tribal
tribal
report and accounts 2008
tribal group plc
tribal group plc
8791 newman street
london
w1t 3ey
t 020 7323 7100
e infotribalgroupcouk
wwwtribalgroupcouk
tribal group plc report and accounts 2008       our business
tribal provides consultancy support and delivery services 
focused on improving the delivery of public services in the 
uk and internationally our broad offering combines an
indepth understanding of our chosen markets with 
professional expertise and a strong technology capability
our approach
we work in partnership with our clients to make a positive 
difference to the communities they serve and to ensure the 
best possible use of public funds
our services
 strategy
 performance improvement
 training and development
 programme and project management
 communications
 information technology
 people attraction selection and retention
 procurement and supply chain
 built environment design and planning
our markets
 education
 health 
 central government
 housing and regeneration
 local government
 international
 designed by kindred agency produced by accrue
the paper used for this report uses ecf elemental chlorine free pulps supplied by manufacturers with 
environmentfriendly and sustainable reforestation policies the report has been printed using soyabased inks 
and the printing process conforms to iso 14001   tribal group plc report and accounts 2008 01
business review            governance             financial statements 
contents
business review
highlights  02
financial summary 03
chairman’s statement 04
chief executive’s statement 06
business review 18
 strategy
 our markets
 our people
  risk management 
  key performance indicators
 financial review
 corporate responsibility
governance
board of directors 40
directors’ report 41
corporate governance 43
remuneration report 46
statement of directors’ 
responsibilities 51
financial statements
independent auditors’ report to 
the members of tribal group plc 52
consolidated income statement 53
consolidated balance sheet 54
consolidated cash flow statement 55
consolidated statement of 
recognised income and expense 56
notes to the financial statements 57
unaudited pro forma financial 
information 93
uk gaap – company financial 
statements  99
five year summary 107
company information 108
our vision
at their best public services provide everyone 
with the opportunity to fulfil their potential 
in today’s complex world efficient and effective 
public services depend on the collaborative effort 
of people working across the public private and 
voluntary sectors
tribal’s distinctive offering combines professional 
commercial and public service expertise we work 
in partnership with our clients to help shape policy 
and improve the quality and value for money of 
public services
whether we are raising standards in schools and 
colleges regenerating communities or improving 
hospitals our focus is on delivering outcomes that 
enrich lives  
stronger together  business review            governance             financial statements 
02  tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
highlights
 revenue
1
 increased by 12 to £234m supported by 
 acquisitions made during the year
 adjusted profit before tax
2
 up by 21 to £186m 
 aided by a significant fall in interest charges
 committed income up by 12 to £139m
 significant growth in sales pipeline to £297m
 strong balance sheet with net debt at £197m against 
 facilities of £40m
 senior management team strengthened
 acquisitions successfully integrated
 international development progressed
 award of new ofsted contract
commentary
“the group made further good progress during 2008 profits and earnings 
increased significantly and we successfully implemented a number of key 
initiatives that will provide us with a stronger platform from which to grow 
and develop
  “despite the challenges in the wider economy our clients remain   
                           committed to transforming public services and working with   
                              partners to improve performance reduce costs and effect  
                               change whilst the pressures on public sector spending are  
                               likely to increase we are encouraged by our current levels  
                               of committed income and the strength of the sales pipeline  
                              and we believe that tribal is wellpositioned to make further  
                                  progress in 2009”
                                                                         peter martin chief executive  tribal group plc report and accounts 2008 03
business review            governance             financial statements 
financial summary
 year year  nine months
 ended ended  ended
 31 december 31 december  31 december
 2008 2007
1
 change 2007
3
revenue £2340m £2092m 12  £1533m
adjusted profit before tax
2
 £186m £154m 21 £106m
profit before tax £180m £60m  £12m
adjusted earnings per share
2
 147p 122p 20 84p
earningsloss per share 141p 13p  26p
dividend per share 435p 393p 11 
operating cash flow
4
 £214m £224m  
operating profit to cash conversion 136 137  
notes
1 following the change of year end in 2007 and in order to assist with analysis and comparison we have included likeforlike comparisons based on the 
unaudited pro forma results for the year ended 31 december 2007
2 the adjusted profit before tax and adjusted earnings per share exclude goodwill impairment of £nil 2007 £90m intangible asset amortisation of 
£06m 2007 £03m and the financial instrument charge of £01m 2007 £01m and in the case of earnings per share the related taxation of £02m 
2007 £01m and discontinued operations
3 statutory results for the nine months ended 31 december 2007
4 operating cash flow is defined as net cash from operating activities less interest
case studies
page 9 
keeping parents in the know
page 11 
a healthy partnership
page 39 
a break from the city
page 14
learning to change lives
page 13 
helping schools get vfm business review            governance             financial statements 
04  tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
chairman’s statement
the group had a successful year in 2008 we made further progress in 
our financial and operational performance and took a number of steps to 
strengthen tribal’s position as a leading provider of consultancy support 
and delivery services to the public sector in the uk and internationally
performance
during the year our revenue grew by 12 to £2340m and adjusted operating profit rose by 14 to £198m adjusted profit before 
tax was up 21 to £186m and adjusted earnings per share increased by 20 to 147p our cash performance was excellent and we 
were particularly pleased to achieve an operating cash conversion of 136 
tribal’s financial performance has improved substantially over the past two years we now have a strong balance sheet low levels 
of debt and considerable headroom against our bank facilities placing us in a good position to address both opportunities and 
challenges over the coming year 
dividend
the board is recommending a final dividend of 265p per share bringing the total dividend for the year ended 31 december 2008 
to 435p per share this represents an increase of 11 on a pro rata annualised basis subject to approval at tribal’s 2009 annual 
general meeting agm this dividend will be paid on 17 july 2009 to shareholders on the register at 19 june 2009 
strategy
the next two years will be very challenging for the general economy and our expectation is that public sector spending will 
come under increasing pressure the outcome of the general election which will take place in the next 14 months will also have 
an influence on the direction of public policy however tribal operates in a public services industry that is now a substantial 
and permanent feature of the uk economy our core markets such as education and health will remain priorities for reform 
and improvement and the requirement for government to increase efficiency and identify cost savings will continue to create 
opportunities for our business
our priority for 2009 is to build further resilience into our business model by increasing the levels of committed income we have 
taken steps to improve our business development processes with the aim of improving account management sales qualification 
and our contract win rate the award in february 2009 of our new £75m ofsted contract was a major step in achieving our 
objectives   tribal group plc report and accounts 2008 05
business review            governance             financial statements 
we are also looking to develop our business internationally the acquisition of tribal 
helm was a significant step in expanding the group’s international footprint 
we are very encouraged by the strength of the international sales pipeline and 
expect it to be a key contributor to our future growth 
risk management
during these more challenging times it is even more important to have in place 
robust risk management systems and effective internal governance in 2008 
we undertook a formal review and analysis of our business and the market 
environment and have now assigned the management of our key risks to a small 
group of senior leaders we have also revised our internal financial control systems 
to ensure authority and approvals are set at appropriate levels for the organisation 
we have appointed a group risk manager to embed and monitor risk management 
across our business streams
people
our staff and associates are the key driver behind our good performance last year 
their hard work loyalty and commitment ensure that we are able to deliver high 
levels of customer service in 2008 we invested substantially in developing our 
people and reviewing our benefits package in order to ensure that we remain 
competitive in the marketplace and continue to attract high quality people
new initiatives for 2009 will include the launch of a fast track development 
programme for graduates with up to three years’ work experience 
board of directors
there were a number of changes to the composition of the board during the year 
as announced in march 2008 henry pitman tribal’s founder and former chief 
executive stepped down from his nonexecutive role on the board at the end of 
november tim stevenson obe retired as a nonexecutive director following his 
appointment as lord lieutenant of oxfordshire david thompson has taken on the 
role of senior independent director in addition to his chairmanship of the audit 
committee on 1 november 2008 lady katherine innes ker joined the board as an 
independent nonexecutive director she chairs the remuneration committee and 
has joined the audit and nomination committees 
outlook
we entered the current financial year in an encouraging position with nearly 40 
of our planned revenue for the year already contracted our sales pipeline has 
increased significantly over the past year and at 1 january 2009 stood at £297m an 
increase of more than 77 over the previous 12 months 
despite the challenges in the wider economy organisations in the public sector will 
continue to face significant pressure to reform the delivery of services to achieve 
efficiency gains and to accelerate the identification of cost savings whilst the 
overall environment for public sector spending will become more difficult tribal 
remains wellpositioned to support its clients in achieving their objectives and 
meeting their key organisational challenges we therefore remain confident of our 
ability to make further progress during 2009 
17 march 2009
strone macpherson
chairman
17 march 2009
“the requirement 
for government to 
increase efficiency 
and identify 
cost savings will 
continue to create 
opportunities for 
our business” business review            governance             financial statements 
06  tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
chief executive’s statement
we are pleased to report a strong financial performance for the year ended 
31 december 2008 the group’s revenue was up 12 at £2340m 
2007 £2092m adjusted operating profit increased by 14 to £198m 
2007 £173m and the adjusted operating margin increased from 83 to 
85 adjusted profit before tax was up 21 at £186m 2007 £154m and 
the adjusted earnings per share increased by 20 to 147p 2007 122p  
the board is proposing a final dividend of 265p per share making a total of 
435p per share for the year 
during 2008 the group generated operating cash flows of £214m 2007 £224m representing an operating cash conversion 
of 136 2007 137 the strong cash generation supported the financing of acquisitions made during the period net debt at 
the year end was £197m against committed bank facilities of £40m that run until june 2012 tribal recently increased its annual 
working capital facility to £6m providing the group with further headroom and financial flexibility
the improvement in financial performance was achieved during a period of organisational development the group strengthened 
its senior management team with the appointment of andy field as chief operating officer jonathan garnett as chief executive 
of the education business and matthew swindells to lead the health business we made a number of strategic acquisitions 
restructured our education business to better align our operations with market opportunities and integrated our housing 
regeneration and local government consulting practices these changes will support our growth plans and enhance the strategic 
positioning of the group in the uk and internationally 
general economic conditions remain very challenging and the group anticipates further tightening in overall public sector 
spending in the uk particularly following the next general election however key areas such as education and health will remain 
priorities for government and we believe that we are wellpositioned to support reform and changes in the implementation and 
delivery of public policy our business is driven primarily by change and each of the three main political parties has emphasised 
the need for further reform and improvement in public services whilst we will not be immune to a more difficult environment 
for public sector finances we expect to see continued demand from clients who are required to improve performance enhance 
service quality allocate resources more efficiently and achieve better value for money our market position is now wellestablished 
in our core areas of activity and our presence on key public sector procurement frameworks provides a steady stream of new 
business opportunities while remaining a barrier to new market entrants  tribal group plc report and accounts 2008 07
business review            governance             financial statements 
in 2008 92 of our revenue was generated from the uk public sector our principal 
markets were education 38 central government 20 health 16 housing 
and regeneration 9 and local government 9 our international business 
has developed during the year particularly following the acquisition of helm 
corporation in june 2008 and we expect the percentage of revenue from overseas 
activities to increase significantly in 2009
our sales pipeline has strengthened over the past year and currently stands at close 
to £300m of the top 30 contract opportunities across the group nearly 75 by 
value relate to health or education projects approximately 20 is represented by 
international tenders and less than 4 are capital related
 
education
  unaudited
 year pro forma
 ended year ended
 31 december 31 december
 2008 2007
 £’000 £’000
revenue 96408 91581
operating profit 14303 14928
operating profit margin 148 163
our education business saw an increase in revenue of 5 to £964m 2007 £916m 
during the year ended 31 december 2008 operating profit was £143m 
2007 £149m and the operating margin was 148 2007 163 the anticipated 
fall in operating margin during the year was a result of three principal factors 
reduced contribution from higher margin activities planned investment in new 
products and services and increased business development activity these factors 
will continue to apply during 2009 and we therefore anticipate operating margins 
remaining at a broadly similar level to those achieved in 2008
the education business provides a wide range of consulting support and delivery 
services across the education skills and training markets our services support key 
government policy initiatives to improve educational standards increase quality 
and deliver better outcomes for learners we deliver these services to education and 
learning providers through performance improvement programmes high quality 
management systems and innovative learning content our offerings encompass 
early years schools further education fe higher education he workplace and 
prison settings
government investment in education and learning remains strong with school 
improvement workforce training and skills development becoming increasingly 
important in the current economic and political climate our business is built on 
strong relationships with our client base and excellent customer service delivery 
it is underpinned by recurring annual support and maintenance revenue for our 
software products and a range of longterm contracts 
we have seen good demand for our services during the period and have secured 
significant new contracts across the business our application of innovative 
technology to organisational efficiency workforce development and improved 
learner engagement continues to provide us with a key differentiator both at 
home and increasingly overseas we are also drawing on the group’s broad range 
of expertise in related areas to offer our clients an enhanced and coherent set of 
solutions to address major social problems 
note
  following the change of year end and 
in order to assist with analysis and 
comparison comparative data is based 
on the unaudited pro forma results 
for the year ended 31 december 2007 
unless otherwise stated  business review            governance             financial statements 
08  tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
at the end of 2008 we appointed jonathan garnett as chief executive of our 
education business stream and implemented a restructuring of our operations 
into six areas in order to reduce costs improve performance and maximise our 
opportunities for growth the six new business groupings are as follows
science technology engineering and mathematics stem
in order to support the competitiveness of the uk economy the government has 
recognised the importance of increasing the availability and capability of 
stemliterate individuals we have been working closely with government to 
support the stem agenda during the year our contract for the national centre 
for excellence in the teaching of mathematics was extended for an additional two 
years we won an initial £34m contract to support the development of quality and 
expertise in the teaching of stem subjects we also provided expert consultancy on 
the development of a programme to tackle numeracy needs among adults 
employability and skills
we support the work of major employers such as mcdonald’s royal mail and ford 
motor company in developing the skills of their workforce we have continued 
to expand our client base with the award of a number of contracts to provide 
webbased learning services for organisations such as sainsbury’s we grew our 
business in employability where we secured contracts with the learning and skills 
council lsc worth up to £58m our work to deliver family literacy language and 
numeracy programmes for the learning and skills improvement service lsis 
was extended with contracts worth a further £14m we continued to support the 
rehabilitation of offenders and we have been shortlisted by the lsc to extend our 
information advice and guidance services to offenders and exoffenders across 
three uk regions 
education and training solutions
our student and institution administration software products continue to perform 
well we lead the market in the uk in fe he and workbased learning the strength 
of our market position provides good opportunities to secure further contracts 
for our software and services both in the uk and internationally we are currently 
pursuing a number of opportunities in the middle east and australasia where there 
are growth opportunities for selling an integrated solution of services and software 
in fe our improvement adviser service contract with lsis was awarded a twoyear 
extension worth £36m per annum our fe and he benchmarking products 
continue to develop market share in the uk and our longterm contract in new 
zealand is providing a platform for expansion into other markets in australasia
children’s services
we have continued to build our capacity in children’s services and to strengthen 
our market position around 70 of local authorities now use our software and 
we won over 40 new local authority clients during the year for our family and 
management information services software
we were awarded several contracts to support the national challenge programme 
which aims to raise standards and educational outcomes in secondary schools
to date these include a £14m core contract in greater manchester and additional 
contracts in sheffield and hull tribal succeeded in winning a number of the first 
contracts under the new church school improvement framework and our building 
schools for the future bsf team won contracts with five local authorities as well 
as a place on the new partnerships for schools education framework
chief executive’s statement  tribal group plc report and accounts 2008 09
business review            governance             financial statements 
information and technology solutions
we have seen strong demand for tribal’s expertise in creating bespoke portals that 
enable our clients in education to improve operational efficiency and support key 
policy initiatives we are currently exploring a number of opportunities to apply 
our innovative technologybased solutions in the wider public sector we built on 
our work supporting parenting initiatives for the department for children schools 
and families dcsf and secured a £31m contract to provide an information 
system that will give parents online access to data on childcare and family service 
provision see case study below we also successfully secured a £21m extension to 
our contract with the workforce development agency skills for care to develop a 
placement matching system for social care students 
keeping parents in the know 
while a vast amount of data which could be helpful to parents exists it can be 
difficult to know where to find the most valuable and current information tribal 
is developing an online directory for the dcsf  which will provide parents with 
uptodate integrated national and regional data about childcare and family 
service provision
we also recently pioneered elearning tools as part of a social networking 
website which aims to support parents of teenagers the website  
– wwwgotateenagerorguk – was developed for national charity parentline 
plus and is accessible through various channels including mobile phones 
the site attracted 41000 unique visitors within the first six weeks of going live
“we wanted to extend the reach and accessibility of our service and so 
we are pleased with the high volume of visits and the large amount of 
positive feedback we have received we found tribal to be very capable 
and responsive and a good working relationship has developed 
through the process” 
nikola mann new media manager parentline plus
  10         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
business review            governance             financial statements 
chief executive’s statement
“we are 
increasingly 
working with 
our clients at a 
strategic level to 
address their key 
organisational 
challenges”
inspections
tribal is the largest provider of school inspections in the uk and we continued to 
perform well in the final year of our existing contracts with ofsted in february 
2009 we announced that we had been appointed for a new sixyear contract to run 
inspections of schools and other educational establishments the new contract is 
worth approximately £75m and will operate from september 2009 the growing 
overseas school improvement market also provides us with significant new 
opportunities and during the year we won a contract in abu dhabi to establish an 
inspections framework for private schools
consulting
  unaudited
 year pro forma
 ended year ended
 31 december 31 december
 2008 2007
 £’000 £’000
revenue 85191 68666
operating profit 8250 4911
operating profit margin 97 72
we have seen a significantly improved financial performance from our consulting 
business with revenue increasing by 24 to £852m 2007 £687m and operating 
profit up by 68 to £83m 2007 £49m operating margins rose to 97 
2007 72 the improvement in overall performance was supported by the 
acquisitions made during the year that contributed some £24m to operating profit
the year was one of considerable change for the consulting business we made a 
number of strategic acquisitions which has enabled us to provide an enhanced 
offering in many areas of the business and the acquisition of helm corporation 
in june 2008 has provided us with both a new service line and a significant 
international presence  
much of our consulting work is focused on supporting and delivering change 
through programmes to improve performance reduce costs and allocate resources 
better while we can expect overall government spending to become tighter the 
drive for reform and improved quality continues and we are increasingly working 
with our clients at a strategic level to address their key organisational challenges 
the national significance of our work was recognised at the end of 2008 by the 
management consultancies association when one of our senior consultants won 
the strategic consultant of the year award
health
our health business remains at the forefront of supporting change in the health 
service it delivered a strong performance during the year and has continued to grow 
its core consulting activities as well as successfully developing new service lines
the government has identified world class commissioning as crucial to driving 
productivity improvements in the public sector during the period we secured our 
first major contract under the department of health’s framework for procuring 
external support for commissioners the £48m contract was awarded by ashton 
leigh and wigan primary care trust pct with whom we have entered into an 
innovative threeyear partnership see case study on page 11 we have a strong 
pipeline of other commissioning opportunities  tribal group plc report and accounts 2008 11
business review            governance             financial statements 
we are delivering national projects to ensure the provision of improved information 
for the planning and management of the nhs and health research we have further 
expanded our role supporting the health service’s national programme for it 
securing new and extended contracts worth more than £2m 
during the period we acquired westhill consulting a specialist provider of 
consultancy and clinical coding services and in january 2009 we purchased 
newchurch a leading health strategy and change management consultancy as a 
result of these acquisitions tribal is now able to offer comprehensive support to 
healthcare organisations in the uk and increasingly overseas
a healthy partnership
improving both the quality of healthcare and access to services is at the  
heart of government plans to transform the nhs however health service  
leaders also need to ensure that their organisations are run as effectively and 
efficiently as possible tribal is at the leading edge of helping them meet these 
complex challenges 
ashton leigh and wigan primary care trust pct is responsible for improving 
the health of one of the most deprived parts of england through its allocation of 
an annual budget of £456m working as an integral part of the pct  tribal is using 
advanced tools and transformation teams to help the trust identify and understand 
local health needs and plan and commission services to better meet those needs 
“tribal has demonstrated its ability and skill in both 
influencing and challenging the organisation in 
relation to the key priority areas tribal is a valued 
and dynamic partner which both shares our core 
values and has helped us to aspire to realise 
our potential” 
 
