2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
world of oppor tunity  
strong momentum continues
annual repor t
for the year ended 31 march 2014 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
•	 the group majors on the design manufacture and distribution of mechanical fasteners on 
a global basis to both distributors and oem assemblers
•	 this competitive combination has fuelled sales and geographic expansion over the past  
two decades
•	 today tr has 5000 customers and has attained ‘preferred vendor’ status with over  
40 multinational oem customers
welcome to trifast plc
automotive
home appliances electronics distributors
the board would like to thank our colleagues from around  
the group who have contributed to this publication”
jim barker
chief executive
 
read more content within 
this report
view more content online at 
wwwtrfasteningscom
view more content online at 
wwwtrifastcom
stock code tri
trifast plc annual report 2014
ifc 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
03 our governance
66 directors’ report
68 corporate governance
70 audit committee report
73 nominations committee report
74 directors’ remuneration report
87 statement of directors’ responsibilities
what’s inside our report
01 strategic report
04 financial  operational highlights
05 chairman’s letter
06 the group at a glance
08 tr’ s multi faceted business model 
09 key strengths
10 strategic report
12 chairman’s  ceo’s statement
21 financial review
26 how the business manages risk
28 leadership – board of directors
30 leadership – senior people
32 corporate social responsibility
04 our financials
90 independent auditor’s report
93 consolidated income statement
94 statement of comprehensive income
95 consolidated statement of changes in equity
96 company statement of changes in equity
97 statements of financial position
98 statements of cash flows
99
notes to the financial statements  
forming part of the financial statements
132 glossary of terms
ibc company  advisers
02 take a look at ‘tr’
42 overview – asia
44 overview – uk  mainland europe
46 overview – tr uk
48 overview – usa
50 acquisition of viterie italia centale vic
52 global sales  business management
56 technology  innovation
58 human resources
62 tr marketing
visit our corporate website
wwwtrifastcom
wwwtrifastcom
01 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
02 02 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
01 strategic report
04 financial  operational highlights
05 chairman’s letter
06 the group at a glance
08 tr’ s multi faceted business model 
09 key strengths
10 strategic report
12 chairman’s  ceo’s statement
21 financial review
26 how the business manages risk
28 leadership – board of directors
30 leadership – senior people
32 corporate social responsibility
03 03 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
financial  operational highlights
revenue
£12978m
10 11 12 13
£8594m
£10609m
£11251m
£12154m
£12978m
14
£12154m
7
underlying pretax profit
£916m
10 11 12 13
£092m
£377m
£500m
£725m
£916m
14
£725m
26
ebitda
£1080m
10 11 12 13
£213m
£526m
£654m
£923m
£1080m
14
£923m
17
continued roll out to multinational oems 
distributor sales — renewed growth
cash conversion of ebitda at historic high
ongoing margin enhancement through selfhelp
post year end major acquisition
significant dividend uplift
we have made excellent 
progress for the period as 
our ambitious performance 
objectives have been achieved 
for yet another year”
before separately disclosed items which are shown in the financial statements
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trifast plc annual report 2014
04 04 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
chairman’s letter
dear shareholder
i am pleased to inform you that we have made excellent progress for the period as our ambitious performance objectives 
have been achieved for yet another year
we indicated back in mid june 2012 that having restored a healthy momentum to the group by then reporting a profit of £50 
million that we would aim to double profits by mid june 2015 and would have a well established progressive dividend policy
by reporting an underlying pretax profit of £92 million for the year ended march 2014 it seems clear that we are well on 
our way to this doubling of profit aspiration by the same time next year however after the 2013–14 reporting period on  
30 may 2014 shareholders approved the acquisition of viterie italia centrale vic in italy for an initial £225 million funded 
mainly by bank debt thus considerably adding to the next year’s profit performance with minimal shareholder dilution — and 
so potentially considerably outperforming our 2015 forecast made three years earlier
our strategy over the past three years has primarily been to drive organic growth via the six elements of our group  
business model
•	 combining our low cost asian manufacturing with global distribution logistics — both supported by engineering design 
and application to multi sitemultinationals in europe asia and the usa by the end of this reporting year we had achieved 
approved supplier status with over 40 multinational customers — each of whom projecting multimillion dollar annual 
fastener and category ‘c’ component purchasing budgets 
•	 own brand specialist fasteners — for sheet metal and plastics selling internationally to both oems and distributors
•	 tr direct — 24 hour uk delivery of standard din fasteners to oems offering competitive pricing and guaranteed quality 
and service levels 
•	 lancaster fastener — 24 hour uk and eu delivery of a wide range of standard and specialised fasteners promoted by an 
extensive online and printed catalogue that is regularly updated with new product ranges 
•	 plastic fasteners and spacing pillars — promoted throughout the group and just completed its successful second year 
since launch 
•	 highly engineered manufacturing licences — investments have been made within the period for both existing and newly 
developed fastener drives and thread forms aimed to improve oem assembly time or component weight these tangibly 
support our reputation status and growth within the automotive electronics and domestic appliance customer sectors 
it has also been our mission to supplement steady organic growth with a sustained search for the ‘right’ acquisition to extend 
our geographic and product range and customer base however our target business has to be profitable cash generative and  
selfmanaging with strong leadership — plus have a realistic independent growth strategy for the foreseeable future this 
demanding requirement was met in late 2011 the acquisition of power steel  electro plating works psep in malaysia and we 
are delighted that this was again met 30 months later at the end of may 2014 by the vic acquisition we accept that we apply 
extremely strict criteria to acquisitions and so we are grateful to colleagues and shareholders for their forbearance and patience 
throughout our search and selection process
during the period the uk tr fastenings board of directors under the leadership of dave fisk uk md and mentorship 
of geoff budd md — tr europe has taken full responsibility for the strategy policies and operations of what has hitherto 
been half of the group’s revenue thus allowing the main board to focus more on acquisition activity and other aspects of 
group strategy in fact all of our group’s country and business location directors and managers have successfully risen to the 
demanding challenges of continuing to improve their operating margins inventory management and cash generation and so 
to them and their hard working teams i offer my sincere respect and grateful thanks
trifast has historically been categorised by the lse as a fledgling plc but with our improved share price and trading liquidity 
we achieved a promotion to the small cap index on 23 june 2014 thus making us eligible to be a tracker fund investment 
and so possibly enhancing our value
finally thank you for your loyalty and support as a valued investor in our company and i very much look forward to keeping 
you updated as we continue our further exciting development
malcolm diamond mbe 
executive chairman
05
wwwtrifastcom
05 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
usa
01 tr fastenings – usa
uk
02 tr fastenings head office – uckfield
03 tr fastenings – belfast
04 tr fastenings – birmingham
05 tr fastenings – east kilbride
06 tr fastenings – manchester
07 tr fastenings – newton aycliffe
08 tr fastenings – poole
09 lancaster fastener – lancaster
mainland europe
10 tr fastenings – holland 
11 tr fastenings – hungary
12 tr southern fasteners – ireland
13 vic – italy
14 tr fastenings – norway
15 tr fastenings – poland
16 tr fastenings – sweden
the group at a glance
key
manufacturing
distribution
12
08
07
05
01
03
13
11
20 19
25
24
17
18
22
21
23
15
10
16
14
06
09
04
02
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trifast plc annual report 2014
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asia
17 tr formac – china beijing
18 tr formac – china shanghai  suzhou
19 tr formac – india bangalore
20 tr formac – india chennai
21 psep – malaysia
22 tr formac – malaysia
23 tr formac – singapore
24 sfe – taiwan
25 tr formac – thailand
mainland europe 
£2536m
10 11 12 13
£1597m
£1907m
£2120m
£2291m
£2536m
14
£2291m
11
uk
£6324m
10 11 12 13
£4646m
£5713m
£5778m £5726m
£6324m
14
£5726m
10
asia
£3836m
10 11 12 13
£2144m
£2745m
£3112m
£3885m
£3836m
14
£3885m
1
usa
£282m
10 11 12 13
£206m
£244m £241m
£252m
£282m
14
£252m
12
12
08
07
05
01
03
13
11
20 19
25
24
17
18
22
21
23
15
10
16
14
06
09
04
02
group revenue split
12
08
07
05
01
03
13
11
20 19
25
24
17
18
22
21
23
15
10
16
14
06
09
04
02
wwwtrifastcom
07 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
oems uk
tr direct 
standardised 
fasteners for 
next day 
delivery 
distributors uk  europe
lancaster 
fastener 
standardised 
fasteners for 
next day 
delivery
distributors 
 
oems
uk europe 
asia  usa
branded 
specialised 
components for 
sheet metal 
pcbs  plastic 
mouldings
electronics 

 tier 1 
automotive
target 
500 sites 
2014  20 converted 
 long term 
growth
global component 
supplies to 40 
multinationals as 
‘preferred vendor’ 
status
 high quality
low cost 
manufacturing
the ‘virtuous triangle’  a global usp
design  
application 
engineering 
 onsite 
customer 
support
global 
supply chain 
logistics 
vmi
oems
uk europe 
asia  usa
plastic 
fasteners  
metal spacers 
for electronics 
 automotive
electronics 

