consideration for their participation in placing of shares on 19 july 2006 
 
 
37  related parties 
 
the company has taken advantage of the exemption available under frs8 related party disclosures not to disclose 
details of transactions between wholly owned group companies  
 


Summary:
 silverdell plc  
 
 
5 
 
 
 
chairman’s statement 
overview 
i am pleased to report encouraging results for the year ended 30 september 2011 especially considering the adverse 
weather earlier in the year and indeed the apprehension surrounding the government’s expenditure programmes the 
group continues to prove its resilience to fluctuating market conditions by maintaining its focus in the regulated 
environment where legislation is a key driver 
we have successfully achieved our objectives in the year in terms of organic growth and in terms of acquisitions 
achieving market expectations on margin and turnover both of the acquisitions a h allen and rds are being 
successfully integrated into the consulting business and are already producing positive results the group 
successfully raised £23m in a share placing during the year predominantly to fund these acquisitions 
 
strategy 
this is the second year of the ‘protecting lives creating value’ strategy which aims to deliver shareholder value by 
broadening our service offer and sustaining high quality repeatable revenues from large bluechip customers in the 
regulated and highhazard service sectors the group’s customer base now consists predominantly of large private 
and public sector organisations which place a high value on protecting the health of their customers staff and 
reputation while conditions in the wider economy are expected to remain difficult your board believes that the 
increasingly stringent regulation surrounding hazardous waste management will require customers to continue to 
prioritise nondiscretionary expenditure on facilities maintenance and regulatory compliance 
our ambition is to grow revenues to more than £100m per year within two years it is management’s view that whilst 
this could possibly be achieved organically it is most likely to come about through acquisitions and the board is 
actively exploring some options silverdell will only consider acquisitions which meet strict criteria they will be 
limited to organisations providing services which complement our group’s current service offer to highly regulated 
industrial sectors such as nuclear oil gas and energy as well as niche bolton consulting businesses and must be 
earnings enhancing within the first year 
silverdell has developed into a stable and resilient business in recognition of this fact and as a mark of our 
confidence in the future of the group we carried out a capital reduction exercise during the year which enables a 
dividend to be paid for the first time the board has determined that it will have a cautious but progressive dividend 
policy and it is our intention to pay our maiden dividend during 2012 
 
results 
revenues for the year ended 30 september 2011 were £597m 2010 £567m with adjusted ebitda of £41m 
2010 £39m and adjusted pretax profit of £30m 2010 £25m the order book at 31 october 2011 remains 
strong at £107m 2010 £62m at 31 october 2010 with £36m secured for 2012 at the year end the company’s net 
debt was £53m 2010£43m as the group required additional capital to support its growth particularly during the 
second half of the year 
 
 
board  people 
we now have a dynamic cohesive and committed management team led by our ceo sean nutley who have worked 
extremely hard over the last two years in revitalising the group and ensuring strong ties across each of the three 
principal divisions whilst maintaining their individual accountability and strict control disciplines i believe we are 
now in a strong position to take the group forward to its next stage of development 
in june matt griggs took over as md of the consulting business redhills and is successfully overseeing the 
integration of the two new acquisitions in november 2011 john potts joined the group from hertel to lead our 
industrial services division  silverdell plc  
 
 
6 
 
 
chairman’s statement continued 
 
board  people continued 
we remain a direct employer of our workforce such that their inherent skills are maintained and developed in the 
business providing an excellent basis for the training and development of future management coupled with the ease 
with which we maintain our licences to operate  
on behalf of the board i would like to express our gratitude and thank the management team and everyone in the 
group for their hard work dedication and commitment to our strategy during during the past year we have 
continued to deliver a good set of results despite the challenging economic climate around us  
 
summary 
silverdell performed robustly in the year ended 30 september 2011 the group has delivered significant growth both 
organically and by acquisition during the year and particularly during the last six months we believe that we now 
have a stable dynamic and flexible business which is very well positioned to deliver further growth and value to our 
shareholders as well as giving us confidence in our ability to pay a dividend during 2012  
 
stuart doughty 
nonexecutive chairman 
 
 
earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation and also before goodwill impairment sharebased 
payments and nonrecurring items 
 adjusted to exclude intangibles amortisation impairment charges nonrecurring items and sharebased payments