 
hilary heywood 
programme director  
ashton leigh and wigan 
primary care trust 12         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
business review            governance             financial statements 
chief executive’s statement
housing regeneration and local government
during the period we transferred our local government consulting activity into 
an expanded housing regeneration and local government practice we also 
strengthened the business by making two strategic acquisitions in february 2008 
we acquired a master planning and urban design team in order to increase our 
capability in regeneration in the uk and internationally in july we purchased a 
specialist local government strategy consultancy which has enhanced both our 
service offering and our presence in the market 
we are the market leader in social housing consultancy and we continue to play 
a prominent role in shaping the future funding and development of new social 
housing stock while the limited availability of funding for new social housing 
has had some impact on the demand for our housing development support and 
treasury services it has also created new opportunities for our governance financial 
advisory and business planning teams 
the breadth and capability of our regeneration activity continued to develop 
during the year however the business is now facing more difficult trading 
conditions in certain areas and we have therefore initiated a programme to reduce 
costs and reshape a number of our services 
our consultancy capability in local government has been transformed during the 
period and we now have one of the largest practices in the uk our ability to offer 
endtoend solutions from strategy through to implementation has enabled us to 
address larger opportunities as local authorities increasingly focus on improving 
efficiency and delivering better value for money 
central government
tribal’s central government consulting practice continued to show significant 
growth in both revenue and operating profit during the year much of the growth 
was achieved through securing contracts to provide strategic support to major 
government programmes and improving our key account management we have 
also seen the pipeline of new business opportunities grow significantly
the practice has developed new service lines tailored specifically to address 
major central government issues for example support in prioritising programme 
portfolios  we have also focused on developing strategic relationships with key 
government departments such as the home office foreign and commonwealth 
office and the ministry of justice 
we secured contracts with the uk border agency to produce large complex 
business cases and with the national policing improvement agency to deliver 
efficiency programmes that enable officers to spend more time on frontline duties 
we won a substantial threeyear contract with the dcsf to deliver a national 
programme to schools across england and wales supporting the more effective 
use of resources see case study on page 13   tribal group plc report and accounts 2008 13
business review            governance             financial statements 
helping schools get vfm
schools are under increasing pressure to demonstrate value for money and 
manage their resources effectively tribal manages a national programme 
called value for money which delivers tailored consultancy support to primary 
secondary and special schools across england 
the consultancy visits focus on ideas that cut across all school management 
decisions including strategic management and staffing issues as well as 
helping make cost savings the programme is funded by the department for 
children schools and families and nine out of ten schools we have visited have 
said that they would recommend the programme to others
“we found the whole exercise incredibly valuable it’s a fabulous service 
that every school can benefit from” 
maran white headteacher 
robert le kyng primary swindon
  14         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
business review            governance             financial statements 
tribal helm
in june 2008 tribal acquired helm corporation a leading consultancy business 
that provides financial and management consultancy services to the public 
sector in the uk and internationally the acquisition represented a significant 
development in our strategy to expand our consulting service offering increase 
our committed income and grow our international business around 60 of tribal 
helm’s revenue is generated outside the uk typically from longterm projects that 
provide high levels of revenue visibility 
postacquisition tribal helm has delivered a strong financial performance in 
line with our expectations the practice was awarded new contracts to support 
international finance and public sector governance reform in macedonia kosovo 
cambodia the philippines rwanda and peru these projects which aim to improve 
the management of public funds are supported by the world bank the european 
commission the uk department for international development and the australian 
government 
tribal helm’s pipeline includes major projects in europe asia africa and south 
america and its global footprint and strong relationships with major international 
donor organisations are opening up new opportunities for our education offering 
and other tribal services
chief executive’s statement
learning to change lives
good governance is fundamental to ensuring economic growth and sustainable 
development in emerging and developing countries tribal helm has been 
working with the bangladesh government on the managing at the t op 2 initiative 
for the past two years 
this innovative training programme funded by the uk department for 
international development is based on experiential learning and provides 
participants with the opportunity to design develop and implement new policies 
and reforms through the programme the traditional methods of learning at 
sikder abdul malek high school were replaced with inclusive teaching and a 
participatory approach this awardwinning project turned a failing school of 300 
pupils into a successful school with 650 pupils within 12 months
“the project is creating a 
continuously growing critical 
mass of senior officers who 
feel comfortable in handling 
change when they have 
the right skills and proper 
support it is also helping 
with key improvements in 
governance that will benefit 
important areas such as 
poverty reduction” 
asm ali kabir secretary 
ministry of establishment 
government of bangladesh  tribal group plc report and accounts 2008 15
business review            governance             financial statements 
support services
  unaudited
 year pro forma
 ended year ended
 31 december 31 december
 2008 2007
 £’000 £’000
revenue 54277 51997
operating profit 4861 4041
operating profit margin 90 78
our support services businesses delivered a good performance for the year 
ended 31 december 2008 with revenue 4 higher at £543m 2007 £520m and 
operating profit increasing by 20 to £49m 2007 £40m operating margins 
increased to 90 2007 78 
architectural design
the group’s architectural design business performed well in the period and the 
order book and sales pipeline have continued to strengthen we have the leading 
health architectural practice in europe and have been appointed on three of the 
major uk health procurement frameworks procure21 in england designed for life 
in wales and frameworks scotland 
in april we were awarded the contract for the £300m healthvision swansea 
scheme the largest hospital project to be procured through the designed for life 
framework in january 2009 we won the first frameworks scotland hospital project 
a £120m redevelopment of dumfries and galloway royal infirmary where we will 
provide both architectural design and health planning consultancy for the scheme 
in education we were confirmed as preferred bidder for the london borough of 
tower hamlets bsf programme  we also won contracts with the oxford molecular 
pathology institute and a number of fe colleges  notwithstanding these successes 
the continuing uncertainty around the funding of capital projects in the fe sector 
has led to a decision to reduce our cost base in this area of the business
we expanded our operation based in cape town south africa which is now able 
to provide architectural design services to the public sector market in africa as well 
as supporting our uk business we are progressing a number of opportunities in 
southern africa 
communications
we are the leading public sector communications consultancy in the uk we are 
on all of the key central office of information frameworks enabling us to bid for 
marketing communications and related consultancy contracts across government 
during the year we have enhanced our service offering to existing and potential 
clients through the acquisition of a leading advertising agency and a new strategic 
partnership with a digital agency these initiatives now enable us to provide our 
clients with a comprehensive communications offering 
we have had some early successes for our new integrated proposition including 
a pr and advertising campaign in the food and drink sector and a major 
contract with the department for innovation university and skills to promote 
the importance of science the campaign science so what – so everything was  16         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
business review            governance             financial statements 
launched in january 2009 at an event hosted by the prime minister we have also 
continued to grow our work in the education sector and we have leveraged tribal’s 
wider health sector expertise to secure social marketing work on behalf of a range 
of primary care trusts
resourcing
our resourcing business performed well and increased its market share in spite of a 
challenging market overall for public sector recruitment
many of our public sector clients are continuing to keep tight control of their 
recruitment budgets and to make increasing use of online processes we have 
supported this transition to digital media and have also diversified successfully into 
new service lines and markets our new business performance has been strong 
during the period 
despite the challenging conditions we have continued to make progress in our 
core local government market in the health market the level of nhs recruitment 
has increased and we have benefited from the group’s strong presence in this 
sector we have also increased our market share in central government 
our major wins in the period included contracts with the association of greater 
manchester authorities the university of oxford and the highways agency  
our recruitment process outsourcing offering won us work with the department 
for environment food and rural affairs dvla and two major london boroughs  
in executive resourcing we won several new contracts including the royal college 
of midwives the legal services board the big lottery fund and the ministries of 
justice and defence 
people
the year saw considerable organisational change and business challenges for 
tribal’s 2300 staff and over 1000 associates the group’s delivery of improved 
performance during 2008 is a testimony to the hard work and commitment from 
everyone across the group i would like to thank all of our staff and associates for 
their dedication to serving our clients and their loyalty to tribal and our values
we have continued to invest in the development of our organisation through a 
number of key initiatives we have realigned our structures so that we have the 
right balance of skills and increased efficiency to enable us to better manage 
business challenges we have provided more development activities including 
leadership programmes business development skills workshops and professional 
development courses these initiatives have supported both internal collaboration 
and a more customer focused approach  
we have continued to develop the senior leadership team with the appointment of 
a chief operating officer and overall leads for our education business and our health 
activities we have also appointed an international development director to lead 
our overseas strategy and development
chief executive’s statement  tribal group plc report and accounts 2008 17
business review            governance             financial statements 
prospects
during the past year we have reorganised our business made a number of strategic 
acquisitions and strengthened our management in order to support our growth 
plans despite the challenging economic conditions generally we continue to see 
opportunities to grow and develop our business we started the new financial period 
with approximately 38 of planned revenue for the year already committed and total 
committed income of £139m our identified and qualified sales pipeline stood at 
£297m at the start of 2009 compared with £168m at the beginning of 2008
in 2009 we are continuing to focus on improving our operational performance and 
increasing the level of committed income we are making a significant investment 
in raising the quality and effectiveness of our business development processes and 
increasing the resources available to our international activities in certain parts of 
the business we are reducing our cost base and we anticipate that this programme 
will realise annualised cost savings of at least £4m we expect that the costs of 
£07m associated with our new business initiatives and the £1m costs of our 
restructuring programme will be borne primarily in the first half of the year 
since the start of 2009 we have made good progress in winning places on several 
key framework agreements and our committed income levels will increase 
significantly following the award of our new ofsted contract despite a tighter 
environment in certain of our markets our new business pipeline remains strong 
and the board remains confident about the group’s ability to make further progress 
in 2009 and beyond  
peter j martin
chief executive
17 march 2009
“our sales 
pipeline stood 
at £297m at the 
start of 2009 
compared with 
£168m at the 
beginning of 
2008” 18         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
business review            governance             financial statements 
q
business review
strategy
how is tribal organised
the group’s executive team reports to the main board and comprises the chief 
executive the group finance director the group hr director and the chief operating 
officer the team is responsible for developing and implementing tribal’s strategic 
direction and for the overall financial and operational performance of the business
tribal operates through three business streams which report to the group’s 
executive team education consulting and support services the business streams 
are made up of a number of business units each headed by a managing director 
who is responsible for the unit’s individual performance and its contribution to 
crosstribal collaboration and business development
what does tribal do
we provide a range of consultancy support and delivery services our education 
business is involved in a wide spectrum of activities from high level policy work 
and programme management through to the provision of student administration 
and support systems and the delivery of school inspections our work in this area 
is helping tribal’s clients to meet the government’s agenda for better skills higher 
educational standards and improved efficiency our consulting business operates 
across government helping our clients respond to the public service reform 
agenda drive through change and deliver better value for money in support 
services we provide a specialist range of marketleading services that enable 
our public sector clients to meet their organisational challenges in areas such as 
facilities design resourcing and communications
our principal markets in the uk are education central government health housing 
and regeneration and local government we are also actively increasing our 
presence internationally in both the developed and developing world
what gives tribal a competitive edge in the marketplace
we believe that tribal is able to offer a compelling set of capabilities in its chosen 
markets we are public service specialists and our domain expertise and deep 
knowledge of our clients’ sphere of activities provides us with a real competitive 
advantage we have a broad service proposition and a strong technology capability 
that we are increasingly looking to leverage across all of our key markets
tribal provides a range of consultancy support 
and delivery services focused on improving 
the delivery of public services in the uk and 
internationally in this section we answer some 
key questions about the group’s corporate 
strategy
a
q
a
q
a  tribal group plc report and accounts 2008 19
business review            governance             financial statements 
q
all this means we are able to provide unique integrated solutions which meet the 
complex challenges faced by public sector organisations tribal seeks to engage 
strategically with its clients and to address the key concerns of senior management 
we are also characterised by a genuine commitment to partnership arrangements 
working with our clients to identify and deliver the optimum solution to their 
issues rather than proposing a standard or off the shelf option  
this approach is supported by the feedback we receive from our clients
what is tribal’s high level strategy and what progress was made in 2008
our corporate mission is to be recognised by strategic decision makers as one of the 
leading providers of services in our chosen markets in the uk we will focus on our 
current markets where we see good opportunities to grow our market share we will 
also be placing greater emphasis on developing our activities internationally
the group’s principal financial targets are to deliver significant growth in profits 
and earnings by increasing annual revenue and progressively raising our operating 
margins we achieved these objectives in 2008 for at least the next two years 
conditions in the wider economy are likely to remain very challenging and will 
inevitably have an impact on public sector spending we are therefore looking to 
build further resilience into our business model through securing larger longerterm 
contracts that increase our future revenue visibility in order to support this objective 
we are investing significant sums in improving our business development and bid 
management processes
we will also be investing in specific areas to take advantage of emerging 
opportunities in 2008 we established a new health commissioning business that 
has already consolidated its position as one of the market leaders we also made 
a number of acquisitions during 2008 however whilst we remain interested in 
businesses that strengthen or complement our existing offering we expect the pace 
of acquisition activity to slow in 2009
we believe that there is a real opportunity to export our skills and capabilities 
overseas in 2008 we acquired tribal helm which gives us a strong footprint in the 
developing world we have also developed a clear strategy for the developed world 
that will centre on the middle east and commonwealth countries
driving collaboration across the group remains a major priority in order to achieve 
our objective of increased revenue visibility through winning larger contracts we 
need to harness the breadth of capability that exists across the group and to build on 
and leverage our excellent client relationships in order to support collaboration we 
have implemented a series of initiatives to facilitate cooperation between different 
areas of the group 
over the past year we have also taken a number of steps to strengthen our 
management and operating structures we have made several senior appointments 
at group and business stream level and reshaped parts of the business so that they 
are better aligned with our markets 
we believe that we have a strategy and an organisation that is now wellpositioned 
to meet the challenges of the next two years and capable of making progress in its 
chosen markets 
a 20         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
business review            governance             financial statements 
business review
our markets
the markets in which tribal operates are substantial in july 2008 the department 
for business enterprise and regulatory reform published a review which placed 
a value on the uk public services industry of £79bn the office of government 
commerce estimates the uk public sector consultancy spend to be £28bn 
in international consultancy markets where tribal helm is active the world bank 
spends 15bn a year on public sector reform in the developing world and in 2008 
it was the largest funder of education programmes spending around £6bn in 88 
countries we therefore believe that there are significant opportunities for us to 
grow our market share
in the uk our core markets have benefited from significant increases in spending 
in recent years and while general economic conditions have deteriorated markedly 
each of the three main political parties has stated that tribal’s key markets of 
education and health will remain public spending priorities 
the group anticipates further tightening in overall public spending particularly 
following the next general election however tribal’s business is driven primarily 
by change and we expect public sector reform to remain a government priority 
and for there to be continuing demand for services which support improvements 
in performance and service quality reduce costs and deliver better value for money
tribal’s deep understanding of its chosen markets our broad service offering and 
technology capability enable us to address the complex social problems faced by 
senior public service leaders and their organisations
in 2008 92 of our revenue was from the uk public sector our principal 
markets were education 38 central government 20 health 16 housing and 
regeneration 9 and local government 9 
our international business has developed significantly during the year particularly 
following the acquisition of helm corporation in june 2008 and we expect the 
percentage revenue from overseas activities to increase significantly in 2009 
education
the government is focused on ensuring that the uk workforce has the right skills to 
compete in the global economy the overall aim is to raise standards in education 
with a particular focus on early intervention to address the underachievement 
which has undermined the uk’s international competitive advantage 
the government has also recognised the importance to the economy of people 
who are skilled in science technology engineering and mathematics stem 
the key areas where education policy and practice have not yet delivered sufficient 
improvement are increasingly under the spotlight for intervention and investment 
tribal operates in the public services industry 
and provides a wide range of services which 
improve the delivery of public services in the uk 
and internationally
market proportions
 education  38
 central government 20
 health  16
 housing and  
 regeneration  9
 local government  9
 international 4
 private 4  tribal group plc report and accounts 2008 21
business review            governance             financial statements 
the performance measures for secondary schools include raising the proportion 
of pupils achieving higher grades at gcse and narrowing the gap between the 
highest achieving and the lowest schools that are underperforming are targeted 
through school improvement initiatives such as the city and national challenge 
programmes inspection remains an important driver for improvement and ofsted 
is considering extending its outsourced inspection regime in england and wales to 
include early years settings 
building schools for the future is the government’s capital investment programme 
to rebuild or upgrade schools the academies and trust schools programmes 
enable the creation of allability state schools that are established and managed by 
sponsors with funding from the government all of these programmes have been 
accelerated over the past year as the government seeks to overcome previous 
delays in the procurement process 
fe is being restructured with the transfer of responsibility for services for 1419 
year olds from the lsc to local authorities in 2010 the need for effective student 
and institution administration systems across fe vocational training and the wider 
education sector is increasingly important the market drivers are the need to 
demonstrate a more efficient use of resources the demand for a more personalised 
learning experience and more complex timetabling  
tribal’s education business is aligned with these key policy initiatives and our depth 
of sector expertise enables us to provide integrated solutions to meet the complex 
needs of our clients
central government
there is a broad consensus in government that it should contract externally for 
specialist expertise and support while the use of outsourcing remains under close 
scrutiny the substantial reductions in staff headcount across government mean 
that departments and agencies are continuing to draw on the private sector’s 
expertise and capability
in addition as part of its policy focus on increasing quality and efficiency in the 
public sector the uk government is increasingly identifying opportunities for its 
agencies to move from delivering services to commissioning them from other 
providers
the key drivers for many of our central government clients are the requirement to 
cut costs and deliver better value for money the acquisition of major ict systems 
and the need to improve the efficiency of back office and service delivery functions 
in addition individual agencies and organisations require support for their 
organisational efficiency programmes such as changes in working practices that 
enable staff to focus on areas which are priorities for service users
whilst we anticipate the sector will scrutinise the need for external support very 
closely over the coming year tribal offers the expertise and flexibility required by 
central government departments to successfully deliver their complex portfolios 
and public service agreement targets  22         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
business review            governance             financial statements 
business review
our markets
health
health remains a key spending priority for the uk government with positive 
growth in nhs funding anticipated for the next two years 
there is a renewed drive to improve productivity and investment is being 
channelled into initiatives which are expected to transform the nhs by improving 
quality and reducing cost lord darzi’s next stage review published in june 2008 
championed the better use of information in the nhs to improve quality and 
efficiency through initiatives such as the national programme for it and the use of 
electronic patient records in july 2008 the informatics review endorsed the role of 
ict as an enabler of service improvement 
as well as treating people when they are sick the nhs has an increasing role in 
helping people stay healthy and the wellness policy agenda also encourages 
employers to make the link between the health and wellbeing of their workforce 
and productivity levels 
around 80 of the nhs budget is devolved to primary care trusts pcts  
the government’s world class commissioning initiative is changing the 
delivery model for pcts with a shift from pcts as providers of primary care to 
commissioners over the past year all pcts have been reviewed and many will need 
support to meet the world class commissioning standards and deliver better value 
for money tribal is wellpositioned to meet these needs through our 
marketleading commissioning service and information and analytics teams 
drawing on the network of procurement frameworks government and the nhs are 
increasingly looking for suppliers such as tribal that have a multidisciplinary offer 
as well as considerable domain expertise 
housing and regeneration
the structure of the housing market has changed significantly over the past year 
two new government bodies have been created the homes and communities 
agency hca and the tenant services authority 
the hca established on 1 december 2008 is the new national housing and 
regeneration agency for england it is the biggest regeneration and development 
agency in europe and its vision is to create the opportunity for people to have 
homes they can afford in places where they want to live in december 2008 the 
hca announced plans for the single conversation initiative which aims to establish 
a dialogue about housing and regeneration with local authorities in order to 
generate new strategies and approaches to local delivery 
the government’s plans to build affordable new homes have been significantly 
impacted by the limited finance available to housing associations and private 
sector developers the regeneration market has also been impacted by the 
economic downturn the reduced availability of traditional bank finance has seen 
a number of major regeneration schemes slow down or fundamentally refocus 
the government has responded by introducing extra public sector funding and 
piloting new delivery models that aim to share more of the development risk  
tribal is the market leader in social housing consultancy and we are reshaping our 
regeneration services in response to changes in the market  tribal group plc report and accounts 2008 23
business review            governance             financial statements 
local government
the key challenge for local government is to address the everincreasing 
expectations of its customers whilst income streams are declining and there is a 
tightening of central government funding local authorities are responding by 
managing performance more closely redesigning their organisations and services 
to better meet customer needs and achieving greater value for money through 
their procurement processes 
social care services are under intense pressure with a substantial increase in 
demand for services particularly within adult social care as well as concerns over 
the quality of services in high risk areas such as child protection and safeguarding 
adult social care is also undergoing a major transformation programme as a result 
of the shift towards the personalisation of care 
the government policy of reorganising public bodies is also having an impact 
on the local government market new unitary authorities are being created and 
in some areas councils and pcts are merging local government is also taking 
on significant new responsibilities for example it will take over responsibility for 
commissioning all services for 1419 yearolds from the lsc in 2010 
local government is also seeking to work more effectively with its partners 
this approach is reinforced by the new performance management regime 
comprehensive area assessment which focuses on the delivery of tangible 
improvements in experience and outcomes for local communities 
the local government sector requires support in meeting these challenges and 
delivering effective change within its organisations tribal’s expertise and 
wellestablished relationships in the sector provide us with the insight and 
capability to support our local government clients during this period of change
international 
the global economic crisis has impacted governments across the world 
however whilst overseas governments are currently reviewing their public 
spending plans three key areas continue to receive substantial investment 
education health and infrastructure
the priorities in the education sector in developed markets are focused on 
ensuring best value for money through process and administrative reorganisation 
and quality benchmarking and improvement in transitional markets there is also a 
demand for policy development and increasing use of technology
in healthcare process and administrative change is needed to reduce waiting lists 
and increase functionality in it such as patient records there is also a demand to 
develop educational programmes to raise public awareness for example in order 
to address chronic illnesses 
many countries also have significant infrastructure investment plans which are 
being driven by the need to invest money in the economy and create jobs 
the continued commitments to education healthcare and infrastructure by 
overseas governments in tribal’s key target markets all provide significant 
opportunities our expertise in education health and the built environment 
together with tribal helm’s global footprint in aidfunded markets mean that tribal 
is wellpositioned to support overseas governments seeking high value effective 
solutions which will contribute towards national goals and recovery 24         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
business review            governance             financial statements 
business review
our people
we have always recognised that our people are 
our key strategic asset we are a professional 
services company with a reputation for success 
founded on the talent of its people it is therefore 
critical that our staff and associates are 
nurtured developed and managed in a way that 
continues to enhance our professional business 
development commercial and international 
expertise in order to protect and strengthen 
tribal’s competitive position
tribal’s people all have something in common – a strong commitment to improving 
public services and ensuring the best possible use of public funds they choose to 
work for us because they want to be part of a business that has a positive impact 
on the lives of communities in the uk and overseas our culture is one that seeks to 
harness the public sector ethos of service with our high levels of professionalism 
and commercial and financial rigour  
our five corporate values underpin everything we do and how we relate to 
colleagues and clients they are
 passionate about improvement
 stronger together
 inspiring people
 unleashing talent
 prepared to be different
building and developing our capability
a critical area of focus has been to drive a greater sense of the tribal ethos and 
brand throughout the company we have extended our senior leadership team 
to over 40 members who work together to address business opportunities and 
challenges broadening the skills and outlook of the team reduces risk and spreads 
the mantle of leadership across a broader management spectrum  in turn it also 
helps to build our cadre of rounded leaders thereby also playing a part in 
our leadership succession planning this approach recognises that for skilled 
professionals development is often about the opportunity to tackle new 
challenges and to be given exposure to new business areas rather than attending 
traditional training courses 
the opportunity to contribute to tribal’s approach to business opportunities and 
challenges is not limited to our senior team throughout the organisation  
crossbusiness secondments virtual project teams mentoring and talent 
development programmes have been put in place and a robust succession 
planning process has been established additionally in 2008 we implemented 
a programme to increase the proportion of employees with personalised 
development plans which has resulted in nearly 50 of employees now benefiting 
“our people 
choose to work 
for us because 
they want to be 
part of a business 
that has a positive 
impact on the lives 
of communities”  tribal group plc report and accounts 2008 25
business review            governance             financial statements 
from formal development programmes we have also created a comprehensive 
electronic library of training resources which includes management best practice 
and toolkits in september we launched a new programme good to great  
with the aim of enabling our people to take a more focused strategic and 
corporatewide view of our clients’ needs over 100 employees have already been 
involved in a series of business workshops which concentrate on developing 
strategic selling skills account management and sales and bid governance 
capabilities the workshops are practical utilising real client accounts and bid 
opportunities as the vehicles for learning
engaging people
at tribal we know there is more to engaging people than providing development 
opportunities training and career paths we also believe that engagement is about 
more than remuneration and benefits packages for us real engagement comes 
from creating a close connection with employees that releases discretionary effort 
we want to create a loyalty to the company that makes people want to ‘go the 
extra mile’  rather than oneway communication from the top of the organisation 
in 2008 we began a new programme which enables people at all levels to find out 
more about the strategic direction of the company and participate in sessions that 
shape the future direction and focus of their business unit or their community of 
professional practice
as an organisation we believe that we benefit from a culture of open communication 
where executives are easily accessible this is exemplified by our chief executive 
personally taking part in dialogue with staff across the group and leading and 
encouraging a programme of informal office visits by senior executives and 
members of tribal’s board
we are continually working to improve the practical channels of communication 
and in 2008 further developed our intranet and knowledge management 
platforms
recognising and rewarding our people
tribal recognises and celebrates exceptional effort and commitment through 
our annual employee awards which are shaped around our business goals and 
corporate values
to help us attract motivate and retain the best people we are reviewing our 
approach to reward and recognition in 2008 we commenced a comprehensive 
review of all aspects of reward and began to implement a number of changes to 
ensure we are positioned appropriately in the marketplace whilst delivering value 
for our stakeholders whilst we plan to complete this first wave of changes in 2009 
it is our expectation that our reward offering will remain an area of focus for future 
years in order to ensure tribal’s competitiveness
our people are demonstrating their clear commitment to the company by their 
increased participation in our relaunched group save as you earn saye scheme 
which saw participation nearly double in 2008  26         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
business review            governance             financial statements 
business review
risk management
risk is an accepted part of doing business 
the challenge for any business is to identify 
the principal risks and to develop and monitor 
appropriate controls a successful risk 
management process balances risks and rewards 
and relies on a sound judgement of their likelihood 
and consequences
risk management
the board has overall responsibility for risk management and internal control 
within the context of achieving the group’s objectives
the board establishes the overall risk framework and the risk management process 
is embedded within the group by
 setting strategic direction including targets
 reviewing and approving annual plans and budgets for the group and each 
business stream
 regularly reviewing and monitoring the group’s performance in relation to risk 
through monthly board reports 
to ensure that risk is robustly managed throughout tribal a group risk 
management framework operates as part of the annual business planning 
and performance management process this requires each business unit to
 identify and assess all significant risks facing their business
 prioritise risk
 actively manage by detailing the steps to avoid or to mitigate risk
 review and report risk
the group maintains a risk framework which contains the key risks faced by 
the group including their impact and likelihood as well as the controls and 
procedures implemented to mitigate the risks in april 2008 the group carried out a 
fundamental reappraisal of its key risks facilitated by an external expert consultant
the executive directors provide the central leadership to ensure our strategy is 
effectively communicated throughout the organisation this is achieved through 
regular meetings of the senior leadership team annual strategic planning meetings 
with individual business units and by clear guidance within the annual budget and 
threeyear planning instructions issued to all business units the senior management 
of each business unit is specifically responsible for the management of risk within 
their operating business in addition ‘risk owners’ have been identified from amongst 
the group’s senior management to take the leadership role in managing certain 
risks we believe the key to success is a combination of strong central direction and 
accomplished management talent within our businesses our businesses are expert 
in understanding customer requirements and market opportunities and adapting 
their plans to achieve the best possible performance  tribal group plc report and accounts 2008 27
business review            governance             financial statements 
business stream performance is reviewed through regular meetings enabling 
risks or other issues to be efficiently addressed and appropriate actions to be 
taken during 2008 the position of group risk manager was created risks are also 
assessed and monitored at a group level at the regular meetings of the board 
the principal risks that the group manages are as follows
1 changes in government policy and spending
 the combination of a sharp slowdown in the uk economy and the 
unprecedented government measures taken in response to the financial crisis 
and to stave off the threat of deflation is bound to increase pressure on the uk 
public finances
 given the significance of public sector contracts to tribal any cut in relevant 
public spending or a change in policy away from using independent private 
sector providers in advising the public sector and delivering services may have 
an adverse effect on the results of the group tribal has consciously made an 
effort to protect itself against this risk by establishing a balanced portfolio 
of services and in this respect we have some advantage over certain of our 
competitors in the year ended 31 december 2008 no customer accounted for 
more than 6 of our revenue
2 increased competition 
 tribal operates in very competitive markets some with low barriers to entry 
with retrenchment in the private sector competition for available opportunities 
in the public sector environment will increase the group is focusing on 
maintaining leading positions in its chosen markets and on improving its service 
offerings and quality control
3 contract win rate
 we face a number of risks if we fail to optimise our bid win rate this is of 
particular importance given the complex and involved procurement cycles 
for many major public sector contracts in 2008 the group engaged in a major 
professionalisation programme this has included the development of a sales 
and bid governance policy with the objective of better qualification of contract 
opportunities and more focused management of the bidding and contract 
winning processes these have risk assessments built into them
4 financial risks
 balance sheet gearing is the key financial risk the current and forecast debt level 
is very carefully monitored and controlled to ensure it remains acceptable
other financial risks are covered in the financial review section 28         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
business review            governance             financial statements 
the board uses a range of performance 
measures to monitor and manage the business 
each business unit has established its own 
performance measures specific to its  
business lines
however there are a number of kpis which are applied across the group 
these group kpis fall into two categories financial metrics that measure past 
performance and operational measures that allow us to manage the business in 
the future
on these pages we set out each kpi and our achievement against the targets in the 
year ended 31 december 2008
business review
key performance indicators kpis
target
target
target
performance
performance
performance
kpi definition and target 
likeforlike annual growth in 
organic revenue of a blended 
rate of at least 10
performance in 
2008 4
status not met
assessment  
organic revenues for the year ended 31 december 2008 
increased by 4 whilst the weak current economic climate 
and the uk’s fiscal position will slow growth we remain 
confident that a 10 annual revenue growth is sustainable 
in the mediumterm 
kpi definition and target 
employed staff labour costs 
and not our pool of associate 
staff  as a percentage of 
revenue the mediumterm 
target is 45
performance in 
2008 45
status achieved
assessment  
for the year ended 31 december 2008 labour costs as 
a percentage of gross revenue were 45 in line with 
our target
organic revenue growth
labour costs as a percentage of gross revenue
kpi definition and target 
ebita as a percentage of 
revenue the mediumterm 
target is over 10
performance in 
2008 85
status not met
assessment   
we achieved an increase in the operating margin from 
83 to 85 for the year ended 31 december 2008 when 
compared with the 12 month period to 31 december 2007
adjusted operating profit margin
4
10
45
45
10
85  tribal group plc report and accounts 2008 29
business review            governance             financial statements 
note
 the adjusted operating profit margin 
and operating cash conversion 
are stated in accordance with the 
definitions given on pages 31 and 32  
target
target
target
performance
performance
performance
kpi definition and target  
this measures our ability to 
turn our operating profit into 
cash by dividing ebita into 
cash flow from operating 
activities our sustainable 
target is 90
performance in 
2008 136
status achieved
assessment  
we remain a cash generative business and maintain a strong 
focus on effective working capital management
kpi definition and target  
this measures the contracted 
work in hand as a proportion 
of budgeted revenue at the 
start of the financial year our 
mediumterm target is 60
performance in 
2008 38
status on track
assessment  
committed revenue was 38 at 31 december 2008 
compared to 39 at 31 december 2007 due to certain 
longer term contracts coming up for renewal in the first 
quarter of 2009
we expect to increase the visibility of revenue by securing 
larger longterm contracts
adjusted operating cash conversion
committed revenue
staff turnover
kpi definition and target  
staff turnover measures our 
ability to retain staff our 
mediumterm target was no 
more than 13
performance in 
2008 20
status not met
assessment  
staff turnover has increased from 17 to 20 this calculation 
includes staff who leave as a result of contracts coming to an 
end to be more meaningful we have decided to redefine the 
kpi to cover voluntary staff turnover only for the year ended 
31 december 2008 this was 155 and our target going 
forward is a maximum of 165 
90
136
60
13
20
38 30         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
business review            governance             financial statements 
tribal had a successful trading year in 2008 
with adjusted profit before tax and adjusted 
earnings per share both increasing by over 
20 compared to the pro forma 12 months 
ended 31 december 2007
we have also delivered another excellent operating cash performance enabling 
us to complete a number of acquisitions in the year from cash reserves and 
borrowings a rising order book and pipeline plus a healthy balance sheet provide 
a sound financial platform for the group 
in order to provide a more meaningful analysis all comparisons are made against 
the pro forma 12 month period to 31 december 2007 
 
revenue
revenue increased by 12 to £2340m 2007 £2092m organic revenue growth 
excluding acquisitions was 42 adjusting for the reduction in pass through 
agency revenue in our consulting business the underlying increase is 54
profit
adjusted ebita increased by 15 to £198m 2007 £173m the group’s operating 
margins improved from 83 to 85 our target margin remains over 10 in the 
mediumterm
following the year end change in 2007 the group’s trading has become more 
evenly balanced with revenue and profit split 48  52 between the first and 
second halves of 2008 
business review
financial review
group trading summary
  2008 2007 increase
 £’000 £’000
revenue 233990 209175 12
   
operating profit 19267 7965 
amortisation of ifrs 3 intangibles 556 322 
goodwill impairment  9000
 
adjusted ebita 19823 17287 15
   
net finance costs 1315 1993 
exclude financial instruments charge 138 88
adjusted profit before tax 18646 15382 21
   