 tier 1 
automotive
global 
supply chain 
logistics
vmi
licences
manufacturing  
for hitech 
applications 
mainly 
automotive
tr’s multi faceted business model
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trifast plc annual report 2014
08 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
the fastener supply sector both 
nationally and globally is extremely 
fragmented with no company able 
to claim either market dominance or 
brand leadership however the global 
market is estimated to be around £50 
billion per annum — and growing — of 
which we have assumed that £25 billion 
falls within our target customer sector 
capability
this has given trifast an ideal 
opportunity during the past five years to 
develop both a strategy and a market 
reputation to be able to ‘stand out from 
the crowd’ within our sector
we started to realise that we were 
on the right track back in 2010 
when several multinational oems 
in electronics and tier 1 automotive 
conducted quality and environmental 
audits on our singapore and taiwan 
factories
not only did our factories pass these 
audits — which then led on to tr being 
nominated as ‘preferred vendors’ on 
a global basis but we also received 
feedback that these major fastener 
buyers had benchmarked us against 
several other multinational fastener 
suppliers and found that tr had  
unique advantages
•	 low costhigh quality manufacturing 
capability
•	 distribution logistics capability in over 
50 countries across three continents
•	 design and application engineers 
available to customers on site
the reason for being assessed as 
unique is that although we are not the 
largest global supplier no other player 
appears to combine an equal capability 
in manufacturing lean distribution and 
onsite engineering resources
in early 2010 our sales teams had been 
given a challenge to secure long term 
supply relationships with 30 multi
national oems that had as an absolute 
minimum a £500k annual spend on 
fasteners and other ‘consumable’ 
components
this target of 30 customers was met by 
mid 2012 and by year end march 2014 
this number was over 40 moreover 
with some multinationals operating as 
many as 200 assembly sites around the 
world our initial aim of £500k spend 
per company now looks decidedly 
conservative our oem multinational 
activities now account for over a third of 
group revenue
however there is so much more to tr’s 
key strengths than just successfully 
supplying multinational oems as we 
blend sales growth of historically strong 
branded products for sheet metal and 
plastics with new initiatives on product 
ranges and technical design innovations 
for lower cost assembly techniques 
these dynamics are further enhanced 
by our ongoing geographic expansion 
within europe and asia
our annual recruitment 
of young well educated 
apprentices ensures that we 
enjoy the benefits of new 
blood bringing in fresh ideas”
our company profile has been 
substantially raised in recent years 
as has our reputation for being fair 
trustworthy and reliable — which has 
been so reassuringly fed back to us by 
many of our staff customers suppliers 
and shareholders we believe that this 
is why we are regularly approached by 
potential vendors of fastener businesses 
around the world with genuine 
reasons for wanting us to acquire 
their business perhaps because of 
the founder’s lack of an heir a major 
shareholder needing to liquidate their 
assets or because there is a realisation 
that survival and growth increasingly 
depends on being global our recent 
additions of psep in malaysia and vic 
in italy are prime examples of how high 
quality manufacturers have been such 
welcome assets to support our future 
aspirations for strong growth deriving 
from the drive of competent and 
ambitious team leaders around  
the group
key strengths of any business clearly 
rely on quality products and services at 
competitive prices being offered to the 
appropriate markets however they fade 
into relative insignificance without being 
managed and motivated by the right 
people we try very hard to encourage 
our people to grow their confidence 
and skills by personal training and 
development and by avoiding the 
stifling of enthusiasm and initiative 
by micro management their loyalty 
and dedication is clearly indicated by 
the fact that around 40 of our staff 
have been with us for over ten years 
our annual recruitment of young well 
educated apprentices ensures that we 
enjoy the benefits of new blood bringing 
in fresh ideas alongside the stability 
and knowledge provided by older 
colleagues
without doubt trifast is a people 
business before any other asset
view more content online at 
wwwtrifastcom
key strengths
wwwtrifastcom
09 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
principal activities and 
business review
the principal activity of the group during 
the financial year has been that of the 
manufacture and distribution of industrial 
fastenings and category ‘c’ components
a review of the business activity and future 
prospects of the group are covered in the 
chairman’s  ceo’s statement and the 
directors’ business review 
a balanced and comprehensive review of 
the development and performance of the 
group and its position at the year end is 
given on page 12 to 20
a description of the principal risks 
and uncertainties facing the group is 
discussed on page 26 to 27
a description of the main trends and 
factors likely to affect future development 
is given on page 26 to 27
information on environmental and social 
issues is provided on page 32 to 39
the key assumptions underlying the going 
concern basis of preparation are included 
on page 99 
policy and practice on 
payment of creditors
the group does not follow any code or 
standard on payment practice as it is the 
group’s policy to settle creditors promptly 
on mutually agreed terms the terms will 
vary from supplier to supplier and suppliers 
will be aware of the terms of payment
for smaller suppliers where no terms are 
agreed payment will normally be made in 
the month following receipt of goods or 
services 
the number of days purchases in trade 
payables at the end of the financial year for 
the company was 55 2013 56 and  
56 2013 61 for the group
financial instruments
information in respect of the group’s 
policies on financial risk management 
objectives including policies to manage 
credit risk liquidity risk and foreign 
currency risk are given in note 26 to the 
financial statements
by order of the board
mark belton
company secretary
trifast house
bellbrook park
uckfield
east sussex
tn22 1qw
company registered number 1919797
strategic report
dave brink
ross delmon
glenn blackford
respected tr brand enhances our marketing
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wwwtrifastcom
selfclinch nuts manufactured by tr formac singapore
11
wwwtrifastcom 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
chairman’s  ceo’s statement
the trifast board management and staff take pride in reporting an impressive track 
record of total shareholder return tsr since early 2009 especially when compared to 
the two relevant ftse indices shown below for the same period
1000
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
trifast plc ftse fledgling index ftse all share industrial engineering index
800
600
400
200
0
in march 2009 the share price was languishing at around 8p during this year being 
reported the share price traded between 57p and 87p giving a market capitalisation at 
31 march 2014 of £946 million 1 april 2013 £617m as at 12 june 2014 the group’s 
share price closed at 127p thus taking the market capitalisation from below £10 million 
in 2009 to over £141 million this quantum leap in value is testament that our investors 
support our growth strategy and aspirations recently underpinned with our largest 
acquisition in history which extends our offering and european footprint this together 
with reasonable ongoing share trading liquidity has enabled trifast shares to be promoted 
from the fledgling index to be included within the ftse small cap and ftse allshare 
indices from 23 june 2014 this inclusion widens the category of potential institutional 
investors we consider that our enhanced profile coupled with our tangibly progressive 
dividend policy has positioned us firmly within the investor fraternity whilst providing 
powerful motivation to our entire workforce to drive the business even harder for the 
immediate and medium term future
keith sandells
tr’s design  application engineering skills
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trifast plc annual report 2014
12 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
business overview
whilst pleased with this year’s organic 
growth results we have openly expressed 
our objective to accelerate expansion 
by strategic acquisitions we have also 
committed to applying strict criteria 
to the structure and currentpotential 
performance of selected targets although 
at any one time there is always at least 
one target under scrutiny our selectivity 
clearly restricts our commitment to 
finalising a transaction however there are 
sufficient opportunities in our market for 
us to remain confident that continuing our 
search remains entirely legitimate 
this search for the ‘right’ acquisition has 
been highly active over a two year period 
since acquiring psep in malaysia at the 
end of the 2011 calendar and post the 
financial year end culminated in extending 
our business through the acquisition of 
viterie italia centrale srl ‘vic’ in italy 
which we completed on 30 may 2014 
more detail about this acquisition can be 
found on pages 19 and 50
meanwhile our ongoing ‘self help’ 
initiatives continue to make material 
improvements around the business 
particularly with gross margins — thus 
providing tangible impetus to our ongoing 
financial progress
where our organic growth 
‘hotspots’ are developing
asean region comprises singapore 
malaysia thailand vietnam 
philippines and indonesia
the asean free trade area ‘afta’ is 
now revealing opportunities for tr as new 
factory investments are starting to favour 
the region sometimes as an alternative to 
china part of local government incentives 
depend on the requirement for new 
participating beneficiary companies to 
source a minimum of 40 of materials and 
components from within the afta region 
tr has two fastener factories in malaysia 
and one in singapore thus providing a 
steady flow of potential new assembly 
customers moving into the region — 
sometimes from china
for this reason tr has strengthened 
personnel resources by setting up a 
subsidiary in thailand and has registered 
for vat in order to allow local currency 
invoicing our main sector targets are 
automotive two and four wheel and 
electronics mainly consumer
once again we congratulate 
and thank all of our colleagues 
around the world for these 
outstanding results yielded with 
less than a 1 increase in staff 
numbers employed”
taiwan
our operation in this region special 
fasteners engineering co ltd ‘sfe’ is 
already a strategic supplier to fastener 
distributors in europe and the usa 
plus tr fastenings as a group due to 
competitive pricing quality and service for 
manufacturing specialised components 
sfe is enjoying both full capacity and 
sufficient return on capital employed 
‘roce’ to actively seek opportunities to 
increase capacity of both buildings and 
plant and these initiatives have gained full 
trifast board support
shanghai
following extensive product and 
engineering training from tr colleagues 
in europe last year our shanghai team 
tr formac is gaining increasing 
business from sister plants of our existing 
automotive tier 1 customers who are 
already long established with tr within 
europe this validates one of our core 
growth strategies set five years ago to 
develop global multinational assembly 
customers that we can follow from 
country to country the rising costdriven 
trend for the major car manufacturers 
to establish ‘global platforms’ the most 
costly component to developing the 
main floor pan for example the new 
imminent ford medium saloon broadens 
our opportunities to offer common 
platform components such as reclining 
seat bolts on a global basis ultimately to 
plants in asia europe and the usa where 
uniformity of price quality and availability is 
a minimum requirement to gain orders
shanghai is also gaining the benefit from 
mobile phone base station renewals as 
4g technology supplants 3g where the 
hardware is substantially different
our forecasting for the next three years 
reflects our confidence in the ongoing 
growth from both automotive and 
electronics sector dynamics within china
malcolm diamond mbe  jim barker
keith sandells
our ongoing ‘self help’ 
initiatives continue 
to make material 
improvements around the 
business particularly with 
gross margins”
jim barker
chief executive
wwwtrifastcom
13 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
manufacturing  
 distribution
manufacturing 24
distribution – tr direct 6
distribution – lancaster 3
distribution – oem 67
group sales by sector 
as at march 2014
automotive 35
electronics 22
distributors 11
domestic applicances 8
other 24
singapore
despite being in a high cost country tr 
formac singapore continues to deliver 
strong margins and for this reason 
our earlier thoughts of transferring the 
manufacturing facility across the border to 
malaysia have been discounted as we now 
focus on new customer potential around 
the afta region with particular emphasis 
on south korea and thailand
malaysia
power steel  electroplating works 
sdn bhd ‘psep’ continues to expand 
its capabilities with high tech larger 
components as a key resource within 
tr especially to automotive customers 
sales activity is now beginning to embrace 
thailand as a key future potential  
market opportunity
in order to prepare for anticipated 
expansion of demand for safety critical 
automotive components in the region 
approval has been given for investing in an 
additional new large diameter cold forging 
machine to be installed
this £1 million machine is a ‘best of 
breed’ multistage parts former weighing 
42 tonnes manufactured in japan this 
investment will provide a quantum leap in 
our production capability with regard to 
complexity and accuracy of customised 
components
usa
our relatively new houston location for 
tr fastenings inc continues to expand 
its resources both with extra personnel 
and enlarged warehousing we anticipate 
that there will be a year of consolidation 
in order to service the emergence of 
automotive opportunities arising from the 
increasing globalisation of component 
specification where tr already is supplying 
sister plants in europe and asia
our forecasting for the next 
three years reflects our 
confidence in ongoing growth 
from both automotive and 
electronics sector dynamics 
within china”
uk and mainland europe
following on from an excellent 
performance in the year under review 
all of our uk ireland and mainland 
european business teams expect this 
trend to continue driven substantially by 
automotive new model production start 
dates running from mid2014 into 2015 
as a result of exhaustive work involving 
concept and application engineering 
estimating quoting prototyping and 
component testing undertaken as far back 
as winter 2012 although the development 
cycle of new specifications can be as long 
as two years or more before production 
invoicing commences these types of 
contracts tend to run for the lifetime of the 
vehicle typically five to seven years as 
a result this restricts competitive activity 
to a relatively limited number of fastener 
suppliers who have the financial and 
engineering resources to cope with this 
level of complexity and delay and even 
less who can offer support on a global 
scale we believe that this limited choice 
of alternatives to tr has and continues to 
contribute to our organic growth
chairman’s  ceo’s statement continued
large diameter cold forging machine for psep
stock code tri
trifast plc annual report 2014
14 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
tr sweden had a particularly good 
year in terms of sales growth profit and 
cash generation this was in both the 
automotive and telecoms sectors and tr 
holland likewise enjoyed sales growth both 
in automotive and domestic appliances 
whilst tr hungary’s growth has been 
predominantly in electronics
the only division that has struggled is 
tr norway mainly due to the demise 
of traditional business emigrating to 
lower cost countries however much 
preparatory work has been done both on 
the supply and sales side to develop our 
business into the oil and gas industries 
which are so prevalent in the norwegian 
economy this new diversification is also 
proving to be relevant to our scottish 
and houston teams we expect this 
sector focus switch to begin yielding both 
revenue and profit positive results  
by mid 2015
meanwhile the electronics and white 
goods sectors show tangible evidence 
of recovery within europe which tr 
should benefit from due to its strong 
presence in the electronics sector and the 
recent acquisition of vic which operates 
predominantly in the white goods sector
‘continuous improvement’
in last year’s report we highlighted the 
focus on sales profit and cash and also 
the adoption of the 8020 pareto principle 
by each of the 15 uk and mainland 
europe business team locations this has 
been a major contributor to the profitability 
and cash generation improvement across 
all of these business teams and is now a 
constituent part of our routine operational 
disciplines and processes this concept 
that ‘80 of our results come from 20 
of our activity’ has been widely accepted 
and is part of our induction and training 
programmes for everyone in the business
it was also indicated that more sales 
applications engineers would be recruited 
since then we have added four new 
and experienced experts to the global 
automotive team with clear geographic 
segmentation and targeted product 
category sales activity these developments 
and strategy rollout are reflected in this 
year’s results the product launch of 
plastic fasteners as a standalone new 
sector has proven very successful and has 
become a meaningful part of our growth 
strategy that is measured and reported to 
the board on a monthly basis
maria johnson ian carlton stevie meiklem dave fisk helen toole colin coddington tr uk management board
sales
1
total 
costs
1
net prot
 20
10 12
90 89
100 101
1
2
3
source john winkler 
cost model example shows if 
sales of £100m 1 
variable costs of 50 1 
fixed costs of 40 1 
 20 in profit
with clear geographic 
segmentation and targeted 
product category sales 
activity these developments 
and strategy rollout are 
reflected in this year’ s 
results”
wwwtrifastcom
15 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
ongoing margin improvement has been 
achieved by innovative group sourcing 
policies key vendor consolidation and 
freight and packaging efficiencies further 
software enhancements to our global sales 
enquiry portal during last year is enabling 
all new major group potential contracts 
to be monitored at board level at the time 
of quoting this is a risk management 
process to ensure that our teams resist 
any price pressure that could result in 
them being tempted to apply suboptimal 
margins in order to gain an order more 
easily this direct ‘power of veto’ has been 
the main driver behind cost modelling 
enhancements and improving buysell 
margins with major oem customers 
our mission is to sell ‘total installed cost 
reduction’ whilst the actual component 
price is usually only a small part of  
that equation 
it is for this reason that our marketing 
strategy for large volume oem assemblers 
has been focused on senior management 
who are in a position to calculate the 
indirect costs of ‘goods in’ processing 
and storage deployment of components 
to the line the cost of shortages and 
quality issues to production continuity 
and the benefits of tr engineers assisting 
in new product optimum design and 
application whereas the procurement 
personnel are invariably only measured on 
price which during the recent prolonged 
five year downturn has forced many 
component producers out of business 
the irony that is developing as recovery 
now slowly builds momentum is that there 
are clear signs of restricted capacity in 
some component sectors thus inevitably 
replacing the focus on lowest price with 
best availability it is for this reason that 
the board consider further investment in 
production capacity is timely
management development and succession 
planning is progressing on two levels 
the tr fastenings uk board that was 
established in june 2013 has met regularly 
and proven effective in coordinating 
the key functions of sales inventory 
management finance quality hr and 
it the management development 
programme for all uk and european 
business unit managers is providing 
the dual benefit of improving overall 
business skills and awareness whilst at 
the same time enhancing the teamwork 
across numerous locations an essential 
requirement for effectively supporting 
sister plants of multinational oems where 
consistency of service quality and price is a 
minimum in gaining preferred vendor status
group strategic overview 
the global fastener market has been 
estimated to exceed £25 billion per year 
and growing at a cagr of 5 until 
2022 therefore current market share 
for trifast is not a fundamentally relevant 
metric but nevertheless clearly points 
to the huge opportunities ahead for 
growth by marketing our relatively unique 
combination of low costhigh quality 
manufacturing global logistics resources 
and engineering design and application — 
predominantly to global oems
although supplying multinational oems 
is our foundation business model that 
currently yields 40 of group revenue this 
strategy is underpinned by five additional 
target markets previously described as 
‘strings to our bow’
chairman’s  ceo’s statement continued
hayley neilly
promoting the tr brand is essential
matthew swainback
stock code tri
trifast plc annual report 2014
16 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
tr’s high quality manufacturing in asia
sophisticated automated component inspection
lee turner
production of a hank bush
wwwtrifastcom
17 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
steve rex
chairman’s  ceo’s statement continued
these are
•	 tr branded products  
specialised components for sheet 
metal pcbs and plastic mouldings 
supplied mainly to distributors in the 
uk europe and the usa
•	 tr direct 
standardised ‘off the shelf’ fasteners for 
next day delivery to oems in the uk
•	 lancaster fastener company 
expanding range of catalogued 
standard and specialised fasteners for 
next day delivery to distributors in the 
uk europe and beyond
•	 plastic fasteners and spacers 
for global oems — available both from 
inventory and to customer specification
•	 manufacturing licences 
acquired for specialised highly 
engineered large volume fastener 
applications for automotive and 
electronics oem multinationals
the management team is confident that 
this combination of strategic and dynamic 
business streams is not only driving our 
current organic growth but will continue to 
do so for the foreseeable future moreover 
as the fastener supply sector remains 
highly fragmented there is ample scope 
for consolidation by acquisition
following the successful acquisition of 
malaysian based psep in december 
2011 the board has committed to the 
ongoing search for additional earnings 
enhancing acquisitions that deliver both 
a cultural and strategic fit with tr during 
the year we engaged closely with two 
opportunities one a european distributor 
and the other a us based manufacturer
although both were eminently strong 
culturally and strategically unfortunately 
after due diligence was undertaken we 
failed to complete the transactions on the 
basis of current profitability and inadequate 
strategic and tactical resources for forward 
profit growth 
plastic fasteners now a core product
agim nela
stock code tri
trifast plc annual report 2014
18 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
we are very clear in openly declaring that 
we do not want to risk investor funds with 
turnaround requirements where either 
there is a lack of current operational 
profitability or competent incumbent 
management in order to financially justify 
growth by acquisition our search has 
continued for targets that ‘add value’ for 
minimal risk
post year end acquisition
following extensive research and 
individual assessments of potential 
targets as explained above shareholder 
approval was granted on 30 may 2014 for 
completion on the class 1 acquisition of 
viterie italia centrale srl in italy normally 
referred to as ‘vic’ summarising the key 
facts relating to vic below is an extract 
from our rns announcement released 
from the london stock exchange on 
tuesday 6 may 2014
•	 vic is complementary to the group’s 
business model and significantly 
strengthens tr’s presence in the 
domestic appliance market whilst also 
offering tr additional opportunities in 
existing electronic and automotive  
tier 1 markets
•	 funded from a new bank facility 
and minimal dilution arising from the 
allotment of consideration shares to  
the vendor
•	 a technological innovator vic is 
utilising its ‘knowhow’ and customised 
approach in fastening applications 
gained from its leading position in 
the white goods industry and taking 
it into different markets including the 
automotive and electronics sectors
•	 vic has grown rapidly through 
integration and diversification of its 
product since its formation in 1964
•	 vic offers tailormade solutions and 
a highly efficient logistics service to a 
strong customer base
•	 longstanding relationships and key 
customers encompass europe’s 
leading manufacturers of white goods 
including indesit whirlpool electrolux 
elica bsh bosch and siemens
•	 vic’s operational management team will 
benefit from trifast’s global sales and 
marketing resources 
•	 acquisition will extend the group’s 
customer base as well as increasing 
tr’s overall business with limited overlap
•	 significant opportunity to grow 
the enlarged business consistent 
with trifast’s strategy and grow the 
combined businesses by selectively 
investing in new facilities plant  
and machinery
•	 vic will form a key additional part of 
trifast’s future expansion by providing 
an additional competitive manufacturing 
facility in europe to complement the 
group’s existing resources in asia
•	 vic will be earnings enhancing self
managing without the need  
for synergies 
the feedback on this transaction has been 
extremely positive with highlights being 
the logical strategic fit the immediate 
earnings enhancement the broadening 
of our domestic appliance customer 
sector and the introduction of major 
manufacturing capability into europe 
— thus offering short lead times and 
protection from eu antidumping threats  
in the future
this clearly had a positive impact on the 
share price 
it’s all about our people
the board of directors is under no 
illusions as to what is driving us forward 
in size capability and profit and so for 
that reason we are in awe of what our 
tr management and their teams are 
achieving and so offer our heartfelt 
appreciation and thanks for their 
unflinching efforts and ‘can do’ attitude
we welcome also our new colleagues 
in italy to the tr portfolio — we were 
delighted to receive resounding support 
from our investors at the end of may to 
enable us to complete the acquisition — 
we look forward to working with the team 
sharing ideas skills and resources
tr direct – 24 hour delivery
lancaster constantly adding new products
vic resourced for further growth
tr and vic now working as one
agim nela
wwwtrifastcom
19 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
chairman’s  ceo’s statement continued
outlook
the directors are pleased to report that 
the business is continuing to benefit from 
the uplift in economic confidence and 
manufacturing output this is being seen 
across a number of our key sectors and 
across our business units tr’s focus 
on overhead control remains key whilst 
also balancing our investment for future 
growth cash management continues to 
be highly effective and the balance sheet 
remains strong we will continue to pursue 
opportunities to add geographic coverage 
product range and customers to the  
tr footprint
the group entered this new financial 
year with confidence and enthusiasm to 
date underlying organic growth has been 
encouraging and this has been bolstered by 
the introduction of vic into the group and 
the opportunities that this brings 
management remains confident that we 
can continue to deliver another strong 
performance and we look forward to 
keeping all stakeholders updated with  
our progress
continuing investment in automated inspection for zerodefect in asia
we will continue to pursue 
opportunities to add geographic 
coverage product range and 
customers to the tr footprint”
malcolm diamond mbe 
executive chairman 
 
jim barker 
chief executive
16 june 2014
stock code tri
trifast plc annual report 2014
20 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
financial review
tr’s kpi objectives set results delivered by march 2014
•	 increase revenue organically  
acquisitively

 7 organic growth
•	 increase profitability

26
•	 ongoing margin enhancement

increase to 75
•	 maintain positive cash generation

50 yoy 
•	 build on return on capital roce

uplift to 16
•	 increase earnings per share

26 
•	 broaden the skills of management 
and staff

the development and implementation 
of a new training matrix succession 
planning and apprentice schemes 
modules 
it gives me great pleasure to report that we have had another successful year building on 
the strong solid foundations laid down in the previous years in summary
•	 all our target kpi’s delivered with top line revenue growth
•	 strong overhead control contributed to a significant increase in underlying profitability 
to £92 million 2013 £73m 
•	 increase in net operating margins to 75 2013 66
•	 cash generation was particularly impressive with operating cash flows of £118 million 
up 50 on prior year
•	 cash conversion rate in excess of 100
•	 roce improvement reflects the increase in operating profit and the group’s success 
in cash generation which by march reflected a positive net cash position
•	 adjusted diluted earnings per share rose by 26 to 595p 2013 473p
revenue
the group’s key regions can be analysed as follows
continuing operations
full year
31 march
2014
full year
31 march 
2013  increase
revenue
uk £6324m £5726m 104
asia £3836m £3885m 13
europe £2536m £2291m 107
usa £282m £252m 119
total for the year £12978m £12154m 68
mark belton
it gives me great pleasure 
to report that we have 
had another successful 
year building on the 
strong solid foundations 
laid down in the previous 
years”
mark belton 
group finance director
read more about  
performance on pages 2225
wwwtrifastcom
21 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
financial review continued
uk europe and usa all showed strong organic growth in excess of 10 the uk 
continues to benefit from the resurgence from the automotive sector as well as the 
general macroeconomic outlook holland and sweden also benefitted from the growth 
in automotive whereas hungary grew by 18 on the back of its electronic sales within 
asia although revenue was down 13 this part of our business delivered an impressive 
performance which included ‘backfilling’ the end of two sizeable component supply 
contracts which we highlighted in last year’s annual report and delivering a set of results 
which was adversely affected by the weakening of the asian currencies malaysia’s 
currency for instance weakened by 16 against sterling singapore 11 china 10 
and taiwan 12 respectively the effect of this was a reduction in asian revenue of £089 
million at constant currency the result would have shown a small growth for the asian 
region 
despite this foreign exchange impact on revenue the asian profitability has witnessed 
strong growth as shown below
with the exception of usa which has been investing in additional resources to support 
their potential future growth the other regions have showed respective increases in 
their operating margins underlying operating profit was up by 217 to £970 million 
which has been achieved by increasing gross profit margins by 170pbs to 277 
2013 260 whilst maintaining overheads at around 20 of revenue and an average 
headcount increase of only 1 
net financing costs fell by a quarter to £053 million 2013 £072m reflecting the 
reduction in gross debt in the uk and asian regions 
overall this resulted in an increase in underlying profit before tax of £916 million 2013 
£725m representing 71 of revenue 2013 60 of revenue 
taxation
taxation in the period was £228 million 2013 £173m which equates to an effective 
tax rate ‘etr’ of 256 2013 269 — the decrease being assisted by the reduction 
in the uk tax rate the group’s blended tax rate based on the geographical regimes was 
209 2013 213
underlying operating results
the underlying operating result across the tr represented regions can be analysed  
as follows 
continuing operations
full year
31 march 
2014
 of 
sales
full year
31 march 
2013
 of 
sales
 
increase
underlying operating result
uk £546m 86 £413m 72 322
asia £527m 137 £441m 114 195
europe £173m 68 £111m 48 559
usa £025m 89 £030m 119 167
central costs £301m 23 £198m 16
total before financing costs £970m 75 £797m 66 217
net financing costs £054m £072m
total underlying profit for the year £916m 71 £725m 60 263
separately disclosed items £029m £081m
profit before tax £887m 68 £644m 53 377
170bps
gp 277 
420bps
roce 163 
202x
net interest 
cover improved 
stock code tri
trifast plc annual report 2014
22 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
balance sheet
despite the group’s increase in retained profit during the period the net assets were 
only marginally up by 21 to £6167 million 2013 £6042m as foreign exchange 
translation largely resulting from the weakening asian currencies reduced the group’s 
assets by £508 million this consequently also impacted working capital which as a 
percentage of sales reduced significantly during the year from 30 to 26 resulting in a 
positive effect on operating cash flow
cash generated from operations in the period was £1183 million 2013 £787m with net 
cash generated of £1002 million 2013 £644m
there was a decrease in the group’ s property plant and equipment to £1183 million 2013 
£1336 million which represents 114 of the group’ s total assets intangible assets 
reduced to £1696 million 2013 £1837m 
the monitoring of inventory levels remains a priority and at the end of the year being 
reported levels were consistent with the previous year at £3057 million 2013 £3044m 
net inventory weeks were 191 2013 202 debtor days improved slightly at 65 days 
2013 67 total bad debt charge for the year was £015 million 2013 £029m 
modest capital expenditure of £084 million predominantly within our asean operations was 
at similar levels to last year it is envisaged that during this current financial year ending 2015 
further increased investment will be made particularly at our t aiwanese and malaysian sites
cash flow
full year
31 march 2014
full year
31 march 2013
adjusted ebitda £1080m £923m
adjusted working capital changes £103m £136m
adjusted operating cash flows £1183m £787m
cash conversion 1095 853
net capital expenditure £083m £085m
taxation paid £181m £143m
net interest £053m £072m
adjusted free cash flow £866m £487m
deferred considerationacquisition consideration — £139m
proceeds from shares issued £008m £023m
dividends paid £087m £053m
net change in cash and cash equivalents £787m £318m
net debt as at 1 april £520m £841m
effect of exchange rate on net debt £064m £003m
net debt as at 31 march £203m £520m
 pre ifrs 2 charge and intangible amortisation
gearing
33
10 11 12 13
117
167
157
86
33
14
net debt
£203m
10 11 12 13
£468m
£714m
£841m
£520m
£203m
14
wwwtrifastcom
23 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
financial review continued
group net cash balances as at 31 march 
2014 were £1550 million 2013 net cash 
£1055 million of which £1222 million 
was held in foreign currencies 2013 
£947 million net debt at the beginning of 
the financial year stood at £520 million at 
the year end the group was in a net cash 
position of £203 million and gross debt fell 
by £228 million to £1347 million 2013 
£1575 million
with no gearing at the period end the 
group has been able to leverage up in 
order to complete and finance its recent 
move into italy more details can be read 
below 2013 gearing 86
post balance sheet event
on 30 may 2014 the group acquired 
the entire issued capital stock of viterie 
italia centrale srl ‘vic’ for an aggregate 
consideration of €2700 million  
£2250 million 
the consideration for the acquisition 
comprised €2415 million £2012 million 
payable in cash on completion of the 
acquisition and €285 million £238 
million to be represented by the issue and 
allotment of 3000000 shares of 5 pence 
each in trifast plc subject to adjustment in 
the event that the agreed level of working 
capital was not left in vic at completion 
under italian law the capital stock of vic 
is represented solely by ‘quotas’ rather 
than shares and trifast will be purchasing 
the entire issued capital stock of vic
in addition it was agreed that a further 
payment may become due to the vendors 
of vic the ‘vendors’ depending on 
the performance of vic over the twelve 
month period ending on 31 december 
2014 if vic generates a posttax profit 
as defined in the acquisition agreement 
for the year ending 31 december 2014 
which exceeds €3000000 then for 
each €1 above this sum an additional €5 
is payable to the vendors subject to a 
maximum amount of €5000000 this 
sum would be paid once the posttax 
profit has been calculated in accordance 
with the acquisition agreement until such 
time as these additional monies have been 
paid in accordance with the acquisition 
agreement any warranty or indemnity 
claims can be offset if proved or settled 
against monies due to be paid and if any 
claim is not settled or resolved an amount 
can be withheld from the monies paid until 
this matter is resolved
i would personally like 
to acknowledge the 
finance teams around the 
business who support 
and add value to the tr 
business teams”
mark belton 
group finance director
carolyn emsley lyndsey case mark belton maria johnson jon gibb
stock code tri
trifast plc annual report 2014
24 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
the cash element of the consideration is 
funded from a new bank facility details of 
which are set out further below
vic had net assets and gross assets as at 
31 december 2013 of €1789 million and 
€3188 million respectively a summary of 
the trading results for vic as extracted 
without material adjustment from the vic 
historical financial information is below
year ended 
31 december 
2013
revenue €2707m
gross profit €790m
profit before tax €542m
total assets €3188m
net cash €230m
total equity €1789m
note full details of the acquisition are contained  
in the class 1 circular issued to shareholders on  
6 may 2014 a copy of which can be found on both 
our ir website and lodged at the national storage 
mechanism ‘nsm’
group banking
the group had combined facilities within 
the uk of £2330 million at 31 march 2014 
and the business traded well within its 
facilities and covenants
in may 2014 the group agreed new 
additional banking facilities with hsbc 
comprising
•	 a term loan facility of up to €2500 
million ‘facility a’ used to fund the 
acquisition of vic and
•	 a revolving multicurrency credit facility 
rcf of up to £1000 million ‘facility 
b’ replacing the existing £500 million 
rcf
the obligations of trifast under facility 
a and facility b the ‘facilities’ are 
guaranteed by the uk nondormant 
subsidiaries of the company
facility a is repayable in semiannual 
instalments of €125 million on 31 october 
2014 30 april 2015 31 october 2015  
30 april 2016 and 31 october 2016 then 
at the rate of €250 million payable on  
30 april 2017 31 october 2017 30 april 
2018 and 31 october 2018 with the final 
balance being payable on the date five 
years after the date of the facility
interest on the facilities is charged at the 
aggregate rate of liboreuribor plus 
a margin initially 240 ratcheted from 
six months after drawdown in accordance 
with a formula incorporating the ratio of 
consolidated net debt of the group against 
the consolidated ebitda of the group
return on capital employed
roce remains a key driver therefore it is 
pleasing to report that this has increased 
to 163 2013 121 reflecting the 
increase in operating profit and the 
group’s success in cash generation 
giving the group a net cash position at the 
period end 
earnings per share
the adjusted diluted earnings per share 
‘eps’ which in the directors’ opinion 
best reflects the underlying performance 
of the group rose by 258 to 595 pence 
2013 473p basic earnings per share 
increased by 385 to 608 pence 2013 
439p
dividend
subject to shareholder approval at the 
annual general meeting which is to be 
held on 18 september 2014 the directors 
are proposing a final dividend of 100 
pence per share this together with the 
interim dividend for 040 pence paid on 
18 april 2014 brings the total of the year 
to 140 pence an increase of 75 on prior 
year 2013 080p
the final dividend will be paid on  
17 october 2014 to shareholders on 
the register at the close of business on 
27 june 2014 the ordinary shares will 
become exdividend on 25 june 2014 
people
i would personally like to acknowledge the 
finance teams around the business who 
support and add value to the tr business 
teams by delivering timely information and 
analytics which assist them to improve 
their overall understanding of their 
performance i look forward to working 
with them all over the coming year
mark belton 
group finance director  
16 june 2014
258
earnings per share
595p
£118m
adjusted operating 
cash ﬂow 
adjusted cash 
conversion
1095
wwwtrifastcom
25 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
how the business manages risk
in common with all businesses the group faces risks which may affect its performance the board recognises that the management 
of risk is required to enable the business objective in creating ‘stakeholder value’
the board and the operational management teams regularly monitor and develop a range of financial and nonﬁnancial performance 
indicators to allow them to measure performance against expected targets – these can be analysed under various categories the 
following represents a selection of these indicators
key organisational  operational financial external
increase revenue
organically and
acquisitively
ongoing 
margin
enhancement
increase
proﬁtability
 
7 march 2014 26 7 pbt
increase of 110bps
 
tr’s key performance objectives remain ongoing
key risks and uncertainties mitigation
personnel  
the group’s employees are its key asset as their skills and commitment 
provide the solid foundation that is important in delivering our future 
plans and long term success
training forms a key part of an individuals’ personal development plan — 
with a clear hr strategy in place we operate an ongoing programme of 
rolling out new initiatives and modules to support both the group’s business 
plans and the personal goals of all our staff
the group also has in place an ‘emergency plan’ to cover short term 
issues however the group has also developed its ‘succession planning 
module’ which provides detailed plans in the event of for example loss 
of key personnel including key officers who the board consider to be ‘the 
next generation’ leaders in circumstances where more specialist skills at 
a senioroperational or board level are needed learning programmes and 
development modules are instigated to assist with career development and 
learning pathways and added to personal development programmes which 
are undertaken internally or externally by suitably qualified personnel
quality and manufacturing  
the group operates stringent ‘total quality management’ tqm 
procedures and measures its performance
tr manufactures around 30 of its inventory the balance being sourced 
from strategic manufacturing partners as with key customers tr regularly 
visit manufacturing operations to ensure that high standard operating 
procedure guidelines which cover production security logistics and quality 
are being adhered to
currency  
the business is exposed to currency movements relating to sales 
purchases and cash borrowings particularly against the us dollar and 
the euro
currently as far as practicable tr hedges operationally but monitors 
exchange rates and will buy and sell currencies in order to minimise its 
exposure it is also reviewing instruments available through its banking 
partners to reduce the group’s open exposure to foreign exchange rates
global protectionism  
increasing evidence of growing trade protectionism around the world geographically spread our supply chain sources
stock code tri
trifast plc annual report 2014
26 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
maintain positive
cash generation
increase in
earnings per 
share
broaden and 
development 
of management
and staff skills
build on roce
 
adjusted cash
conversion 1095
26
163
training  succession
planning modules
 
 
 