adjusted effective tax rate 268 283 
   
adjusted diluted earnings per share 147p 122p 20
revenue £m
h1 fy
 dec 06 dec 07 dec 08
adjusted ebita £m
h1 fy
 dec 06 dec 07 dec 08
198
95
173
86
168
103
234
113
209
104
194
102  tribal group plc report and accounts 2008 31
business review            governance             financial statements 
share option charges
we have reviewed the presentation of adjusted earnings and no longer adjust for 
share option charges in our adjusted profit measure prior period figures have been 
amended accordingly this disclosure treatment brings our reporting in line with 
our peer group the charge which has been deducted in arriving at adjusted ebita 
has increased from £04m to £09m following the issue of new share options under 
the ltip and saye schemes during the year
goodwill impairment
following the detailed annual impairment tests goodwill has not been further 
written down at 31 december 2008 2007 £9m the growth assumptions made in 
assessing the goodwill carrying value reflect our more cautious view of the current 
economic environment
group finance costs
net finance costs for the year reduced by 38 to £12m 2007 £19m before financial 
instrument charges of £01m 2007 £01m reflecting the full year effect of the 
reduction in group net debt following the disposal of mercury health in april 2007
discounting of deferred consideration is a notional charge and mainly relates to 
the deferred consideration for the purchase of the remaining minority interest in 
sportsvine settled in the year and the acquisition of rse consulting due to be 
settled in cash by april 2009
the financial instrument charge in 2008 is mainly due to the elements of the 
interest rate swaps that were not designated as cash flow hedges the movement 
in the fair value of this portion of the instrument is recognised through income 
and expense we increased our debt during 2008 to complete our acquisitions and 
the full £25m interest rate swap is now redesignated as a hedge whilst this credit
charge could potentially be volatile in line with movements in uk interest rates the 
volatility will not be reflected in the cash flows of the group which are determined 
by the underlying interest rate of the swap the volatility introduced to the income 
statement as a result of these instruments is not considered to be representative of 
the underlying performance of the business and has therefore been excluded when 
calculating adjusted earnings
the interest rate swaps have saved the group £03m in interest payments during the 
year ended 31 december 2008 nine months ended 31 december 2007 £02m
2008
£’000
2007
£’000
decrease
investment revenues 586 1431
finance costs 1763 3336
net finance costs 1177 1905 38
discounting of deferred consideration 72 58
1249 1963
financial instruments 66 30
1315 1993 34
note
  before goodwill impairment amortisation 
of ifrs 3 intangibles and financial 
instrument charges 
“a rising order 
book and pipeline 
plus a healthy 
balance sheet 
provide a sound 
financial platform 
for the group” 32         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
business review            governance             financial statements 
tax
the group adopts a proactive approach to managing its tax bill due to prior year 
tax provisions no longer being required our effective tax rate based on our adjusted 
profit before tax for continuing operations is 27 2007 28 the ongoing tax 
charge on current year profits is likely to be in line or slightly above the standard rate 
of 28 reflecting disallowed expenses and nonqualifying depreciation
earnings per share
the basic earnings per share were 141p 2007 13p the adjusted diluted earnings 
per share before goodwill impairment intangible asset amortisation and financial 
instrument charges which signals the underlying performance of the group has 
increased by 20 from 122p to 147p
acquisitions
the principal acquisition during the year was the purchase in june of 72 of the 
helm corporation now tribal helm for a total consideration of £167m which was 
funded by £133m of debt and £34m of new consideration shares tribal helm is 
a leading consultancy business providing financial and management consultancy 
services to the public sector in the uk and internationally the acquisition represents 
an important step in tribal’s strategy of growing its business internationally 
developing its uk consultancy offering and increasing the levels of committed 
income postacquisition trading has been in line with our expectations 
we completed a further four small acquisitions during the year the master planning 
and urban design team from llewelyn davies yeang rse consulting mustoes and 
westhill consulting for a combined consideration of £79m which was satisfied by debt 
in addition we settled the deferred consideration for the minority interest in sportsvine 
as well as increasing our majority holdings in avail consulting and tribal tgc 
the combined acquisitions contributed £155m to revenue and £26m to operating 
profit
shareholder returns and dividends
the profit for the year ended 31 december 2008 was £144m 2007 £262m including 
the profit on disposal of mercury health of £245m
the board continues to adopt a progressive dividend policy and has proposed a final 
dividend of 265p which together with the interim dividend of 17p gives a total 
dividend of 435p 2007 annualised dividend of 393p the dividend is covered 34 
times by adjusted earnings per share
retained earnings for the period to equity holders increased by £93m 
cash management
cash conversion for the year was an excellent 136 2007 137 this is defined as 
net cash from operating activities from continuing operations before tax excluding 
restricted cash see note 21 divided by adjusted ebita 
operating cash flow defined as net cash from continuing operating activities less 
interest was £214m 2007 £224m
the group generated free cash flow of £163m in the year 2007 £184m
business review
financial review  tribal group plc report and accounts 2008 33
business review            governance             financial statements 
the group’s cash flow for the year to 31 december is shown below
tax paid was £33m 2007 £07m cash tax is below the equivalent tax charge 
reflecting hmrc repayments for group relief relating to the mercury health 
disposal and in 2007 tax refunds relating to over payments in previous periods
capital expenditure in the year ended 31 december 2008 was £33m 2007 £42m 
comprising mainly leasehold improvements and maintaining it infrastructure 
representing 14 of revenue 2007 20 we strive to ensure that our capital 
expenditure programme is broadly neutral with the corresponding depreciation 
charge in the year 
dividends paid of £44m represent an untypical payment pattern following the 
year end change in 2007 the 2008 total is made up of the cost of the interim and 
final dividends for the nine months ended 31 december 2007 the interim dividend 
for the year ended 31 december 2008 together with dividends paid to minority 
shareholders in certain subsidiaries
net debt
group net debt increased from £68m at 31 december 2007 to £197m at 
31 december 2008 as shown below
net cash from operating activities 
before tax £m
h1 fy
 2008 2007
 £’000 £’000
net cash from continuing operating activities before tax 25649 25240
net interest 928 2120
t ax 3346 716
operating cash flow 21375 22404
net cash from discontinued activities  2539
capital expenditure net 3259 4170
expenditure on product development 1851 2336
free cash flow 16265 18437
disposal of mercury health  36251
acquisitions and deferred consideration 24630 2178
dividends paid 4396 3396
financing 10671 53194
decrease in cash and cash equivalents in year 2090 4080
 2008 2007
 £’000 £’000
cash at bank and in hand 13892 15982
collaterised cash  192
gross cash 13892 16174
short term loans 662 876
syndicated bank facility net of bank arrangement fees 32894 22098
finance leases  3
gross debt 33556 22977
net debt  19664 6803
gearing 10 4
interest cover 168 91
256
234
252
173
211
174
 dec 06 dec 07 dec 08
operating cash flow £m
h1 fy
214
207
224
155
106 107
 dec 06 dec 07 dec 08 34         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
business review            governance             financial statements 
included within cash at bank and in hand is restricted cash of £20m 2007 £32m 
this represents passthrough funds restricted in use by the relevant commercial 
terms of specific trading contracts entered into and can be drawn down with 24 
hours notice
the group has available a £40m senior debt banking facility until 2012 under the 
terms of the facility £40m is available under a fully fluctuating revolving credit 
facility which can in part be transferred into a performance bond facility 
as required
the group also has a £6m working capital overdraft facility which will be reviewed 
in february 2010
our gearing net debt to equity ratio at 31 december 2008 was 10 2007 4
 
committed revenue
the total forward order book of the group as at 31 december 2008 was up 12 at 
£139m 2007 £124m over 38 of planned revenue for 2009 was committed at 
31 december 2008 our mediumterm target is to start the financial year with over 
60 of revenue committed 
financial risks and treasury management 
the main financial risks faced by the group relate to the availability of funds to 
meet business needs credit risk arising from customer defaults and fluctuations in 
interest rates these risks are managed as described below
funding 
the group finances its operations by a combination of cash reserves from retained 
profits bank borrowings and leases our policy is to maintain sufficient headroom 
in undrawn committed bank facilities and banking covenants the group is 
currently funded by a £40m senior debt banking facility until 2012 with two major 
uk banks hbos and hsbc
treasury management is led by the group finance team and operates within 
policies and procedures reviewed and approved by the board liquidity matters are 
discussed in more detail in the going concern section of the corporate governance 
report 
business review
financial review
committed revenue by segment
 education  57
 consulting 27
 support services  16  tribal group plc report and accounts 2008 35
business review            governance             financial statements 
credit risk 
the objective is to reduce the risk of bad debts arising from nonpayment from 
our customers this risk is tightly managed across the group led by the group 
finance team we incurred no material bad debts less than 01 of revenue during 
the year due to the strong relationships with our predominantly public sector 
customers however due to the sharp slowdown in the uk economy we have 
significantly increased our allowance for doubtful debts debtor days outstanding 
at 31 december 2008 were 48 days 2007 47 days
interest rate risk 
forward rate agreements and interest rate swaps are used to achieve the desired 
mix of fixed and floating rate debt at the year end the group held a fixed 
interest rate swap of £25m which is a designated hedge under the terms of this 
arrangement the group pays 499 and receives six month libor until its expiry 
date on 30 september 2010
the group has also entered into a oneyear basis rate swap over £25m which 
exchanges six month libor with one month libor less 33bps until september 2009 
the impact of this instrument is to reduce the effective rate of the fixed interest rate 
swap from 499 to 466 for the 12 months ending 30 september 2009
“the total forward 
order book of the 
group was up by 
12 at £139m 
2007 £124m” 36         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
business review            governance             financial statements 
during 2008 tribal carried out a comprehensive 
review of its approach to corporate responsibility 
particularly addressing the strategic context 
of this agenda we have developed a detailed 
implementation plan which spans the next eighteen 
months providing focus guidance and inspiration 
for the daily practice of sustainable activities
in developing the plan our approach has been to consult senior leaders within 
the business and evaluate the best practice in responsible behaviour across the 
company this has enabled us to establish practical objectives which we aim to 
achieve in the mediumterm our leaders are actively committed to the successful 
delivery of the sustainability implementation plan which will make a positive 
difference to our business and the wider community
as a result of our consultation and planning activities we have decided to focus 
our efforts on corporate sustainability through our commitment to sustainability 
we can make a demonstrable contribution to social economic and environmental 
sustainability both nationally and internationally we will report on our performance 
using four new focal points marketplace workplace community and environment 
in 2009 we will deliver a strategic framework a sustainable procurement policy and 
a revised environmental policy tribal will take a measured approach to embedding 
the principles of sustainable development into its daily work through the support 
of our leadership and continuous employee engagement
the emphasis from the end of the next financial year will be on setting targets for 
our activities in this context we will aim to meet objectives every year so that we 
can demonstrate that our impact on society is positive 
marketplace
tribal currently uses a balanced scorecard across the business this reports on a 
number of key performance indicators in four areas customers people processes 
and finance there are also formal client relationship and quality measures in place 
we are able to monitor performance in relation to both key internal and external 
stakeholders
we have set up a number of initiatives from thought leadership to process 
reengineering projects in order to ensure continuous improvement in customer 
satisfaction and service standards and also to facilitate crosstribal collaboration
over the next year we intend to continue to make a positive difference to our 
clients and to position ourselves as a market leader in the professional services 
industry we see the role of market leadership as requiring the promotion of good 
governance and good sustainable practice both within tribal and our supply chain 
and more generally in the competitive marketplace 
business review
corporate responsibility
“through our 
commitment to 
sustainability 
we can make a 
demonstrable 
contribution to 
social economic 
and environmental 
sustainability both 
nationally and 
internationally”  tribal group plc report and accounts 2008 37
business review            governance             financial statements 
workplace
in 2008 we continued our significant investment in skills training and management 
development programmes we also focused on ensuring our employees have 
personalised development plans through these plans nearly half of our staff 
benefited from formal development opportunities ranging from corporate 
programmes such as unleashing talent and managers into leaders through to 
local continuous professional development activities an electronic library of 
training resources is also available including management best practice and 
toolkits this level of focus and investment will continue to increase in 2009
tribal recognises that health and safety hs is an integral part of good business 
practice and it is our duty to safeguard the wellbeing of all employees at work 
we have a continuous programme of audits and fire risk assessments for all offices 
there are trained hs representatives at each of our sites who carry out monthly 
housekeeping audits and are responsible for communicating and acting on any 
health and safety issues car users are offered driver awareness training  
tribal’s hs policy was reviewed and updated in june and november 2008 in line 
with legislation and company changes the hs committee meets quarterly to 
review policy and procedures and any other issues arising
 