 
key risks and uncertainties mitigation
working capital and inventories  
as the business continues to grow tr is required to carry additional 
inventory to meet its transactional and oem business which could lead 
to an increased exposure to obsolete inventory
from tr’s involvement at the rd entry point through the production life of a 
product and customer underwrite forms control of obsolete inventory risk is 
kept to a minimum the ongoing tight control over inventory purchases has 
seen us once again report a reduction in inventory weeks
customer failure and debtor exposure  
serving over 5000 customers in 50 countries bring complexity and 
inventory challenges
the business operates very tight controls on debtors and working capital 
monitoring systems and reports in place assist in highlighting and managing 
debtor defaults and customers’ trading the impact of these controls is 
reﬂected in the reported accounts which show less than 5 group exposure 
in balances overdue
macro economics  
currently group revenue comes from across the uk 49 and asia 
30 with the balance from europe and the americas
traditionally whilst the distributionmanufacturing sectors bear the affect 
of inventory reduction in tough and challenging economic periods tr 
protects itself to some extent from this by differentiating itself through 
‘added value’ capabilities such as high levels of service design  
engineering support customer partnerships and working practices
the global sales team and the group’s purchasing strategy provides tr with 
the opportunity to secure a larger market share despite a possible repeated 
reduction in overall market size as previously stated in earlier publications 
should another economic downturn be experienced across the world and 
tr was to secure as much as 1 of the global market it would see £500 
million sales so growth aspirations continue to be legitimate
raw material price inflation  
industrial businesses have to contend with ﬂuctuating material prices 
energy and freight costs as well as ‘cost down’ pressures and inventory 
obsolescence
the group is exposed to raw material price increases in relation to steel 
plastics and fuel tr is able to monitor costs effectively and has the ability to 
pass on cost increases to customers although in the current markets there 
can be a ‘lag’ as old inventories and contracts feed through and new supply 
prices take effect
competitor pressures  
tr benchmarks its operations and services against several leading logistics 
providers both in and outside its sector to ensure it remains competitive in 
its service offering
as part of tr’s business objectives it regularly addresses its logistics 
systems and focuses on reducing resource duplication where possible
cyber security  
the group recognise there is an increased exposure to cyber risk group management has undertaken reviews and engaged the services 
of a third party company to review the group’s cyber risk controls 
recommendations have been put in place where required
wwwtrifastcom
27 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
malcolm diamond mbe 
executive chairman
geoff budd 
tr europe managing director
glenda roberts 
group sales director
jim barker 
chief executive
mark belton 
group finance director  
 company secretary
through our desire to innovate and serve 
tr is recognised as a driving force within 
the industry”
malcolm diamond mbe 
executive chairman
leadership — board of directors
28 28
stock code tri
trifast plc annual report 2014 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
malcolm diamond mbe
executive chairman
length of service
total 32 years reappointed in 2009 to 
the plc board as executive chairman 
formerly trifast ceo for 18 years 
before retiring in 2002
appointed non executive chairman 
flowtech fluidpower plc in may 2014
key areas of expertise 
sales  marketing strategic planning  
implementation business development 
and investor relations
committee membership
nominations committee and  
by invitation
jim barker
chief executive
length of service
total 32 years reappointed in 2009  
to the plc board after retiring as  
ceo in 2007
key areas of expertise 
extensive industry experience at 
domestic and international level 
including global sourcing purchasing 
 logistics focus on asian  european 
manufacturing and distribution
committee membership
nominations committee and by 
invitation
mark belton
group finance director  
 company secretary
length of service
15 years appointed to the plc board 
in 2010
key areas of expertise 
all aspects of financial planning 
reporting and controls at group and 
operational levels company secretariat 
function
committee membership
by invitation
executive directors
independent nonexecutive directors
geoff budd
tr europe managing director
length of service 
38 years appointed to the plc board 
in 1986
key areas of expertise 
extensive knowledge of the industry 
european and asian markets particularly 
in sales  purchasing manufacturing 
and quality
committee membership 
by invitation
glenda roberts
group sales director
length of service
24 years appointed to the plc board 
in 2010
key areas of expertise
global sales  marketing logistics  
supply chain and customer relationship 
management
committee membership
by invitation
neil chapman
senior independent  
nonexecutive director
length of service 
5 years appointed to the plc board in 
2009
key areas of expertise 
general management and finance 
audit governance and compliance roles 
following 30 years at kpmg and partner 
for 15 years as well as managing 
director at endeavour holdings ltd and 
rivervale cars ltd
committee membership 
audit committee chairman 
nominations committee chairman and 
remuneration committee
jonathan shearman
independent  
nonexecutive director
length of service 
5 years appointed to the plc board in 
2009
key areas of expertise 
investment fund management 
stockbroking  investment banking it 
and charitable foundations
committee membership 
remuneration committee chairman 
audit committee and  
nominations committee
scott mac meekin
independent  
nonexecutive director
length of service 
1 year appointed to the plc board on 
25 april 2013
key areas of expertise 
20 year career in both commercial  
corporate structures across all major 
continents and cultures in ma global 
logistics technology distribution and 
manufacturing
committee membership 
audit committee and 
remuneration committee
wwwtrifastcom
29 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
every colleague around 
the business makes 
a difference working 
together and embracing 
the tr culture”
malcolm diamond mbe 
executive chairman
asia
thomas tan
managing director 
tr asia 
length of service 19 years
charlie y l foo
chief operating officer 
psep malaysia
length of service 42 years
wilson chen
general manager 
sfe taiwan  
length of service 27 years
hk tan
general manager  
tr formac malaysia 
length of service 22 years
endy chin
general manager  
tr formac singapore 
length of service 19 years
phua yong sang
general manager  
tr formac china 
length of service 9 years
europe
carlo perini
managing director 
vic italy 
length of service 21 years
roberto bianchi
managing director  
tr sweden 
length of service 29 years
janerik storsve
managing director 
tr norway  
length of service 18 years
ron vlutters
managing director  
tr holland 
length of service 16 years
zoltan csengeri
operations manager 
tr hungary 
length of service 11 years
dara horgan
operations manager  
tr southern fasteners ireland 
length of service 21 years
leadership — senior people
the trifast group of 
companies work as a 
global network organised 
to provide supply 
solutions wherever our 
customers need us”
jim barker 
chief executive
read more inside tr on  
pages 41 to 63
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trifast plc annual report 2014
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uk
sam wilson
managing director  
lancaster fastener company 
length of service 33 years
dave fisk
managing director  
tr fastenings 
length of service 21 years
ian carlton
director of quality  
tr fastenings 
length of service 16 years
stevie meiklem
purchasing  operations director 
tr fastenings 
length of service 22 years
colin coddington
it operations manager  
tr fastenings 
length of service 19 years
maria johnson
finance director  
tr fastenings 
length of service 8 years
helen toole
hr adviser  
tr fastenings 
length of service 4 years
usa
gary badzioch
operations director  financial controller  
tr fastenings inc  
length of service 7 years
bradley allen
strategic business development manager 
tr fastenings inc 
length of service 12 years
joseph haymes
strategic business development manager 
tr fastenings inc 
length of service 13 years
james bohannon
quality  logistics manager 
tr fastenings inc 
length of service 15 years
global sales
chris black
director of automotive 
new business development 
length of service 7 years 
jeremy scholefield
director of strategic business 
electronic sector 
length of service 14 years
martin greenwood
director of supply chain 
development 
length of service 29 years
phil callaghan
group logistics manager 
length of service 20 years
wwwtrifastcom
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corporate social responsibility
introduction
the key objective of the group’s directors 
and operational management teams is to 
remain focused on delivering ‘continuous 
improvement’ in relation to the overall 
objectives and ‘performance measurables’ 
for the business units we adhere to 
high standards laid down in policies that 
deliver the best outcome for individual 
business teams locations and indeed 
our suppliers and customers the same 
approach is applied to our corporate social 
and business sustainability policies
our key group objectives embrace 
health  safety energy consumption 
within our operations fleet vehicle fuel 
consumption and emissions wasteful 
packaging personnel travel flexibility for 
staff compassionate leave combined with 
pastoral care ethical sourcing and supply 
chain freight logistics
as stakeholders are aware an increasing 
number of multinational customers now 
undertake audits when validating potential 
new suppliers therefore our responsibility 
to further develop our own corporate 
social and business sustainability activities 
continues to evolve and extends beyond 
business ethics environmental and 
community to include essential major 
customer compliance
at local level we encourage ‘loaning’ of 
staff or other relevant company resources 
to for example local charities youth 
organisations and hospices in order 
to assist and support them with their 
community activities we consider that this 
approach adds more value appreciation 
and satisfaction to all involved wherever 
possible rather than indulging in ‘cheque 
book charity’
tr has developed close links with local 
educational facilities across the spectrum 
and actively promotes opportunities for 
work experience classroom seminars 
pupil and staff visits as we believe that 
this generally fosters a better level of 
understanding between tr as potential 
employers and the future providers of 
possible applicants for employment 
for example image our apprenticeship 
scheme and nvq business studies 
programme at tr uckfield has given 
opportunities to a group of young 
local people who wanted to enter the 
workplace rather than proceed to further 
education now in its fourth year this 
successful module is to be rolled out to 
other locations and we are very pleased 
to say that from this scheme we have 
developed a group of young enthusiastic 
people who have acquired new skills and 
understanding and who are now using 
these to add value throughout the uckfield 
business unit they have acted as tr 
ambassadors and visited local schools 
to support our programme as part of 
their own career and life development 
programme as a business we fully 
endorse the uk government in its aim 
to support and encourage businesses to 
offer apprenticeship schemes for young 
people to ensure that we encourage a 
steady inflow of ‘new blood’ into industry 
and that they can be trained to learn and 
become the next generation of business 
leaders
the business and  
the community
trifast recognises the role local 
communities play in our businesses 
we aspire to be a responsible partner 
in the communities in which we operate 
around the world we encourage all our 
businesses to support the particular needs 
of their communities by contributing to 
local charities and community initiatives
most of our financial contributions 
to charities come from the effort and 
personal involvement of our staff around 
the group with tangible support from the 
directors with regard to allowing flexible 
working auctions dressing up days and 
the use of our premises for fund raising 
not only does this provide real benefits 
to local communities but has the distinct 
advantage of further enhancing team spirit 
amongst our staff
1
sport relief mile 
by the lancaster fastener team
2
uckfield 
grasshoppers
tr main sponsor of local 
childrens football team 
3
young employee of 
the year award 2014 
uckfield business awards 
tr key sponsor
4
uckfield cyclists 
gear up for london 
to barcelona bike 
ride 
tr fastenings was proud to 
support team lonbar in 
their charity cycle ride in aid of 
chestnut tree house
team lonbar
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business ethics
all of the group’ s business activities are 
expected to be conducted in accordance 
with high standards of ethical conduct and 
full compliance with all applicable national 
and international laws we apply these 
standards to all dealings with customers 
suppliers employees and all other 
stakeholders
our ‘code of business ethics and 
responsible behaviour’ provides a guide 
to the way we achieve our business goals 
helping us to behave in an open and 
ethical manner this extends to provisions 
for ‘whistleblowing’ whereby employees 
may report suspected wrongdoings in 
confidence appropriate ethical behaviour is 
reviewed as part of the group’ s performance 
appraisal process we have extended this 
code to our vendorssuppliers
this requires our key strategic suppliers to 
work towards achieving as a minimum 
standards covering such issues as the 
environment employee health  safety 
and the prohibition of child labour which 
through business reviews and onsite 
visits encourages compliance and good 
practice within our supply chain
we will also do our utmost to contract 
only with subcontractors or suppliers 
who themselves adhere to international 
human rights and environmental laws and 
practices tr commits to monitor the 
ethical performance of its key suppliers 
and to taking immediate steps in cases 
where the ethical performance of its key 
suppliers comes into question 
we are constantly improving our business impact on the environment
appropriate ethical 
behaviour is reviewed 
as part of the group’s 
performance appraisal 
process”
ian carlton 
director of quality
sport relief mile lancaster fastener team
33
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12 business ethics
tr fastenings expect all of our business activities to be carried out in accordance 
with high standards of ethical conduct and full compliance with all relevant 
national and international laws
to achieve this we require suppliers to comply with all applicable legislative 
requirements in relation to labour and ethics we expect suppliers to have a 
written policy details of an implementation programme and contact details for 
responsible persons available upon request
13 health  safety and environmental management
tr fastenings runs a robust and well established system of health  safety 
and environmental management throughout the company which demands 
compliance with all laws and iso14001 where applicable 
tr fastenings routinely audits assesses monitors and carries out training to 
ensure that our policy and strategy are implemented effectively
our suppliers are required to comply with all relevant national and international 
laws suppliers must be able to provide evidence of policies risk assessments 
insurances licences contact details accidentincident figures and any other 
legally applicable documentation upon request
14 community
as a global company tr fastenings recognises the role that communities play in 
our business we encourage all areas of our company to support the needs of 
their local community by contributing to local charities and community initiatives
we also encourage our suppliers to support their local communities and expect 
that evidence of this is available upon request
corporate social responsibility continued
all key suppliers to the business are required 
to agree and sign our comprehensive 
‘quality and sustainability agreement’ 
before entering into a trading relationship 
with tr 
this agreement fully covers the suppliers 
business ethics health  safety and 
environmental management with regard to 
national and international laws including 
labour and ethics along with submission 
of their written policy and contact details 
of the persons responsible within their 
organisation 
we also encourage suppliers to support 
their local communities and expect 
evidence of this to be available on request 
plus we require all suppliers to sign 
separate corporate social responsibility 
and business sustainability statements
6
cancer research uk 
fundraising by tr employee 
kat babb and tr sponsored 
summer lunch organised by 
the crowborough volunteer 
committee
7
tr sponsors new  
football team  
tr employees football team 
play every wednesday night at 
freedom leisure in uckfield
8
children in need 2013 
tr head office hosts bake off
9
phil edwards and  
weald evt 
sponsoring uk engineering talent
10
the children’s 
adventure farm trust 
receives tr fastenings support
the company business at all times must be carried out in an honest and ethical manner 
and its policy is one of zero tolerance to bribery and corruption above are extracts from 
the tr supplier agreement
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tr’s football team 
wayne rosser
environment
good environmental practice and the 
impact that our operations have on the 
environment are of great importance to tr
the main aim of the group’s environmental 
policy is to comply with all relevant 
legislation in all areas in which we operate 
and to adopt responsible environmental 
practices we have established a process 
for monitoring legislation and acting 
upon it where necessary business 
units are required to comply with group 
policy and local statutory regulations 
and are committed to setting their own 
environmental targets such as improving 
energy efficiency reducing waste and 
increasing recycling in conjunction with 
group objectives 
•	 in respect of waste management 
specifically we use the services of an 
external professional agency to manage 
and monitor activities using health check 
compliance audits and advice on data 
collection systems promoting recycling 
we follow the agency’s recommendation 
for appropriate waste disposal
•	 group performance and risk reviews 
are undertaken via management 
review on a regular basis and reported 
directly to jim barker chief executive 
who has main board responsibility for 
the group’s environmental risk policy 
tr will communicate any significant 
environmental impact with third parties 
on request
•	 our fleet manager focuses on 
manufacturers who can supply vehicles 
with below average carbon emissions
•	 our logistics managers continuously 
review the efficiency of our van delivery 
routes in conjunction with customers 
in order to examine opportunities 
to reduce delivery frequency and 
where appropriate to outsource ‘far 
flung isolated’ routes to daily delivery 
freight specialists this has resulted 
in our van fleet being reduced by 
25 since march 2009 — this has 
delivered significantly reduced mileage 
costs and carbon emissions the tr 
uckfield office and warehouse facility 
has begun to recoup the capital cost 
first of four year target set last year in 
energy savings and reduce the actual 
carbon footprint since the investment in 
replacement hvac 
•	 the utilisation of video conferencing 
systems around the business continues 
to assist us to significantly reduce costs 
and ‘lost time’ from staff travel needed 
in a multisite operation involving 31 
business teams located in 16 countries
environmental statement
tr seeks to prevent mitigate and 
remediate any harmful effects its 
operations have on the environment 
the aim of the tr group environmental 
policy is to manage our impact on climate 
change our worldwide facilities are 
required to operate to the group policy 
global standards and local statutory 
regulations we promote environmental 
awareness throughout the business via 
these standards 
the iso4001 certification was renewed 
in a number of tr locations tr locations 
that are not certified are stringently audited 
to the iso14001 standard annually tr 
had no environmental incidents reported in 
the 2013 2014 reporting period
our impact on the environment is minimal 
water usage is confined to workplace 
cleaning and hygiene electricity usage in 
the distribution facilities is for lighting and 
office utilities and gas usage is primarily 
for warehouse and factory heating waste 
packaging and transport fuel consumption 
is a kpi of the business with measures 
monitors reviews and actions  
reported monthly
greenhouse gas emissions
the following co
2
e intensity ratios are 
reported in accordance with the large and 
mediumsized companies and groups 
accounts and reports regulations and 
are calculated in accordance with the 
defra carbon conversion factors published 
in 2013 this report has been compiled 
in accordance with the wriwbcsd 
greenhouse gas protocol a corporate 
accounting and reporting standard
our reported ghg emissions data 
includes all businesses that are european 
asian and american subsidiaries of the 
group for financial reporting purposes 
with the exception of leased floor space 
taken up in third party logistics companies
cancer research summer lunch
take a look at wwwyoutubecomwealdevt
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35 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
figures are reported in tonnes of co
2
e 
carbon dioxide equivalent
reports are calculated in the following ways
•	 tonnes of co
2
e
•	 tonnes of co
2
e per fte full time equivalent
•	 tonnes of co
2
e per sqm square metres of floor space occupied by the company
our emissions data includes all material emissions of the six kyoto gases from direct 
sources and from purchased electricity heat steam and cooling where applicable no 
direct source material emissions have been omitted 
date period for reporting 1 april 2013 — 31 march 2014
total scope 1 emission 982 tonnes of co
2
e
total scope 2 emission 43602 tonnes of co
2
e
total ghg emission for trifast plc 53422 tonnes of co
2
e
corporate social responsibility continued
asia 
distribution
287
209 per fte
00446 per sqm
europe
 distribution
1384
334 per fte
00559 per sqm
usa
distribution
33
30 per fte
00327 per sqm
asia
manufacturing
3492
1354 per fte
02971 per sqm
europe
manufacturing
146
341 per fte
tonnes tonnes tonnes tonnes tonnes
0072 per sqm
trifast plc
62 per fte
tonnes
01163 per sqm
5342
tonnes
1704
distribution
3 per fte
005296 per sqm
tonnes
3638
manufacturing
121 per fte
2460 per sqm
carbon footprint
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environmental improvements
as per the tr iso14001 register of 
significant impacts the major impacts are 
the volume of packaging waste produced 
and the fuel used by our delivery vehicles
•	 through various recycling and reduction 
initiatives we have reduced our waste 
costs over the last three years from 
£600 per 100 product lines delivered 
in 2011 to £100 per 100 product lines 
delivered in 2013
•	 in 2011 a major project commenced to 
review the required number of delivery 
vehicles needed to run the business 
verses the impact on the environment 
that the vehicles have delivery vehicles 
are an intrinsic necessity of a successful 
distribution business therefore the 
strategy is to ensure that the minimum 
number of vehicles are utilised 
effectively
•	 in 2011 the tr delivery fleet consisted 
of 32 vehicles travelling 167 miles 
per product line picked in 2013 we 
are now travelling 115 miles per line 
picked with 26 vehicles this equates to 
a 19 reduction in the vehicle fleet in 
the same period we have experienced 
a 66 increase of product lines picked 
per month
employees 
our employees are our greatest asset 
and we recognise that the company’s 
performance and its success within our 
market place is directly related to the 
effectiveness of our people who deliver 
the high quality service technical expertise 
and product quality across our 5000 
customers from independents to multi
national global accounts tr aims to 
attract retain and motivate the highest 
calibre of employees within a structure that 
encourages their development and initiative
employees are provided with ongoing 
learning and development opportunities 
that are aligned to the group’ s strategic 
and business units’ objectives and formal 
personal development programmes operate 
where linked to the group’ s objectives
to retain and add to the skills of our 
dedicated and committed workforce we 
continue to enhance our hr resources 
through professional managers and 
technology so as to provide an 
allencompassing hr tool for each staff 
member that identifies and meets their 
future training personal development and 
support services
all of these processes are reinforced with 
appropriate remuneration incentives and 
are on recognised systems
equal opportunities policy 
trifast is an equal opportunity employer 
we are committed to ensuring within the 
framework of the law that our workplaces 
are free from unlawful or unfair discrimination 
because of protected characteristics
•	 age
•	 disability
•	 gender reassignment
•	 marriage and civil partnership
•	 pregnancy and maternity
•	 race
•	 religion or belief
•	 sex
•	 sexual orientation
we aim to ensure that our employees 
achieve their full potential and that all 
employment decisions are taken without 
reference to irrelevant or discriminatory 
criteria
communications 
we aim to maintain a productive and open 
dialogue with all interested parties in our 
business including customers employees 
shareholders and suppliers through for 
example
•	 established customer relations and 
customer satisfaction surveys
•	 the monitoring and development of 
supplier performance reports
•	 undertaking regular employee surveys
•	 maintaining our investor and 
commercial websites as one of the 
main routes for providing information to 
interested parties and for contacting us
the board is also dedicated to investing 
time and effort into ongoing improvements 
in all aspects of tr’s internal and external 
communications by prudent use of digital 
media to supplement verbal interaction 
with supporting materials
wwwtrifastcom
37 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
corporate social responsibility continued
during the year the lead team at trifast 
continued the ‘tqm tour’ a highly 
successful communications module 
reintroduced in 2010 it involves visiting 
business locations at least once a year 
in order to interact with the staff and 
operational management teams so as 
to keep them updated on the group’s 
progress and performance in some 
detail this approach has encouraged 
interaction and open dialogue questions 
and feedback on all aspects of the 
business and its plans and we are always 
encouraged by the interest shown across 
all levels of the business — we have been 
able to work with our colleagues and 
ensure that as a team we create the right 
environment to develop our people and 
overall productivity
our group marketing team works in 
partnership around the business both 
at home and overseas designing and 
distributing multilingual material to support 
local market activities as well as internal 
news publications that help to keep our 
people informed about for example 
new business wins exhibitions plus job 
functions and profiles of colleagues around 
the globe
in addition they work with the senior 
management and external agencies 
on projects that assist the profiling of 
the business both commercially and 
for all stakeholders during the year tr 
marketing supported colleagues at a 
number of trade events helping to underpin 
the strength of the tr brand and its global 
capabilities and offering
the group believes that utilising electronic 
communications where appropriate to 
do so delivers savings to the company 
in terms of administration printing and 
postage as well as environmental benefits 
such as through a reduction in energy and 
paper and consumption of inks the board 
supports this ethos trifast is not proposing 
to bulk print future financial reports 
copies can however be specifically 
requested by individuals and shareholders 
pdf copies will be available to view and 
download from the investor website in 
a timely manner following release to the 
market the management team also 
consider that using this methodology 
speeds up the provision of information to 
existing and potential new institutional and 
private client shareholders
health and safety
trifast is committed to ensuring the health 
safety and welfare of all employees and 
subcontract activities within the group 
by complying with all relevant health 
and safety legislation regulations and 
approved codes of practice
we have detailed the health and safety 
responsibilities of all employees throughout 
the group and have appointed key 
individuals at every place of business 
who are responsible for ensuring that 
the standards laid out by the director of 
quality in the company health and safety 
policy are maintained at all times
the managing directors and divisional 
general managers are supported by 
the business process manager they 
work together to ensure regular risk 
assessments and internal audits are 
completed regularly our audits are 
reinforced by the use of our british safety 
council membership all business units 
provide their employees with relevant 
health and safety training risks identified 
audit noncompliances discovered and 
accidents reported become a part of 
the quality management system and are 
investigated utilising root cause analysis 
methods this has been set up to ensure 
that corrective and preventative actions are 
robust and effective
our health and safety policy places 
responsibility for the management of 
health and safety on the individual 
business unit management who are 
supported by the business process 
manager and divisional health and safety 
representatives
monthly health and safety reports are 
submitted and discussed as a standard 
agenda point at all main board meetings
we continue to work towards our target of 
1 million accident free working hours and 
have so far achieved 479655 hours in the 
financial year 20132014 the accident rate 
per average head count was 002 hours 
lost due to reportable incidents
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39
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02 take a look at ‘tr’
42 overview – asia
44 overview – uk  mainland europe
46 overview – tr uk
48 overview – usa
50 acquisition of viterie italia centale vic
52 global sales  business management
56 technology  innovation
58 human resources
62 tr marketing
41 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
overview — asia
roundup of the asia business
tr asia has produced yet another year of 
creditable results operating profit grew by 