tribal strives to ensure fairness diversity tolerance and health in the workplace 
and we will be strengthening our commitments to them in the next year we have 
also undertaken a full review of reward and recognition the results of which will be 
evaluated early in 2009
tribal is a member of business in the community bitc the key membership 
organisation for businesses that seek to make a positive impact on society one of 
our strategic directors leads part of bitc’s health and wellbeing initiative which 
seeks to promote the benefits of a healthy workforce to uk boardrooms we are 
delighted with this representation and will be seeking to implement the relevant 
guidelines in 2009
community 
the tribal foundation has historically supported sustainable skills development 
programmes in africa and asia however from 2008 part of the foundation’s funds 
has been made available to support charities nominated by tribal staff including 
those which operate in the uk
through our staff payroll giving scheme employees can make a regular donation 
and as with all money raised by staff for the foundation tribal group matches 
these donations see page 38 for more information on the foundation
many of our business units promote local volunteering initiatives and in some 
cases have contributed significant amounts of time and money to charitable 
organisations in the next year we will implement a process to enable us to capture 
and report on all of the good work that tribal people do in the community
environment
as a professional services organisation tribal has a limited environmental impact 
however we recognise our responsibility for preserving the environment
our review of corporate responsibility and sustainability has identified the 
environment as a key focus for us in the coming years we will commit to curtailing 
inefficient and wasteful practice where possible and conduct daily business 
activities with the environment in mind 38         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
business review            governance             financial statements 
we recently asked the carbon trust to perform an energy survey across four of our 
sites and to review the approach we took in calculating our carbon emissions 
we were pleased with the outcome of the efficiency review and in 2009 we will 
start producing a detailed analysis of our carbon emissions we have also signed up 
to business in the community’s may day pledge a public commitment to taking 
action on climate change
as our core client base is the uk public sector it is important to tribal to support 
the sector’s sustainable development goals we will ensure that we set targets for 
reducing our carbon emissions and will aim to increase the proportion of office 
waste that is recycled we will also focus on purchasing sustainable office supplies 
in 2009
ftse4good
tribal group is a member of the ftse4good index series the index for companies 
which meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards 
the tribal foundation
the foundation supports projects in the uk and developing world which reflect 
tribal’s expertise in areas such as education and health through both financial 
support and sharing our skills and knowledge we aim to make a positive difference 
in communities all over the world the foundation is a registered charity and is 
funded by staff fundraising initiatives our payroll giving scheme and donations 
from the group’s profits
our partner
our development partner is skillshare international a nongovernmental 
organisation with over 30 years experience in managing sustainable development 
programmes in africa and asia working with skillshare enables us to have a much 
greater impact as the foundation’s support attracts significant match funding 
from other organisations in total the foundation has donated £193000 to projects 
supported by skillshare which has generated around a further £1m in additional 
funding from the department for international development and the european 
union our partnership also ensures our support is effectively targeted and 
sustainable as continuing support is provided by skillshare’s development workers 
in the field 
our projects
we are currently supporting nine skillshare projects in africa and india including a 
programme working with survivors of genderbased violence in swaziland and an 
initiative which aims to improve food supply and provide sustainable livelihoods 
for disadvantaged communities in kenya 
over the past year we have increased our focus on ukbased charities and 
supported a number of projects which have been nominated by tribal staff 
these include country holidays for inner city kids chicks which provides 
respite breaks to disadvantaged children and the children’s legal centre which 
supplies legal advice and representation to children their carers and professionals 
throughout the uk see case study on page 39
business review
corporate responsibility business review            governance             financial statements 
 tribal group plc report and accounts 2008 39
staff involvement
perhaps the foundation’s greatest resource is the skills expertise and enthusiasm of 
our staff and their desire to make a difference on a more personal level
tribal employees have shared their expertise in it and information management 
and provide continuing support through secondments to lesotho botswana and 
swaziland in october 2008 we raised a total of £80000 through tribal’s 
companywide foundation fortnight campaign
in january 2009 our group finance director simon lawton visited tribal 
foundation projects in kenya and uganda and we are planning a major fundraising 
campaign in 2009
a break from the city 
chicks provides respite breaks for disadvantaged children giving them the 
opportunity to have some positive time away in an environment that is safe 
supportive and caring 
the foundation supported marshmallow camp in september 2008 which 
enabled 16 children who would not otherwise have had a holiday to spend a 
week at chicks’ moorland retreat in dartmoor 
one of the children who attended the camp was 15year old erica who cares 
for her disabled and bedbound mother and has recently been subject to 
bullying at school erica said 
“i love it it has been one 
of the best times of my 
life i’m so glad i had the 
opportunity to come”
  40         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
board of directors
 business review            governance            financial statements 
strone macpherson
age 60
nonexecutive chairman
strone macpherson joined the board of tribal group in march 2004 and is chairman 
of the nomination committee he is currently interalia chairman of close brothers 
group plc chairman of british empire securities and general trust plc chairman of jp 
morgan smaller companies investment trust plc chairman of the audit committee of 
kleinwort benson private bank and treasurer of the king’s fund 
peter j martin
age 51
chief executive
peter martin joined the board of tribal group in june 2001 as group development 
director and was chief executive of mercury health tribal’s healthcare delivery 
business from april 2004 until its sale in april 2007  he was appointed chief executive 
of tribal group on 4 june 2007 peter was formerly a founding partner of corporate 
finance firm anvil partners and prior to that a director of the corporate finance division 
of kleinwort benson limited  he is a nonexecutive director of win plc 
simon m lawton fca
age 48
group finance director
simon lawton joined tribal group as group finance director in march 2000 he was 
formerly director of finance at securicor electronics limited a subsidiary of securicor 
group plc and before that finance director of dawes group limited simon originally 
qualified as a chartered accountant at kpmg in 1986 where he became a senior 
manager in audit and advisory services
david g f thompson
age 54
nonexecutive director
david thompson joined the board of tribal group in march 2004 and is chairman of 
the audit committee and the senior independent director he is chairman of marstons 
plc which he joined in 1977 and a nonexecutive director of caledonia investments plc 
and persimmon plc where he is senior independent director and chairman of the audit 
committee
lady katherine innes ker
age 48  
nonexecutive director
lady katherine innes ker joined the board of tribal group in november 2008 and is 
chairman of the remuneration committee she is a nonexecutive director of taylor 
wimpey plc and chairs their corporate responsibility committee  she is also 
nonexecutive chairman of shed media group plc  tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         41
directors’ report
the directors present their annual report on the affairs of the group together with audited consolidated financial statements and independent auditors’ 
report for the year ended 31 december 2008 
principal activities
tribal group plc is a holding company with a number of trading subsidiaries 
the principal activities of the group are the provision of a broad range of consultancy professional support and delivery services the majority of our 
customers are in the public sector in the uk and increasingly overseas our key markets are education and learning health housing and regeneration 
local and regional government and central government the review of the year’s operations key risks and future developments are contained in the 
chairman’s statement the chief executive’s statement the business review and the corporate governance statement the group’s policy with regards to 
financial instruments and the risk to the group is discussed on page 34 in the financial risks and treasury management section of the business review
our services are delivered through our education consulting and support services business streams 
business review
a detailed review of the group’s performance is provided in the section headed business review on pages 18 to 39
results
the results of the group are shown on page 53 and show a group profit from continuing operations before amortisation and impairment for the  
year ended 31 december 2008 of £198m nine months ended 31 december 2007 £112m profit before tax was £180m nine months ended  
31 december 2007 £12m and profit for the period was £144m nine months ended 31 december 2007 £254m the adjusted diluted earnings per share 
were 147p nine months ended 31 december 2007 84p see note 14 and the diluted earnings per share for continuing and discontinued operations 
were 155p nine months ended 31 december 2007 295p 
post balance sheet events
on 27 january 2009 the group acquired newchurch limited a leading health consulting business in the uk for a total consideration of up to £105m see 
note 39 
proposed dividend
the directors recommend a final dividend of 265p per share which together with the interim dividend of 17p paid on 24 october 2008 makes a total of 
435p for the year ended 31 december 2008 nine months ended 31 december 2007 295p
if approved by shareholders the final dividend will be paid on 17 july 2009 to shareholders on the register on 19 june 2009
capital structure
details of the authorised and issued share capital together with details of the movements in the company’s issued share capital during the period are 
shown in note 28 the company has one class of ordinary shares which carry no right to fixed income each share carries the right to one vote at general 
meetings of the company
there are no specific restrictions on the size of a holding nor on the transfer of shares which are both governed by the general provisions of the articles 
of association and prevailing legislation the directors are not aware of any agreements between holders of the company’s shares that may result in 
restrictions on the transfer of securities or on voting rights
details on employee share schemes are set out in note 27 
no person has any special rights of control over the company’s share capital and all issued shares are fully paid
with regard to the appointment and replacement of directors the company is governed by its articles of association the combined code the companies 
acts and related legislation the articles themselves may be amended by special resolution of the shareholders the powers of directors are described in 
the main board terms of reference copies of which are available on request from the company secretary and the corporate governance statement on 
pages 43 to 45 
under its articles of association and the companies acts the company has authority to issue 33525811 ordinary shares
directors
the directors of the company are listed on page 40 
directors’ interests
the board of directors’ interests in shares in the company are detailed on page 50
directors’ indemnities
the company has made qualifying third party indemnity provisions for the benefit of its directors which were made during the year and remain in force at 
the date of this report
directors’ share options
details of directors’ share options are provided in the directors’ remuneration report on page 49
research and development
the group continues to invest in research and development this has resulted in a number of new products being launched recently which are expected 
to contribute to the growth of the business
employment policies
we are a people business we seek to attract develop and retain high calibre staff and as a consequence our customers can be assured that the service 
they receive is among the best available the group’s commitment to its people is discussed in the section of the business review on pages 24 and 25 
headed our people
 business review            governance             financial statements  42         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
 business review            governance            financial statements 
directors’ report
the group is an equal opportunities employer and bases all decisions on individual ability regardless of race religion gender sexual orientation age or 
disability
applications for employment by disabled persons will always be fully considered having regard to their particular aptitudes and abilities should any 
employee become disabled every practical effort is made to provide continued employment depending on their skills and abilities they enjoy the same 
career prospects and scope for realising their potential as other employees appropriate training is arranged for disabled persons including retraining for 
alternative work for employees who become disabled to promote their career development within the organisation
supplier payment policy
the group does not follow any specified code or standard on payment practice however it is the group’s policy to negotiate terms with its suppliers 
and to ensure that they are aware of the terms of payment when business is agreed it is the group’s policy to make prompt payment to those suppliers 
meeting their obligations the group’s trade creditors at 31 december 2008 represented approximately 35 days 2007 43 days
charitable and political donations
during the year the group made charitable donations of £75877 nine months ended 31 december 2007 £51322 the group made no political 
donations during the year nine months ended 31 december 2007 £nil
substantial shareholdings
at 17 march 2009 the following voting interests other than directors in the ordinary share capital of the company disclosable under the financial 
services authority’s disclosure and transparency rules which replaced part vi of the companies act 1985 with effect from 20 january 2007 had been 
notified to the directors
  ordinary shares 
   of 5p each 
caledonia investments plc  10336232 1145
henry john pitman  3191871 353
hermes specialist uk focus fund  19160580 2122
hermes uk smaller companies fund  2697803 299
acquisition of the company’s own shares
at the end of the year the directors had authority under the shareholders’ resolution of 30 may 2008 to purchase through the market 8477375 of the 
company’s ordinary shares at prices per ordinary share ranging between 5p and an amount equal to 105 of the average of the middle market quotations of 
the company’s ordinary shares for the five days preceding the day of purchase this authority expires at the conclusion of the agm in 2009
special business at the agm
a separate document accompanying the annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 december 2008 contains the notice convening the agm and 
an explanation of the special business to be conducted at that meeting
audit information
in the case of each of the persons who are directors of the company at the date when this report was approved
so far as each of the directors is aware there is no relevant audit information of which the company’s auditors are unaware and ■
each of the directors has taken all the steps that he ought to have taken as a director to make himself aware of any relevant audit information and to  ■
establish that the company’s auditors are aware of that information
this confirmation is given and should be interpreted in accordance with the provisions of s234za of the companies act 1985
auditors
the auditors changed their name to deloitte llp on 1 december 2008 and have signed their audit report in that name 
a resolution for the reappointment of deloitte llp as auditors of the company is to be proposed at the forthcoming agm
on behalf of the board 
richard h collins
company secretary
17 march 2009
8791 newman street 
london w1t 3ey 
registered in england and wales number 4128850 tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         43
 business review            governance            financial statements 
corporate governance
introduction
tribal group plc is committed to achieving high standards of corporate governance integrity and business ethics the group supports the principles of 
corporate governance contained in the combined code on corporate governance that was issued in 2006 by the financial reporting council “the code” 
which is the version of the combined code applicable to the group in the year under review the code was further updated in june 2008 for accounting 
periods beginning on or after 29 june 2008 “the 2008 code”
the remainder of this report sets out how the group applied the code during the year under review
compliance with the code of best practice
the group has complied throughout the year under review with the provisions set out in the code and has voluntarily complied with the 2008 code since 
its introduction
board of directors
the board comprises five directors katherine innes ker simon lawton strone macpherson nonexecutive chairman peter martin and david thompson 
the terms and conditions of all directors are available for inspection on request from the company secretary and will be available for inspection at the 
forthcoming agm the directors’ profiles are set out on page 40 
on 26 march 2008 henry pitman resigned as a nonexecutive director on 30 november 2008 tim stevenson retired as a nonexecutive director 
independence
the board believes that the nonexecutive directors including the chairman are independent as defined by the code the senior independent  
nonexecutive director sid is david thompson
david thompson is also an independent nonexecutive director of caledonia investments plc which is a significant shareholder in the group  
this connection between the group and one of its current shareholders does not affect the director’s objectivity particularly as he is independent  
of executive decisionmaking processes at both companies all of the nonexecutive directors bring a wide range of experience to the board including 
building large and midcap public company businesses handson operational cvs and strategy development and implementation  the nonexecutive 
directors meet at least once a year without the executive directors present
the chairman strone macpherson has other significant time commitments as indicated in his profile on page 40 overall these have not changed 
materially during the year and they do not affect his ability to devote sufficient time to the company’s activities 
the chairman of the board is chairman of the nomination committee and katherine innes ker is chairman of the remuneration committee  
david thompson is chairman of the audit committee and has the relevant experience to chair this committee as required by the combined code 
all directors are appointed by the board as a whole following recommendations from the nomination committee the independent nonexecutive 
directors and the chairman were initially appointed for a threeyear term none of the executive directors has a service contract with a notice period 
greater than 12 months details of all payments to directors are included in the remuneration report on pages 46 to 50
each director is required to submit himselfherself for reelection at least every three years new directors are subject to election at the first opportunity 
following appointment the chairman and simon lawton were reelected at the 2007 agm and david thompson at the 2008 agm each having confirmed 
that they were able to allocate sufficient time to meet the expectations of their roles katherine innes ker and peter martin will be seeking reelection at 
the 2009 agm
the board exercises full and effective control over the group the board maintains a formal schedule of matters reserved for the board’s decision and 
its responsibilities include strategy and management of performance acquisitions capital expenditure and safeguarding the group’s assets the actual 
results of the group and a summary of operating company performance are reported to all members of the board executive members of the board meet 
formally with business stream management on a monthly basis to review business performance and to discuss operational and strategic issues key 
points from these meetings are discussed at group board meetings
there are procedures in place to deal with directors’ conflicts of interest and they have operated effectively in the year under review 
a procedure exists for the board of directors in the furtherance of their duties to take independent professional advice if necessary at the company’s 
expense all directors have access to the advice and services of the company secretary who is responsible to the board for ensuring that all rules 
regulations and agreed procedures are observed richard collins an experienced public company secretary and a qualified solicitor was appointed in 
november 2004
on appointment and throughout their tenure directors receive appropriate training and presentations 
the roles of the chairman and chief executive are separate and clearly defined the chairman is primarily responsible for the running of the board and the 
chief executive for the running of the group information is provided to the board on a timely basis in advance of each board meeting directors receive a 
board pack including detailed monthly management accounts any proposed acquisitions a corporate governance update and major capital expenditure 
requests
a performance evaluation of the board its committees and its individual directors was conducted in 2008 and focused on a number of areas including 
those concerned with best practice based on the principles of good governance the evaluation was conducted internally by the chairman through a 
detailed questionnaire the performance of the group finance director was appraised by the chief executive and the chief executive was appraised by 
the chairman the executive and nonexecutive directors led by the senior independent director assessed the performance of the chairman the non
executive directors’ performance was reviewed by the chairman taking into account the views of the other directors
board committees
the board has established three committees to deal with matters in accordance with written terms of reference they are an audit committee a nomination 
committee and a remuneration committee the chairmen of the board committees will be available to answer questions at the 2009 agm 44         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
 business review            governance            financial statements 
corporate governance
terms of reference for the audit nomination and remuneration committees can be found on the company’s website wwwtribalgroupcouk  
are available on request from the company secretary and will be available for inspection at the forthcoming agm
audit committee
the audit committee meets at least twice each year the committee is chaired by david thompson katherine innes ker is also a member the chairman 
and group finance director attend all meetings at the invitation of the committee the committee monitors the effectiveness of internal financial 
controls and considers matters relating to accounting financial reporting accounting policies business risks and the external audit to do this it receives 
and considers written and oral reports from company officers the group finance director and the external auditors procedures to correct weaknesses 
identified in these reports are put in place by the group finance director and reviewed at subsequent meetings the audit committee holds discussions 
with the auditors at least once a year without the group finance director present in 2007 the audit committee decided that the group had reached a size 
and complexity that would obtain value from having an internal audit function and the company established a formal risk managementinternal audit 
function
in order to safeguard auditor objectivity and independence the committee keeps these transparency issues under review and also reviews the cost 
effectiveness of the external auditors and the nature of the nonaudit services provided by them the committee has taken all of these factors into 
account in reaching its decision to recommend to the board that the auditors be reappointed
the group has a formal policy for the use of auditors for nonaudit work and along with other professional advisers the auditors have been used during 
the period on nonaudit work the committee consider these engagements to be appropriate due to the auditors’ familiarity with the company’s business
nomination committee
the nomination committee is chaired by strone macpherson and the members comprise david thompson katherine innes ker and the chief executive 
the committee deals with appointments to the board monitors potential conflicts of interest and reviews annually the independence of the non
executive directors the committee is responsible for proposing candidates for appointment to the board having regard to the balance and structure of 
the board suitable candidates for nonexecutive roles are where necessary identified by use of external recruitment consultancies and the committee 
would expect to use a similar process in the future when a new appointment to the board is being made
remuneration committee
the remuneration committee is chaired by katherine innes ker david thompson and strone macpherson are also members 
the committee meets at least twice a year and on behalf of the board sets the remuneration packages for the directors including basic salary bonuses 
and other incentivisation compensation payments and awards the committee ratifies policy and framework proposals made by executive directors in 
respect of the remuneration for senior executives within the group the committee is assisted by the company secretary and group hr director and takes 
advice as appropriate from external advisers the remuneration report is set out on pages 46 to 50 
attendance at board and committee meetings for the year ended 31 december 2008    
boardcommittee name board audit nomination remuneration role
number of meetings in period 10 2 2 5 
number of meetings attended by members
strone macpherson
1
 10 2 2 5 chairman of board and nomination committee
peter martin  10 na 2 na chief executive 
simon lawton
1
 10 2 2 na executive group finance director
henry pitman
2
  2 na 1 1 nonexecutive director
tim stevenson
3
 9 2 2 4  nonexecutive director chairman of  
remuneration committee
david thompson 10 2 2 3  nonexecutive director chairman of audit committee 
katherine innes ker
4
 2 0 0 2  nonexecutive director chairman of  
remuneration committee
 note excludes unscheduled or purely administrative meetings
1
 strone macpherson and simon lawton are not members of the audit committee but are invited to attend
2
 henry pitman resigned as a nonexecutive director on 26 march 2008
3
 tim stevenson retired as a nonexecutive director on 30 november 2008
4
 katherine innes ker was appointed a nonexecutive director on 1 november 2008
maintenance of a sound system of internal control
the directors undertake a periodic review of the effectiveness of the group’s system of internal controls using a common strategic risk framework
the group’s assessment includes a review of the major financial and nonfinancial risks to the business and the corresponding internal controls the 
output is continuously reviewed by the executive directors to enhance further the internal control and risk management culture of the group throughout 
its subsidiaries clear responsibilities have been allocated for key risk areas such as acquisitions human resources treasury capital expenditure insurance 
and information technology other risks fall within the scope of the audit remuneration and nomination committees as appropriate no potential issues 
warranting disclosure in the accounts have been identified tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         45
 business review            governance            financial statements 
the executive directors will review these action plans on a regular basis to ensure that the board’s plans for improvement are being implemented and 
that the outputs of the strategic risk assessments remain relevant to the group a review will be carried out and an action plan prepared for all new 
acquisitions as part of the integration process the action plans and their ongoing review form a process for identifying evaluating and managing risks 
faced by the group such a process has been in place for the year under review and up to the date of approval of the audited financial statements and 
conforms to the requirements of the turnbull guidance
review of effectiveness of internal control
the directors are responsible for the group’s system of internal control and for reviewing its effectiveness such a system is designed to manage rather 
than eliminate the risk of failure to achieve business objectives in establishing and reviewing the system of internal control the directors have regard 
to the materiality of relevant risks the likelihood of a loss being incurred and the costs of control it follows that the system of internal control can only 
provide reasonable and not absolute assurance against the risk of material misstatement or loss
in addition to the process of assessment of internal control and the monitoring of the effectiveness of internal financial control by the audit committee 
explained above the process used by the board to review the effectiveness of the system of internal controls includes the following
control environment
the directors are committed to maintaining a controlconscious culture across the group whilst allowing the business streams sufficient autonomy  
to manage and develop their businesses this is communicated to all employees by way of regular management briefings training and mentoring an 
organisational structure is in place within which the business can be planned controlled and monitored this structure includes appropriate written 
delegation of authority physical controls and procedures such as authorisation limits and segregation of duties the business stream chief executives and 
managing directors regularly review their responsibilities and compliance with the group’s policies and procedures the group operates a quarterly letter of 
representation reporting framework for operating companies’ chief executivesmanaging directors and finance directorscontrollers to assess and report on 
the adequacy of internal financial controls and completeness and accuracy of the management accounts
financial reporting
there is a comprehensive system of financial reporting to the board based on an annual budget prepared in line with the group’s strategic plan and 
formally adopted by the board rolling forecasts and monthly reporting of financial and operating results budgets and threeyear plans are prepared at 
the individual business unit level and summarised at business stream and group level key operational performance indicators including weekly cash flow 
forecasts and daily cash balances are continuously monitored by the executive and business stream directors 
group procedures manual
responsibility levels are communicated throughout the group as part of the group procedures manual which sets out delegation of authority and 
authorisation levels and other control procedures together with accounting and reporting procedures the manual is updated regularly and has been 
during the year under review to take account of new accounting standards performance criteria operational effectiveness investment returns and other 
regulatory requirements all senior finance professionals are provided with training and guidance to ensure that the current and future needs of the 
group are met
shareholder relations
the chief executive and group finance director are the group’s principal spokesmen with investors analysts fund managers the press and other 
interested parties access is available to the chairman andor the senior independent director and other nonexecutive directors if this is required the 
chairman has met with principal shareholders in the period under review the full board is kept informed about shareholder relations and in particular the 
senior independent director is kept informed of the views of major shareholders this is done by a combination of reports to the board on meetings held 
and feedback to the board from the group’s financial advisers the group holds briefing meetings with analysts and institutional shareholders usually 
following the half year and final results announcements to ensure that the investing community receives a balanced and complete view of the group’s 
performance and the issues faced by the business on 31 january 2008 the group held an education business briefing for analysts and institutional 
investors 
the group reports formally to all shareholders twice a year when its half year and full year results are announced the agm is attended by all directors and 
private investors are encouraged to participate in the meeting
these results and all other stock exchange announcement information are available on the group’s website wwwtribalgroupcouk we are aware that a 
growing number of shareholders are taking advantage of improvements in technology and accessing the wealth of information on corporate websites 
recent changes in legislation and the necessary authority having been passed at our 2007 agm mean that we are able to offer electronic copies of the 
report and accounts notice of agm and other documents addressed to shareholders 
going concern
the group’s business activities together with the factors likely to affect its future development performance and position are set out in the business review on 
pages 18 to 29 the financial position of the group its cash flows liquidity position and borrowing facilities are described in the financial review on pages 30 to 
35 in addition note 38 to the financial statements includes the group’s objectives policies and processes for managing its capital its financial risk management 
objectives details of its financial instruments and hedging activities and its exposure to credit risk and liquidity risk
as highlighted in note 24 the group has considerable financial resources in that it maintains sizeable cash balances has a credit facility of £40m of which 
£332m was drawn down at 31 december 2008 which is not due for renewal until june 2012 and has an overdraft facility of £6m which is renewable 
annually in february net debt was £197m at 31 december 2008 although the current economic conditions create some uncertainty in terms of the 
maintenance of current public sector spending levels the group also has a number of longterm contracts with a number of customers across different 
geographic areas significant levels of committed income and a strong pipeline of new opportunities the group’s forecasts and projections which allow 
for reasonably possible changes in trading performance show that the group will be cash generative across the forecast period as a consequence the 
directors believe that the group is wellplaced to manage its business risks successfully despite the current uncertain economic outlook 
after making enquiries the directors have a reasonable expectation that the group has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the 
foreseeable future accordingly they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the annual report and accounts 46         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
 business review            governance            financial statements 
remuneration report
introduction
the remuneration report has been prepared in accordance with the directors’ remuneration report regulations 2002 the “regulations”  
the report also meets the relevant requirements of the listing rules of the financial services authority and describes how the board has applied the 
principles of good governance relating to directors’ remuneration as required by the regulations a resolution to approve the report will be proposed at 
the annual general meeting of the company at which the financial statements will be approved
the regulations require the auditors to report to the company’s members on the ‘auditable part’ of the remuneration report the report has therefore 
been divided into separate sections for audited and unaudited information
information not subject to audit
remuneration committee – composition and terms of reference
for the period 1 january 2008 to 30 november 2008 the remuneration committee comprised two independent nonexecutive directors and  
the nonexecutive chairman tim stevenson chairman david thompson and strone macpherson with effect from 1 november 2008  
katherine innes ker replaced tim stevenson as an independent nonexecutive director and chairman of the committee the committee operates in 
accordance with written terms of reference which are determined by the board and take account of best practice and the requirements of the combined 
code the terms of reference will be available at the agm and are available on our website wwwtribalgroupcouk or on request from the company 
secretary
advisers to the remuneration committee
during the period under review the committee commissioned and received advice on remuneration matters from hewitt new bridge street  
the committee also receives input from the group hr director who is supported by the group reward specialist
remuneration policy
the key objective of the group’s policy on executive directors’ remuneration is that the overall package should be sufficiently competitive to attract retain 
and motivate high quality executives to achieve the group’s business objectives and reward them for enhancing shareholder value
the package consists of basic salary benefits share options performance related bonuses and pension contributions in line with the group’s growth 
strategy a significant proportion of the package is based on performance and dependent upon the achievement of growth in adjusted diluted earnings 
per share for certain long term incentive share option plan awards made to executive directors in may 2007 the performance measures relate to the 
company’s share price performance and the recipients are required to hold a substantial personal shareholding
the group has a range of share incentive plans in place to provide the necessary mechanisms for employees and executive directors to participate in the 
long term success of the group 
the committee believes that the schemes align the interests of key employees as well as all staff generally with those of shareholders
nonexecutive directors
the fees for nonexecutive directors are determined by the board and on the basis of a benchmarking report from independent remuneration advisers 
were reviewed and increased in december 2008 this being their first increase since 2004 they do not participate in any bonus scheme share option 
scheme pension scheme or receive any other benefits however henry pitman who was a nonexecutive director from june 2007 until march 2008 
continued to participate in a sharesave contract which commenced while he was an executive director
executive directors
a summary of each element of the executive directors’ remuneration is set out below
basic salaries and benefits
basic salaries and benefits are determined by reference to market levels for similar jobs in comparable companies and sectors based on independent 
surveys salaries are reviewed annually and when an individual changes position or responsibility for 2009 the committee has accepted the executive 
directors’ proposal that there should be no increase in their basic salaries which accordingly will remain for 2009 at their 2008 levels of £300000 for peter 
martin and £200000 for simon lawton the total basic salaries received during the period under review are set out in the directors’ remuneration report 
on page 49  
benefits normally a car allowance pension permanent health cover private medical insurance and a death in service benefit of four times salary are set 
at a comparable level with those granted to executives at a similar level in like companies and sectors
performance related bonuses
bonus entitlement is a contractual calculation referred to in each director’s service agreement and is based primarily on the growth in the group’s 
adjusted diluted earnings per share but in all cases is subject to the overriding discretion of the remuneration committee the terms are reviewed and 
determined annually the threshold earnings per share target is adjusted each year by the committee to set a suitably challenging initial target with 
incremental stretching targets above the threshold figure bonus payments are made if the threshold target is exceeded for both directors there is also 
an element of the total bonus that is dependent upon performance measured against personal targets for the period under review the total contractual 
bonus was subject to a fixed maximum of 75 of the individual’s basic salary bonus payments do not form part of salary for pension purposes 
the committee decided in the period under review in the light of external benchmarking and independent advice that for 2009 this potential variable 
element of the executive directors’ remuneration should increase and accordingly peter martin’s and simon lawton’s respective maximum bonus 
potentials will be revised to 100 and 80 of their basic salaries respectively the committee will continue to apply stretching performance targets 
reflecting the company’s short and medium term objectives the bonus potential for the executive directors will again be measured primarily on earnings 
per share performance however for the remaining metrics there is a move away from qualitative measures to quantitative tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         47
 business review            governance            financial statements 
in addition to any contractual bonus entitlement the committee has the discretion to make ad hoc bonus payments on such terms and subject to 
such performance or other targets as it sees fit typically an ad hoc bonus payment could be made to reflect exceptional performance no ad hoc bonus 
payments have been made in respect of the period under review
bonus payments relating to the period under review are detailed in the directors’ remuneration report on page 49 in this period peter martin and simon 
lawton earned contractual bonuses of £221000 and £140000 respectively of this overall contractual bonus the element relating to earnings per share 
performance over the period was the substantial part of the payment the balance of the bonus potential earned related to a mixture of financial and 
nonfinancial personal targets the committee has measured performance against those criteria for each executive director and has determined that 
certain of these were met in full and some in part 
executive directors’ service contracts
it is group policy to fix notice periods for executive directors for a period of no more than 12 months the committee believes that the entitlement of 
directors to the security of 12 months notice of termination of employment is in line with practice in comparable companies and sectors 
copies of each director’s service agreement will be available for inspection at the agm
the committee aims always to deal fairly with cases of termination whilst attempting to limit compensation the service agreements make allowance for 
specific amounts of compensation that may become payable in the event of early termination of contracts in order to enable the committee to respond 
appropriately to particular circumstances
details of service agreements and notice periods are as follows
    notice period notice period 
name effective date expiryretirement for company for directors
of director of contract date months months
p j martin 25062001 ongoing 12 12
s m lawton 08022001 ongoing 12 12
nonexecutive directors’ contracts
nonexecutive directors have a threemonth notice period and no compensation or other benefits are payable details of their agreements and notice 
periods are as follows
    notice period notice period 
name effective date expiryretirement for company for directors
of director of contract date months months
p s s macpherson 03092007 2010 agm 3 3
t e p stevenson 03092007 retired 30112008 na na
d g f thompson 03092007 2011 agm 3 3
h j pitman 04062007 resigned 26032008 na na
k c m innes ker 01112008 2009 agm 3 3
current share incentive schemes
the group currently operates five share incentive schemes two employee share option schemes ‘option schemes’ a long term incentive plan ‘ltip’ 
a savings related share option scheme ‘saye’ and a share incentive plan ‘sip’ the option and ltip schemes were established to provide a continuing 
incentive for executive directors and selected key employees 
1 option schemes 
  there are two employee share option schemes the tribal group plc employee share option scheme ‘the plc scheme’ and the tribal holdings limited 
employee share option scheme ‘the limited scheme’ the limited scheme was used to grant options prior to admission on aim  
options can no longer be granted under the limited scheme and no options were granted under the plc scheme during the period under review
  at the discretion of the committee grants are normally made under the option schemes on an annual basis such grants are subject to scheme 
limits and in particular there is a cap of £30000 on the market value of tax approved options both the option schemes contain hmrc approved and 
unapproved parts 
  the exercise of options granted under the option schemes is conditional on the annual growth in adjusted diluted earnings per share exceeding the 
rise in the retail prices index ‘rpi’ 8 compound over the twoyear period from grant options commence vesting after the publication of results at 
an equal amount 124th over a further twoyear period options are exercisable in one tranche between four and ten years from the later of the date 
of grant and the results announcement date
2 ltip 
  the plan was designed to provide an incentive for selected executive directors and senior key employees two changes to the plan were effected in 
2003 following approval at that year’s agm the total length of the award period was reduced from five years to four years and participants are able to 
acquire free loyalty shares 48         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
 business review            governance            financial statements 
remuneration report
  awards from 19 september 2003 to date under the ltip comprise of two elements
 a  a nil cost option over ordinary shares referred to as ‘performance shares’  which participants will be able to acquire on a fully vested basis at the 
end of a threeyear performance period subject to satisfying the performance targets the performance target is linked to the growth in adjusted 
diluted earnings per share exceeding the annual growth in the rpi over the threeyear period from grant for awards granted  
to 31 march 2005 vesting will be on a straight line basis with 0 if the annual adjusted diluted earnings per share growth is less than  
rpi 10 compound up to 100 if the annual adjusted diluted earnings per share growth is equal to rpi 20 compound or more  
for awards granted after 31 march 2005 the growth rates are rpi 4 and rpi 12 respectively under the ltip scheme rules  
alternative or additional performance targets may be applied the committee uses this power if it considers this appropriate and in  
may 2007 made exceptional circumstances awards to peter martin and simon lawton that have a different performance measure based on an 
increase in the company’s share price over a threeyear period these share pricebased ltip awards also required the recipient to acquire and 
maintain a significant personal shareholding in the company shares to the value at the time of award of £175000 and £75000 for peter martin 
and simon lawton respectively and
 b  a nil cost option over additional ordinary shares referred to as ‘loyalty shares’  which participants will be able to acquire at the end of a holding 
period of one year subject to remaining in employment
   the number of loyalty shares that can be awarded to any participant will be 25 of the number of performance shares which vest in favour of 
each participant at the end of the performance period
  the committee has decided not to use loyalty shares for future ltip awards to executive directors
  in the period under review ltip awards were made to the executive directors as detailed in the note on page 49  
3 saye 
  the group’s hmrc approved saye scheme is open to all employees and directors who have been in continuous service for such minimum period as 
is determined by the committee eligible employees may save up to £250 per month under a fixed term saye contract and then apply the savings to 
buy shares in the company the option price for grants prior to 2005 was set at 20 below the market value at the date of grant however there was 
no discounted option price for the saye contracts entered into in january 2005 january 2006 and september 2007 participation may be scaled back 
if there is pressure on available shares for use by the scheme 
  for the december 2008 saye contract the option price was set at 20 below the market value at the date of grant in addition 5 year and  
7 year savings terms were introduced alongside the existing 3 year savings term due to high levels of interest participation was scaled back  
in the light of continuing pressures on available shares the committee has decided that there may be limited or no future saye contracts 
4 sip
 at the 2005 agm the company proposed and shareholders approved the establishment of a new allemployee share incentive plan sip 
 the sip is hmrc approved it currently provides all employees with the opportunity to acquire “partnership shares” in a taxefficient manner
performance graph
the following graph compares the value of an investment of £100 in tribal group plc shares with an investment in the ftse all share index and the ftse 
support services index over five years from 31 december 2003 to 31 december 2008
the committee believes that this comparison provides a clear picture of how the company has performed relative to both a wide range of companies in 
the uk and also a specific group of companies in the same sector 
£160
£140
£120
£100
£80
£60
£40
£20
£0
tribal ftse all share ftse support services
dec03
dec04
dec05
dec06
dec07
dec08 tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         49
 business review            governance            financial statements 
a £100 investment in tribal shares on 31 december 2003 would be worth £23 compared to £100 for an investment in the ftse all share index or £88 for an 
investment in the ftse support services index as at 31 december 2008
information subject to audit
directors’ remuneration
the remuneration of individual directors was as follows
      nine months
     y ear ended ended
  performance   31 december  31 december
 salary related   pension 2008 2007
 or fees bonus benefits cost t otal total
 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
nonexecutive chairman       
p s s macpherson 101 – – – 101 75
executive directors       
h j pitman – – – – – 365
p j martin 294 221 10 35 560 495
s m lawton 197 140 10 24 371 295
nonexecutive directors       
s m forbes – – – – – 10
h j pitman 6 – – – 6 14
t e p stevenson 32 – – – 32 26
d g f thompson 36 – – – 36 26
k c m innes ker 7 – – – 7 –
aggregate emoluments 673 361 20 59 1113 1306
 
during the period under review peter martin served as a nonexecutive director of win plc the board has agreed that he should be allowed to retain the 
director’s fees paid to him by win plc which during the year were £22000 
the interests of directors in share options were as follows
 at     at exercise date from
 31 december    31 december price which expiry
 2007 granted lapsed exercised 2008 £ exercisable date
p j martin        
plc scheme 40000 – – – 40000 £283 30062003 26062011
ltip  77940 – – – 77940 £nil 30062008 30092009
saye scheme 2422 – – – 2422 £193 01032009 01092009
ltip  100267 – – – 100267 £nil 30062009 30092010
ltip  455296 – – – 455296 £nil 01052010 01112011
saye scheme 2990 – – – 2990 £158 01102010 01042011
ltip  – 278127 – – 278127 £nil 31032011 30092012
        
s m lawton        
limited scheme 18744 – – – 18744 £133 30062003 23012011
plc scheme 45444 – – – 45444 £165 30062003 07022011
ltip  77940 – – – 77940 £nil 30062008 30092009
ltip  90241 – – – 90241 £nil 30062009 30092010
ltip  314566 – – – 314566 £nil 01052010 01112011
ltip  – 185418 – – 185418 £nil 31032011 30092012
 
there have been no variations to the terms and conditions or performance criteria for share options during the financial year 
ltip awards were granted during the period to peter martin and simon lawton the market value of tribal group plc shares at the date of grant was 
13483p
options granted under the saye schemes are not subject to performance criteria the performance criteria as detailed on page 47 have been met for the 
limited scheme and the plc scheme as far as these awards relate to peter martin and simon lawton
the market value of the company’s shares at the 31 december 2008 was 78p the highest market value during the period was 145p and the lowest market 
value 66p 50         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
 business review            governance            financial statements 
remuneration report
directors’ interest in shares of tribal group plc
the directors who held office at the end of the financial period had the following interests in the shares of the company
  interest at interest at
   end of period start of period
p j martin  505062  505062
s m lawton   712421
2
 712421
1
p s s macpherson  50000
3
 50000
3
d g f thompson  217500
4
 217500
4
1
 of these 20000 ordinary shares were held by his wife
2
 of these 111697 shares are held by his wife and 300000 shares are held by a family trust
3
 of these 25000 ordinary shares are held by members of his family
4
 of these 17500 ordinary shares are held by members of his family 
directors’ retirement benefits
all of the executive directors’ pension arrangements are of the defined contribution type no pension arrangements are provided for  
nonexecutive directors
during the period the company made employer contributions of 12 of basic salary into the company’s defined contribution scheme or an equivalent 
personal pension plan
approval
this report was approved by the board of directors on 17 march 2009 and signed on its behalf by
lady katherine innes ker
chairman remuneration committee tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         51
 business review            governance            financial statements 
statement of directors’ responsibilities
the directors are responsible for preparing the annual report directors’ remuneration report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable 
law and regulations
company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year the directors are required by the ias regulation  to prepare the 
group financial statements under international financial reporting standards ifrs as adopted by the european union  the group financial statements 
are also required by law to be properly prepared in accordance with the companies act 1985 and article 4  of the ias regulation 
international accounting standard 1 requires that ifrs financial statements present fairly for each financial year the company’s financial position financial 
performance and cash flows this requires the faithful representation of the effects of transactions other events and conditions in accordance with the 
definitions and recognition criteria for assets liabilities income and expenses set out in the international accounting standards board’s ‘framework for the 
preparation and presentation of financial statements’  in virtually all circumstances a fair presentation will be achieved by compliance with all applicable 
ifrs however directors are also required to
properly select and apply accounting policies ■
present information including accounting policies in a manner that provides relevant reliable comparable and understandable information ■
provide additional disclosures when compliance with the specific requirements in ifrs are insufficient to enable users to understand the impact of  ■
particular transactions other events and conditions on the entity’s financial position and financial performance
the directors have elected to prepare the parent company financial statements in accordance with united kingdom generally accepted accounting 
practice united kingdom accounting standards and applicable law the parent company financial statements are required by law to give a true and fair 
view of the state of affairs of the company in preparing these financial statements the directors are required to
select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently ■
make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent ■
state whether applicable uk accounting standards have been followed subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial  ■
statements
the directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the 
company and enable them to ensure that the parent company financial statements comply with the companies act 1985 they are also responsible for 
safeguarding the assets of the company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities
the directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the company’s website legislation 
in the united kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions
we confirm that to the best of our knowledge
the financial statements prepared in accordance with international financial reporting standards give a true and fair view of the assets liabilities  ■
financial position and profit or loss of the company and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole
the management report which is incorporated into the directors’ report includes a fair review of the development and performance of the business  ■
and the position of the company and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole together with a description of the principal risks 
and uncertainties that they face
by order of the board
vv
peter j martin simon m lawton
chief executive  group finance director
17 march 2009
  52         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
 business review             governance            financial statements
independent auditors’ report to the members of 
tribal group plc
we have audited the group financial statements of tribal group plc for the year ended 31 december 2008 which comprise the consolidated income 
statement the consolidated balance sheet the consolidated cash flow statement the consolidated statement of recognised income and expense 
and the related notes 1 to 41 these group financial statements have been prepared under the accounting policies set out therein we have also 
audited the information in the directors’ remuneration report that is described as having been audited
we have reported separately on the parent company financial statements of tribal group plc for the year ended 31 december 2008
this report is made solely to the company’s members as a body in accordance with section 235 of the companies act 1985 our audit work 
has been undertaken so that we might state to the company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditors’ report and 
for no other purpose t o the fullest extent permitted by law we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the company and the 
company’s members as a body for our audit work for this report or for the opinions we have formed
respective responsibilities of directors and auditors
the directors’ responsibilities for preparing the annual report the directors’ remuneration report and the group financial statements in accordance 
with applicable law and international financial reporting standards ifrs as adopted by the european union are set out in the statement of 
directors’ responsibilities
our responsibility is to audit the group financial statements in accordance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements and international 
standards on auditing uk and ireland
we report to you our opinion as to whether the group financial statements give a true and fair view whether the group financial statements have 
been properly prepared in accordance with the companies act 1985 and article 4 of the ias regulation and whether the part of the directors’ 
remuneration report described as having been audited has been properly prepared in accordance with the companies act 1985 we also report to 
you whether in our opinion the information given in the directors’ report is consistent with the group financial statements the information given in 
the directors’ report includes that specific information presented in the business review that is cross referenced from the business review section of 
the directors’ report in addition we report to you if in our opinion we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit 
or if information specified by law regarding directors’ remuneration and other transactions is not disclosed
we review whether the corporate governance statement reflects the company’s compliance with the nine provisions of the 2006 combined code 
specified for our review by the listing rules of the financial services authority and we report if it does not we are not required to consider whether 
the board’s statement on internal control covers all risks and controls or form an opinion on the effectiveness of the group’s corporate governance 
procedures or its risk and control procedures
we read the other information contained in the annual report as described in the contents section and consider whether it is consistent with the 
audited group financial statements we consider the implications for our report if we become aware of any apparent misstatements or material 
inconsistencies with the group financial statements our responsibilities do not extend to any further information outside the annual report
basis of audit opinion
we conducted our audit in accordance with international standards on auditing uk and ireland issued by the auditing practices board an audit 
includes examination on a test basis of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in the group financial statements and the part of the 
directors’ remuneration report to be audited it also includes an assessment of the significant estimates and judgements made by the directors in 
the preparation of the group financial statements and of whether the accounting policies are appropriate to the group’s circumstances consistently 
applied and adequately disclosed
we planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all the information and explanations which we considered necessary in order to provide us with 
sufficient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the group financial statements and the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited 
are free from material misstatement whether caused by fraud or other irregularity or error in forming our opinion we also evaluated the overall 
adequacy of the presentation of information in the group financial statements and the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited
opinion
in our opinion
the group financial statements give a true and fair view in accordance with ifrs as adopted by the european union of the state of the group’s  ■
affairs as at 31 december 2008 and of its profit for the year then ended
the group financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with the companies act 1985 and article 4 of the ias regulation  ■
the part of the directors’ remuneration report described as having been audited has been properly prepared in accordance with the companies  ■
act 1985
the information given in the directors’ report is consistent with the group financial statements ■
deloitte llp
chartered accountants and registered auditors 
bristol united kingdom
17 march 2009
these are the audited financial statements for the year ended 31 december 2008 an audit does not provide assurance on the maintenance and integrity of this website including the controls used to achieve this and 
whether any changes may have occurred to the financial statements since they were first published these matters are the responsibility of our directors no control procedures can provide absolute assurance in this 
area legislation in the united kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements differs from legislation in other jurisdictions tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         53
 business review             governance            financial statements
consolidated income statement
for the year ended 31 december 2008
   before other  other  before other  other
   administrative administrative year administrative administrative nine months
   expenses and expenses and ended expenses and expenses and ended
   financial financial 31 december financial financial 31 december
   instruments instruments 2008 instruments instruments 2007
   costs costs total costs costs t otal
  note £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
continuing operations
turnover  294192 – 294192 188654 – 188654
direct agency costs  60202 – 60202 35355 – 35355
revenue 3 233990 – 233990 153299 – 153299
cost of sales  140320 – 140320 92266 – 92266
gross profit  93670 – 93670 61033 – 61033
net administrative expenses  73847 – 73847 49860 – 49860
other administrative expenses
amortisation of ifrs 3 intangibles 16 – 556 556 – 240 240
goodwill impairment 15 – – – – 9000 9000
total administrative expenses  73847 556 74403 49860 9240 59100
operating profit  19823 556 19267 11173 9240 1933
investment revenues 8 586 – 586 1119 – 1119
other gains and losses 9 – 66 66 – 126 126
finance costs 10 1763 72 1835 1699 43 1742
profit before tax  18646 694 17952 10593 9409 1184
t ax  11 5005 195 4810 3105 103 3002
profit for the period from  
continuing operations  13641 499 13142 7488 9306 1818
discontinued operations
profit from discontinued operations 13 – 1211 1211 37 27217 27254
profit for the period  13641 712 14353 7525 17911 25436
attributable to
equity holders of the parent 31   13443   25034
minority interest 32   910   402
     14353   25436
earnings per share from  
continuing operations
basic  14 147p 06p 141p 84p 110p 26p
diluted  14 147p 06p 141p 84p 110p 26p
from continuing and  
discontinued operations
basic  14 147p 08p 155p 84p 211p 295p
diluted  14 147p 08p 155p 84p 211p 295p 54         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
 business review             governance            financial statements
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
  note £’000 £’000
noncurrent assets
goodwill 15 209765 186991
other intangible assets 16 7740 4254
property plant and equipment 17 9103 7363
investments 18 7 157
deferred tax assets 26 2149 1389
derivative financial instruments 22 – 178
  228764 200332
current assets
inventories 19 801 1055
trade and other receivables 20 66190 62326
amounts recoverable on contracts  6 63
cash and cash equivalents 21 13892 15982
collateralised cash  – 192
  80889 79618
total assets  309653 279950
current liabilities
trade and other payables 23 68456 67418
t ax liabilities  7234 5400
obligations under finance leases  – 3
bank loans and loan notes 24 662 876
provisions 25 655 577
derivative financial instruments 22 188 –
  77195 74274
net current assets  3694 5344
noncurrent liabilities
bank loans 24 32894 22098
pension liabilities 34 1425 1228
deferred tax liabilities 26 1927 1108
derivative financial instruments 22 809 –
  37055 24434
total liabilities  114250 98708
net assets  195403 181242
equity
share capital 28 4394 4239
share premium account 29 78749 74750
other reserves 30 64486 64582
retained earnings 31 45945 36606
equity attributable to equity holders of the parent  193574 180177
minority interest 32 1829 1065
total equity   195403 181242
notes 1 to 41 form part of these financial statements
these financial statements were approved by the board of directors and authorised for issue on 17 march 2009 and were signed on its behalf by
vv
peter j martin simon m lawton
director  director
consolidated balance sheet
at 31 december 2008 tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         55
 business review             governance            financial statements
  year  nine months 
  ended  ended 
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
  note £’000 £’000
net cash from operating activities 35 22303 8808
investing activities   
interest received  586 992
proceeds on disposal to minorities  – 159
disposal of subsidiary  225 36251
proceeds on disposal of property plant and equipment  53 113
disposalpurchase of investments  320 8
purchases of property plant and equipment  3632 2579
expenditure on product development  1851 1657
acquisitions and deferred consideration  24855 1840
net cash outflowinflow from investing activities  29154 31431
financing activities   
interest paid  1514 2219
equity dividend paid  3957 2031
dividends to minorities   439 390
issue of shares  9 122
repayment of borrowings  – 53974
repayments of obligations under finance lease  3 5
new bank loans  10491 –
movements in collateralised cash  192 757
net cash fromused in financing activities  4761 57740
net decrease in cash and cash equivalents  2090 17501
cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period   15982 33483
cash and cash equivalents at end of period  13892 15982
 
notes 1 to 41 form part of these financial statements
consolidated cash flow statement
for the year ended 31 december 2008 56         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
 business review             governance            financial statements
consolidated statement of recognised income 
and expense
for the year ended 31 december 2008
  year  nine months 
  ended  ended 
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
  note £’000 £’000
actuarial loss on defined benefit plans 34 408 7
transfer to cash flow hedge reserve  1109 241
deferred tax 26 423 67
net expense recognised directly to equity   1094 181
profit for the period  14353 25436
t otal recognised income and expense for the period  13259 25255
attributable to   
equity holders of the parent  12349 24853
minority interest  910 402
  13259 25255
 
notes 1 to 41 form part of these financial statements tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         57
 business review             governance            financial statements
notes to the financial statements
1 accounting policies
basis for accounting  
the financial statements on pages 53 to 92 have been prepared in accordance with international financial reporting standards ifrss adopted for 
use in the european union and therefore the group financial statements comply with article 4 of the eu ias regulation
the financial information has been prepared on the historical cost basis except for the revaluation of certain properties and financial instruments
adoption of new and revised standards
in the current year two interpretations issued by the international financial reporting interpretations committee are effective for the current period 
these are ifric 11 ‘ifrs 2 – group and treasury share transactions’ and ifric 14 ‘ias 19 – the limit on a defined benefit asset minimum 
funding requirements and their interaction’ the adoption of these interpretations has not led to any changes in the group’s accounting policies
at the date of authorisation of these financial statements the following standards and interpretations which have not been applied in these financial 
statements were in issue but not yet effective and in some cases had not yet been adopted by the eu
ifrs 1 amendedias 27 amended cost of an investment in a subsidiary jointly controlled entity or associate
ifrs 2 amended sharebased payment – vesting conditions and cancellations
ifrs 3 revised 2008 business combinations
ifrs 8  operating segments
ias 1 revised 2007 presentation of financial statements
ias 23 revised 2007 borrowing costs
ias 27 revised 2008 consolidated and separate financial statements
ias 32 amendedias 1 amended puttable financial instruments and obligations arising on liquidation
ifric 12 service concession arrangements
ifric 15 agreements for the construction of real estate
ifric 16 hedges of a net investment in a foreign operation
improvement to ifrss may 2008
the directors anticipate that the adoption of these standards and interpretations in future periods will have no material impact on the financial 
statements of the group except for
additional segment disclosures when ifrs 8 comes into effect for periods commencing on or after 1 january 2009 ■
treatment of acquisition of subsidiaries when ifrs 3 comes into effect for business combinations for which the acquisition date is on or after the  ■
beginning of the first annual period beginning on or after 1 july 2009
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 31 december each year control is achieved where the company has the power to govern the financial and operating policies of the 
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
all intra group transactions balances income and expenses are eliminated on consolidation
revenue and turnover recognition
turnover comprises the gross amounts billed to clients in respect of commissionbased income together with the total of other fees earned 
revenue comprises commission and fees earned in respect of turnover and is measured at the fair value of the consideration derived from the 
provision of goods and services to third party customers in the normal course of business turnover and revenue are stated exclusive of vat  sales 
tax and trade discounts the particular recognition policies applied are
 consultancy – on performance of the contracted services ■
courses training and software support and maintenance services – over the provision of the related services ■
product sales – on delivery of the related goods ■
permanent recruitment – on performance over the search and selection period ■
t emporary recruitment – when the recruit joins the organisation and ■
recruitment advertising – when the advertisement is placed ■ 58         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
 business review             governance            financial statements
1 accounting policies continued
direct agency costs comprise media payments and production costs in respect of commission based income cost of sales includes the direct 
expenditure incurred in providing the goods and services described above including the cost of associates and the salary costs of employed fee 
earners administrative expenses include the salary cost of nonfee earners
interest is accrued on a time basis by reference to the principal outstanding and at the effective interest rate applicable
business combinations
the acquisition of subsidiaries is accounted for using the purchase method the cost of the acquisition is measured at the aggregate of the fair 
values at the date of exchange of assets given liabilities incurred or assumed and equity instruments issued by the group in exchange for control 
of the acquiree plus any costs directly attributable to the business combination the acquiree’s identifiable assets liabilities and contingent liabilities 
that meet the conditions for recognition under ifrs 3 are recognised at their fair value at the acquisition date 
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 
the interest of minority shareholdings are stated at the minority’s proportion of the fair values of the assets and liabilities recognised subsequently 
any losses applicable to the minority interest in excess of the minority interest are allocated against the interest of the parent
on acquisition of the minority shareholdings any excess of consideration paid over the carrying value of the minority interest is recognised  
as goodwill
the profit or loss on the disposal or closure of a previously acquired business includes the attributable amount of any purchased goodwill relating to 
that business not previously charged through the profit and loss account
the results and cash flow relating to a business are included in the consolidated income statement and the consolidated cash flow statement from 
the date of acquisition or up to the date of disposal
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
goodwill is recognised as an asset and reviewed for impairment at least annually
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
where the amount of purchase consideration is contingent on one or more future events the cost of acquisition includes a reasonable estimate of 
the fair value of amounts expected to be payable in the future the cost of acquisition is adjusted when revised deferred consideration estimates are 
made with consequential adjustments continuing to be made to goodwill until the ultimate deferred consideration is known
on disposal of a subsidiary the attributable amount of goodwill is included in the determination of the profit and loss on disposal
goodwill arising on acquisition before the date of transition to ifrss has been retained at the previous uk gaap amounts subject to being tested 
for impairment at that date
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 if any an intangible asset with an indefinite useful life is tested for impairment annually and whenever 
there is an indication that the asset may be impaired
the recoverable amount is the higher of fair value less costs to sell and the 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 unless the relevant asset 
is carried at a revalued amount in which case the impairment loss is treated as a revaluation decrease
where an impairment loss subsequently reverses the carrying amount of the asset or 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 or cashgenerating unit in prior years a reversal of an impairment loss is recognised as 
income immediately unless the relevant asset is carried at a revalued amount in which case the reversal of the impairment loss is treated as a 
revaluation increase
notes to the financial statements tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         59
 business review             governance            financial statements
1 accounting policies continued
business systems
in accordance with ias 38 the group’s business systems are treated as an intangible asset costs included are those directly attributable to the 
design construction and testing of new systems including major enhancements from the point of inception to the point of satisfactory completion 
namely where the probable future economic benefits arising from the investment could be assessed with reasonable certainty at the time the costs 
are incurred maintenance and minor modifications are expensed against the income statement as incurred
internally generated intangible assets – research and development costs
expenditure on research activities is recognised as an expense in the period in which it is incurred
an internally generated intangible asset arising from the group’s product development is recognised only if all of the following conditions are met
an asset is created that can be identified ■
it is probable that the asset created will generate future economic benefits and ■
the development costs of the asset can be measured reliably ■
internally generated intangible assets are amortised on a straightline basis over their useful lives where no internally generated intangible asset can 
be recognised development expenditure is recognised as an expense in the period in which it is incurred
property plant and equipment
property plant and equipment are stated at cost net of depreciation and any recognised impairment loss depreciation is charged so as to write off the 
cost of each asset other than properties in the course of construction by equal installments over their estimated useful economic lives as follows
freehold – over 50 years
leasehold – life of the lease
fixtures fittings and other equipment – 15 to 33
assets held under finance lease are depreciated over their expected useful lives on the same basis as owned assets or where shorter over the term 
of the relevant lease
leases
assets acquired under finance leases are capitalised 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 outstanding future lease obligations are shown in the balance sheet as a finance lease obligation the 
finance charges are allocated over the period of the lease in proportion to the capital amount outstanding and are charged directly against income
operating lease rentals are charged against income on a straight line basis over the period of the lease
benefits received and receivable as an incentive to enter into an operating lease are spread on a straightline basis over the lease term
borrowing costs
borrowing costs directly attributable to the construction of qualifying assets and longterm contract costs are capitalised as part of the cost of those 
assets the commencement of capitalisation begins when both finance costs and expenditures for the asset are being incurred and activities that 
are necessary to get the assets ready for use are in progress capitalisation ceases when substantially all the activities that are necessary to get the 
asset ready for use are complete all other borrowing costs are recognised in income or expense in the period in which they are incurred
investment properties
investment property which is property held to earn rentals andor capital appreciation is stated at its fair value at the balance sheet date gains or 
losses arising from changes to the fair value of investment property are included in income or expense for the period in which they arise
investments
investments are initially measured at cost including transaction costs investments are classified as either heldfortrading or availableforsale they 
are measured at subsequent reporting dates at cost where they relate to unquoted equity investments where fair value cannot be reliably measured 
and at fair value otherwise
inventories
inventories are stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value cost comprises materials direct labour and a share of production overheads 
appropriate to the relevant stage of production net realisable value is based on estimated selling price less all further costs to completion and all 
relevant marketing selling and distribution costs
contract costs
longterm contracts balances represent costs incurred on specific contracts net of amounts transferred to cost of sales in respect of work recorded 
as revenue less foreseeable losses and payments on account not matched with revenue contract work in progress is recognised as revenue by 
reference to the value of work carried out to date
profits are recognised on longterm contracts where the final outcome can be assessed with reasonable certainty in calculating this the percentage of 
completion method is used to calculate the profit based upon the proportion of costs incurred to the total estimated costs cost includes direct staff 
outlays and an appropriate proportion of overheads full provision is made for all known losses immediately such losses are forecast on each contract 60         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
 business review             governance            financial statements
notes to the financial statements
1 accounting policies continued
amounts recoverable on contracts are valued at the proportion of the anticipated net sales value of the work done to date including uncertified 
amounts where the directors have satisfied themselves that entitlement has been established less billed on account advance payments are 
included in creditors to the extent that they exceed the related work in progress
exceptional items
exceptional items are material items which derive from events or transactions that fall within the ordinary activities of the group and which 
individually or if of a similar type in aggregate need to be disclosed by virtue of their size of incidence if the financial statements are to give a true 
and fair view
retirement benefit costs
the group operates various defined contribution pension schemes that are established in accordance with employment terms set by the subsidiary 
undertakings the assets of these schemes are held separately from those of the group in independently administered funds the amount charged 
against profits represents the contributions payable to the scheme in respect of the accounting period
as a consequence of certain acquisitions a small number of employees participate in various defined benefit schemes the expected cost of 
providing benefits is determined using the projected unit credit method with actuarial valuations being carried out at each balance sheet date 
actuarial gains and losses are recognised in full in the period in which they occur in the statement of recognised income and expense
past service cost is recognised immediately to the extent that the benefits are already vested and otherwise is amortised on a straightline basis 
over the average period until the benefits vest
the retirement benefit obligation recognised in the balance sheet represents the present value of the defined benefit obligation as adjusted for 
unrecognised past service cost and as reduced by the fair value of scheme assets any asset resulting from this calculation is limited to past 
service cost plus the present value of available refunds and reductions in future contributions to the plan
government grants
government grants are recognised over the periods necessary to match them with the related costs and are deducted in reporting the related expense
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
operating profit
operating profit is stated before investment revenues and finance costs
sharebased payments
the group has applied the requirements of ifrs 2 ‘sharebased payment’ to all grants of equity instruments after 7 november 2002 that were 
unvested as of 1 april 2005 the group issues equitysettled sharebased payments to certain employees equity settled share based payments 
are measured at fair value at the date of grant this is expensed on a straightline basis over the vesting periods of the instruments based on the 
group’s estimate of the number of shares that will vest
fair value is measured by use of a stochastic model which produces similar results to blackscholes model but is also able to value the options 
subject to market based performance conditions there is no effective liability in relation to national insurance on share options at the year end as 
the company has obtained tax indemnities from employees in relation to employers’ national insurance
tax
the tax expense represents the sum of the tax currently payable and deferred tax
current tax is provided at amounts expected to be paid or recovered using the tax rates and laws that have been enacted or substantially enacted 
by the balance sheet date
deferred tax is the tax expected to be payable or recoverable on differences between the carrying values 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 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
the carrying value 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 in 
the income statement is charged or credited except when it relates to items charged or credited directly to equity in which case the deferred tax is 
also dealt with in equity
deferred tax assets and liabilities are offset when there is a legally enforceable right to set off current tax assets against current tax liabilities and when 
they relate to income taxes levied by the same taxation authority and the group intends to settle its current tax assets and liabilities on a net basis  tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         61
 business review             governance            financial statements
1 accounting policies continued
financial instruments
financial assets and financial liabilities are recognised in the group’s balance sheet when the group becomes a party to the contractual provisions 
of the instrument
financial assets
investments are recognised and derecognised on a trade date where the purchase or sale of an investment is under a contract whose terms require 
delivery of the investment within the timeframe established by the market concerned and are initially measured at fair value plus transaction costs 
except for those financial assets classified through profit or loss which are initially measured at fair value 
financial assets are classified into the following specified categories financial assets ‘at fair value through profit or loss’ fvtpl ‘heldtomaturity’ 
investments ‘availableforsale’ afs financial assets and ‘loans and receivables’ the classification depends on the nature and purpose of the 
financial assets and is determined at the time of initial recognition
for fair value hedges the change in the fair value of the hedging instrument and hedged item as well as any ineffectiveness arising in cash flow 
hedges are disclosed with other gains and losses
the group does not currently hold any heldtomaturity investments or available for sale financial assets
effective interest method
the effective interest method is a method of calculating the amortised cost of a financial asset and of allocating interest income over the relevant 
period the effective rate is the rate that exactly discounts estimated future cash receipts including all fees on points paid or received that form an 
integral part of the effective interest rate transaction costs and other premiums or discounts through the expected life of a financial asset or where 
appropriate a shorter period
interest is recognised on an effective interest basis for debt instruments other than those financial assets designated as at fvtpl
financial liabilities
financial liabilities are classified as either financial liabilities ‘at fvtpl’ or ‘other financial liabilities’
other financial liabilities
other financial liabilities including borrowings are initially measured at fair value net of transaction costs other financial liabilities are subsequently 
measured at amortised cost using the effective interest rate method with interest expense recognised on an effective yield basis the effective 
interest method is a method of calculating the amortised cost of a financial liability and of allocating interest expense over the relevant period  
the effective interest rate is the rate that exactly discounts estimated future cash payments through the expected life of the financial liability or 
where appropriate a shorter period
financial assetsliabilities at fvtpl
financial assetsliabilities are classified as at fvtpl where the financial assetliability is either held for trading or it is designated as at fvtpl
a financial assetliability is classified as held for trading if
it has been acquiredincurred principally for the purpose of sellingdisposal in the near future or  ■
it is part of an identified portfolio of financial instruments that the group manages together and has a recent actual pattern of shortterm profit ■
taking or
it is a derivative that is not designated and effective as a hedging instrument ■
a financial assetliability other than a financial assetliability held for trading may be designated as a fvtpl upon initial recognition if
such designation eliminates or significantly reduces a measurement or recognition inconsistency that would otherwise arise or ■
the financial assetliability forms part of a group of financial assets or liabilities or both which is managed and its performance is evaluated on a  ■
fair value basis in accordance with the group’s documented risk management or investment strategy and the information about the group is 
provided internally on that basis or
it forms a part of a contract containing one or more embedded derivatives and ias 39 ‘financial instruments recognition and measurement’  ■
permits the entire combined contract asset or liability to be designated at fvtpl
financial assetsliabilities at fvtpl are stated at fair value with any resultant gain or loss recognised in profit or loss the net gain or loss 
recognised in profit or loss incorporates any dividend or interest earnedpaid on the financial assetliability fair value is determined in the manner 
described in note 38
loans and receivables
trade receivables loans and other receivables that have fixed or determinable payments that are not quoted in an active market are classified as 
loans and receivables loans and receivables are measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method less any impairment interest 
income is recognised by applying the effective interest rate except for shortterm receivables when the recognition of interest would be immaterial 62         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
 business review             governance            financial statements
notes to the financial statements
1 accounting policies continued
impairment of financial assets
financial assets other than those at fvtpl are assessed for indicators of impairment at each balance sheet date financial assets are impaired 
where there is objective evidence that as a result of one or more events that occurred after the initial recognition of the financial asset the estimated 
future cash flows of the investment have been impacted
for certain categories of financial asset such as trade receivables assets that are assessed not to be impaired individually are subsequently 
assessed for impairment on a collective basis objective evidence of impairment for a portfolio of receivables could include the group’s past 
experience of collecting payments as well as observable changes in national or local economic conditions that correlate with default on receivables
the carrying amount of the financial asset is reduced by the impairment loss directly for all financial assets with the exception of trade receivables 
where the carrying amount is reduced through the use of an allowance account when a trade receivable is considered uncollectible it is written off 
against the allowance account subsequent recoveries of amounts previously written off are credited against the allowance account changes in the 
carrying amount of the allowance account are recognised in profit or loss
with the exception of afs equity instruments if in a subsequent period the amount of the impairment loss decreases and the decrease can be 
related objectively to an event occurring after the impairment was recognised the previously recognised impairment loss is reversed through profit 
or loss to the extent that the carrying amount of the investment at the date the impairment is reversed does not exceed what the amortised cost 
would have been had the impairment not been recognised
in respect of afs equity securities impairment losses previously recognised through profit or loss are not reversed through profit or loss  
any increase in fair value subsequent to an impairment loss is recognised directly in equity
cash cash equivalents and collateralised cash
cash comprises cash in hand and deposits repayable on demand less overdrafts payable on demand these instruments are readily convertible to 
a known amount of cash and are subject to an insignificant risk of change in value
collateralised cash comprises funds reserved for financial guarantee contracts and are carried at fair value
derecognition of financial assets
the group derecognises a financial asset only when the contractual rights to the cash flows from the assets expire or it transfers the financial 
asset and substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership of the asset to another entity if the group neither transfers nor retains substantially 
all the risks and rewards of ownership and continues to control the transferred asset the group recognises its retained interest in the asset and an 
associated liability for amounts it may have to pay if the group retains substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership of a transferred financial 
asset the group continues to recognise the financial asset and also recognises a collateralised borrowing for the proceeds received
financial liabilities and equity
financial liabilities and equity instruments are classified according to the substance of the contractual arrangements entered into
equity instruments
an equity instrument is any contract that evidences a residual interest in the assets of the group after deducting all of its liabilities equity 
instruments issued by the group are recorded at the proceeds received net of direct issued costs
derecognition of financial liabilities 
the group derecognises financial liabilities when and only when the group’s obligations are discharged cancelled or they expire
shares to be issued
in accordance with ias 32 ‘financial instruments disclosure and presentation’ shares to be issued are recognised as a financial liability as they 
relate to obligations to settle acquisition related deferred consideration in tribal group plc shares the number of shares to be issued will vary 
depending upon the share price at the date of settlement
derivative financial instruments
the group’s activities expose it primarily to the financial risks of changes in interest rates the group uses interest rate swap contracts to manage 
this exposure
the use of financial derivatives is governed by the group’s policies approved by the board which provides written principles on the use of financial 
derivatives further details of derivative financial instruments are disclosed in note 38 to the financial statements
derivatives are initially recognised at fair value at the date a derivative contract is entered into and are subsequently remeasured to their fair value at 
each balance sheet date the resulting gain or loss is recognised in profit or loss immediately unless the derivative is designated and effective as a 
hedging instrument in which event the timing of the recognition in profit or loss depends on the nature of the hedge relationship
a derivative is presented as a noncurrent asset or a noncurrent liability if the remaining maturity of the instrument is more than 12 months and it is 
not expected to be realised or settled within 12 months other derivatives are presented as current assets or current liabilities 
hedge accounting
the group designates certain hedging instruments as cash flow hedges at the inception of the hedge relationship the entity documents the 
relationship between the hedging instrument and the hedged item along with its risk management objectives and its strategy for undertaking 
various hedge transactions furthermore at the inception of the hedge and on an ongoing basis the group documents whether the hedging 
instrument that is used in a hedging relationship is highly effective in offsetting changes in the cash flows of the hedging item
note 38 sets out the details of the fair values of the derivative instruments used for hedging purposes movements in the hedging reserve in equity 
are also detailed in note 30 tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         63
 business review             governance            financial statements
1 accounting policies continued
cash flow hedge
the effective portion of changes in the fair value of derivatives that are designated and qualify as cash flow hedges are deferred in equity  
the gain or loss relating to the ineffective portion is recognised immediately in profit or loss and is included in the ‘other gains and losses’ line  
of the income statement
amounts deferred in equity are recycled in profit or loss in the periods when the hedged item is recognised in profit or loss in the same line of the 
income statement as the recognised hedged item however when the forecast transaction that is hedged results in the recognition of a nonfinancial 
asset or a nonfinancial liability the gains and losses previously deferred in equity are transferred from equity and included in the initial measurement 
of the cost of the asset or liability
hedge accounting is discontinued when the group revokes the hedging relationship the hedging instrument expires or is sold terminated 
or exercised or no longer qualifies for hedge accounting any cumulative gain or loss deferred in equity at that time remains in equity and is 
recognised when the forecast transaction is ultimately recognised in profit or loss when a forecast transaction is no longer expected to occur the 
cumulative gain or loss that was deferred in equity is recognised immediately in profit or loss
2 critical accounting judgements
in the process of applying the group’s accounting policies which are described in note 1 management have made the following judgements that 
have the most significant effect on the amounts recognised in the financial statements
goodwill
the carrying value of goodwill at the year end is £2098m 2007 £1870m an annual impairment review is required under ifrs 3 ‘business 
combinations’ involving judgement of the future cash flows for cash generating units the group prepares such cash flow forecasts derived from 
the most recent budgets approved by management for the next two years further details of the other assumptions used are given in note 15
revenue recognition
the group’s revenue recognition policies are disclosed in note 1 in some cases judgement is required in order to determine the appropriate level of 
income to recognise where delivery of services is performed over time or where the basis of delivery may vary from the contractually agreed terms
tax
there are a number of tax related risks associated with computations still open to enquiry and certain issues arising from the operation and sale of 
the group’s healthcare business judgement is required to determine the level of provision held against these risks
3 revenue
an analysis of the group’s revenue is as follows
  year  nine months 
  ended  ended 
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
continuing operations
sales of services   233990 153299
investment revenues  586 1119
total revenue  234576 154418
 