195 against the previous year as a result 
of emphasis being placed on improving 
profit margins during the year we 
experienced strong growth coming from the 
automotive sector as well as the recovery 
in the telecommunications sector powered 
by the global 4g infrastructure drive the 
automotive sector now comprises the 
largest share of tr asia’s total business 
and this share is expected to increase 
substantially in the coming years the 
sectors occupying the next biggest shares 
of tr asia’s total business are the home 
appliance information technology and 
contract manufacturing sectors 
to date tr asia has seven legal entities 
in six asian countries namely singapore 
india thailand malaysia two entities 
taiwan and china comprising six 
manufacturing sites plus numerous sales 
and distribution centres
tr singapore has continued to lead 
the asian sites with 31 of total 
sales revenue for the asian region 
it manufactures fasteners mainly for 
the home appliance and information 
technology sectors the site also 
manufactures selfclinching fasteners 
which it sells through distributors tr 
singapore prides itself as a manufacturer 
of complicated high quality parts with 
zerodefect capabilities thus being able 
to maintain its profitability in one of the 
highest cost countries in asia 
phua yong sang thomas tan endy chin hai joo toh charlie foo david ng hk tan wilson chen
asia revenue
£3836m
10 11 12 13
£2144m
£2745m
£3112m
£3885m
£3836m
14
£3885m
1
asia operating profit
£527m
10 11 12 13
£276m
£320m
£376m
£441m
£527m
14
£441m
20
tr psep in malaysia has shown resilience 
in the face of declining business from 
its biggest customer proton a national 
automotive manufacturer which is steadily 
losing market share to imported cars our 
efforts in localising parts for perodua a 
daihatsu joint venture have paid off as 
shown by a gradually increasing number 
of orders other projects in the pipeline 
will come onstream in the new fiscal 
year automotive fasteners comprise 
74 of the business with the other 26 
being compressor fasteners for home 
appliances 
tr sfe in taiwan has performed 
exceptionally well attaining record high 
sales mainly due to the recovery in the 
automotive and general industrial sectors 
in europe and north america the order 
book has been very healthy throughout the 
year and we expect the same in the new 
fiscal year sfe sells mainly to distributors 
in both europe and north america with 
60 of demand for fasteners coming from 
the automotive industry 
tr shanghai in china has started to 
experience an uptick in business following 
the recovery in the telecommunications 
sector where players have been rushing 
to fulfil 4g infrastructure demand 
globally strong growth also came from 
manufacturers of medical equipment and 
motor vehicles much work had been put 
into developing automotive customers 
during the year and we are now beginning 
to see an increase in orders which is 
expected to continue over the next two 
years
tr malaysia has yet to recover from the 
downturn in the audiovisual sector where 
its main customer has been experiencing 
poor demand for its products the tr 
malaysia team is making encouraging 
progress in targeting other oem 
customers in the region in order to reduce 
its specialisation within the audiovisual 
market
tr india has done well with western 
owned operations despite challenges 
from local manufacturers who have 
cost advantages mainly with standard 
specification components additional 
manpower is in our forward plan for 
deployment to cover a larger area in this 
vast country
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tr thailand was established during the 
year operating using the same model as 
tr india the recent political turmoil in 
thailand has temporarily slowed down 
growth but we are optimistic about 
future opportunities especially with local 
government incentives for international 
oems to establish new factories in  
the region
going forward
during the year each site in asia has been 
pursuing individual business development 
opportunities many of these projects 
especially those in the automotive sector 
will take time to come onstream strong 
growth is therefore expected over the 
coming two fiscal years we will continue 
to sustain and grow existing businesses 
while developing new opportunities 
around asia the main focus will be on 
the automotive sector where we have 
been successful in winning orders often 
as a result of being specified on global 
platforms and subassemblies designed in 
europe and the usa
due to the increasing demand for  
zerodefect parts investment in  
stateoftheart production and inspection 
equipment is absolutely essential in order 
to gain competitive advantage and we 
are reassured by the support coming from 
the trifast board for our increasing capital 
expenditure requirements
investment in people continues to take 
top priority i sincerely thank the loyal hard 
working and capable regional managers 
and their staff without whom we would 
not be able to grow tr asia year after year 
as consistently as we have 
thomas tan
we will continue to 
sustain and grow 
existing businesses 
while developing new 
opportunities around 
asia”
thomas tan 
tr asia managing director
read more about asia  
on pages 13  14
wwwtrifastcom
43 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
overview — uk  mainland europe
tr southern fasteners
under the leadership of dara horgan 
and working closely with stevie meiklem 
and the rest of the tr uk management 
team our operation in ireland continues to 
produce solid returns 
tr holland 
this business led by ron vlutters 
concentrates on supplying the automotive 
industry selling to many european 
countries including germany poland 
slovakia and spain this clear focus has 
led to significant sales growth and an 
excellent result
tr hungary
zoltan csengeri leads the team under 
the mentorship of stevie meiklem 
who is a member of the tr uk board 
tr hungary supplies a diverse range 
of customers many of whom are 
international companies who have 
relocated their operations to hungary tr 
uk in scotland provides ongoing technical 
and commercial support which has helped 
develop the skills of the local team yielding 
excellent results
tr sweden 
this team focuses on engineered 
solutions supplying mainly into the 
automotive and telecoms sectors 
managing director roberto bianchi 
encourages an understanding of the 
applications of customers and with 
experienced engineers and computer 
aided design and inspection equipment 
this business has again seen pleasing 
growth in both sales and profit
tr uk
tr uk has had an outstanding year and more can be read in the review by dave fisk 
i congratulate dave and the tr uk management team for their excellent teamwork with 
advances in sales activity and systems improvements leading to significant sales and 
profit growth
mainland europe 
revenue
£2536m
10 11 12 13
£1597m
£1907m
£2120m
£2291m
£2536m
14
£2291m
11
mainland europe 
operating profit
£173m
10 11 12 13
£025m
£002m
£052m
£111m
£173m
14
£111m
56
zoltan csengeri roberto bianchi
dara horgan ron vlutters
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lancaster fastener
lancaster is an excellent barometer of 
industrial activity in both the uk and 
europe because it only sells to fastener 
distributors and consequently sales 
volumes tend to be cyclical managing 
director sam wilson along with his key 
managers maintains substantial stocks of 
a very wide range of catalogue parts and 
is therefore in an advantageous position to 
satisfy these swings in demand
tr norway
tr norway’s traditional customer base has 
been in decline in recent years however 
under the leadership of janerik storsve 
the team is now developing new activities 
in the oil and gas industries where we are 
beginning to see success and are looking 
to develop further opportunities
geoff budd
this has been a most 
successful and rewarding 
year and i would like to 
acknowledge the fantastic 
work by all of our people”
geoff budd 
tr europe managing director
read more about our technology 
 innovation on page 56  57
janerik storsve sam wilson
wwwtrifastcom
45 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
overview — tr uk
last year
another set of positive results were 
delivered in 2013–14 from the tr uk 
locations with support from the other 
business teams sales neared double 
digit growth in the uk whilst the location 
heads managed to retain good overhead 
control net cash inflow for uk  ireland 
was also up by 30 in the year inventory 
turn remained steady despite extended 
leadtimes from asia
tr uk manufacturing output forecasts 
remained optimistic during the year as 
our large oem distributor and tr direct 
customer segments all enjoyed increased 
sales at varying levels across the company 
our strategies with regard to the 
automotive and electronics sector 
transactional sales and products have 
all been key contributing factors to our 
results we have seen notable growth 
within all sectors associated with 
our launch of plastic fasteners cable 
management and pcb hardware sales of 
tr branded sheet metal products to our 
master distributor network across europe 
have also increased significantly exports 
are up 30 since this time last year
lowcost sourcing projects coupled with 
efficiency gains achieved through our 
progressive ‘selfhelp’ initiative programme 
continue to drive improvements through 
our operations these could be related 
to all aspects of our business eg 
reviewing obsolescence high activity 
transactions lowcost transactions 
supplier and customer trends customer 
and warehouse logistics picking or labour 
costs by utilising the pareto approach 
integral in a world of multiple transactions 
part numbers suppliers and customers 
we have been able to manage a large 
number of high impact projects with 
reduced effort enabling us to manage 
resources effectively whilst still growing 
the business 
our location heads assess on a regular 
basis existing customer trends and new 
business opportunities via our logistical 
profit model tr uk developed between 
operations and finance 
production line logistics
uk revenue
£6324m
10 11 12 13
£4646m
£5713m
£5778m £5726m
£6324m
14
£5726m
10
uk operating profit
£546m
10 11 12 13
£055m
£246m
£274m
£413m
£546m
14
£413m
32
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trifast plc annual report 2014
46 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
production line logistics
the strength of knowledge experience 
and commitment shown by our people 
in realising these opportunities has been 
a key contributor to our success in the 
uk personally i would like to thank all 
my tr uk colleagues for their continued 
support dedication and cooperation 
an impressive set of results has been 
achieved which i know for a fact do not 
happen on their own
organisational objectives
as a uk board we have consolidated 
our management structure within the uk 
in previous years the uk was split into 
regions with separate management teams 
by simplifying the structure and working as 
one we have found easier more efficient 
ways of working between the locations 
group services and uk functional heads 
the following objectives were started last 
year and are making good progress
•	 functional approach to streamlining 
processes and best practice within  
the uk
•	 clearly defined responsibility drivers  
 accountability
•	 development of the uk business 
through the integration of central 
services and uk operations 
•	 holistic approach to meeting corporate 
objectives and strategic kpi’s set by the  
plc board
the leadership programme implemented 
in 2013 has been the vehicle for change 
and cooperation as the location heads 
work with the relevant functional heads 
over a series of threeday workshops
in this networking environment the team 
has been developing more cohesive 
ways of working sharing best practice 
and experiences between sites and 
supporting each other daytoday as and 
when required with a more integrated 
way of working this has already helped to 
facilitate some exciting opportunities 
investing for the future 
last year we invested in sales products 
and engineering resource this year we 
have requirements within the commercial 
and quality side of the business linked to 
the success of automotive and electronics 
globally
additional investment is being looked at 
for our warehouses to further enhance 
our efficiencies and ability to grow without 
needing larger premises
we plan to implement inventory 
management software across the uk later 
this year this will be a ‘bolt on’ to our own 
existing system and will assist us greatly in 
optimising our demand planning service 
levels and inventory management 
we are looking for additional support 
within the it team the growing importance 
of cyber security being one of our priority 
projects this year 
outlook
at the time of writing the new financial 
year has got off to a good start enquiry 
levels are at the highest for over twelve 
months and our sales trends continue 
automotive build programmes continue to 
give us forward visibility there are plenty 
of projects planned across the business  
as our drive for efficiency continues into 
other areas 
we already have a significant value of 
secured business in the pipeline in what 
looks to be another exciting year ahead 
an impressive set of 
results has been achieved 
which i know for a fact do 
not happen on their own”
dave fisk 
tr uk managing director
read more about the uk  
on page 14
dave fisk
wwwtrifastcom
47 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
overview — usa
this past financial year has been one of 
investment in more people and distribution 
capacity as we embrace the opportunities 
provided by our group in europe and asia to 
serve sister plants of multinational oems in 
the usa who are already specifying tr over 
there – particularly tier 1 automotive
many us and european companies 
requiring high quality low cost assembly 
have established facilities in mexico which 
offers an obvious growth opportunity 
within the proximity of tr houston which 
in turn necessitates the recruitment 
of spanish speaking personnel in 
order to provide the high standard 
of communication required for the 
sophisticated supply chain management 
that we offer
tr usa has spent the last year training 
and strengthening our team to take 
advantage of the global success of the 
automotive sector a sector we are starting 
to tap into with new business secured for 
the upcoming years the automotive sector 
will be the fastest growing market for us 
over the next three years as we continue 
to leverage our global footprint with multi
national automotive customers
tr usa has also enjoyed similar success 
in the electronicindustrial sectors but at a 
comparatively slower rate while last year 
we focused on the automotive sector with 
that strategy firmly in place now we will 
switch our efforts this coming year to get 
the electronicindustrial sectors growing at 
the same pace
what tr has learnt during the past 
year is that we had to forego short term 
continued profit growth in order to invest in 
further increasing our service resources 
with that new strength and understanding 
we will push three steps forward this year 
not two tr usa understands that change 
is inevitable both good and bad and we 
aim to achieve our long term goals 
i am looking forward to the next three 
years as tr usa switches from a 
company which has learnt to walk to a 
company that will be running at the front  
of the pack
james bohannon steve miller joe haymes jose vera
usa revenue
£282m
10 11 12 13
£206m
£244m £241m
£252m
£282m
14
£252m
12
usa operating profit
£025m
10 11 12 13
£009m
£007m
£010m
£030m
£025m
14
£030m
20
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this past financial 
year has been one of 
investment in more people 
and distribution capacity”
gary badzioch
tr fastenings inc operations director
read more about the usa  
on page 14
gary badzioch
unyime ekott barbara mulford jorge parra
wwwtrifastcom
49 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
ivano montemaggiori ilaria astolfi giorgia aquilanti marco melacotte  chiara mariani
acquisition of viterie italia centrale vic
as was formally announced on friday  
30 may 2014 trifast received shareholder 
approval to purchase vic and now totally 
owns the business
vic is a major manufacturer of specialised 
screws for the domestic appliance sector 
with most of the larger manufacturers eg 
electrolux bosch whirlpool being their 
strategic customers across europe vic 
has also just started to supply automotive 
lighting unit manufacturers
they employ 75 staff based in fossato 
di vico pg a three hour drive from 
rome and have their own inhouse heat 
treatment and zinc plating facilities
vic is managed by carlo perini the son of 
the founder who with his entire team will 
stay and continue to grow the business by 
working with tr carlo has ambitions to 
develop vic not only in europe but also in 
the usa and asia 
the vic strategy is identical to our psep 
strategy in malaysia selfmanaging but 
supported by sales purchasing marketing 
and finance colleagues from tr in order to 
help them grow globally
roberto bedini carlo perini vic managing director
working with carlo and 
his enthusiastic team will 
accelerate our group’s 
growth prospects”
geoff budd
tr europe managing director
read more about vic 
 on page 19
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ivano montemaggiori ilaria astolfi giorgia aquilanti marco melacotte  chiara mariani
why did we buy vic
•	 to expand our white goods 
sales unlike tvs computers 
etc washing machines freezers 
cookers and dryers by their 
very function cannot be made 
smaller and so fastener demand 
will stay quite constant within the 
assembly process
•	 we now have a major 
manufacturing resource within the 
eu shorter lead times inhouse 
product design and development 
safe from eu antidumping duties
•	 carlo perini md was already 
a trusted associate of tr and 
wanted his business to preferably 
be sold to tr – so he would have 
help from us to grow vic globally
•	 there was a genuine reason 
for sale and the price was fairly 
agreed
•	 the existing strategy and culture 
of vic aligned exactly with that of 
tr – a ‘win win’
•	 we had looked at several other 
companies to acquire over the 
two years after buying psep  but 
the opportunities and quality of 
business offered by vic were 
totally compelling
viterie
italia
centrale
a trifast company
wwwtrifastcom
51 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
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trifast plc annual report 2014
52
global sales  business management
‘it’s all about the opportunities ahead’ is 
our mantra and in the last financial year 
we have without a doubt seized the 
moment this coupled with the improving 
macro activity has ensured strong organic 
growth and produced the top line results 
this year
analysis of the industry sectors we supply 
indicate a very balanced portfolio with 
strong performances in automotive 
electronics domestic appliances and 
general industrial taking the lead across 
the group this is the culmination of five 
years of focus in developing business 
models to service the differing sector 
requirements on a global basis new 
products have been added to the portfolio 
and they have enhanced both the sales 
growth and margins 
we are often asked ‘what is your usp’ 
or ‘what do you offer that makes you 
different to your competitors’ the answer 
has always been the tr global footprint 
the range of product we supply and 
having our own manufacturing facilities 
supporting us these have been key 
differentiators as few of our competitors 
can match this offering this however 
has subtly changed during this year as 
multinational oem’s require a more 
comprehensive approach and we are 
fulfilling the role of a ‘full service provider’ – 
fsp  this encompasses early involvement 
in design and technical support sampling 
and testing of product and partnering 
right through to the start of production 
the policy to recruit more application 
engineers continues and is crucial to 
support the sales teams in the field 
we have added years of fastener and 
technical experience through this process 
built relationships with disciplines other 
than in purchasing with decision makers 
in engineering and design centres 
as the global economy recovered we 
have had to ensure that we have strong 
loyal supply partners supporting us these 
approved vendors are vital to us and 
we work closely with our colleagues in 
sourcing and purchasing to ensure there 
are no areas of risk of failure to supply 
involvement in capacity planning with 
our customers is vital to ensure that the 
supply chain is robust enough to meet the 
increased volumes and rampups this is 
particularly important in the supply to the 
tier 1 automotive where a platform build 
for a car model can last six years car 
production in the uk increased by 14 
this year exceeding expectations and we 
had to be ready and poised to support  
this growth 
tier 1 automotive sector now accounts for 30 of group revenue
production meeting at psep
phil callaghan jo devlin 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
glenda roberts
tier 1 automotive sector now accounts for 30 of group revenue
automotive was the fastest sector to 
recover from recession initially in the 
uk and latterly on a global basis the 
automotive tier 1 strategy that was put 
in place at that time has spearheaded 
our growth and produced strong results 
the core accounts that we track in great 
detail now invoice £16 million more with 
us than five years ago these accounts 
are also in our top 15 customers globally 
and the opportunities within these are 
boundless consequently this is where 
we are focussing our sales efforts these 
tier1’s each have as many as 200 sites 
globally and our penetration is running at 
about 15 of the total this is however 
significant enough to put us on their radar 
at senior level all of these companies 
operate global it systems with vendor 
portals where the minutiae of everything 
we do are recorded this encompasses 
everything from our financial results 
the group footprint csr compliance 
product supply capability manufacturing 
and capacity to our timely performance 
on quotations deliveries and quality 
meeting these challenges is not optional 
but once you are in their supply chain and 
performing to their criteria the doors open 
wide for new business 
we have earned our stripes in europe and 
as the platform builds for the same vehicle 
to go global eg jlr ford we have 
the capability to follow them to asia and 
the usa we have had some substantial 
new business wins this year on these 
continents and this puts us on the radar 
with the local teams as well as winning 
local builds eg cherry in china this has 
meant that we have had to recruit and 
train more skilled personnel in these areas 
as the customer demand for our product 
and services in the asean region and in 
north america increases 
the importance of our own manufacturing 
cannot be underestimated in this whole 
process as it is a key differentiator being 
able to take senior managers and directors 
from our client base to our facilities so that 
they can vendor assess us and seeing 
product being produced has a real  
cachet value 
thomas tan and his site managers in 
sfe formac singapore and psep  have 
hosted a number of these visits this year 
and psep particularly has recognised the 
importance of these visits in a unique way 
they have a dedicated dojo room featuring 
a complete engine teardown to show 
where product is used this helps vendor 
engineers and specifiers understand and 
appreciate the quality and features of the 
components in situ tr formac singapore 
has one of the most advanced cleanroom 
optical sorting facilities in asia which 
meets the zerodefect criteria that many 
of their customers require this never 
fails to impress visitors to their facilities 
whilst they are time consuming and often 
challenging we recognise the value of 
hosting these visits and actively encourage 
them we can track business wins that 
have been concluded following such 
activities 
with the acquisition of vic it will be 
beneficial for us having a manufacturing 
site in europe to demonstrate our 
capabilities and facilities as vic also 
manufactures components for auto 
lighting clusters and wing mirrors this 
adds another product offering to existing 
customers and creates new opportunities 
our research data has confirmed that 
there are numerous companies in europe 
to target initially
‘it’s all about the 
opportunities ahead’ is 
our mantra and in the last 
financial year we have 
without a doubt seized 
the moment”
glenda roberts
group sales director 
custom designed fasteners for automotive applications
wwwtrifastcom
53 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
global sales  business management continued 
early design involvement and ongoing 
technical and engineering support is a 
given within our client base this is an 
area where we are investing heavily and is 
a growing requirement across all industry 
sectors companies divested themselves 
of people during the recession and 
often have not replaced these functions 
internally in sufficient numbers and 
therefore they rely heavily on us to assist 
this gives us a distinct advantage over 
competitors who do not have this ability 
inhouse and to be seen as a full service 
provider fsp sets us apart 
the electronics business machines and 
telecoms industry appears to be back 
at the levels of production prior to the 
recession companies manufacturing 
atm’s ticketing machines selfservice 
shopping machines etc are producing 
record numbers of machines and we are 
servicing some of the biggest brands 
globally in hungary india china and 
the usa these products are fastener 
rich and also use high volume plastic 
components which we are now able 
to support through the addition of the 
extensive plastics commodity range that 
we fully launched last year the major new 
growth that we are experiencing however 
has come from the telecoms industry with 
the emergence of the 4g rollout 
ground equipment for mobile telephony
we have been working 
with a growing number of 
companies both existing 
and new startups 
entering the very lucrative 
4g market”
glenda roberts 
group sales director 
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ground equipment for mobile telephony
we are recognised as one of the 
key manufacturers and suppliers for 
the components used within the 3g 
microwave filters and on the antennas 
we have been working with a growing 
number of companies both existing and 
new startups entering the very lucrative 
4g market tr has the capability to supply 
virtually the entire product that makes up 
the complex and extensive network best 
illustrated in the diagram opposite this 
is one of the most exciting new business 
plans that we have launched since the 
automotive strategy was put in place and 
will create a healthy balance between 
both sectors both the uk and china have 
already benefited from this resurgence 
and we are expecting this to accelerate 
globally we are exhibiting at the 4g show 
in las vegas in september where over 
450 companies in this sector have stands 
early investigations show that a high 
percentage of these are producers and 
will therefore be targets for our team the 
footfall should also include the great and 
the good in this industry
general industrial sales and the domestic 
appliances sector have also produced 
good results on a global basis once again 
we are supplying the household named 
multinationals in these industries who too 
are becoming more demanding in terms 
of service and quality they are embracing 
the automotive standards in many cases 
and this puts pressures on us that we 
are adjusting to we recognise that this 
reduces their reliance on other companies 
who cannot support them or are geared 
to in their pursuit of excellence again 
design and technical support is a key 
factor and a differentiator as is our  
global footprint 
my project team have researched the 
domestic appliance market in europe 
russia and turkey and we are gearing up 
with vic’s involvement to launch a robust 
plan to take a larger share of the market
sales to distributors who occasionally 
are also our competitors have been very 
buoyant this year lancaster fasteners and 
tr uk distribution have seen the recovery 
in europe boost their sales the extended 
range of our own branded products 
coupled with good stock management and 
planning has paid dividends and they have 
been able to capitalise on this opportunity
the different business models that we 
have in place to support small and large 
companies work well unlike many 
competitors that have parted ways with 
their smaller customers we have taken the 
opposite approach the tr transactional 
team in the uk increased their turnover 
by £900k this year confirming that many 
smaller businesses are doing well and of 
course they can be the acorns of the oak 
trees of tomorrow 
the uk and mainland europe sites have 
all performed well and we are set fair for 
this new financial year asia are enjoying 
the recovery of the electronics  telecoms 
sector and domestic appliances as 
well as embracing the growth of the 
automotive sector in the asean region 
the usa has completed their restructure 
and is refocusing into the same sectors as 
asia which will pay dividends in growth this 
year we are in a strong position and are 
looking forward to a good new year 
the different business models 
that we have in place to 
support small and large 
companies work well”
chris black
jeremy scholefield
martin greenwood
global sales
wwwtrifastcom
55 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
technology  innovation
the trifast group of companies work 
as a global network organised to 
provide supply solutions wherever our 
customers need us each business 
operates as an independent legal entity 
transacting at arm’s length however 
a unique combination of knowledge 
communication and collective objectives 
enables activity on a global level
in recent years trifast has invested in a 
number of manufacturing licences including 
mathread® which is a patented system 
to prevent cross threading — the unique 
first threads align with the bolts accurately 
ensuring optimum assembly time
this feature has been incorporated in 
the design of the engine sump plug for 
a newly developed model the clear 
advantage is that at both original assembly 
and subsequent servicing thread damage 
is avoided tr sweden worked with the 
customer on this occasion and power 
steel in malaysia made the plugs to tr’s 
unique design and specification
a significant part of the output of sfe 
taiwan is expected to be for this system 
over the next year the principal usage 
is in the automotive industry it must be 
remembered that it can take many years 
for a design to be put into production 
however the life cycle is also quite 
extended thus providing tr with a 
beneficial revenue stream for several years
in last year’s annual report my colleague 
thomas tan explained that we had added 
all of the licences for the phillips screw 
company to the torx drive system that we 
already have 
this includes mortorq® which provides 
an enhanced drive capability and up 
to 25 material reduction to the head 
this shallow head fastener has a good 
appearance and provides customers with 
the opportunity to reduce weight 
in vehicles
strux®
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56 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
geoff budd