sales of goods are not material and are therefore not shown separately
4 business segments
the group is currently organised into three business segments – consulting education and support services
principal activities are as follows
consulting –  one of the largest consultancy businesses operating in the public sector providing a broad range of management 
consultancy services
education –  one of the largest providers of education services to the public sector including software managed services school 
inspection services consultancy benchmarking elearning publishing and training
support services –  support services businesses largely operating in the public sector providing a range of pr advertising and communications 
resourcing and architectural design services
from 1 january 2008 the group transferred certain business units between its business segments to realign with its revised reporting structure 
accordingly the business segment information for the nine months ended 31 december 2007 has been restated to reflect the transfers as a result 
there has been an adjustment to intersegment sales the impact of these transfers is not material  64         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
 business review             governance            financial statements
4 business segments continued
year ended 31 december 2008
   support
 consulting education services eliminations consolidated
 31 december  31 december 31 december 31 december 31 december
 2008 2008 2008 2008 2008
 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
revenue
external sales 84805 95798 53387 – 233990
intersegment sales 386 610 890 1886 –
total revenue 85191 96408 54277 1886 233990
segment operating profit 8250 14303 4861 – 27414
unallocated corporate expenses     7591
adjusted operating profit     19823
amortisation of ifrs 3 intangibles     556
operating profit     19267
investment revenues     586
other gains and losses     66
finance costs     1835
profit before tax     17952
t ax      4810
profit for the year from discontinued operations     1211
profit after tax and discontinued operations     14353
 
intersegment sales are charged at prevailing market prices    
balance sheet information
   support
 consulting education services unallocated consolidated
 31 december  31 december 31 december 31 december 31 december
 2008 2008 2008 2008 2008
 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
assets
segment assets 120929 94973 69582 24169 309653
liabilities      
segment liabilities 21554 30396 22441 39859 114250
other segment information      
capital additions 20669 2467 2365 1959 27460
depreciation amortisation and impairment 1072 2553 891 577 5093
 
notes to the financial statements tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         65
 business review             governance            financial statements
4 business segments continued
nine months ended 31 december 2007
   support
 consulting education services eliminations consolidated
 31 december  31 december 31 december 31 december 31 december
 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007
 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
revenue
external sales 48865 66608 37826 – 153299
intersegment sales 178 904 792 1874 –
total revenue 49043 67512 38618 1874 153299
segment operating profit 3854 8899 2877 – 15630
unallocated corporate expenses     4457
adjusted operating profit     11173
amortisation of ifrs 3 intangibles     240
goodwill impairment     9000
operating profit     1933
investment revenues     1119
other gains and losses     126
finance costs     1742
profit before tax     1184
t ax      3002
profit for the period from discontinued operations     27254
profit after tax and discontinued operations     25436
 
intersegment sales are charged at prevailing market prices
balance sheet information
   support
 consulting education services unallocated consolidated
 31 december  31 december 31 december 31 december 31 december
 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007
 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
assets
segment assets 88833 95717 73035 22365 279950
liabilities      
segment liabilities 14810 30397 18818 34683 98708
other segment information      
capital additions 799 5825 284 1209 8117
depreciation amortisation and impairment 518 1857 9663 533 12571
 
the group’s operations are primarily undertaken in the united kingdom the group has a subsidiary in south africa together with branch operations 
in new zealand and south africa these operations represent less than 10 of the revenue and net assets of the group and hence no secondary 
business segment by geography is presented 66         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
 business review             governance            financial statements
5 profit for the period
  year  nine months 
  ended  ended 
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
profit for the period is stated after chargingcrediting
depreciation and other amounts written off property plant and equipment   
 owned  3149 2293
 leased  – 3
staff costs see note 7  104888 72504
amortisation of acquired ifrs 3 intangible assets  556 240
amortisation of business systems  254 99
goodwill impairment  – 9000
cost of inventories recognised as an expense  947 494
write down of inventories recognised as an expense  47 54
impairment loss recognised on trade receivables  663 467
research and development expenditure  79 296
amortisation of development costs  1134 936
grant income received  2978 1624
 
the analysis of auditors’ remuneration is as follows
  year  nine months 
  ended  ended 
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
fees payable to the company’s auditors for the audit of the company’s annual report  96 93
fees payable to the company’s auditors and their associates for the other services to the group   
 – the audit of the company’s subsidiaries pursuant to legislation  171 161
 – the review of interim results  26 25
t otal audit fees  293 279
 – tax services  115 122
 – corporate finance services  170 –
 – other services  23 –
t otal nonaudit fees  308 122
t otal auditors’ remuneration  601 401
 
fees payable to deloitte and their associates for nonaudit services to the company are not required to be disclosed because the consolidated 
financial statements are required to disclose such fees on a consolidated basis
included within tax services payable to the auditors are tax compliance fees of £92000 nine months ended 31 december 2007 £68000  
tax advisory fees of £17000 nine months ended 31 december 2007 £46000 and vat advice of £6000 nine months ended 31 december 2007 
£8000
corporate finance services include fees as reporting accountants of £170000 nine months ended 31 december 2007 £nil of which £95000  
nine months ended 31 december 2007 £nil has been capitalised as part of the cost of acquisitions see page 44 for group policy on use of 
auditors for nonaudit work
notes to the financial statements tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         67
 business review             governance            financial statements
6 remuneration of directors
  year  nine months 
  ended  ended 
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
directors’ emoluments  1113 1306
 
included within directors’ emoluments are pension costs of £59000 nine months ended 31 december 2007 £46000 in respect of payments made 
to two nine months ended 31 december 2007 three directors’ individual defined contribution pension schemes
disclosures on directors’ remuneration share options longterm incentive schemes and pension contributions are contained in the ‘directors’ 
remuneration’ section within the audited part of the remuneration report and form part of these audited financial statements
7 staff numbers and costs
the average number of persons employed by the group including executive directors during the period was as follows
 continuing operations
  year  nine months 
  ended  ended 
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   no no
selling operations and marketing  1752 1670
finance and administration  319 337
  2071 2007
 
the aggregate payroll costs of these persons were as follows
 continuing operations
  year  nine months 
  ended  ended 
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
wages and salaries  89045 61404
social security costs  9745 6927
pension costs  5247 3684
share option costs  851 489
  104888 72504
 
8 investment revenues
 continuing operations
  year  nine months 
  ended  ended 
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
interest on bank deposits  373 448
other interest receivable  213 671
  586 1119
  68         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
 business review             governance            financial statements
9 other gains and losses
 continuing operations
  year  nine months 
  ended  ended 
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
change in the fair value of derivatives which are classified as held for trading  109 62
hedge ineffectiveness in the cash flow hedges  175 188
  66 126
 
no other gains or losses have been recognised in respect of loans and receivables other than as disclosed in note 8 and impairment losses 
recognisedreversed in respect of trade receivables see note 5 and 20
10 finance costs
 continuing operations
  year  nine months 
  ended  ended 
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
finance charges   
interest on bank overdrafts and loans  1717 1666
interest on loan notes  29 30
interest on obligation under finance leases  – 1
net interest payable on retirement benefit obligations  17 2
total borrowing costs  1763 1699
financial instruments   
discounting charge for deferred consideration  72 43
  1835 1742
 
11 tax
 continuing operations
  year  nine months 
  ended  ended 
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
current tax
 uk corporation tax  5975 3358
 adjustments in respect of prior periods  632 517
   5343 2841
deferred tax   
 current year  533 161
t ax charge on profits  4810 3002
the charge for the period can be reconciled to the profit per the income statement as follows    
 profit before tax  17952 1184
 t ax charge at standard rate of 285 2007 30  5116 355
 effects of   
 intangible amortisation and impairment  – 2726
 expenses not deductible for tax purposes  250 291
 adjustments in respect of prior periods  632 517
 sharebased payments and discounting charges  76 147
 t ax expense for the period  4810 3002
 
in addition to the amount charged to the income statement a deferred tax credit of £423000 nine months ended 31 december 2007 £67000 has 
been taken directly to equity see consolidated statement of recognised income and expense on page 56
notes to the financial statements tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         69
 business review             governance            financial statements
12 dividends
  year  nine months 
  ended  ended 
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
amounts recognised as distributions to equity holders in the period   
interim dividend for the nine months ended 31 december 2007 of 115 pence per share  966 –    
final dividend for the nine months ended 31 december 2007 of 18 pence  
year ended 31 march 2007 242 pence per share  1511 2031
interim dividend for the year ended 31 december 2008 of 17 pence per share  1480 –    
  3957 2031
proposed final dividend for the year ended 31 december 2008 of 265 pence  
nine months ended 31 december 2007 18 pence per share  2425 1530
 
the interim dividend for 2008 was approved by the board on 19 august 2008 and was paid on 24 october 2008 to ordinary shareholders who were 
on the register on 26 september 2008
the proposed final dividend is subject to approval by shareholders at the annual general meeting and has not been included as a liability in these 
financial statements 
13 discontinued operations
the group disposed of its healthcare delivery business mercury health to care uk on 20 april 2007 at a profit of £27m its results are presented in 
the consolidated income statement as discontinued operations
as indicated in note 2 various tax issues have been or remain open in respect of the sale of the group’s healthcare business in the year ended 
31 december 2008 we report a profit of £12m in the consolidated income statement which relates to the release of tax provisions arising from the 
closure of the march 2006 computations by hmrc a proportion of our claim for additional group relief surrendered by mercury health at no cost to 
tribal and the release of other related provisions which are no longer required
in march 2009 we received a notification from care uk that it may challenge the basis on which the corporation tax group relief claim for the  
year ended 31 march 2007 was made the directors have made adequate provision for this when determining the reported result from the 
discontinued operations 
14 earnings per share
earnings per share and diluted earnings per share are calculated by reference to a weighted average number of ordinary shares calculated as follows
  year  nine months 
  ended  ended 
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   thousands thousands
weighted average number of shares outstanding   
basic weighted average number of shares in issue  86358 84741
employee share options  101 73
weighted average number of shares outstanding for dilution calculations  86459 84814
  70         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
 business review             governance            financial statements
14 earnings per share continued
the adjusted basic and adjusted diluted earnings per share figures shown on the consolidated income statement on page 53 are included as the 
directors believe that they provide a better understanding of the underlying trading performance of the group a reconciliation of how these figures 
are calculated is set out below
   year ended nine months ended
   31 december 2008 31 december 2007
from continuing operations  earnings  loss earnings
   earnings per share earnings per share
   £’000 pence £’000 pence
basic and adjusted basic earningsloss per share
profitloss and basic earningsloss per share 12232 141p 2220 26p
adjustments
goodwill impairment – – 9000 106p
amortisation of ifrs 3 intangibles net of tax 400 05p 173 02p
financial instruments net charge net of tax 99 01p 133 02p
adjusted earnings and adjusted basic earnings per share 12731 147p 7086 84p
diluted and adjusted diluted earningsloss per share 
profitloss and diluted earningsloss per share 12232 141p 2220 26p
adjustments
goodwill impairment – – 9000 106p
amortisation of ifrs 3 intangibles net of tax 400 05p 173 02p
financial instruments net charge net of tax 99 01p 133 02p
adjusted earnings and adjusted diluted earnings per share 12731 147p 7086 84p
 
the profit of £12232000 nine months ended 31 december 2007 loss £2220000 is arrived after deducting the minority interest charge of 
£910000 nine months ended 31 december 2007 £402000 from the profit for the period from continuing operations of £13142000 nine months 
ended 31 december 2007 loss £1818000
   year ended nine months ended
   31 december 2008 31 december 2007
from continuing and discontinued operations  earnings  earnings
   earnings per share earnings per share
   £’000 pence £’000 pence
basic and adjusted basic earnings per share
profit and basic earnings per share 13443 155p 25034 295p
adjustments    
goodwill impairment – – 9000 106p
amortisation of ifrs 3 intangibles net of tax 400 05p 173 02p
profit from discontinued operations 1211 14p 27217 321p
financial instrument net charge net of tax 99 01p 133 02p
adjusted earnings and adjusted basic earnings per share 12731 147p 7123 84p
diluted and adjusted diluted earnings per share
profit and diluted earnings per share 13443 155p 25034 295p
adjustments    
goodwill impairment – – 9000 106p
amortisation of ifrs 3 intangibles net of tax 400 05p 173 02p
profit from discontinued operations 1211 14p 27217 321p
financial instrument net charge net of tax 99 01p 133 02p
adjusted earnings and adjusted diluted earnings per share 12731 147p 7123 84p
 
notes to the financial statements tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         71
 business review             governance            financial statements
15 goodwill
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
cost
at beginning of period  238122 234230
additions – including minority interests  22079 4183
disposal of subsidiary  225 168
revisions to prior periods  920 123
at end of period  260896 238122
accumulated impairment losses
at beginning of period  51131 42131
impairment charge  – 9000
at end of period  51131 51131
net book value
at end of period  209765 186991
at beginning of period  186991 192099
 
additions to goodwill during the period relates to the acquisitions of helm corporation the master planning and urban design team from  
llewelyn davies yeang rse consulting mustoes and westhill consulting and the purchase of minority interests see note 36 
revisions to prior periods relate to a change in estimate of the deferred consideration paid on the acquisition of the remainder of the share capital in 
sportsvine holdings limited 
goodwill acquired in a business combination is allocated at acquisition to the cashgenerating units cgus that are expected to benefit from the 
business combination the carrying amount of goodwill has been allocated as follows
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
support services –
 communications  19168 17677
 architectural design  17636 17606
 resourcing  12614 12614
  49418 47897
consulting   88665 68835
education  71682 70259
  209765 186991
 
the carrying amount of goodwill by business stream as at 31 december 2007 has been restated due to the group transferring certain business 
units between its business segments
the group tests goodwill annually for impairment or more frequently if there are indications that goodwill might be impaired
the recoverable amounts of the cgus are determined from value in use calculations the key assumptions for the value in use calculations are those 
regarding the discount rates growth rates and expected changes to selling prices and direct costs during the period the assumptions made reflect a 
more cautious view in the current economic climate 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 the growth rates are based on internal budgets in the shortterm and general market 
rates thereafter changes in selling prices and direct costs are based on past practices and expectations of future changes in the market
the group has conducted a sensitivity analyses on the impairment of each cgu’s value as noted below current forecasts assume growth in all 
cgus the directors do not consider negative growth to be “reasonably possible” however if there were to be low levels of negative growth this 
may have an impact on the carrying value of goodwill for certain cgus 
the group prepares cash flow forecasts derived from the most recent financial budgets approved by management for the next two years and 
extrapolates cash flows for two further years at 4 and into perpetuity based on an estimated growth rate of 25 this rate does not exceed the 
average longterm growth rate for the relevant markets
the rate used to discount the forecast cash flow is 762 72         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
 business review             governance            financial statements
16 other intangible assets
   business  development business
   combinations costs systems total
   £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
cost
at 1 april 2007 2204 4134 547 6885
additions – 838 905 1743
disposals – 18 – 18
at 1 january 2008  2204   4954 1452 8610
additions – 1031 753 1784
acquired on acquisition of subsidiaries 3651 – – 3651
disposals – 457 – 457
at 31 december 2008 5855 5528 2205 13588
amortisation     
at 1 april 2007 958 1895 246 3099
charge for the period 240 936 99 1275
disposals – 18 – 18
at 1 january 2008    1198 2813 345 4356
charge for the year 556 1134 254 1944
disposals – 452 – 452
at 31 december 2008 1754 3495 599 5848
carrying amount
at 31 december 2008 4101 2033     1606 7740
at 31 december 2007 1006 2141 1107 4254
at 31 march 2007 1246 2239 301 3786
 
in accordance with ifrs 3 the intangible assets acquired on business combinations comprise software maintenance revenue trading relationships 
intellectual property and contract pipeline they are amortised over their estimated useful lives which on average is five years
the amortisation period for development costs incurred on the group’s software development and product development is two to three years based 
on the expected life cycle of the product
the group’s corporate business systems software is amortised over an average five years from the date it first comes into use
notes to the financial statements tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         73
 business review             governance            financial statements
17 property plant and equipment
    fixtures
    fittings assets in the
 investment freehold leasehold and other course of
 property buildings buildings  equipment construction total
 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
cost or valuation
at 1 april 2007 200 – 41500 20060 16 61776
additions – – 371 1820 – 2191
disposals – – 36815 5978 16 42809
at 1 january 2008 200 – 5056 15902 – 21158
additions – – 1238 2359 – 3597
acquired on acquisition of subsidiaries – 1263 – 177 – 1440
disposals – – 804 4656 – 5460
at 31 december 2008 200 1263 5490 13782 – 20735
depreciation      
at 1 april 2007 – – 3614 13106 – 16720
charge for the period – – 460 1836 – 2296
disposals – – 2017 3204 – 5221
at 1 january 2008 – – 2057 11738 – 13795
charge for the year – 16 555 2578 – 3149
disposals – – 702 4610 – 5312
at 31 december 2008 – 16 1910 9706 – 11632
net book value
at 31 december 2008 200 1247 3580 4076 – 9103
at 31 december 2007 200 – 2999 4164 – 7363
at 31 march 2007 200 – 37886 6954 16 45056
 
the fair value of the group’s investment property at 31 december 2008 has been arrived at on the basis of a valuation carried out at that date by 
bernard marcus independent valuers not connected with the group the valuation was arrived at by reference to market evidence of transaction 
prices for similar properties
the property rental income earned by the group from its investment property all of which is leased out under operating leases amounted to £9000 
nine months ended 31 december 2007 £7000 direct operating expenses arising on the investment property in the period amounted to £9000 
nine months ended 31 december 2007 £4000
18 investments
available for sale investments carried at fair value  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
cost   
at beginning of period  157 149
additions  – 8
disposals  150 –
at end of period  7 157
 
the directors have considered the value of the above investments and are satisfied that the aggregate value of the investments is not less than their 
carrying value the results of associates are excluded as they are not material to the results of the group 74         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
 business review             governance            financial statements
19 inventories
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
work in progress  121 176
finished goods and goods for resale  680 879
  801 1055
20 trade and other receivables
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
amount receivable from sale of services  50924 46424
allowance for doubtful debts  1196 766
  49728 45658
other receivables  954 400
prepayments and accrued income  15508 16268
  66190 62326
 
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 related to its trade receivables the credit risk on liquid funds and derivative financial instruments is limited 
because the counterparties are banks with high credit ratings assigned by international credit rating agencies
trade receivables
the average credit terms on sale of services is 30 days in certain cases interest is charged on trade receivables after the first 30 days from the date 
of invoice in these cases a surcharge of 4 is made on the outstanding balances
the group sells the majority of its services to the public sector and as such there is a very low incidence of default all overdue debts are assessed 
on an individual basis and a provision for irrecoverable amounts is determined by reference to specific circumstances and past default experience 
as a precaution and as a result of the sharp slowdown in the uk economy we have significantly increased our allowance for doubtful debts 
included in the group’s trade receivable balance are debtors with a carrying amount of £182m 2007 £173m which are past due at the reporting 
date and which have not been impaired as there has not been a significant change in the credit quality and the group believes that the amounts are 
still recoverable the group does not hold any collateral over these balances
the average age of these receivables is 48 days 2007 47 days
ageing of past due but not impaired receivables
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
3060 days  12393 10319
6090 days  3819 3577
90120 days  690 1573
120 days  1345 1807
t otal  18247 17276
 
movement in the allowance for doubtful debts
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
balance at the beginning of the period  766 705
amounts written off during the period  194 237
amounts recovered during the period  39 169
recognised in the income statement  663 467
balance at end of period  1196 766
notes to the financial statements tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         75
 business review             governance            financial statements
20 trade and other receivables continued
in determining the recoverability of a trade receivable the group considers any change in the credit quality of the trade receivable from the date the 
credit was initially granted up to the reporting date the group’s credit risk is relatively low because a high proportion of trade or other receivables 
have sovereign or close to sovereign credit rating accordingly the directors believe that there is no further credit provision required in excess of the 
allowance for doubtful debts
ageing of impaired trade receivables
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
3060 days  69 14
6090 days  71 16
90120 days  199 195
120 days  857 541
t otal  1196 766
 
the directors consider that the carrying amount of trade and other receivables approximates their fair value
21 cash and cash equivalents
cash and cash equivalents of £139m 2007 £160m comprise cash held by the group and shortterm bank deposits with an original maturity of 
three months or less the carrying amount of these assets approximates their fair value
of the above balance £20m 2007 £32m represents funds restricted in use by the relevant commercial terms of certain trading contracts
22 derivative financial instruments
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
noncurrent assets
interest rate swaps that are designated and effective as hedging instruments carried at fair value  – 160
financial assets carried at fair value through profit or loss fvtpl  – 18
  – 178
 
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
current liabilities
financial liabilities carried at fair value through profit or loss fvtpl  188 –
 
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
noncurrent liabilities
interest rate swaps that are designated and effective as hedging instruments carried at fair value  809 –
 
the fall in libor rates to under 3 has had a significant impact on the value of the interest rate swaps which are fixed at a higher rate
further details of derivative financial instruments are provided in note 38 76         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
 business review             governance            financial statements
23 trade and other payables
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
trade payables  19832 18441
other taxation and social security  6183 8603
other payables  3947 6306
accruals and deferred income  37368 31114
deferred cash consideration  1126 2954
  68456 67418
 
the average credit period taken for trade purchases is 35 days 2007 43 days
for most suppliers no interest is charged on the trade payables for the first 30 days from the date of invoice thereafter interest is charged on the 
outstanding balances at various interest rates the group has financial risk management policies in place to ensure that all payables are paid within 
a reasonable timeframe
the directors consider that the carrying amount of trade and other payables approximates to their fair value
24 bank loans and loan notes
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
bank loans   32894 22098
loan notes  662 876
  33556 22974
 
maturity of bank loans and loan notes
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
bank loans and loan notes can be analysed as falling due  
on demand or within one year  662 876
in the third to fifth years inclusive  32894 22098
  33556 22974
 
the bank arrangements are all denominated in uk sterling 
  floating   floating
  fixed rate rate total fixed rate rate t otal
 31 december  31 december 31 december 31 december 31 december 31 december
 2008 2008 2008 2007 2007 2007
 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
bank loans 25000 7894 32894 22098 – 22098
loan notes – 662 662 – 876 876
t otal  25000 8556 33556 22098 876 22974
notes to the financial statements tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         77
 business review             governance            financial statements
24 bank loans and loan notes continued
the weighted average interest rates paid were as follows
  31 december 31 december
   2008 2007
bank loans  62 70
loan notes  37 46
 
the weighted average fixed rate is 57 2007 57 and the weighted average period for which interest rates on fixed rate liabilities are taking into 
account the interest rate swap fixed is two years 2007 three years there are £68m 2007 £175m undrawn committed borrowing facilities which 
all expire in three to five years the group also has cash balances of £139m 2007 £160m see note 21 giving net debt at the year end of £197m 
2007 £68m in addition at the year end there was a £3m undrawn overdraft facility giving underlying headroom of £233m 2007 £362m 
the directors estimate the fair value of the group’s borrowings as follows
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
bank loans  33891 21920
loan notes  662 876
  34553 22796
 
a £40m bank loan is available under a revolving facility until 14 june 2012 the interest rate is reset for a period of one three or six months at libor 
plus a variable margin determined by covenant calculations the rate is managed through interest rate swaps at 31 december 2008 the amount 
drawn down net of bank arrangement fees was £329m the loan is secured by way of a fixed and floating charge over the assets of the group 
the interest rates on the outstanding loan notes are at market rates determined by each separate agreement with typical interest rates being one 
percent below base rate repayment terms vary between one and five years but all are redeemable for cash at the request of the loan note holders 
and are therefore recorded as current liabilities
interest bearing loan notes are normally issued as part of the purchase consideration or deferred consideration on the new business or minority interest 
acquired all outstanding loan notes are redeemable on demand for cash at par on or before 31 october 2010 at the option of the loan note holder
25 provisions
litigation provision
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
at beginning of period  577 450
additional provision in year  103 –
reclassification from accruals  – 157
utilisation of provision  25 30
at end of period  655 577
 
provisions represent an estimate of the cost of settling potential litigation claims these claims are expected to be resolved within one year and are 
therefore shown within current liabilities however it is possible that these claims may take longer to resolve or the group may not be promptly 
notified that the claim has been dropped the claim may be settled at amounts higher or lower than that provided depending on the outcome of 
commercial or legal arguments the provision made is management’s best estimate of the group’s liability based on past experience commercial 
judgement and legal advice there is no expected reimbursement for any economic outflow that may be required further details are contained in 
note 37 78         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
 business review             governance            financial statements
26 deferred tax
the amounts provided for deferred taxation and the amounts for which credit has been taken are set out below
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
deferred tax assets   
retirement benefit schemes  399 344
holiday pay accrual  57 15
depreciation in excess of capital allowances  1050 749
other timing differences  343 281
sharebased payments  163 –
derivative financial instruments  137 –
  2149 1389
deferred tax liabilities   
intangible assets  1730 738
fair value adjustment on investment property  34 34
leasehold property not qualifying for tax allowances  163 163
derivative financial instruments  – 173
  1927 1108
 
the directors are of the opinion based on currently available forecasts that these timing differences will reverse in the near future and when they do 
there will be sufficient taxable profits accordingly the directors believe that it is more likely than not that the deferred tax assets will be recoverable
the movement in deferred tax assets and liabilities during the year was as follows
 temporary
 differences on  retirement derivative other
 noncurrent holiday pay benefit financial temporary
  assets  accrual schemes instruments differences total
 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
at 1 january 2008 186 15 344 173 281 281
creditedcharged to income statement 487 42 58 – 62 533
items taken directly to equity – – 113 310 – 423
acquisition of subsidiaries 1015 – – – – 1015
at 31 december 2008 714 57 399 137 343 222
 
the movement in deferred tax assets and liabilities during the previous period was as follows
 temporary
 differences on  retirement derivative other
 noncurrent holiday pay benefit financial temporary
  assets  accrual schemes instruments differences total
 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
at 1 april 2007 1985 253 431 373 88 1586
chargedcredited to income statement 75 218 61 – 193 161
items taken directly to equity – – 26 93 – 67
disposal of subsidiary 1874 20 – 107 – 1961
at 31 december 2007 186 15 344 173 281 281
notes to the financial statements tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         79
 business review             governance            financial statements
27 sharebased payments
the group recognised the following expenses for continuing operations related to equitysettled sharebased payment transactions
  year  nine months 
  ended  ended 
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
ltip  794 411
saye  57 78
  851 489
 
employee share option scheme esos
options granted under the esos prior to 17 july 2003 have an award period of four years the options are granted at market value the extent to 
which an award vests is measured by reference to the growth in the group’s adjusted diluted earnings per share over two financial years options 
granted since 17 july 2003 have an award period of three years and vest based on the growth in the adjusted diluted earnings per share over a 
three year period the performance criteria for these schemes have either not been met or are unlikely to be met and therefore no expense has been 
recognised in either the current or prior period
ltip
awards made to eligible employees under the ltip are nil cost options with an award period of four years there are two types of ltip awards 
generally the extent to which an award vests is measured by reference to the growth of the group’s adjusted diluted earnings per share over the 
performance period of three financial years  however the extent to which two awards granted on 1 may 2007 and 20 june 2008 vest is measured 
by reference to the market performance of the group’s share price following the announcement of the group’s results for the years ending  
31 december 2009 and 31 december 2010 respectively
saye
the saye scheme provides for a purchase price equal to mid market value at date of grant for grants prior to january 2005 a discount to market 
value of 20 was applied all schemes prior to 2008 are three year saving schemes the 2008 saye scheme was granted at a discount to market 
value of 20 and was available as a three five or seven year scheme
acquired schemes
the acquired schemes relate to share option schemes existing when the group acquired certain businesses these option schemes have rolled into 
tribal options and have no performance criteria
options outstanding during the year are as follows
 esos ltip saye acquired schemes
  weighted  weighted  weighted  weighted
  number of average number of average number of average number of average
 options exercise options exercise options exercise options exercise
 thousands price thousands price thousands price thousands price
outstanding at 1 january 2008 1430 £250 2780 £nil 910 £161 196 £147
exercised during the year – – – – 1 £144 – –
granted during the year – – 1340 £nil 458 £108 – –
lapsed during the year 186 £208 135 £nil 513 £151 – –
outstanding at 31 december 2008 1244 £256 3985 £nil 854 £139 196 £147
exercisable at 31 december 2008 1244 £256 189 £nil – – 196 £147
weighted average remaining  
contractual life years 36  56  31  30 
weighted average share price  
at date of exercise –  –  £130  – 
 
share options outstanding at the year end have a range of exercise prices esos £133  £362 ltip £nil saye £108  £193 and acquired 
schemes £022  £245 80         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
 business review             governance            financial statements
notes to the financial statements
27 sharebased payments continued
for the year ended 31 december 2008 the group has used a stochastic valuation model in order to incorporate a discount factor into the fair value 
to reflect the market based performance condition of one of the ltip grants t o be consistent the stochastic model has also been used to value the 
other ltip awards and the saye option although the black scholes model that the group used prior to 1 april 2007 would have produced similar 
results the following table sets out the information about how the fair value of the grant is calculated for each of the schemes
  ltip ltip ltip saye saye
  31 december  31 december 31 december 31 december  31 december
  2008 2007 2007 2008 2007
date of grant june 2008 may 2007 september 2007 october 2008 august 2007
share price £131 £159 £159 £102 £158
exercise price £nil £nil £nil £108 £158
expected dividend yield 301 208 240 417 244
risk free interest rate 538 546 511 404449 528
expected volatility 355 361 371 344355 365
t erm years 32 36 36 3474 34
 
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
expected volatility was determined by calculating the historical volatility of the group’s share price over the term commensurate with the expected 
term immediately prior to the date of grant ie 32 years for the ltip award
for saye valuations the model reflects the fact that the options are exercisable only for a short period of six months following their vesting  
the 2007 saye scheme is a three year scheme for 2008 saye options were issued for three five and seven years and the expected life reflects a 
further three months being the mid point between the vesting and expiry dates
the following options over shares have not been recognised in accordance with ifrs 2 as the options were granted on or before 7 november 2002 
these options have not been subsequently modified and therefore do not need to be accounted for in accordance with ifrs 2
 esos ltip acquired schemes
  31 december 31 december 31 december 31 december 31 december 31 december
  2008 2007 2008 2007 2008 2007
  thousands thousands thousands thousands thousands thousands
options granted before
7 november 2002 696 845 16 40 73 73
 
28 share capital
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
authorised
125000000 2007 125000000 ordinary shares of 5p each   6250 6250
   31 december  31 december  31 december 31 december
   2008 2008 2007 2007
   number £’000 number £’000
allotted called up and fully paid
at beginning of the period 84773759 4239 84683270 4234
issued as consideration for acquisitions 3105491 155 – –
share option exercises 1315 – 90489 5
at end of the period 87880565 4394 84773759 4239
 
the company has one class of ordinary shares which carries no right to fixed income
during the year 1315 ordinary 5p shares with an aggregate nominal value of £66 were issued under share option schemes for a total consideration 
of £1894 tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         81
 business review             governance            financial statements
29 share premium
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
at beginning of the period   74750 74633
premium on share issues net of expenses  3999 117
at end of the period  78749 74750
 
30 other reserves 
   own sharebased
 capital merger share payment hedging
 reserve reserve reserve reserve reserve total
 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
at 1 april 2007 9545 58786 1773 424 841 67823
transfer re goodwill impairment see note 31 – 3235 – – – 3235
net expense recognised directly in equity in the period – – – – 147 147
own shares disposed – – 183 – – 183
credit in relation to sharebased payment charge – – – 489 – 489
transfers see note 31 – – – 282 249 531
at 31 december 2007 9545 55551 1590 631 445 64582
net expense recognised directly to equity in the year – – – – 799 799
credit in relation to sharebased payment charge – – – 851 – 851
transfers see note 31 – – – 148 – 148
at 31 december 2008 9545 55551 1590 1334 354 64486
 
the capital reserve of £95m 2007 £95m resulted from a share exchange when tribal group plc was listed in february 2001
the merger reserve of £556m 2007 £556m relates to the premium arising on shares issued subject to the provisions of section 131 of the 
companies act 1985 net of cumulative goodwill impairment of £102m 2007 £102m in respect of related acquisitions now deemed to be 
impaired
the own share reserve of £16m 2007 £16m represents the cost of 813484 shares 2007 813484 in tribal group plc held by the employee 
share ownership trust to satisfy certain options under the group’s share option schemes and during the nine months ended 31 december 2007 
shares to satisfy bonus arrangements of certain employees in the period ended 31 december 2007 31192 shares £61000 were disposed of on 
exercise of options and 69408 shares £122000 were used to satisfy bonus arrangements
the sharebased payment reserve represents the liability arising from the application of ifrs 2
the hedging reserve represents movements relating to cash flow hedges net of deferred tax at 28
31 retained earnings
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
at beginning of the period  36606 9941
profit for the period  13443 25034
dividends  3957 2031
net expense recognised directly in equity  295 34
transfer goodwill impairment to merger reserve see note 30  – 3235
share option exercises  – 70
transfers see note 30  148 531
at end of the period  45945 36606 82         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
 business review             governance            financial statements
32 minority interest
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
at beginning of the period  1065 1603
profit for the period  910 402
dividends  439 390
new minorities  884 64
sale to minorities  – 27
purchase of minorities  591 641
at end of the period  1829 1065
 
33 capital and other commitments
there are capital commitments at 31 december 2008 of £nil 2007 £48000
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
the group as lessee
minimum lease payments under operating leases recognised as an expense in the period  5011 3500
 
at the balance sheet date the group had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under noncancellable operating leases 
which fall due as follows
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
within one year  461 328
in the second to fifth years inclusive  14646 2512
after five years  2943 10977
  18050 13817
 
operating lease payments mainly represent rentals payable by the group for certain of its office properties leases are negotiated for an average 
term of five years and rentals are fixed for an average of three years
34 retirement benefit schemes
the group operates a number of defined contribution and defined benefit pension schemes within individual subsidiaries and contributes to certain 
employees’ personal pension plans the pension cost charge for the year ended 31 december 2008 was £5247000 nine months ended 31 
december 2007 £3684000 of which £5029000 nine months ended 31 december 2007 £3539000 related to defined contribution schemes 
and £218000 nine months ended 31 december 2007 £145000 to defined benefit schemes 
contributions amounting to £647000 2007 £499000 were payable to the funds at the year end and are included in current liabilities
defined benefit schemes
one of the group’s subsidiary undertakings tribal t echnology limited participates in the tfl pension fund formerly lrt pension fund which is a 
defined benefit arrangement the last full actuarial valuation of this scheme was carried out by a qualified independent actuary as at 31 march 2006
the tribal t echnology section of the tfl pension fund had four active members at the year end employer contributions amounting to £195000 
were paid in the year ended 31 december 2008 these accounting figures have been calculated using the valuation as at 31 march 2006 updated 
to 31 december 2008 by a qualified actuary independent of the scheme’s sponsoring employer
another of the group’s subsidiary undertakings sdp regeneration services 2 limited participates in the london pensions fund authority pension 
fund ‘the lpfa pension fund’ which is a defined benefit arrangement the accounting figures have been calculated using the last full actuarial 
valuation of this scheme carried out by a different qualified independent actuary as at 31 march 2007 updated on an approximate basis to  
31 december 2008
notes to the financial statements tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         83
 business review             governance            financial statements
34 retirement benefit schemes continued
the sdp regeneration services 2 limited section of the lpfa pension fund had 15 active members 23 deferred pensioners and 3 pensioners at 
the year end employer contributions amounting to £234000 were paid in the year ended 31 december 2008 
the assets of the funds have been taken at market value and the actuarial assumptions used to calculate scheme liabilities under ias 19 ‘employee 
benefits’ are
 31 december  31 december 31 march
 2008 2007 2007
    
inflation 290 350 325
salary increases 390 490 460
rate of discount 630 590 545
pension in payment increases 290 330 325
 
the expected longterm return on cash is equal to bank base rates at the balance sheet date the expected return on bonds is determined by 
reference to corporate bond yields at the balance sheet date the longterm expected return on equities is based on the rate of return on gilts with 
an allowance for outperformance
the fair value of the assets in the scheme the present value of the defined obligations in the scheme and the expected long term rate of return at 
each balance sheet date were as follows
tfl pension fund
   31 december  31 december  31 december 31 december
   2008 2008 2007 2007
    £’000  £’000
equities 720 237 770 198
bonds 630 267 590 208
t otal fair value of scheme assets  504  406
present value of defined obligations  645  582
deficit in the scheme  141  176
related deferred tax asset  39  49
net pension liability   102  127
 
the mortality assumptions adopted at 31 december 2008 imply the following life expectations
   males females
retiring at age 62 in 2008   248 years 277 years
retiring at age 62 in 2028  259 years 288 years
 
lpfa pension fund
   31 december  31 december  31 december 31 december
   2008 2008 2007 2007
    £’000  £’000
equities 690 1647 750 2108
t arget return portfolio 550 296 620 651
alternative assets 600 715 660 517
cash 400 221 470 99
t otal fair value of scheme assets  2879  3375
present value of defined obligations  4163  4427
deficit in the scheme  1284  1052
related deferred tax asset  360  295
net pension liability   924  757 84         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
 business review             governance            financial statements
34 retirement benefit schemes continued
the mortality assumptions used by the scheme actuaries are based on the pfa92 and pma92 tables projected to calendar year 2033 for non
pensioners and 2017 for pensioners based on these assumptions average future life expectations at age 65 are summarised below
   males females
current pensioners   196 years 225 years
future pensioners  207 years 236 years
 
the scheme actuaries have added an additional mortality loading of approximately 35 has been applied to the nonpensioners liabilities and 17 
to the pensioner liabilities to reflect the particular experience of the fund 
however we have made an additional adjustment to the liabilities to reflect a further strengthening of the mortality tables from medium to long cohort
reconciliation of opening and closing balances of the fair value of scheme assets
   tfl lpfa tfl lpfa 
   31 december  31 december  31 december 31 december
   2008 2008 2007 2007
   £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
fair value of scheme assets at beginning of period 406 3375 345 3559
expected return on assets 35 244 18 199
actuarial loss 130 959 – 654
contributions by employer 195 234 47 313
contributions by scheme participants 7 57 5 35
benefits paid 9 72 9 77
fair value of scheme assets at end of period 504 2879 406 3375
 
reconciliation of opening and closing balances of the present value of the defined benefit obligations
   tfl lpfa tfl lpfa 
   31 december  31 december  31 december 31 december
   2008 2008 2007 2007
   £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
defined benefit obligation at beginning of period 582 4427 606 4734
current service cost 31 131 29 114
interest cost 35 261 25 194
contributions by scheme participants 7 57 5 35
actuarial gain 1 680 74 573
past service cost – 39 – –
benefits paid 9 72 9 77
defined benefit obligation at end of period 645 4163 582 4427
 
the contribution rate for 2008 was 255 of pensionable earnings for the tfl pension fund and 162 for the lpfa pension fund 
additional contributions of £184000 were paid into the tfl pension fund during the year and additional lump sum payments will be made over the 
next three years into the lpfa pension fund to address the deficits in the schemes
analysis of amounts recognised in the consolidated income statement
   tfl lpfa tfl lpfa 
   31 december  31 december  31 december 31 december
   2008 2008 2007 2007
   £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
current service cost 31 131 29 114
past service cost – 39 – –
recognised in arriving at operating profit 31 170 29 114
other finance costs    
interest on pension scheme liabilities 35 261 25 194
expected return on pension scheme assets 35 244 18 199
net finance chargeincome – 17 7 5
t otal charge to income statement 31 187 36 109
notes to the financial statements tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         85
 business review             governance            financial statements
34 retirement benefit schemes continued
analysis of actuarial lossgain in the consolidated statement of recognised income and expense
   tfl lpfa tfl lpfa 
   31 december  31 december  31 december 31 december
   2008 2008 2007 2007
   £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
actual return less expected return on pension scheme assets 130 959 – 654
experience gains and losses arising on the scheme liabilities 8 680 10 573
changes in assumptions underlying the present value of scheme liabilities 9 – 84 –
t otal actuarial lossgain recognised in the consolidated statement  
of recognised income and expense 129 279 74 81
 
cumulative actuarial loss recognised in the consolidated statement of recognised income and expense since 1 april 2004 is £468000 2007 £60000
changes in the deficit are analysed as follows
  tfl lpfa total tfl lpfa t otal
 31 december  31 december 31 december 31 december 31 december 31 december
 2008 2008 2008 2007 2007 2007
 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
at beginning of the period 176 1052 1228 261 1175 1436
movement in the year      
current employer service cost 31 131 162 29 114 143
past service cost – 39 39 – – –
employer contributions 195 234 429 47 313 360
actuarial lossgain 129 279 408 74 81 7
net finance chargeincome – 17 17 7 5 2
at end of the period 141 1284 1425 176 1052 1228
 
the history of experience adjustments is as follows
tfl pension fund 31 december  31 december 31 march 31 march 31 march
 2008 2007 2007 2006 2005
 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
present value of defined benefit obligations 645 582 606 591 1142
fair value of scheme assets 504 406 345 266 965
deficit in the scheme 141 176 261 325 177
experience adjustments arising on scheme assets
amount  130 – 2 7 42
percentage of the scheme assets 26 – 0 3 4
experience adjustments arising on scheme liabilities
amount  8  10 3 8 7
percentage of the present value of the scheme liabilities 1 2 0 1 1
lpfa pension fund 31 december  31 december 31 march 31 march 31 march
 2008 2007 2007 2006 2005
 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
present value of defined benefit obligations 4163 4427 4734 4697 3573
fair value of scheme assets 2879 3375 3559 3045 2380
deficit in the scheme 1284 1052 1175 1652 1193
experience adjustments arising on scheme assets     
amount  959 654 30 388 –
percentage of the scheme assets 33 19 1 13 –
experience adjustments arising on scheme liabilities     
amount  12 573 1 1 –
percentage of the present value of the scheme liabilities 0 13 0 0 –
no assets are invested in the group’s own financial instruments properties or other assets used by the group
  86         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
 business review             governance            financial statements
35 notes to the cash flow statement
  year  nine months 
  ended  ended 
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
operating profit from continuing operations  19267 1933
depreciation of property plant and equipment    3149 2296
amortisation of other intangible assets  1944 1275
impairment of goodwill  – 9000
net pension charge  212 215
lossgain on disposal of property plant and equipment  96 92
gain on sale of investments  304 68
sharebased payments  851 489
operating cash flows before movements in working capital  24791 14618
decrease in amounts recoverable on contracts  57 256
decreaseincrease in inventories  426 26
decreaseincrease in receivables  684 5519
decrease in payables  387 437
increase in provisions  78 127
net cash from operating activities before tax  25649 9019
t ax paid  3346 211
net cash from operating activities  22303 8808
 
net cash from operating activities before tax can be analysed as follows  
   £’000 £’000
continuing operations excluding restricted cash  26936 11016
decreaseincrease in restricted cash  1287 135
  25649 11151
discontinued operations  – 2132
  25649 9019
 
t ax paid of £33m nine months ended 31 december 2007 £02m is net of a repayment of £15m nine months ended 31 december 2007 £nil in 
respect of discontinued operations 
notes to the financial statements tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         87
 business review             governance            financial statements
36 acquisitions
a  on 13 june 2008 the group acquired 72 of the helm corporation for a total consideration of £167m satisfied by £133m in cash and £34m 
by way of 2507582 new tribal shares the number of tribal shares issued was determined by the average midmarket price for the eight days 
preceding 12 june 2008 being the last practicable date before completion the transaction has been accounted for in accordance with ifrs 3 
‘business combinations’ 
net assets acquired were
  fair value
 book value adjustments fair value
  £’000 £’000 £’000
intangible assets – 2784 2784
property plant and equipment 1515 180 1335
investments 30 – 30
debtors 2935 60 2875
cash 2167 – 2167
creditors 3071 224 3295
deferred tax – 780 780
bookfair value of net assets 3576 1540 5116
net assets acquired   4290
goodwill   12807
t otal consideration   17097
satisfied by    
shares   3368
cash   11752
cash for cash   1564
purchase consideration   16684
directly attributable costs   413
t otal consideration   17097
 
the provisional fair value adjustments represent changes to bring the accounting policies in line with those of the group 
in accordance with the sale and purchase agreement the net assets acquired represent 100 of the cash balance of £2167000 and 72 of the 
fair values of the remaining net assets 
intangible assets were recognised primarily in respect of customer contracts and relationships goodwill arising on acquisition is attributable to the 
underlying profitability of the company expected profitability arising from new business anticipated future operating synergies arising from assimilation 
into the group and the value attributed to the skilled workforce which does not meet the criteria for recognition as a separate intangible asset
in the year ended 31 december 2008 the acquisition contributed £95m to revenue and £17m to operating profit 
b the group also made the following smaller acquisitions in the year
i  on 14 february 2008 the group acquired the trade and assets of llewelyn davies yeang a master planning and urban design 
business which has formed part of our housing regeneration and local government consulting practice
ii  on 2 july 2008 the group acquired rse consulting a leading public sector strategy consultancy
iii  on 19 september 2008 the group acquired mustoes an independent advertising agency which enhances our pr and 
communication offering within support services
iv on 24 november 2008 the group acquired westhill consulting a leading informationfocussed health strategy coding and 
 analytics company  88         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
 business review             governance            financial statements
36 acquisitions continued
the total consideration for these acquisitions was £89m there is a deferred consideration element of £1m payable in 2009 £79m has been 
satisfied in cash 
all transactions have been accounted for in accordance with ifrs 3 ‘business combinations’ 
net assets acquired were
  fair value
 book value adjustments fair value
  £’000 £’000 £’000
intangible assets – 867 867
property plant and equipment 156 51 105
debtors 2555 121 2434
cash 1655 – 1655
creditors 1992 253 2245
deferred tax – 235 235
bookfair value of net assets 2374 207 2581
net assets acquired   2581
goodwill   7014
t otal consideration   9595
satisfied by   
cash   7932
deferred consideration   1000
purchase consideration   8932
directly attributable costs   663
t otal consideration   9595
 
the provisional fair value adjustments represent changes to bring the accounting policies in line with those of the group 
intangible assets were recognised primarily in respect of customer contracts and relationships goodwill arising on acquisition is attributable to the 
underlying profitability of the company expected profitability arising from new business anticipated future operating synergies arising from assimilation 
into the group and the value attributed to the skilled workforce which does not meet the criteria for recognition as a separate intangible asset
in the year ended 31 december 2008 these acquisitions contributed £60m to revenue and £09m to operating profit
if the acquisitions had been completed on the first day of the financial year group revenues for the period would have been £2446m and group 
profit attributable to equity holders of the parent would have been £148m
c  during the period the group also increased its majority holding in avail consulting and tribal tgc through the purchase of minority interests 
creating goodwill of £23m
37 contingent liabilities
the group has received notification of a number of potential litigation claims in all cases the claims are being investigated by our lawyers and are 
being robustly contested as to both liability and quantum the principal claim is for breach of contract relating to the design of a new college 
a provision of £655000 2007 £577000 has been made for defending these claims where appropriate see note 25
a cross guarantee exists between group companies in respect of bank facilities totalling £20766670 2007 £6359000
notes to the financial statements tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         89
 business review             governance            financial statements
38 financial instruments 
capital risk management
the group manages its capital to ensure the entities in the group will be able to continue as going concerns while maximising the return to 
stakeholders through the optimisation of the debt and equity balance the capital structure of the group consists of debt which includes the 
borrowings disclosed in note 24 cash and cash equivalents and equity attributable to equity holders of the parent comprising issued capital 
reserves and retained earnings as disclosed in notes 28 to 31
gearing ratio
the board assesses risk management throughout the group as part of this assessment the board considers the cost of capital and the risks 
associated with each class of capital in the past the group has operated with a highly geared balance sheet due in part to its historical acquisition 
strategy and also its investment of £25m in establishing its mercury health business following the sale of mercury health in april 2007 the group 
has substantially reduced its gearing following the year end newchurch has been acquired as detailed in note 39 this has increased gearing 
marginally the group expects to maintain the current level of gearing going forward
the gearing ratio at the end of the period is as follows
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
debt  33556 22974
obligations under finance leases  – 3 
cash and cash equivalents  13892 15982
collateralised cash  – 192
net debt  19664 6803
equity  193574 180177
net debt to equity ratio  102 38
 
debt is defined as longterm and shortterm borrowings as detailed in note 24 equity includes all capital and reserves of the group attributable to 
equity holders of the parent
significant accounting policies
details of the significant accounting policies and methods adopted including the criteria for recognition the basis of measurement and the basis on 
which income and expenses are recognised in respect of each class of financial asset financial liability and equity instrument are disclosed in note 
1 to the financial statements
categories of financial instruments
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
financial assets  
derivative instruments in designated hedge accounting relationships   – 178
loans and receivables including cash and cash equivalents  
cash  13892 15982
trade receivables   49728 45658
  63620 61818
financial liabilities
derivative instruments in designated hedge accounting relationships  997 –
at amortised cost  
trade payables  19832 18441
bank loans and loan notes  33556 22974
finance lease obligations  – 3
  54385 41418 90         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
 business review             governance            financial statements
notes to the financial statements
38 financial instruments continued
financial risk management objectives
treasury management is led by the group finance team who are responsible for managing the group’s exposure to financial risk it operates within  
a defined set of policies and procedures reviewed and approved by the board this includes both foreign exchange risk and interest rate risk
the group’s exposure to interest rate fluctuations on its interest bearing assets and liabilities is selectively managed using interest rate swaps  
this is an ongoing risk and the board will continue with this policy
the group does not enter into or trade financial instruments including derivative financial instruments for speculative purposes
market risk
the group operates mainly within the uk therefore its market risk exposure is limited to changes in interest rates there has been no change to the 
group’s exposure to market risks or the manner in which it manages and measures the risk
foreign currency risk management
the group undertakes certain transactions denominated in foreign currencies here exposures to exchange rate fluctuations arise exchange rate 
exposures are managed within approved policy parameters and as the group exposure increases through international expansion the group will 
utilise forward foreign exchange contracts as at 31 december 2008 no such financial instruments were in place
interest rate sensitivity analysis
the sensitivity analyses below have been determined based on the exposure to interest rates for both derivative and nonderivative instruments at 
the balance sheet date for floating rate liabilities the analysis is prepared assuming the amount of the liability outstanding at the balance sheet 
date was outstanding for the whole year a 10 increase or decrease is used when reporting interest rate risk internally to the board and represents 
management’s assessment of the reasonably possible change in interest rates
if interest rates had been 10 higherlower and all other variables were held constant the group’s profit for the year ended 31 december 2008 
would increasedecrease by £49000 nine months ended 31 december 2007 increasedecrease by £115000 this increasedecrease is mainly 
attributable to the group’s cash balances which attract a variable rate of interest and reflects the fact that interest rates on borrowings are fixed by 
the interest rate swap
the group’s sensitivity to interest rates has decreased during the current period mainly due to a higher proportion of the group’s debt being 
hedged by interest rate swaps
interest rate swap contracts
under interest rate swap contracts the group agrees to exchange the difference between fixed and floating rate interest amounts calculated on 
agreed notional principal amounts such contracts enable the group to mitigate the risk of changing interest rates on the fair value of issued fixed 
rate debt held and the cash flow exposures on the issued variable rate debt held the fair value of interest rate swaps at the reporting date are 
measured at the present value of future cash flows estimated and discounted based on the applicable yield curves derived from quoted interest 
rates and is disclosed below the average interest rate is based on the outstanding balances at the end of the period
the following table details the notional principal amounts and remaining terms of interest rate swap contracts outstanding at the reporting date
 average contract  notional
 fixed interest rate principal amount fair value
 31 december  31 december 31 december  31 december 31 december  31 december
 2008 2007 2008 2007 2008 2007
   £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
2 to 5 years 499 499 25000 25000 809 178
 
the group holds a £25m interest rate swap which settles on a six monthly basis the floating rate on the interest rate swap is six months libor  
the group will settle the difference between the fixed and floating interest rate on a net basis of the above £25m 2007 £225m were designated 
as cash flow hedges
the group has also entered into a £25m basis rate swap which exchanges one month libor less 33bps for six months libor the contract covers 
the period 30 september 2008 to 30 september 2009 and has the effect of reducing the rate in the interest rate swap from 499 to 466 for the 
period this financial instrument has not been designated as a cash flow hedge at 31 december 2008 the instrument had a fair value of £188000 
due to the bank
credit risk management
the group’s principal financial assets are cash and cash equivalents and trade and other receivables the group’s credit risk is relatively low 
because a high proportion of trade and other receivables have a sovereign or close to sovereign rating
liquidity risk management
the group manages liquidity risk by maintaining adequate reserves banking facilities and reserve borrowing facilities by continuously monitoring 
forecast and actual cash flows the group has access to financing facilities the total unused amount is theoretically £68m at the balance sheet 
date in addition at the year end there was a £3m undrawn overdraft facility  following the acquisition of newchurch as detailed in note 39 this 
balance has fallen to £45m the group expects to meet its other obligations from operating cash flows the group also had significant cash 
balances at 31 december 2008 of £139m 2007 £160m as detailed in note 21 net debt at the year end was £197m 2007 £68m giving 
underlying headroom at the balance sheet date of £233m 2007 £362m 
  tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         91
 business review             governance            financial statements
39 post balance sheet events
on 27 january 2009 the group acquired newchurch limited a leading health consulting business in the uk for a total consideration of up to 
£105m 
the total consideration is made up as follows
 –  initial consideration of £30m in cash and £20m by way of 2418073 new tribal shares the number of tribal shares issued was determined 
by the average midmarket price for the 14 days preceding 16 january 2009 being the last practicable date before the offer became 
unconditional 
 –  further consideration of £25m in cash and £05m in new tribal shares is expected to be paid on or before 31 march 2009 upon confirmation of 
newchurch’s profits for the year ended 31 december 2008 
 –  deferred consideration of up to £25m is payable by way of cash or tribal loan notes after hmrc confirmation of the tax treatment of 
newchurch tax losses
the transaction will be accounted for in accordance with ifrs 3 ‘business combinations’ 
net assets acquired were
  fair value
 book value adjustments fair value
  £’000 £’000 £’000
intangible assets – 722 722
property plant and equipment 59 – 59
debtors 682 20 662
cash 746 – 746
creditors 511 – 511
deferred tax – 202 202
bookfair value of net assets 976 500 1476
net assets acquired   1476
goodwill   6634
t otal consideration   8110
satisfied by   
shares   2500
cash   2250
deferred consideration   2500
cash for cash   725
purchase consideration   7975
directly attributable costs   135
t otal consideration   8110
 
deferred consideration does not include up to £25m payable in respect of hmrc confirmation of the tax treatment of the newchurch tax losses 
the provisional fair value adjustments represent changes to bring the accounting policies in line with those of the group 
intangible assets were recognised primarily in respect of customer contracts and relationships goodwill arising on acquisition is attributable to the 
underlying profitability of the company expected profitability arising from new business anticipated future operating synergies arising from assimilation 
into the group and the value attributed to the skilled workforce which does not meet the criteria for recognition as a separate intangible asset 92         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
 business review             governance            financial statements
40 related party disclosures
save as is described in this note no material contract or arrangement has been entered into during the year nor subsisted at 31 december 2008 in 
which a director had a material interest
remuneration of key management personnel
the remuneration of the directors who are the key management personnel of the group is set out below in aggregate for each of the categories 
specified in ias 24 ‘related party disclosures’
  year  nine months 
  ended  ended 
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
shortterm employee benefits  1113 1306
sharebased payment  223 185
  1336 1491
 