also a licence for strux® was obtained 
this is a self clinching fastener often used 
in automotive structures
mortorq® is also available in a tamper 
resistant style tr uk received a specific 
customer request for this feature resulting 
in phillips screw in the us creating the 
design and sfe taiwan exclusively 
making the finished products
the networking process also applies to 
items outside of trifast’s manufacturing 
capability to supplement our own 
production trifast has a number of world 
class partners who supply globally 
tr holland received an enquiry for 
a particularly unique and technically 
challenging seat component the customer 
also needed prototype samples to prove 
the design in preproduction trials 
tr uk arranged these prototypes by 
water jet cutting and milling the design 
was subsequently approved and bulk 
production commenced tr formac china 
made the initial deliveries to this global 
customer and europe is soon set to follow
a unique combination 
of knowledge 
communication and 
collective objectives 
enables activity on a 
global level”
geoff budd 
tr europe managing director
mathread®
mortorq super®
wwwtrifastcom
57 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
apprentices
the apprenticeship programme goes from 
strength to strength with the introduction 
of two new apprentices within the year 
and the successful completion of three 
apprenticeships resulting in graham 
morrison securing a permanent position 
as a sales coordinator reilly willis
gil becoming an assistant technician 
within our manufacturing facility and jack 
horscroft becoming a fulltime  
warehouse operative 
we are delighted to have been able to 
expand the apprenticeship programme 
to locations other than our uckfield site 
this year we have taken on a warehouse 
apprentice in our north east location ryan 
hildyard and a trade counter apprentice 
in our poole location joe crouch a new 
business apprentice joins us in july alex 
saunders and we have plans to recruit an 
apprentice for our manufacturing plant in 
uckfield as well as one for our location at 
waterside park
it is a really exciting initiative to be able to 
bring young local people into the business 
through structured training programmes 
not only giving them experience of the 
business world but also providing them 
with a nationally recognised qualification 
we hope that all our apprentices go on to 
have successful and fulfilling careers with 
the company 
leadership programme
we are delighted with the success of our 
leadership programme first reported last 
year this programme enables the eight 
location heads from the uk and ireland 
to come together at regular intervals to 
learn more about each of the functions 
within the business as well as to take 
part in leadership skills training the 
programme has improved communication 
between the attendees themselves who 
now more regularly exchange information 
and provide support for each other 
other benefits of the programme include 
the improved relationships between 
the location heads and the functional 
heads and their teams and the better 
understanding of the issues facing each 
part of the business all attending the 
programme have expressed an interest 
in continuing the regular meetings and 
discussions and we are currently in the 
human resources
ryan hildyard joe crouch
aleksandra kuczynska
james hope
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process of developing the structure for 
this for the future it is very satisfying to 
be able to say that the overall objective of 
the programme ‘to create a highly skilled 
and unified team to manage change and 
deliver business success across the uk 
and ireland’ has been achieved 
training
a healthy training budget has been 
secured for the coming year and through 
the new training and development module 
of the hr selfservice system we are able 
to offer a wider and more accessible range 
of training opportunities to cater for our 
employees’ training needs 
our training focus for the coming year 
is on the development of management 
and leadership skills to ensure that our 
managers are well equipped to deal with 
the varied challenges that arise as part of 
their daytoday activities it will also give 
all of our managers at all levels within the 
organisation a common language and 
allow them to gain a better understanding 
of team dynamics and the importance of 
clear and effective communication 
such has been the success of the 
leadership training provided through the 
leadership programme we have devised 
a new management training programme 
comprising foundation intermediate and 
advanced levels to enhance the skills and 
behaviours of the managers and budding 
managers within the business across the 
uk this is set to start in the summer of 
2014 and will be an ongoing programme 
new training providers have been 
identified and we will be working with them 
to ensure that they understand our culture 
and can deliver training that is specific and 
targeted to our needs 
hr system
we continue to develop enhancements 
to our overall hr management system 
including the implementation of skills 
profiles for each role the development 
of a knowledge database to assist all 
employees to access experts in particular 
fields throughout the business and a 
new system of recruitment that includes 
recruitment packs produced centrally 
to assist managers in the recruitment 
process
our training focus for 
the coming year is 
on the development 
of management and 
leadership skills”
helen toole 
hr adviser
helen toole rebecca vaughan
helen toole
wwwtrifastcom
59 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
uk europe  usa
male 70
female 30
asia
male 65
female 35
as at march 2014
human resources continued
employee profile
it’s all about our people 
our appreciation and 
thanks go to every one of 
them for their unflinching 
efforts and ‘can do’ 
attitude”
main board 
trifast plc
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senior managers
male 82
female 18
other employees
male 67
female 33
as at march 2014
group
we welcome our new 
colleagues at vic to the 
tr portfolio and look 
forward to working with 
the team sharing ideas 
skills and resources”
jim barker 
chief executive
wwwtrifastcom
61 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
tr marketing
a team of four supports the ever 
expanding needs of the trifast group 
their prime functions include growing 
the tr brand image web content and 
promotional and creative activity the tr 
brand is truly global giving uniformity in 
how we showcase the company whilst 
still allowing for individuality geography 
and differing cultures this is important as 
we often trade with the same customers 
across four continents and they become 
familiar with and recognise our style
this team is a vital part of the sales 
process and integral to much of what 
we do particularly when creating new 
business opportunities from being 
able to create a bespoke personalised 
presentation for a client inhouse a 
brochure for a certain industry sector 
promotional activity or managing a 
campaign to driving social media 
coverage and opportunities all of which 
are a distinct advantage and unique in 
our industry this means we can act very 
swiftly and be responsive to the needs of 
the business
internal marketing is also an important part 
of their function they create topical poster 
story boards for every site on a quarterly 
basis and send regular marketing update 
emails keeping tr personnel informed on 
interesting events news photographs and 
business wins sharing this information 
generates interest and motivation and 
enables people to feel a part of the 
tr family
externally we punch above our weight 
and through our pr agency aneela rose 
we have worked tirelessly to increase our 
pr coverage we have targeted a core 
number of publications where we either 
advertise or have product articles tailored 
to a current topic from the launch of our 
plastics and cable management range 
and fasteners for sheet metal applications 
through to educational papers on subjects 
such as hydrogen embrittlement social 
media activity has increased too and 
we have a growing list of followers on 
twitter facebook youtube and linkedin 
marketing has inhouse capability for 
filming and editing and has produced 
some very diverse videos ranging from 
case studies filmed inside our customers’ 
factories to humorous videos designed to 
appeal to the youtube audience 
for example ‘a world without fasteners’ 
achieved 18000 hits more recently 
and topical the tr ‘world cup’ video 
depicting a person from each site kicking 
a ball around the world of tr – hopefully 
another youtube hit
the team has supported 12 exhibitions 
this year for the sales operations in the uk 
europe and asia and in september this 
year we will host our first usa exhibition 
at the 4g show in las vegas having 
a creative inventive and enthusiastic 
marketing team supporting the sales 
and tr sites is a key component in our 
continuing success
siobhan aziz tom dewhurst anjanita eldridge abi burnett
having a creative 
inventive and enthusiastic 
marketing team 
supporting the sales 
and tr sites is a key 
component in our 
continuing success”
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wwwtrifastcom
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65
03 our governance
66 directors’ report
68 corporate governance
70 audit committee report
73 nominations committee report
74 directors’ remuneration report
87 statement of directors’ responsibilities
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the directors present their directors’ report and financial 
statements for the year ended 31 march 2014
results and proposed dividends
total group revenue from continuing operations was  
£12978 million 2013 £12154m and the profit for the year 
before taxation was £887 million 2013 £644m underlying 
profit before tax for the group was £916 million 2013 
£725m see note 2 for breakdown
the directors recommend a final dividend of 100 pence 
net of tax 2013 080p per ordinary share to be paid on 
17 october 2014 to shareholders registered at the close of 
business on 27 june 2014 this together with the interim 
dividend of 040 pence paid on 18 april 2014 brings the total 
of the year to 140 pence this has not been included within 
creditors as it was not approved before the year end
annual general meeting
the annual general meeting will be held on 18 september 
2014 at trifast house bellbrook park uckfield east sussex 
tn22 1qw
directors and directors’ interests
the directors who held office during the year were as follows
chairman
mm diamond  executive director
executive directors
jc barker chief executive officer
mr belton group finance director
gp budd tr europe managing director
gc roberts group sales director
independent directors nonexecutive
ns chapman senior independent
jpd shearman
sw mac meekin
appointed 25 april 2013
the directors’ remuneration and their interests in share capital 
are shown in the remuneration report on pages 74 to 86
substantial shareholdings
details of the share structure of the company are disclosed  
in note 24
as at 31 may 2014 the company was aware of the following 
material interests representing 3 or more of the issued 
share capital of the company
no of shares 
held
 of shares 
held
hargreave hale 11645922 1043
schroder investment 
management 11614078 1040
mr michael timms 11000000 985
axa framlington  
investment managers 10016034 897
mr michael j roberts 5173480 463
unicorn asset management 4891800 438
hargreaves lansdown asset 
management 4145920 371
corporate governance
the corporate governance statement on pages 68 to 69 
should be read as forming part of the directors’ report
takeover directive
where not provided elsewhere in the directors’ report the 
following provides the additional information required to be 
disclosed as a result of the implementation of the takeover 
directive
there are no restrictions on the transfer of ordinary shares 
in the capital of the company other than certain restrictions 
which may from time to time be imposed by law for example 
insider trading law in accordance with the listing rules of the 
financial services authority certain employees are required to 
seek the approval of the company to deal in its shares
the company is not aware of any agreements between 
shareholders that may result in restrictions on the transfer of 
shares or on voting rights
directors’ report
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the rules governing the appointment and replacement of 
directors are set out in the corporate governance statement 
section of the directors’ report on pages 68 to 69 the 
company’s articles of association may only be amended by a 
special resolution at a general meeting of shareholders
the company is party to a number of banking agreements 
that upon a change of control of the company could be 
terminable by the bank concerned 
outside of the extension of certain directors’ rolling contract 
periods and notice periods see page 79 there are no 
agreements between the company and its directors or 
employees which provide for compensation for loss of office 
or employment whether through resignation purported 
redundancy or otherwise that occurs because of a  
takeover bid
the company is not aware of any contractual or other 
agreements which are essential to its business which ought  
to be disclosed in the directors’ report
employees
the group has a policy of offering equal opportunities to 
employees at all levels in respect of the conditions of work 
throughout the group it is the board’s intention to provide 
possible employment opportunities and training for disabled 
people and to care for employees who become disabled 
having regard to aptitude and abilities our corporate social 
responsibility statement can be found on our website  
wwwtrifastcom
regular consultation and meetings formal or otherwise 
are held with all levels of employees to discuss problems 
and opportunities information on matters of concern 
to employees is presented in the inhouse letters and 
publications
disclosure of information to auditor
the directors who held office at the date of approval of 
this directors’ report confirm that so far as they are each 
aware there is no relevant audit information of which the 
company’s auditor is unaware and each director has taken 
all the steps that they ought to have taken as a director to 
make themselves aware of any relevant audit information 
and to establish that the company’s auditor is aware of that 
information
auditor
our auditors kpmg audit plc has instigated an orderly 
wind down of business the board has decided to propose 
kpmg llp to be appointed as auditors of the company in 
place of kpmg audit plc and a resolution concerning their 
appointment will be put to the forthcoming annual general 
meeting of the company
by order of the board
mark belton 
company secretary 
trifast house 
bellbrook park 
uckfield 
east sussex 
tn22 1qw
company registered number 1919797
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with exceptions as highlighted below the company complied 
with the provisions of the uk corporate governance code 
issued by the financial reporting council in september 2012
the board acknowledges malcolm diamond is a non
independent executive chairman which does not comply 
with the requirements of section c31 of the corporate 
governance code however the board believe that given mr 
diamond has sat as chairman and is a nonexecutive in other 
companies his experience from these appointments and his 
previous knowledge of trifast is invaluable and can best be 
delivered through the position of chairman
the company has applied the principles set out in the 
code including both the main principles and the supporting 
principles by complying with the code as reported above 
further explanation of how the principles and supporting 
principles have been applied is set out below and in the 
directors’ remuneration report
the structure of the board and its standing committees are  
as follows
the board
currently the board consists of four executive directors three 
independent nonexecutive directors and a chairman the 
nonexecutive directors are considered to be independent of 
management and free from any business or other relationship 
which could interfere with the exercise of their independent 
judgement for the purposes of the code the chairman who 
is an executive chairman is not considered by the board to 
be independent
the appointment replacement and powers of the directors 
are governed by the company’s articles of association the 
corporate governance code the companies act prevailing 
legislation and resolutions passed at the annual general 
meeting agm or other general meetings of the company
the senior independent nonexecutive director is neil 
chapman who was chosen due to his executive board 
experience with other companies
all independent nonexecutive directors have the authority to 
meet with shareholders without first seeking approval from the 
chief executive or the chairman 
the board met 11 times during the period with attendance as 
follows
mm diamond 11
jc barker 11
mr belton 11
gp budd 10
gc roberts 10
ns chapman 11
jpd shearman 11
sw mac meekin 11
upon appointment the directors are required to seek election 
at the first agm following appointment all directors are 
required to submit themselves for reelection at regular 
intervals and at least every three years
the directors retiring by rotation are jim barker mark belton 
glenda roberts and neil chapman who being eligible offer 
themselves for reelection at the forthcoming annual  
general meeting
the company has separate posts of chairman and chief 
executive the chairman leads the board and the chief 
executive is responsible for the management of the company 
implementing policies and strategies determined by  
the board 
on 8 may 2014 the chairman took on another independent 
nonexecutive chairmanship role for a company called 
flowtech the fees have been fixed at £75000 pa
corporate governance
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69
the independent nonexecutive directors have full access 
to the external auditor and to management and there is 
a formal procedure for directors to obtain independent 
professional advice in the furtherance of their duties should 
this be necessary all directors have access to the advice and 
services of the company secretary
appropriate and relevant training is provided to the directors 
as and when required
the board meets a minimum of five times a year and 
is supplied as early as practical with an agenda and 
appropriate papers directors are appointed by the board 
on recommendation from the nominations committee the 
board monitors the financial performance of the group and 
approves and reviews major projects and acquisitions the 
board has formally adopted a schedule of matters which 
are reserved to the board for decision thus ensuring that 
it maintains control over appropriate strategic financial 
organisation and compliance issues
the board undertakes annual evaluation of its own 
performance and that of its committees using questionnaires 
and continues to train and evaluate senior managers below 
board level in order to maintain its continuous succession 
policy
the board has delegated specific responsibilities to the audit
nominations and remuneration committees details are 
described on pages 70 to 86
shareholder relations
the group has a website wwwtrifastcom which is regularly 
updated to ensure that shareholders are fully aware of the 
group’s activities the group’s registrar computershare is 
also linked to the trifast website and offers services for the 
shareholders
the group also works with city specialists to ensure all levels 
of shareholders receive trifast information 
during the year being reported upon we engaged with
  arden partners plc — stockbroker to the company  
institutional fund managers 
tooleystreet communications — investor relations 
analysts private client brokers and media 
edison investment research — investment research 
available on the trifast website
the members of the audit remuneration and nomination 
committees will normally be available to speak to 
shareholders at the agm in order that they understand the 
views of the shareholders in addition shareholders can 
contact them at any time by writing to trifast plc trifast 
house bellbrook park uckfield tn22 1qw
going concern
after making enquiries the directors have reasonable 
expectations that the group has adequate resources to 
continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future 
further information is given in the basis of preparation note 
1 for this reason they continue to adopt the going concern 
basis in preparing the financial statements
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audit committee report
i am pleased to present the audit committee report for the 
year ended 31 march 2014 which has been prepared by the 
committee and approved by the board
the committee has focused on the integrity completeness 
and clarity of financial reporting the areas where judgements 
and estimates are required in the financial statements and the 
quality and effectiveness of audit processes to complement 
the other risk management activities
the board and committee have also focused on the recently 
introduced governance requirements regarding the annual 
report and consider that taken as a whole the 2014 annual 
report is fair balanced and understandable with appropriate 
references being made throughout the various sections to 
assist shareholders and others to understand the information 
and disclosures contained within them
i would like to thank the committee members the executive 
management team and our external auditor kpmg for the 
open discussions that take place at our meetings and the 
importance they all attach to its work
committee membership and attendance
the audit committee consists entirely of the independent 
nonexecutive directors and met three times in the year
attendance in 
201314
neil chapman chairman 33
jonathan shearman 33
scott mac meekin 33
the external auditor kpmg audit plc kpmg the executive 
chairman the chief executive and the group finance director 
and company secretary are also invited to attend meetings 
the committee is considered to be adequately qualified the 
chairman neil chapman has significant recent and relevant 
financial experience as a former partner of kpmg and through 
his other current appointments
responsibilities
the committee operates within its terms of reference which 
are reviewed and updated annually and are available on the 
company’s website or on request to the company secretary
the committee’s main responsibilities are
•	 to assist the board in ensuring the integrity of its financial 
statements
•	 to review the financial results announcements and 
financial statements monitoring compliance with relevant 
regulations
•	 to review the appropriateness of accounting policies and 
the supporting key judgements and estimates
•	 to monitor and review the internal financial controls and 
risk management systems including the requirement for a 
formal internal audit function
•	 to review the procedures for detecting monitoring and 
managing the risk of fraud
•	 to make recommendations to the board on the 
appointment and remuneration of the external auditor
•	 to review and monitor the external auditor’s performance 
expertise independence and objectivity along with the 
effectiveness of the audit process and its scope
neil chapman
jonathan shearman scott mac meekin
our audit committee is focused on ensuring 
the integrity of the group’s financial reporting 
and the effectiveness of our risk management 
processes and internal controls”
neil chapman 
chairman of the audit committee
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71
key matters considered and activities 
during the year
during the year the committee met to agree the audit 
strategy for the full year audit review the results of the external 
audit for the financial year and review the external auditor’s 
half year review and the half year results it also considered 
the results of the internal review process ‘health checks’ 
carried out as part of the cycle more details of this process 
are given in the section — ‘internal audit’ below and finally 
it reviewed the annual report and the financial statements 
contained within it
the committee’s prime areas of focus have been
•	 the integrity completeness and consistency of financial 
reporting and disclosures
•	 the areas where significant judgements and estimates are 
required in the financial statements
•	 the materiality level to apply to the audit
•	 whether the going concern basis of accounting should 
continue to apply in the preparation of the annual financial 
statements
•	 the appropriateness of transactions separately identified 
and disclosed as oneoff in order to highlight the underlying 
performance for the periods presented in the  
financial statements
•	 the preparation of financial statements requires 
management to make assumptions judgements and 
estimates which are detailed in note 31 to the financial 
statements 
•	 to review the group’s cyber risk strategy to ensure controls 
and testing are in place to mitigate the group’s exposure to 
this growing risk
financial reporting and significant 
financial risks
the committee concluded that there were two significant 
financial risks arising from the financial statements which 
would require particular consideration during the year
•	 carrying amount of inventory 
the group has significant inventory holdings which fall into 
two broad categories — standard product ranges and 
those holdings which are customer specific the board 
recognises that as the business continues to grow the 
group is required to carry additional inventory to meet its 
transactional and oem business this carries with it an 
increased exposure to obsolete inventory the committee 
is satisfied that sufficient focus is given to this whole area 
and in particular the adequacy of provisions made for 
slow moving and obsolete inventory as part of their audit 
procedures kpmg perform detailed testing of customer 
inventory balances in particular looking at inventory which 
is specific to individual customer requirements and the 
degree of estimation involved in arriving at the  
inventory provision
•	 recoverability of sfe goodwill 
the committee focused in particular on the carrying value 
of goodwill in relation to special fasteners engineering 
company limited ‘sfe’ in taiwan due to materiality the 
determination of whether or not goodwill has been impaired 
requires a review of the value in use of the asset the main 
judgements in relation to the review were considered to 
be the achievability of the long term business plan and the 
impact upon the plan of macroeconomic and regulatory 
issues in addition the committee reviewed the discount 
rates used in projecting future cash flows to ensure they 
were within an acceptable range the calculation of the 
value in use was undertaken and the committee reviewed 
the conclusion including sensitivity calculations as part 
of their review the committee also held discussions with 
kpmgthe committee concluded that sfe goodwill is not 
impaired
internal audit
the committee formally considers the requirement for internal 
audit on an annual basis as part of its terms of reference
a formalised internal review process called a ‘health check’ 
has been in operation for some years and all business units 
are the subject of a health check on a rotational basis the 
reviews covering both operational and financial controls are 
carried out by senior finance personnel who are independent 
from the entity which is the subject of the review all health 
checks are presented by the group finance director to the 
audit committee and remedial actions agreed whilst the 
board recognise that this process does not constitute a fully 
independent internal audit function it believes that due to the 
size of the group this provides appropriate comfort as to the 
operational and financial controls in place
internal control
the board are ultimately responsible for the system of internal 
control and for reviewing its effectiveness the system of 
internal controls is designed to manage rather than eliminate 
the risk of failure to achieve business objectives and can 
only provide reasonable and not absolute assurance against 
material misstatement or loss
the corporate government code requires that the board 
review the effectiveness of the system of internal controls 
in accordance with section c2 including those of an 
operational and compliance nature as well as internal 
financial controls the committee is of the view that there is 
an ongoing process for identifying evaluating and managing 
significant risks operating policies and controls are in place 
and have been in place throughout the year under review 
and cover a wide range of issues including financial reporting 
capital expenditure information technology business 
continuity and management of employees detailed policies 
ensure the accuracy and reliability of financial reporting and 
the preparation of financial statements including the  
consolidation process 
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audit committee report continued
the key elements of the group’s ongoing processes are
•	 full detailed review of the business risks undertaken as part 
of the ongoing daytoday procedure of the business
•	 an organisational structure with clearly defined lines of 
responsibility and delegation for authority
•	 group policies for financial reporting accounting financial 
risk management information security capital expenditure 
appraisal and corporate governance are well documented
•	 detailed annual budgets and rolling forecasts prepared 
for all operating units and reviewed and approved by the 
board
•	 performance monitored closely against budget and material 
variances reported to the board
•	 the committee to deal with any significant control issues 
raised by the auditor
•	 a formal schedule of matters specifically reserved for 
decisions by the board
•	 capital expenditure controlled by the budgetary process 
with authorisation levels in place any single capital 
expenditure over £50000 goes to the board for approval 
with detailed written proposals and financial analysis of 
expected returns
there were no significant control deficiencies identified during 
the year
external auditor
the external audit is a continuous process at the start of 
the audit cycle kpmg present their audit strategy identifying 
their assessment of the key risks for the purposes of the 
audit and the scope of their work for 2014 these risks were 
the carrying amount of inventory and recoverability of sfe 
goodwill more detail is set out in kpmg’s report on pages 90 
to 92
kpmg reports to the committee at both the half and full 
year setting out their assessment of the group’s judgements 
and estimates in respect of these risks and adequacy of the 
reporting the chairman of the committee speaks to the lead 
audit partner before each meeting and the whole committee 
meets with kpmg in private at least once a year without 
executive management present the committee reviews the 
external auditor’s performance and ongoing independence 
and concluded that the external audit process was operating 
effectively and kpmg continued to prove effective in its role as 
external auditor
nonaudit services provided by kpmg
in order to ensure the independence and objectivity of the 
external auditor the committee has a policy which provides 
clear definitions of services that our external auditor can and 