41 principal subsidiary undertakings
the principal subsidiary undertakings at 31 december 2008 are shown below all subsidiary undertakings are registered in the united kingdom and 
prepare accounts to 31 december each year
 principal activity holding
avail consulting limited management consultancy it services and solutions 64
kindred agency limited public relations consultancy 100
nightingale architects limited architectural design      100
tribal consulting limited management consultancy services to local government 100
tribal helm corporation limited management and financial consultancy services 72
tribal education limited education consultancy training and ofsted inspections 100
tribal holdings limited holding company 100
tribal resourcing limited recruitment advertising in the public sector 99
tribal tgc limited management consultancy learning and training 93
 
 all investments are held by tribal group plc other than those marked which are held by intermediate holding companies 
the proportion of voting rights held is equivalent to the equity shareholdings
full details of related undertakings will be attached to the relevant company’s annual return to be filed with the registrar of companies
 
 
notes to the financial statements tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         93
 business review             governance            financial statements
unaudited pro forma financial information
the comparative 2007 statutory accounts included in these financial statements cover a period shorter than a full year due to the change in year 
end therefore we have included below pro forma information to provide greater comparability
basis of preparation
the pro forma accounts are unaudited and do not constitute full statutory accounts within the meaning of section 240 of the companies act 1985
the unaudited pro forma information set out below comprises a consolidated income statement and consolidated cash flow for the year  
ended 31 december 2007 it is based on the consolidated management accounts of the group after making adjustments consistent with year  
end procedures 
the key issues and judgements are set out below 
1 goodwill impairment
in the audited accounts for the year ended 31 march 2007 a goodwill impairment charge of £144m was made in respect of certain business 
streams that were being closed and other underperforming business units
in addition a further goodwill impairment charge of £9m was made in respect of the resourcing business stream in the nine months ended  
31 december 2007
2 tax charge
over the two years to 31 march 2007 tribal has had the benefit of a low effective tax rate due to hmrc agreement of various tax reliefs relating to 
prior periods
the tax credits taken in the financial statements for the year ended 31 march 2007 have been reflected in the three month period to 31 march 2007 
as they related to certain 2005 tax computations which were cleared without enquiry on 31 march 2007 the credit has therefore been included in 
the unaudited pro forma year ended 31 december 2007
3 employee benefits
share option costs and holiday pay accruals were not calculated on a monthly basis when preparing the management accounts however an 
adjustment has been made for these items when preparing the unaudited pro forma accounts
pension liabilities have not been formally calculated as at 1 january 2007 the pro forma accounts therefore reflect the opening pension liability  
as disclosed in the audited accounts to 31 march 2006 the effect of this on the income statement for the periods is not considered to be material 
since all actuarial gains or losses are recorded in the statement of recognised income and expense 94         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
 business review             governance            financial statements
unaudited pro forma consolidated income
statement
for the year ended 31 december 2007
    before other  other year
    administrative administrative ended
    expenses and expenses and 31 december
    exceptional financial 2007
    costs instruments total
   note £’000 £’000 £’000
continuing operations
turnover  256509 – 256509
direct agency costs  47334 – 47334
revenue i 209175 – 209175
cost of sales  122769 – 122769
gross profit  86406 – 86406
net administrative expenses  69119 – 69119
other administrative expenses    
amortisation of ifrs 3 intangibles  – 322 322
goodwill impairment  – 9000 9000
total administrative expenses  69119 9322 78441
operating profit i 17287 9322 7965
investment revenues  1431 – 1431
other gains and losses  – 30 30
finance costs  3336 58 3394
profit before tax  15382 9410 5972
t ax  4358 100 4258
profit for the year from continuing operations  11024 9310 1714
discontinued operations    
profit for the year from discontinued operations  571 23917 24488
profit for the year  11595 14607 26202
attributable to
equity holders of the parent    25541 
minority interest    661
    26202
     
from continuing operations    
basic ii 122p 109p 13p
diluted ii 122p 109p 13p
from continuing and discontinued operations
basic ii 129p 173p 302p
diluted ii 129p 173p 302p tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         95
 business review             governance            financial statements
unaudited pro forma consolidated cash flow
statement
for the year ended 31 december 2007
    2007
   note £’000
net cash from operating activities  iii 27063
investing activities  
interest received   2423
proceeds on disposal to minorities   160
disposal of subsidiary   36251
proceeds on disposal of property plant and equipment   298
purchase of investments   8
purchases of property plant and equipment   4620
expenditure on product development   2336
acquisitions   2178
net cash inflow from investing activities   29990
financing activities  
interest paid   4543
equity dividend paid   2911
dividends to minorities    485
issue of shares   116
repayment of borrowings   54756
repayments of obligations under finance lease   28
new bank loans   684
movements in collateralised cash   790
net cash used in financing activities   61133
net decrease in cash and cash equivalents   4080
cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year   20062
cash and cash equivalents at end of year   15982 96         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
 business review             governance            financial statements
i business segments 
segment information about the businesses is presented below
year ended 31 december 2007
   support
 consulting education services eliminations consolidated
 31 december  31 december 31 december 31 december 31 december
 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007
 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
revenue
external sales 68447 90394 50334 – 209175
intersegment sales 219 1187 1663 3069 –
total revenue 68666 91581 51997 3069 209175
segment operating profit 4911 14928 4041 – 23880
unallocated corporate expenses     6593
adjusted operating profit     17287
amortisation of ifrs 3 intangibles      322
goodwill impairment     9000
operating profit     7965
investment revenues     1431
other gains and losses     30
finance costs     3394
profit before tax     5972
t ax      4258
profit for the year from continuing operations     1714
 
ii earnings per share 
earnings per share and diluted earnings per share are calculated by reference to a weighted average number of ordinary shares calculated as 
follows 
 year 
 ended 
 31 december 
2007
 thousands
weighted average number of shares outstanding
basic weighted average number of shares in issue   84727
employee share options   68
weighted average number of shares outstanding for dilution calculations   84795
 
notes to unaudited pro forma financial information tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         97
 business review             governance            financial statements
ii earnings per share continued
the adjusted basic and adjusted diluted earnings per share figures shown on the unaudited pro forma consolidated income statement on page 94 
are included as the directors believe that they provide a better understanding of the underlying trading performance of the group a reconciliation of 
how these figures are calculated is set out below
  year ended
  31 december 2007
   earnings
from continuing operations  earnings per share
   £’000 pence
basic and adjusted basic earnings per share
profit and basic earnings per share  1053 13p
adjustments   
goodwill impairment  9000 106p
amortisation of ifrs 3 intangibles net of tax  255 03p
financial instruments charge net of tax  55 –
adjusted earnings and adjusted basic earnings per share  10363 122p
diluted and adjusted diluted earnings per share   
profit and diluted earnings per share  1053 13p
adjustments
goodwill impairment  9000 106p
amortisation of ifrs 3 intangibles net of tax  255 03p
financial instruments charge net of tax  55 –
adjusted earnings and adjusted diluted earnings per share  10363 122p
  year ended
  31 december 2007
   earnings
from continuing and discontinued operations  earnings per share
   £’000 pence
basic and adjusted basic earnings per share
profit and basic earnings per share  25541 302p
adjustments
goodwill impairment  9000 106p
amortisation of ifrs 3 intangibles net of tax  255 03p
profit on disposal of mercury health  23917 282p
financial instrument charge net of tax  55 –
adjusted earnings and adjusted basic earnings per share  10934 129p
diluted and adjusted diluted earnings per share
profit and diluted earnings per share  25541 302p
adjustments
goodwill impairment  9000 106p
amortisation of ifrs 3 intangibles net of tax  255 03p
profit on disposal of mercury health  23917 282p
financial instrument charge net of tax    55   –
adjusted earnings and adjusted diluted earnings per share  10934 129p 98         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
 business review             governance            financial statements
notes to unaudited pro forma financial information
iii notes to the pro forma cash flow statement
   2007
    £’000
operating profit from continuing operations   7965
depreciation of property plant and equipment     3607
amortisation of other intangible assets   1751
impairment of goodwill   9000
net pension charge   327
gain on disposal of property plant and equipment   201
gain on sale of investments   68
sharebased payments   437
operating cash flows before movements in working capital   22164
increase in receivables   14399
increase in payables    20993
decrease in inventories   469
increase in amounts recoverable on contracts   1875
increase in provisions   427
net cash from operating activities before tax   27779
t ax paid   716
net cash from operating activities   27063
 
net cash from operating activities before tax can be analysed as follows
    £’000
continuing operations excluding restricted cash   23651
increase in restricted cash   1589
   25240 
discontinued operations   2539
   27779
  tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         99
 business review             governance            financial statements
uk gaap – company financial statements 
independent auditors’ report to the members of
tribal group plc
we have audited the parent company financial statements of tribal group plc for the year ended 31 december 2008 which comprise the balance 
sheet and the related notes 1 to 8 these parent company financial statements have been prepared under the accounting policies set out therein
we have reported separately on the group financial statements of tribal group plc for year ended 31 december 2008 and on the information in the 
directors’ remuneration report that is described as having being audited
this report is made solely to the company’s members as a body in accordance with section 235 of the companies act 1985 our audit work has 
been undertaken so that we might state to the company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditors’ report and for 
no other purpose t o the fullest extent permitted by law we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the company and the 
company’s members as a body for our audit work for this report or for the opinions we have formed
respective responsibilities of directors and auditors
the directors’ responsibilities for preparing the annual report the directors’ remuneration report and the parent company financial statements in 
accordance with applicable law and united kingdom accounting standards uk gaap are set out in the statement of directors’ responsibilities 
our responsibility is to audit the parent company financial statements in accordance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements and 
international standards on auditing uk and ireland
we report to you our opinion as to whether the parent company financial statements give a true and fair view and whether the parent company 
financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with the companies act 1985 we also report to you whether in our opinion  
the directors’ report is consistent with the parent company financial statements the information given in the directors’ report includes that  
specific information presented in the business review that is cross referenced from the business review section of the directors’ report in addition 
we report to you if in our opinion the company has not kept proper accounting records if we have not received all the information and explanations 
we require for our audit or if information specified by law regarding directors’ remuneration and other transactions is not disclosed
we read the other information contained in the annual report as described in the contents section and consider whether it is consistent with the 
audited parent company financial statements we consider the implications for our report if we become aware of any apparent misstatements or 
material inconsistencies with the parent company financial statements our responsibilities do not extend to any further information outside the 
annual report
basis of audit opinion
we conducted our audit in accordance with international standards on auditing uk and ireland issued by the auditing practices board an audit 
includes examination on a test basis of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in the parent company financial statements it also 
includes an assessment of the significant estimates and judgements made by the directors in the preparation of the parent company financial 
statements and of whether the accounting policies are appropriate to the company’s circumstances consistently applied and adequately disclosed
we planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all the information and explanations which we considered necessary in order to provide us with 
sufficient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the parent company financial statements are free from material misstatement whether caused 
by fraud or other irregularity or error in forming our opinion we also evaluated the overall adequacy of the presentation of information in the parent 
company financial statements
opinion
in our opinion
the parent company financial statements give a true and fair view in accordance with united kingdom generally accepted accounting practice  ■
of the state of the company’s affairs as at 31 december 2008
 the parent company financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with the companies act 1985 and ■
the information given in the directors’ report is consistent with the parent company financial statements ■
deloitte llp
chartered accountants and registered auditors 
bristol united kingdom
17 march 2009
these are the audited financial statements for the year ended 31 december 2008 an audit does not provide assurance on the maintenance and integrity of this website including the controls used to achieve this and 
whether any changes may have occurred to the financial statements since they were first published these matters are the responsibility of our directors no control procedures can provide absolute assurance in this 
area legislation in the united kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements differs from legislation in other jurisdictions 100         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
 business review             governance            financial statements
company balance sheet 
at 31 december 2008
   31 december  31 december
   2008  2007
 note  £’000  £’000
fixed assets
investments 2  253626  262148
current assets
debtors amounts falling due within one year 3 1546  1428 
cash at bank and in hand  74  265 
   1620  1693 
creditors amounts falling due within one year 4 47008  64493 
net current liabilities   45388  62800
total assets less current liabilities   208238  199348
creditors amounts falling due after more than one year 5  33703  22098
provisions for liabilities and charges 6  –  116
net assets   174535  177134
capital and reserves
called up share capital 7  4394  4239
share premium account 8  78749  74750
merger reserve 8  59946  59946
hedging reserve 8  354  445
own share reserve 8  1590  1590
sharebased payment reserve 8  1334  631
profit and loss account 8  32056  38713
equity shareholders’ funds    174535  177134
 
notes 1 to 8 form part of these financial statements
these financial statements were approved by the board of directors on 17 march 2009 and were signed on its behalf by
vv
peter j martin simon m lawton
director  director tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         101
 business review             governance            financial statements
notes to the company balance sheet 
1 accounting policies
the following accounting policies have been applied consistently in dealing with items which are considered material in relation to the parent 
company financial statements
basis of preparation
the financial information has been prepared on the historical cost basis modified to include the revaluation of certain fixed assets and in 
accordance with applicable united kingdom law and accounting standards
in the company’s balance sheet the investment in tribal holdings limited is stated at the nominal value of the shares issued in consideration 
for that company as required by sections 131 and 133 of the companies act 1985 no premium has been recorded on the shares issued as 
consideration
under section 2304 of the companies act 1985 the company is exempt from the requirement to present its own profit and loss account  
the loss for the company amounted to £2700000 nine months ended 31 december 2007 profit £18217000
the auditors’ remuneration for audit services to the company was £94000 nine months ended 31 december 2007 £91000
investments
investments held as fixed assets are shown at cost less provision for any impairment
taxation
current tax is provided at amounts expected to be paid or recovered using the tax rates and laws that have been enacted or substantially enacted 
by the balance sheet date
in accordance with frs 19 ‘deferred t ax’ deferred taxation is provided in full on timing differences which represent an asset or liability at the 
balance sheet date at rates expected to apply when they crystallise based on current tax rates and law timing differences arise from the inclusion 
of items of income and expenditure in taxation computations in periods different from those in which they are included in the financial statements 
deferred tax is not provided on timing differences arising on unremitted earnings of subsidiaries associates and joint ventures where there is no 
commitment to remit these earnings deferred tax assets and liabilities are not discounted
a net deferred tax asset is regarded as recoverable and therefore recognised only when on the basis of all available evidence it can be regarded 
as more likely than not that there will be suitable taxable profits from which the future reversal of the underlying timing differences can be deducted
cash flow statement
the results assets and liabilities of the company are included in the consolidated financial statements of tribal group plc consequently the 
company has taken advantage of the exemption from preparing a cash flow statement under the terms of frs 1 revised ‘cash flow statements’
derivative financial instruments and hedging activities
changes in the fair value of derivative financial instruments that are designated and effective as hedges of future cash flows are recognised directly 
in equity 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 equity 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 equity are recognised in the income statement in the same period in which the 
hedged item affects net profit or loss
sharebased payments
the company has no employees and hence there is no charge to the company profit and loss account the cost for options granted to the 
company’s subsidiaries’ employees represents additional capital contributions by the company in its subsidiaries an additional investment in 
subsidiaries has been recorded with a corresponding increase in shareholders’ equity the additional capital contribution is based on the grant date 
fair value of the options issued allocated over the underlying grant’s vesting period
directors’ remuneration
detailed disclosures of directors’ individual remuneration and share options are given in the audited part of the remuneration report on pages 49 to 
50 and should be regarded as an integral part of this note the company has no employees 102         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
 business review             governance            financial statements
notes to the company balance sheet
2 fixed asset investments
 shares in
 subsidiary long
 undertakings term loans total
  £’000 £’000       £’000
cost
at 1 april 2007 87862 166154 254016
additions 9538 – 9538
disposals 1332 – 1332
impairment 10338 – 10338
fair value adjustment 6 – 6
capital contribution relating to sharebased payments 207 – 207
movement in long term loans – 10051 10051
at 1 january 2008 85943 176205 262148
additions 80896 – 80896
disposals 8174 – 8174
transfer from group companies 385 – 385
impairment 35 – 35
fair value adjustment 11 – 11
capital contribution relating to sharebased payments 703 – 703
movement in long term loans – 82286 82286
at 31 december 2008 159707 93919 253626
 
the directors have considered the value of the above investments and are satisfied that the aggregate value of each investment is not less than its 
carrying value
in the period ended 31 december 2007 and the year ended 31 december 2008 the group carried out a significant restructuring of its businesses to 
reduce the number of legal entities that were trading as part of this process a number of subsidiaries became dormant and had their reserves paid 
up by way of dividend t o the extent that the dividends reduced the net assets of these dormant companies below the carrying cost of the related 
investment an impairment of the carrying value of those investments in the parent company accounts was recorded in addition in the period 
ended 31 december 2007 the carrying value of tribal resourcing was impaired by £7m as a direct consequence of the group’s annual goodwill 
impairment review
additions in the year ended 31 december 2008 comprise £60m increase in share capital of tribal consulting £171m in respect of the acquisition of 
tribal helm corporation and £38m in respect of the purchase of minorities
a listing of principal subsidiaries is included in note 41 to the group financial statements
fair value adjustments relate to revision of the estimates of deferred consideration payable net of the appropriate discounting charges
3 debtors
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
amounts owed by group undertakings  1352 1250
fair value of interest rate swaps  – 178
deferred taxation note 6  194 –
  1546 1428
 
4 creditors amounts falling due within one year
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
loan notes   662 876
amounts owed to group undertakings  45708 60347
deferred cash consideration  155 2954
accruals  295 316
fair value of interest rate swaps  188 –
  47008 64493 tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         103
 business review             governance            financial statements
5 creditors amounts falling due after more than one year
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
bank loan   32894 22098
fair value of interest rate swaps  809 –
  33703 22098
maturity of bank and loan notes
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
bank and loan notes can be analysed as falling due  
in one year or less or on demand  662 876
between two and five years  32894 22098
  33556 22974
 
the bank loan which has primary security is at market rates of interest and is secured by way of a fixed and floating charge over the assets of 
the company and its subsidiary undertakings the interest rates on the other loans are a mixture of fixed and floating and are also at market rates 
repayment terms vary between one and five years for further details see note 24 to the group financial statements
6 provision for liabilities and charges
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
deferred taxation 
at start of period  116 210
items taken directly to equity  310 94
at end of period  194        116
a deferred taxation asset of £194000 has arisen on the fair value of interest rate swaps at 31 december 2008 see note 3 provisions for deferred 
taxation consist of the following amounts
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
derivative financial instruments  – 116
  104         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
 business review             governance            financial statements
notes to the company balance sheet
7 called up share capital
  31 december 31 december
  2008 2007
   £’000 £’000
authorised
125000000 ordinary shares of 5p each 2007 125000000  6250 6250
   31 december 31 december 31 december 31 december
   2008 2008 2007 2007
   number £’000 number £’000
allotted called up and fully paid
at beginning of the period 84773759 4239 84683270 4234
issued as consideration for acquisitions 3105491 155 – –
share option exercises 1315 – 90489 5
at end of the period 87880565 4394 84773759 4239
 
allotment of shares
between 1 january 2008 and 31 december 2008 new ordinary shares of 5p each in the company were issued as follows
   value  valueproceeds  
number of shares £’000 price per share £’000 purpose of issue
1315  – £144 2 saye exercises tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         105
 business review             governance            financial statements
7 called up share capital continued
details of options in respect of shares outstanding at 31 december 2008 are as follows
employee share option schemes number  price date from which
  outstanding payable exercisable  
limited scheme 56232 £133 30062003
 88608 £165 30062003
 144840  
plc scheme 35808 £250 30062003
 57100 £283 30062003
 137281 £310 30062004
 320810 £246 30062005
 118714 £229 30062005
 190672 £326 30062006
 47462 £362 30062006
 41785 £345 30062007
 149641 £196 30062007
 1099273
ltip 8064 £nil 31032006
 8130 £nil  31032005
 17265 £nil 31032007
 155880 £nil 30062008
 474602 £nil 30062009
 769862 £nil 01052010
 1211728 £nil 31032010
 1339860 £nil 31032011
 3985391  
acquired schemes 6668 £116 14012003
 25693 £190 27032004
 40866 £245 28022005
 50122 £231 24012006
 72636 £022 29032004
 195985  
savings related option scheme   
saye 178637 £193 01032009
   223192 £158 01102010
 267357 £108 01122011
 110656 £108 01122013
 74170 £108 01122015
 854012  
t otal tribal group plc share option schemes 6279501  
   business review             governance            financial statements
106         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
notes to the company balance sheet
8 share premium and reserves
 share    sharebased
 premium merger hedging own share payment profit and
 account reserve reserve reserve reserve loss account
 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
at beginning of the period 74750 59946 445 1590 631 38713
loss for the period – – – – – 2700
dividends – – – – – 3957
fair value movement on cash flow hedges – – 799 – – –
premium on share issues net of expenses 3999 – – – – –
movement in relation to sharebased payments – – – – 703 –
at end of the period 78749 59946 354 1590 1334 32056
 
the merger reserve of £599m 2007 £599m relates to the premium arising on shares issued subject to the provisions of section 131 of the 
companies act 1985 
the own share reserve of £16m 2007 £16m represents the cost of 813484 2007 813484 shares in tribal group plc held by the employee 
share ownership trust to satisfy certain options under the group’s share option schemes tribal group plc report and accounts 2008         107
 business review             governance            financial statements
five year summary
summarised consolidated group income statement
 year  nine months  year year year
 ended  ended  ended ended ended
 31 december 31 december 31 march 31 march 31 march
 2008 2007 2007 2006 2005
 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
revenue 233990 153299 194056 200244 179508
profit before interest amortisation and impairment  
on goodwill and intangibles and exceptional items 19823 11173 14462 22156 22500
amortisation and impairment on goodwill and intangibles  556 9240 14749 316 6987
interest  1315 749 4054 4803 4472
t axation  4810 3002 2846 5595 5815
minority interests 910 402 771 274 303
dividends 3957 2031 2692 2362 2150
retained profitloss 8275 4251 10650 8806 2773
adjusted diluted earnings per share 147p 84p 80p 149p 150p
dividend per ordinary share 435p 295p 347p 33p 30p
summarised consolidated group balance sheet
intangible assets 217505 191245 195885 209647 208726
other noncurrent assets 11259 9087 58827 50218 14151
current assets 80889 79618 100758 86590 93752
current liabilities 77195 74274 90808 84424 74834
noncurrent liabilities 37055 24434 106428 99958 80383
net assets 195403 181242 158234 162073 161412
 
the amounts disclosed above are for continuing operations only   business review             governance            financial statements
108         tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
company information
tribal group plc
87–91 newman street
london w1t 3ey
t 020 7323 7100
e infotribalgroupcouk
wwwtribalgroupcouk 
company secretary
richard h collins 
registered office
8791 newman street
london w1t 3ey
stockbroker and joint financial adviser
rbs hoare govett limited
250 bishopsgate
london ec2m 4aa
joint financial adviser
n m rothschild  sons limited
new court
st swithin’s lane
london ec4p 4du
principal bankers
bank of scotland plc
po box 208
21 prince street
bristol bs99 7jg
auditors
deloitte llp
3 rivergate
t emple quay
bristol bs1 6gd
solicitors
osborne clarke
2 t emple back east
t emple quay
bristol bs1 6eg
registrars
capita registrars
po box 1269
huddersfield
hd1 9ut
company’s registered number
4128850
place of incorporation
registered in england and wales our business
tribal provides consultancy support and delivery services 
focused on improving the delivery of public services in the 
uk and internationally our broad offering combines an
indepth understanding of our chosen markets with 
professional expertise and a strong technology capability
our approach
we work in partnership with our clients to make a positive 
difference to the communities they serve and to ensure the 
best possible use of public funds
our services
 strategy
 performance improvement
 training and development
 programme and project management
 communications
 information technology
 people attraction selection and retention
 procurement and supply chain
 built environment design and planning
our markets
 education
 health 
 central government
 housing and regeneration
 local government
 international
 designed by kindred agency produced by accrue
the paper used for this report uses ecf elemental chlorine free pulps supplied by manufacturers with 
environmentfriendly and sustainable reforestation policies the report has been printed using soyabased inks 
and the printing process conforms to iso 14001  tribal
tribal
report and accounts 2008
tribal group plc
tribal group plc
8791 newman street
london
w1t 3ey
t 020 7323 7100
e infotribalgroupcouk
wwwtribalgroupcouk
tribal group plc report and accounts 2008      


Summary:
 business review            governance             financial statements 
04  tribal group plc report and accounts 2008
chairman’s statement
the group had a successful year in 2008 we made further progress in 
our financial and operational performance and took a number of steps to 
strengthen tribal’s position as a leading provider of consultancy support 
and delivery services to the public sector in the uk and internationally
performance
during the year our revenue grew by 12 to £2340m and adjusted operating profit rose by 14 to £198m adjusted profit before 
tax was up 21 to £186m and adjusted earnings per share increased by 20 to 147p our cash performance was excellent and we 
were particularly pleased to achieve an operating cash conversion of 136 
tribal’s financial performance has improved substantially over the past two years we now have a strong balance sheet low levels 
of debt and considerable headroom against our bank facilities placing us in a good position to address both opportunities and 
challenges over the coming year 
dividend
the board is recommending a final dividend of 265p per share bringing the total dividend for the year ended 31 december 2008 
to 435p per share this represents an increase of 11 on a pro rata annualised basis subject to approval at tribal’s 2009 annual 
general meeting agm this dividend will be paid on 17 july 2009 to shareholders on the register at 19 june 2009 
strategy
the next two years will be very challenging for the general economy and our expectation is that public sector spending will 
come under increasing pressure the outcome of the general election which will take place in the next 14 months will also have 
an influence on the direction of public policy however tribal operates in a public services industry that is now a substantial 
and permanent feature of the uk economy our core markets such as education and health will remain priorities for reform 
and improvement and the requirement for government to increase efficiency and identify cost savings will continue to create 
opportunities for our business
our priority for 2009 is to build further resilience into our business model by increasing the levels of committed income we have 
taken steps to improve our business development processes with the aim of improving account management sales qualification 
and our contract win rate the award in february 2009 of our new £75m ofsted contract was a major step in achieving our 
objectives   tribal group plc report and accounts 2008 05
business review            governance             financial statements 
we are also looking to develop our business internationally the acquisition of tribal 
helm was a significant step in expanding the group’s international footprint 
we are very encouraged by the strength of the international sales pipeline and 
expect it to be a key contributor to our future growth 
risk management
during these more challenging times it is even more important to have in place 
robust risk management systems and effective internal governance in 2008 
we undertook a formal review and analysis of our business and the market 
environment and have now assigned the management of our key risks to a small 
group of senior leaders we have also revised our internal financial control systems 
to ensure authority and approvals are set at appropriate levels for the organisation 
we have appointed a group risk manager to embed and monitor risk management 
across our business streams
people
our staff and associates are the key driver behind our good performance last year 
their hard work loyalty and commitment ensure that we are able to deliver high 
levels of customer service in 2008 we invested substantially in developing our 
people and reviewing our benefits package in order to ensure that we remain 
competitive in the marketplace and continue to attract high quality people
new initiatives for 2009 will include the launch of a fast track development 
programme for graduates with up to three years’ work experience 
board of directors
there were a number of changes to the composition of the board during the year 
as announced in march 2008 henry pitman tribal’s founder and former chief 
executive stepped down from his nonexecutive role on the board at the end of 
november tim stevenson obe retired as a nonexecutive director following his 
appointment as lord lieutenant of oxfordshire david thompson has taken on the 
role of senior independent director in addition to his chairmanship of the audit 
committee on 1 november 2008 lady katherine innes ker joined the board as an 
independent nonexecutive director she chairs the remuneration committee and 
has joined the audit and nomination committees 
outlook
we entered the current financial year in an encouraging position with nearly 40 
of our planned revenue for the year already contracted our sales pipeline has 
increased significantly over the past year and at 1 january 2009 stood at £297m an 
increase of more than 77 over the previous 12 months 
despite the challenges in the wider economy organisations in the public sector will 
continue to face significant pressure to reform the delivery of services to achieve 
efficiency gains and to accelerate the identification of cost savings whilst the 
overall environment for public sector spending will become more difficult tribal 
remains wellpositioned to support its clients in achieving their objectives and 
meeting their key organisational challenges we therefore remain confident of our 
ability to make further progress during 2009 
17 march 2009
strone macpherson
chairman
17 march 2009
“the requirement 
for government to 
increase efficiency 
and identify 
cost savings will 
continue to create 
opportunities for 
our business”