cannot provide tax compliance and advisory services are 
currently provided by another professional services firm pwc 
the policy also establishes a formal authorisation process 
including either the tendering for nonaudit services or pre
approval by the committee for allowable nonaudit work 
the fees in relation to nonaudit services are found in note 5 
of the annual report
reappointment of external auditor
following the completion of the audit the committee review 
the effectiveness and performance of kpmg with feedback 
from committee members senior executive management 
and finance personnel covering overall quality independence 
and objectivity business understanding technical knowledge 
responsiveness and cost effectiveness
the committee acknowledges the new eu proposed rules in 
regards to auditor rotation and the requirement for companies 
to put audit services contracts out to tender at least every 
ten years kpmg has been our auditor for over 20 years the 
current lead audit partner at kpmg was appointed in 2014 
following a scheduled rotation and will be required to stand 
down no later than the annual general meeting in 2018 
accordingly and in line with the transitional arrangements set 
out by the eu the committee continues to recommend to 
the board that the tendering of the external contract should 
be either at the next rotation of audit lead partner or earlier 
if appropriate circumstances arise the committee and the 
board have concluded that kpmg provides an effective audit 
and have recommended their reappointment at the  
2014 agm
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neil chapman 
chairman of the nominations committee
nominations committee report
role
the committee keeps under review and evaluates the 
composition of the board and its committees to maintain 
the appropriate balance of skills knowledge experience 
and independence to ensure their continued effectiveness 
appropriate succession plans for the nonexecutive directors 
the executive directors and the group’s senior management 
are also kept under review during the period the committee 
met on one occasion
composition
the nominations committee comprises two independent 
nonexecutive directors neil chapman and jonathan 
shearman the executive chairman malcolm diamond and 
the ceo jim barker the committee which is chaired by neil 
chapman meets on an ad hoc basis when required
boardroom diversity
appointing the best people to the board is critical to the 
success of the company the committee has therefore 
concluded that while diversity including gender diversity is 
important when reviewing the composition of the board and 
possible new appointees the single most important factor 
is to identify and recruit people based on merit given our 
commitment to appointing the best people and ensuring 
that all employees have an equal chance of developing their 
careers with the group the committee does not think it is 
appropriate to set targets for board appointments
jim barker jonathan shearman malcolm diamond neil chapman
the nominations committee has an important 
role to play in ensuring the board has the right 
balance of experience and skills to support  
our strategy”
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directors’ remuneration report
dear shareholder
as chairman of the trifast remuneration committee the 
committee i am pleased to introduce our remuneration 
report for 2014 which has been prepared by the committee 
in accordance with the relevant legal and accounting 
regulations and approved by the board
this has been another busy year for the company during 
which we have continued to generate increased  
profits through
•	 delivering high quality service
•	 winning new business
•	 extending our product ranges
the remuneration policy at trifast is to create a structure 
that can attract incentivise and retain those key executives 
who are critical to executing our business strategy within 
this any structure will aim to deliver an appropriate mix of 
fixed and variable compensation this approach ensures that 
strong yearonyear corporate performance is rewarded and 
the interests of executives are aligned with the interests of 
shareholders over the longer term
it is now five years since malcolm diamond and jim barker 
returned to the helm of the trifast ship those years have seen 
a turnaround in fortunes marked by continuous yearonyear 
profit increases substantial share price outperformance as 
illustrated in the total shareholders return graph on page 84 
and the advancement of our strategic priorities much credit is 
due to them and the executive team for these achievements
we have now entered a new chapter of trifast’s development 
one during which we will seek to strengthen further our 
position organically within the global fastener industry this 
alongside carefully chosen acquisitions as typified by the 
recent announcement with regard to viterie italia centrale srl 
should yield further profit growth 
to reflect this the committee embarked on a boardwide 
remuneration structure review this was completed during the 
year to 31 march 2014 as part of the necessary changes 
we have moved away from the historic policy of highly 
conservative levels of fixed remuneration underpinned by a 
grant of options this has meant recent salary adjustments 
ahead of inflation we would envisage more inflationary based 
increases in the  
coming years
following vesting of the 2009 options the committee was 
keen to ensure it still had the ability to retain management 
by way of equity involvement given a desire to maintain as 
simple flexible and dynamic an approach as possible we 
have achieved this by extending the existing bonus scheme 
further details of which are included in the remainder of  
this report
against this structure and given a pretax profit significantly  
in excess of city forecasts as at the beginning of the year 
the committee assessed that performance in the year to  
31 march 2014 justified a total annual bonus of 180 this is 
for each executive and is made up of an 80 cash bonus and 
a 100 equity award the latter being deferred for three years
in response to feedback from some shareholders reflecting 
a desire for increased transparency with regard to the bonus 
scheme performance hurdles and thresholds we are 
whilst retaining the same bonus structure proposing some 
enhancements the relevant details are contained on pages 
75 to 81
this is our first year reporting under the uk department for 
business innovation  skills’ new requirements we welcome 
an appropriate amount of visibility and clarity alongside 
remaining ever mindful of the opinions of our shareholders 
with regard to executive reward the details behind the 
committee’s policy are contained firstly in the directors’ 
remuneration policy followed by the annual report on 
remuneration and will we believe show that we have taken 
these factors into account in our future planning
in concluding we have an excellent management team and 
it is appropriate that they feel motivated and rewarded we 
believe that our approach will enable this and so look forward 
to your support in approving the relevant remuneration 
report resolutions at september’s agm
jonathan shearman
jonathan shearman 
chairman of the remuneration committee
we welcome an appropriate amount of 
visibility and clarity alongside remaining ever 
mindful of the opinions of our shareholders 
with regard to executive reward”
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directors’ remuneration policy
this section of the remuneration report contains details of the policy that will govern future remuneration it has been 
developed to support the business strategy and will be applicable from the date of the agm subject to approval by shareholders 
at that time
the remuneration committee does not retain discretion with regard to any of the main components of the remuneration policy 
unless otherwise indicated in the following table
1 policy tables — executives
base salary
objective
to provide a competitive level of salary recognising the market value of the role an individual’s skills experience and 
performance as well as their contribution to leadership and company strategy
as the primary component of fixed remuneration this enables the attraction and retention of talented executive directors to 
meet the requirements of the role
mechanism maximum value
set annually on 1 april
the committee’s desire is to establish and maintain broadly 
median levels of salary derived from an appropriate basket of 
comparators though not subjecting ourselves to  
mechanistic tracking
other factors taken into account in setting salaries include the 
experience and responsibilities of each individual executive 
director pay and conditions for employees across the group 
the general performance of trifast and pay conditions in the 
appropriate industry
the previous column sets out the factors that will be taken into 
consideration in determining the salary
the maximum annual salary increase will not normally exceed 
the average increase which applies across the wider employee 
population typically inflation based however larger increases 
may be awarded if there is for example a substantial increase 
in the responsibilities of the role following promotion or if the 
director’s salary falls significantly below the market norm 
the annual salaries for the executive directors are set out in the 
annual report on remuneration on pages 82 and 85
conditions
na
pension
objective
to provide competitive levels of retirement benefits as part of fixed remuneration in line with market practice
mechanism maximum value
facilitated via an hmrc approved defined contribution 
scheme the rate of company contribution to this scheme is 
20 of basic salary
na
conditions
na
taxable benefits
objective
to provide competitive employment benefits as part of fixed remuneration in line with market practice
mechanism maximum value
benefits are provided in the form of a company car or car 
allowance private medical insurance permanent health 
insurance critical illness cover and life cover
cost of said benefits
conditions
na
 malcolm diamond and jim barker do not participate in the company pension plan
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directors’ remuneration report continued
annual bonus scheme
objective
to reward individuals for the achievement of performance targets that are directly linked to the company’s short and longer 
term financial and strategic objectives in as simple flexible and dynamic a way as possible
a portion of the bonus is deferred in shares to align the interests of executive directors with those of shareholders and to drive 
the retention of these individuals 
mechanism maximum value
executive directors participate in a nonpensionable 
performance related scheme with a cash and deferred equity 
component where the performance period is one financial year
for each executive director the mix between the cash bonus 
and deferred equity award is dependent on the level of 
performance
•	 below threshold performance will result in no bonus  
being paid
•	 threshold performance will result in a 35 cash bonus and 
70 deferred equity award 
•	 on target performance will result in a 50 cash bonus and 
100 deferred equity award 
•	 above target performance will result in a cash bonus varying 
between 50 and 100 and a 100 deferred equity 
award the maximum cash bonus will require significant out 
performance with regard to the threshold
the percentages referred to above have reference to  
base salary
the deferred equity will be subject to a three year deferral 
period no conditions other than continued employment will be 
applicable over the deferral period
the maximum annual bonus is 200 of base salary which 
would be delivered equally in cash and shares
conditions
return on capital employed roce hurdle of 200bps in 
excess of the group’s weighted average cost of capital 
wacc no bonus will be paid if this initial hurdle is not met
once the roce hurdle is met the bonus awarded will be 
determined based on annualised earnings per share eps 
performance the threshold eps growth requirement is  
rpi  5
any bonus payment will be reduced by up to 15 should 
personal objectives not be achieved these objectives are not 
disclosed due to them being commercially sensitive in nature
the company operates in a rapidly changing environment 
and therefore the committee may change the weighting of the 
conditions or use different conditions for subsequent financial 
years as appropriate to reflect this
the remuneration committee would consider clawback of 
the equity portion should eps growth on a rolling three year 
average turn negative
the annual bonus scheme performance conditions were 
selected as the committee believes they provide direct 
alignment with the short and longer term operational targets 
of the company the committee considers the performance 
conditions suitably demanding considering the business 
strategy and shareholder expectations there is no retesting  
of performance
save as you earn saye plan
objective
facilitate equity involvement for executives and staff
mechanism maximum value
the trifast savings related share option scheme is hmrc 
approved the scheme offers three and five year savings 
contracts which provide an option to purchase shares after 
maturity at a discount to the share price on the date the 
contract is taken out the maximum discount is 20 of mid
market price
na
conditions
na
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shareholding policy
objective
to ensure board members have their interests aligned with those of shareholders through having a sufficient shareholding  
in the group
mechanism maximum value
requirement to build up a minimum holding of 250000 trifast 
shares over the next five years
na
conditions
na
changes to executive remuneration policy from previous policy
given vesting of the 2009 options the committee was keen to ensure management still have the opportunity to be retained by 
way of equity involvement in doing so we are mindful of the team approach taken by the executives alongside a desire to retain 
as simple flexible and dynamic an approach as possible
the decision has been taken to focus on annual performance against metrics which if achieved on a year on year basis will 
without encouraging excessive risk taking grow shareholder value the easiest way to facilitate this remains an extension of 
the bonus scheme to include a cash bonus payable following the publication of the year’s results and an equity award with 
ownership deferred for three years 
in response to feedback from shareholders we have introduced a formal shareholding policy as detailed above other than that 
there have been no other changes to the executive director remuneration policy from the previous policy
differences in remuneration policy for all employees
all employees are entitled to base salary benefits and pension additionally employees are eligible for bonuses and to participate in 
the saye plan uk only the maximum opportunity available is based on the seniority and responsibility of the role the board has 
expressed its intention to consider how equity ownership can be broadened across the group and the committee is exploring this 
during the current financial year
1 policy tables — nonexecutives
fees
objective
to attract and retain individuals with the requisite skills and experience to perform the role
mechanism maximum value
set annually on 1 april and determined by the board following 
consultation between the chairman and ceo
nonexecutive directors are paid a base fee and additional fees 
for committee membership and chairmanship an additional fee 
is also payable to the senior nonexecutive director
any increases in fees will be determined based on time 
commitment and take into consideration the level of 
responsibility as for the executives our desire is to establish 
and maintain median level nonexecutive director fees based 
on an appropriate comparator group though not subjecting 
ourselves to mechanistic tracking
the previous column sets out the factors that will be taken into 
consideration in determining nonexecutive director fees
the nonexecutive director fees are set out in the annual 
report on remuneration on pages 83  85
conditions
na
nonexecutive director remuneration is not performance related and is not pensionable the only other payments made to them 
are mileage allowances at hmrc rates and expenses for items incurred during the fulfilment of their roles
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directors’ remuneration report continued
changes to nonexecutive remuneration policy from previous policy
after three years during which nonexecutive fees were not reviewed and to align with the approach being taken with regard 
to executive salaries a benchmarking exercise was commissioned to establish a median level for fees alongside this and to 
recognise the increasing importance and workload involved in chairing the audit and remuneration committees a fee has been 
introduced for undertaking this role
2 recruitment remuneration
the committee’s approach to executive director recruitment remuneration is to pay no more than is necessary to attract 
candidates of the appropriate calibre and experience needed for the role the remuneration package for any new recruit would 
be assessed following the same principles as for the current executive directors as set out in the remuneration policy table
the table below summarises our key policies with respect to executive director recruitment remuneration
element policy
base salary retirement  
and other benefits
the salary level will be set taking into account a number of factors including market practice 
the individual’s experience and responsibilities and other pay structures within trifast and will be 
consistent with the salary policy for existing executive directors
the executive director shall be eligible to receive retirement and other benefits in line with 
trifast’s policy
annual bonus scheme the executive director will be eligible to participate in the annual bonus scheme as set out in 
the remuneration policy table the maximum level of variable remuneration that may be offered is 
200 of base salary consistent with that of existing executive directors
share buyouts or 
replacement awards
the committee’s policy is not to provide replacement awards as a matter of course however 
should the committee determine that the individual circumstances of recruitment justified the 
provision of a replacement award the value of any incentives that will be forfeited on cessation of 
a director’s previous employment will be calculated taking into account the following
•	 the proportion of the performance period completed on the date of the director’s cessation 
of employment
•	 the performance conditions attached to the vesting of these incentives and the likelihood of 
them being satisfied
•	 any other terms and conditions having a material effect on their value ‘lapsed value’
the committee may then grant a replacement award up to the equivalent value of the lapsed 
value the replacement award will be made in equity under 942r of the listing rules subject to a 
holding period during which cessation of employment will generally result in forfeiture and subject 
to the satisfaction of performance targets
no other signon payments will be made without prior shareholder agreement
other the company may meet certain mobility costs including relocation support expatriate 
allowances temporary living and transportation expenses as appropriate in cases where the new 
executive is relocated from one workbase to another
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3 contracts
during the year all executive directors had rolling service contracts details of each board member’s contract are as 
detailed below
executives notice period date of signing
mm diamond 12 months 26 july 2012
jc barker 12 months 26 july 2012
mr belton 6 months 26 july 2012
gp budd 6 months 26 july 2012
gc roberts 6 months 26 july 2012
nonexecutives notice period date of signing
ns chapman 3 months 26 july 2012
jpd shearman 3 months 26 july 2012
sw mac meekin 3 months 25 april 2013
 12 months in the event of a change in control
when setting notice periods the committee has regard for market practice and corporate governance best practice for new 
appointments the notice period for executive directors will be set at six months and at three months for nonexecutive directors
the director contracts are kept at the company’s registered office
termination payments
the following table shows how the committee would expect to treat executive directors on termination of their employment
element policy
base salary pension and 
other benefits
base salary and all taxable benefits are paid in lieu of notice neither notice nor a payment in lieu 
of notice will be given in the event of gross misconduct
annual bonus scheme all aspects of the bonus scheme are dependent on the executive being employed on the 
payment date of the bonus except for ‘good leavers’ defined as termination resulting from  
a injury ill health or disability  
b redundancy within the meaning of the employment rights act 1996  
c retirement or taking up alternative employment that is deemed by the committee to pose no  
   competitive threat to any group member  
d dismissal for reasons other than those of gross misconduct 
for good leavers the bonus is determined by reference to performance on a quarterly proforma 
basis eg termination in may would result in a proforma payment for one quarter based on the 
performance for that quarter the cash element will be paid immediately the deferred equity 
element will be subject to the normal three year deferral period however the committee may 
grant transference for good leavers before the end of the three year deferral period for the  
proforma equity bonus award as well as prior deferred equity bonus awards which have not yet 
vested in the case of a bad leaver the leaver will forfeit all deferred equity rewards which have 
not yet vested
in the event of a takeover the bonus scheme would pay out 50 of proforma bonus expectation 
if the event takes place between april to september and 100 of proforma bonus expectation if 
the event takes place between october and march
other contractual 
obligations
none
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directors’ remuneration report continued
4 illustrations of remuneration policy
the graphs below seek to demonstrate how applying our stated remuneration policy would lead to levels of pay that vary with 
performance for each of the executive directors
executive chairman
minimum
£000
on target maximum
£0
£200
£400
£600
£800
£1000
annual bonus
salary  other benets
£213
£513
£613
100 42 35
58
65
group finance director
minimum on target maximum
£0
£200
£400
£600
£800
£1000
annual bonus
salary  other benets
£253
£553
£653
100 46 39
54
61
£000
group sales director
minimum on target maximum
£0
£200
£400
£600
£800
£1000
annual bonus
salary  other benets
£228
£499
£589
100 46 39
54
61
£000
chief executive
minimum on target maximum
£0
£200
£400
£600
£800
£1000
annual bonus
salary  other benets
£263
£638
£763
100 41 34
59
66
£000
tr europe managing director
minimum on target maximum
£0
£200
£400
£600
£800
£1000
annual bonus
salary  other benets
£241
£526
£621
100 46 39
54
61
£000
assumptions used in determining the level of payout under given scenarios are as follows
element minimum ontarget maximum
salary and other benefits comprising the base salary for 2015 plus the value of pension and benefits
annual bonus includes both the cash 
bonus and the deferred equity award
0 150 of base salary 200 of base salary
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5 consideration of employment conditions elsewhere in the company
the remuneration policy throughout the company is based on ensuring that we can attract and retain the most suitable people 
this principle is consistent with that applied to the development of our remuneration policy for executive directors employee 
views are not specifically sought in determining this policy and no comparison metrics were used 
salary and benefit packages are linked to personal and business performance all employees receive additional bonus payments 
as business performance allows this together with inflation based salary reviews should ensure we remain competitive within 
the employment market
all uk employees are eligible to participate in the saye scheme furthermore the committee is currently working with the 
executives to consider how senior management might also be motivated and retained by additional equity involvement
6 consideration of shareholders views
the views of our shareholders remain important to us as such the committee is happy to listen to feedback with regard to 
either our remuneration policy or structure and will endeavour to incorporate suitable suggestions within future arrangements
at last year’s agm the remuneration report received 9993 of votes in favour during the period under review and based on 
some verbal feedback from shareholders the committee has as already detailed made some enhancements to the proposed 
structure going forward future consultation with shareholders will be led by the committee chair jonathan shearman and as 
usual members of the committee will be available at the agm
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directors’ remuneration report continued
annual report on remuneration — audited information
this section of the remuneration report contains details as to how the company’s remuneration policy was implemented during 
the year ended 31 march 2014
1 executive director single figure for remuneration
annual bonus
salary
£000
taxable 
benefits¹
£000
pensions
£000
cash
£000
deferred 
equity
£000
long
term
incentives
£000
total
£000
mm diamond 190 13 — 152 190 — 545
prior year 190 13 — 57 — 964 1224
jc barker 225 13 — 180 225 — 643
prior year 220 13 — 66 — 964 1263
mr belton 170 13 34 136 170 — 523
prior year 150 13 30 45 — 241 479
gp budd 165 13 33 132 165 — 508
prior year 150 13 30 45 — 241 479
gc roberts 140 13 28 112 140 — 433
prior year 125 12 25 38 — 121 321
totals 890 65 95 712 890 — 2652
prior year totals 835 64 85 251 — 2531 3766
¹  taxable benefits consisted of the cost of providing a company car or car allowance private medical insurance permanent health insurance critical illness cover 
and life cover
  mark belton geoff budd and glenda roberts are members of the company’s noncontributory pension plan this is an hmrc approved defined contribution 
scheme the rate of company contribution to this scheme is 20 of base salary
  see additional details for variable pay element of remuneration below 
in 2013 seamus murphy received a salary and benefits of £012 million a pension contribution of £002 million and  
£016 million in relation to compensation for loss of office and all associated costs following his step down from the board on  
31 january 2013 this was in line with the company’s termination payment policy and the committee exercised no discretion
additional details for variable pay element of remuneration annual bonus
a portion of the annual bonus for the year ended 31 march 2014 has been paid in cash following the publication of the annual 
results and the remainder deferred in equity for three years in accordance with the directors’ remuneration policy see policy 
table on 75 based on the performance for the year as per table below and in accordance with the policy all five executive 
directors have been awarded a cash bonus and deferred equity bonus as a percentage of base salary of 80 and 100 
respectively 
the performance targets actual performance achievement and resulting annual bonus as a percentage of the base salaries of 
the executive directors is summarised below for the year to 31 march 2014
performance measure weighting
threshold performance 
target
maximum performance 
target actual pbt
bonus achieved
cash deferred
group profit
underlying pbt
100 £810m incorporating a 
bonus of 105 of salary 
35 cash bonus and 
70 deferred equity 
award
£985m incorporating a 
bonus of 200 of salary
100 cash bonus and 
100 deferred equity 
award
£916m 80 100
  on target performance is deemed commercially sensitive and therefore not stated maximum performance pbt is stated after the deduction of any incremental 
bonus payments
  as percentage of salary
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historic long term incentive awards
the options that were agreed with shareholders and granted on the change of management in 2009 requiring a threemonth 
average share price greater than 51p combined with a roce in excess of 10 vested during the year ended 31 march 2013
following approval at the 2005 annual general meeting the company introduced a long term incentive arrangement known 
as the trifast plc 2005 long term incentive plan ‘ltip’ awards under the ltip were delivered in the form of conditional share 
awards which were to be released in three years dependent on continued employment and the satisfaction of demanding 
performance targets all company directors who held ltip’s waived their right to these rewards during 2011
2 nonexecutive director single figure for remuneration
core fee
£000
committee 
membership
£000
senior non
executive 
director
£000
total 
£000
ns chapman 36 6 6 48
prior year 36 6 6 48
jpd shearman 36 6 — 42
prior year 36 6 — 42
sw mac meekin 36 6 — 42
prior year — — — —
totals 108 18 6 132
prior year totals 72 12 6 90
 joined 25 april 2013
3 payments to past directors and for loss of office
there were no such payments made during the year under consideration
in 2013 seamus murphy received £016 million in relation to compensation for loss of office and all associated costs following 
his step down from the board on 31 january 2013
4 statement of directors’ shareholdings
shareholding 
requirement
current 
beneficial 
holding
vested but
unexercised 
options
current shares
held which 
count toward 
shareholding 
requirements†
unvested 
saye options
total of all 
interests at 
31 march 2014
shareholding 
requirement 
met
executive directors
malcolm diamond 250000 553800 2000000 2553800 18000 2571800 yes
jim barker 250000 573229 2000000 2573229 — 2573229 yes
mark belton 250000 68565 500000 568565 18000 586565 yes
geoff budd 250000 307264 500000 807264 — 807264 yes
glenda roberts 250000 29307 250000 279307 — 279307 yes
nonexecutive directors
neil chapman — 1507500 150000 — — 1657500 na
jonathan shearman — — — — — — na
scott mac meekin — — — — — — na
  granted 30 september 2009
† total of current beneficial holding vested but unexercised options and deferred equity awards
  held via the 2009 option scheme 
none of the directors above exercised options during the year
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directors’ remuneration report continued
annual report on remuneration — unaudited information
the graph below sets out the total shareholder return performance of the company compared to the ftse fledgling index and 
ftse all share industrial engineering index over a five year period from 31 march 2009 the remuneration committee believes 
it is appropriate to monitor the company’s performance against these indices as the company is a constituent of both
5 performance graph
1000
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
trifast plc ftse fledgling index ftse all share industrial engineering index
800
600
400
200
0
6 performance and pay
the table below shows the single figure remuneration and levels of bonus payout for the group ceo during the past five years
year
total 
remuneration 
£000
annual bonus 
pay out against 
maximum
equity award 
pay out against 
maximum
2014 643 90

na
2013 1263 30 100
2012 327 35 na
2011 265 45 na
2010 176 na na
  includes the deferred equity award portion
 this was a year considered as part of the performance period for the 2009 option scheme
7 percentage change in ceo remuneration
the table below compares the percentage increase in the ceo’s total pay with that of the uk division which is the most 
appropriate allowing a consistent tax regime and inflationary environment in both cases salaries are reviewed annually in april
2014 
£000
2013 
£000 change
group ceo salary 225 220 23
annual bonus — cash 180 66 1727
annual bonus — deferred 225 — —
uk employees salary 9363 9123 26
annual bonus 706 366 926
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8 relative importance of spend on pay
the following table shows the relative spend on pay during the past two financial years when compared to other disbursements 
from profit
disbursements 
from profit 
during year to 
31 march 2014
disbursements 
from profit 
during year to 
31 march 2013  change
dividend distributions £087m £053m 63
group spend on pay including directors £1953m £1877m 4
9 implementation of policy in the coming year
the remuneration policy and its implementation for the forthcoming year is summarised as follows
element policy
structure following some shareholder feedback about insufficient visibility concerning the bonus scheme the 
committee is proposing to keep the same structure for the year to 31 march 2015 but with some 
enhancements as illustrated below and already explained in further detail within the executive policy table 
page 75
the main elements of executive remuneration effective from 18 september 2014 being the date of the agm 
at which shareholder approval for this report will be sought are
•	 base salaries as follows
malcolm diamond executive chairman — £200000
jim barker chief executive officer — £250000
mark belton group finance director — £200000
geoff budd tr europe managing director — £190000
glenda roberts group sales director — £180000
•	 annual bonus scheme with maximum opportunity of 200 of base salary 100 cash 100 equity 
deferred for three years for each of the executive directors based on
initial roce hurdle to be met before any bonus will be payable
threshold of eps growth of rpi  5 will be required as the minimum performance for any bonus to be 
paid
any bonus awarded will be reduced by up to 15 should personal objectives not be achieved
•	 fee increases for nonexecutive directors to align them with an independently benchmarked median 
coupled with additional fees for committee membership chairing and acting as senior nonexecutive 
director
neil chapman — £55000
jonathan shearman — £50000
scott mac meekin — £45000
pay for 
performance
the key principle for incentives is to provide a strong link between reward and group performance to align 
the interests of executives with those of shareholders
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10 functioning of remuneration committee
the objective of the remuneration committee is to develop a remuneration policy for the executive directors and other key 
executives that attracts incentivises and retains them within this the committee has and will attempt to reward exceptional 
performance defined as significant outperformance against city forecasts this policy is reviewed on an annual basis
the committee is composed entirely of nonexecutive directors members have no daytoday involvement in the running of the 
business jonathan shearman chairman and scott mac meekin have no personal financial interest in the company neil chapman 
senior nonexecutive director was a participant in the 2009 option scheme no executive director sits on the committee the 
remuneration committee is formally constituted with written terms of reference a copy of the terms of reference is available to 
shareholders by writing to the company secretary whose details are set out on the inside back cover of this publication
the committee had five meetings during the year all members of the committee attended each of these meetings on most 
occasions the executive chairman and ceo were both invited to attend to ensure the committee was in possession of all the relevant 
facts during these meetings the committee initially confirmed the remuneration structure for the year to 31 march 2014 and then 
considered any appropriate changes for the year to march 2015 and beyond including reflecting on shareholder feedback
alongside this the committee had additional meetings with pwc in their role as independent external advisers to seek their 
guidance on remuneration matters including best practice with regard to any changes being considered a further benchmarking 
exercise and feedback from shareholders the committee continues to be pleased with the service offered by pwc which during 
the year cost the group £003 million the group also retains pwc with regard to taxation services and consulting services in the 
ordinary course of business of trifast the committee believes that this does not create a conflict of interest
the committee consults with the company secretary regarding issues on areas of remuneration and corporate governance 
with regard to senior executives in the company excluding board directors the committee also takes advice from the 
executive board
11 statement of agm voting
the table below shows the advisory vote on the 2013 remuneration report at the agm held on 17 september 2013
votes for  votes against  votes withheld
2013 remuneration report 61263139 9993 10417 002 38566
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statement of directors’ responsibilities 
in respect of the annual report and the 
financial statements
the directors are responsible for preparing the annual report 
and the group and parent company financial statements in 
accordance with applicable law and regulations
company law requires the directors to prepare group and 
parent company financial statements for each financial 
year under that law they are required to prepare the group 
financial statements in accordance with ifrss as adopted by 
the eu and applicable law and have elected to prepare the 
parent company financial statements on the same basis
under company law the directors must not approve the 
financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give 
a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the group and 
parent company and of their profit or loss for that period in 
preparing each of the group and parent company financial 
statements the directors are required to
•	 select suitable accounting policies and then apply 
them consistently
•	 make judgements and estimates that are reasonable 
and prudent
•	 state whether they have been prepared in accordance with 
ifrss as adopted by the eu
•	 prepare the financial statements on the going concern 
basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the group 
and the parent company will continue in business
the directors are responsible for keeping adequate 
accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain 
the parent company’s transactions and disclose with 
reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the 
parent company and enable them to ensure that its financial 
statements comply with the companies act 2006 they have 
general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably 
open to them to safeguard the assets of the group and to 
prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities 
under applicable law and regulations the directors are 
also responsible for preparing a strategic report directors’ 
report directors’ remuneration report and corporate 
governance statement that complies with that law and those 
regulations the directors are responsible for the maintenance 
and integrity of the corporate and financial information 
included on the company’s website legislation in the uk 
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 
ifrss as adopted by the eu and applicable law give a true 
and fair view of the assets liabilities financial position and 
profit or loss of the company and its subsidiaries included 
in the consolidation taken as a whole
•	 the directors’ report includes a fair review of the 
development and performance of the business and the 
position of the company and its subsidiaries included 
in the consolidation taken as a whole together with a 
description of the principal risks and uncertainties that they 
face
•	 the annual report and accounts taken as a whole is fair 
balanced and understandable and provides the information 
necessary for shareholders to assess the company’s 
performance business model and strategy
on behalf of the board
mark belton 
group finance director  
 company secretary
statement of directors’ responsibilities
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04 our financials
90 independent auditor’s report
93 consolidated income statement
94 statement of comprehensive income
95 consolidated statement of changes in equity
96 company statement of changes in equity
97 statements of financial position
98 statements of cash flows
99
notes to the financial statements  
forming part of the financial statements
132 glossary of terms
ibc company  advisers
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independent auditor’s report
opinions and conclusions arising from 
our audit
1 our opinion on the financial statements is 
unmodified 
we have audited the financial statements of trifast plc for the 
year ended 31 march 2014 set out on pages 93 to 131 in 
our opinion 
•	 the financial statements give a true and fair view of the 
state of the group’s and of the parent company’s affairs as 
at 31 march 2014 and of the group’s profit for the year 
then ended
•	 the group financial statements have been properly 
prepared in accordance with international financial 
reporting standards as adopted by the european union 
ifrss as adopted by the eu
•	 the parent company financial statements have been 
properly prepared in accordance with ifrss as adopted by 
the eu and as applied in accordance with the provisions of 
the companies act 2006
•	 the financial statements have been prepared in accordance 
with the requirements of the companies act 2006 and 
article 4 of the ias regulation
2 our assessment of risks of material 
misstatement
in arriving at our audit opinion above on the financial 
statements the risks of material misstatement that had the 
greatest effect on our audit were as follows
carrying amount of inventory £306 million
refer to page 71 audit committee report page 102 
accounting policy and page 116 financial disclosures
the risk — a significant proportion of the group’s inventory is 
manufactured to meet specific customer requirements there 
is a risk over the recoverability of these balances if a customer 
experiences financial stress or there is a demand issue with 
a customer’s product that includes a part manufactured by 
trifast this customerspecific inventory is one of the key 
areas our audit focused on
our response — in relation to customerspecific inventory 
we performed the following
•	 analysed inventory balances by customer and obtained an 
understanding of the expected usage to assess the non
recoverability risk
•	 inspected a sample of service level agreements to consider 
the terms under which customers are obliged to purchase 
quantities of inventory
•	 tested the adequacy of the group’s provisions against 
inventory by assessing the directors’ assumptions 
taking account of externally available data on trade credit 
exposures accuracy of the directors’ previous estimates 
and our own knowledge of recent bad debt experience in 
the respective industries and post yearend events 
our general audit procedures included among others 
performing a detailed analysis of the inventory ageing to 
challenge whether old and slow moving inventory is provided 
against in accordance with the group accounting policy 
considering the reasonableness of the provision policy and 
inspecting sales invoices to assess whether the inventory is 
being sold at a higher value than cost by comparing the sales 
price against the value at which it is held in inventory
we also considered the adequacy of the group’s disclosures 
about the degree of estimation involved in arriving at the 
inventory provision
recoverability of taiwan goodwill £9 million
refer to page 71 audit committee report page 101 
accounting policy and pages 112 to 113 financial 
disclosures
the risk — there is a risk over the recoverability of the 
group’s goodwill balance in relation to special fasteners 
engineering company limited taiwan due to the sensitivity of 
the underlying cash flow forecasts to projected improvements 
in business profitability furthermore there is an inherent 
uncertainty involved in forecasting and discounting future cash 
flows which are the basis of the assessment of recoverability
our response — in this area our audit procedures included 
among others testing of the group’s budgeting procedures 
upon which the forecasts are based and the principles and 
integrity of the group’s discounted cash flow model we 
compared the group’s assumptions to externally derived data 
as well as our own assessments based on our knowledge of 
the client and experience of the industry in which it operates 
specifically we compared their assumptions with industry 
norms and external data sources in relation to key inputs such 
as projected economic growth competition cost inflation and 
discount rates as well as performing breakeven analysis on 
the assumptions 
we also assessed whether the group’s disclosures about the 
sensitivity of the outcome of the impairment assessment to 
changes in key assumptions reflected the risks inherent in the 
valuation of goodwill
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3 our application of materiality and an 
overview of the scope of our audit
the materiality for the group financial statements as a whole 
was set at £810000 this was determined with reference to a 
benchmark of group profit before taxation which we consider 
to be one of the principal considerations for members of the 
company in assessing the financial performance of the group 
materiality represents 91 of group profit before tax and 
88 of group profit before tax before separately disclosed 
items including restructuring costs intangible amortisation 
and the share option charge as disclosed on the face of the 
consolidated income statement
we agreed with the audit committee to report to it all 
corrected and uncorrected misstatements we identified 
through our audit with a value in excess of £40000 in 
addition to other audit misstatements below that threshold 
that we believe warranted reporting on qualitative grounds
audits for group reporting purposes were performed by 
component auditors and the group audit team at the key 
reporting components including uk singapore malaysia 
shanghai taiwan sweden and holland review procedures 
were performed by the group audit team on the remaining 
locations the audits undertaken for group reporting 
purposes at the key reporting components of the group were 
all performed to materiality levels set by or agreed with the 
group audit team these materiality levels were set individually 
for each component and ranged from £65000 to £810000
the combined effect of this approach covered 100 of group 
revenue 100 of group profit before tax and 99 of 
group assets 
detailed audit instructions were sent to all the auditors in 
these locations these instructions covered the significant 
audit areas that should be covered by these audits which 
included the relevant risks of material misstatement detailed 
above and set out the information required to be reported 
back to the group audit team clearance meetings were held 
by the local auditors with local management the uk team 
had telephone conference calls with the component auditors 
to discuss the audit issues and conclusions reached
4 our opinion on other matters prescribed by 
the companies act 2006 is unmodified 
in our opinion 
•	 the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be 
audited has been properly prepared in accordance with the 
companies act 2006 
•	 the information given in the strategic report and the 
directors’ report for the financial year for which the 
financial statements are prepared is consistent with the 
group financial statements
5 we have nothing to report in respect of 
the matters on which we are required to 
report by exception 
under isas uk and ireland we are required to report to you 
if based on the knowledge we acquired during our audit 
we have identified other information in the annual report that 
contains a material inconsistency with either that knowledge 
or the financial statements a material misstatement of fact or 
that is otherwise misleading 
in particular we are required to report to you if 
•	 we have identified material inconsistencies between the 
knowledge we acquired during our audit and the directors’ 
statement that they consider that the annual report and 
financial statements taken as a whole is fair balanced and 
understandable and provides the information necessary for 
shareholders to assess the group’s performance business 
model and strategy
•	 the audit committee report does not appropriately 
address matters communicated by us to the audit 
committee
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independent auditor’s report continued
under the companies act 2006 we are required to report to 
you if in our opinion 
•	 adequate accounting records have not been kept by the 
parent company or returns adequate for our audit have not 
been received from branches not visited by us 
•	 the parent company financial statements and the part of 
the directors’ remuneration report to be audited are not in 
agreement with the accounting records and returns 
•	 certain disclosures of directors’ remuneration specified by law 
are not made 
•	 we have not received all the information and explanations we 
require for our audit 
under the listing rules we are required to review 
•	 the directors’ statement set out on page 87 in relation to 
going concern
•	 the part of the corporate governance statement on pages 
68 to 69 relating to the company’ s compliance with the nine 
provisions of the 2010 uk corporate governance code 
specified for our review 
we have nothing to report in respect of the above responsibilities
scope of report and responsibilities
as explained more fully in the directors’ responsibilities 
statement set out on page 87 the directors are responsible 
for the preparation of the group financial statements and for 
being satisfied that they give a true and fair view  
a description of the scope of an audit of financial statements 
is provided on the financial reporting council’s website at 
wwwfrcorgukauditscopeukprivate this report is made 
solely to the company’s members as a body and is subject 
to important explanations and disclaimers regarding our 
responsibilities published on our website at wwwkpmgcom
ukauditscopeukco2013a which are incorporated into this 
report as if set out in full and should be read to provide an 
understanding of the purpose of this report the work we have 
undertaken and the basis of our opinions
martin newsholme senior statutory auditor  
for and on behalf of kpmg audit plc statutory auditor  
chartered accountants  
1 forest gate 
crawley 
rh11 9pt  
16 june 2014
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trifast plc annual report 2014
92 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
 note
2014
£000
2013
£000
continuing operations
revenue 3 129775 121544
cost of sales 93809 89969
gross profit 35966 31575
other operating income 4 312 486
distribution expenses 2927 2732
administrative expenses before separately disclosed items 23655 21358
ifrs2 charge 2 22 67 91
intangible amortisation 2 12 221 331
restructuring costs 2 — 389
total administrative expenses 23943 22169
operating profit 5 6 7 9408 7160
financial income 8 85 45
financial expenses 8 619 763
net financing costs 534 718
profit before tax 2 3 8874 6442
taxation 9 2276 1734
profit for the period attributable to equity shareholders of the parent company 6598 4708
earnings per share total
basic 25 608p 439p
diluted 25 576p 418p
the notes on pages 99 to 131 form part of these financial statements
consolidated income statement
for the year ended 31 march 2014
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statement of comprehensive income
for the year ended 31 march 2014
 group
 2014 
£000
2013 
£000
profit for the year 6598 4708
other comprehensive income
foreign currency translation differences 5083 2167
other comprehensive income recognised directly in equity net of income tax 5083 2167
total comprehensive income recognised for the year
attributable to the equity shareholders of the parent company 1515 6875
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94 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
share 
capital
£000
share 
premium
£000
translation 
reserve
£000
retained 
earnings
£000
total 
equity
£000
balance at 31 march 2013 5412 18427 11971 24612 60422
total comprehensive income for the year
 profit for the year — — — 6598 6598
other comprehensive income
 foreign currency translation differences — — 5083 — 5083
total other comprehensive income — — 5083 — 5083
total comprehensive income recognised  
for the year — — 5083 6598 1515
transactions with owners recorded directly  
in equity
issue of share capital 23 61 — — 84
share based payment transactions — — — 513 513
dividends note 24 — — — 867 867
total transactions with owners 23 61 — 354 270
balance at 31 march 2014 5435 18488 6888 30856 61667
consolidated statement of changes in equity
for the year ended 31 march 2013
share 
capital
£000
share 
premium
£000
translation 
reserve
£000
retained 
earnings
£000
total 
equity
£000
balance at 31 march 2012 5343 18263 9804 20078 53488
total comprehensive income for the year
 profit for the year — — — 4708 4708
other comprehensive income
 foreign currency translation differences — — 2167 — 2167
total other comprehensive income — — 2167 — 2167
total comprehensive income recognised  
for the year — — 2167 4708 6875
transactions with owners recorded directly  
in equity
issue of share capital 69 164 — — 233
share based payment transactions — — — 360 360
dividends — — — 534 534
total transactions with owners 69 164 — 174 59
balance at 31 march 2013 5412 18427 11971 24612 60422
consolidated statement of changes in equity
for the year ended 31 march 2014
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company statement of changes in equity
for the year ended 31 march 2014
share 
capital
£000
share 
premium
£000
merger 
reserve
£000
retained 
earnings
£000
total 
equity
£000
balance at 31 march 2013 5412 18427 1521 3108 28468
total comprehensive income for the year
profit for the year — — — 2768 2768
total comprehensive income recognised  
for the year — — — 2768 2768
transactions with owners recorded directly  
in equity
issue of share capital 23 61 — — 84
share based payment transactions — — — 395 395
dividends — — — 867 867
total transactions with owners 23 61 — 472 388
balance at 31 march 2014 5435 18488 1521 5404 30848
company statement of changes in equity
for the year ended 31 march 2013
share 
capital
£000
share 
premium
£000
merger 
reserve
£000
retained 
earnings
£000
total 
equity
£000
balance at 31 march 2012 5343 18263 1521 4048 29175
total comprehensive income for the year
loss for the year — — — 674 674
total comprehensive income recognised  
for the year — — — 674 674
transactions with owners recorded directly  
in equity
issue of share capital 69 164 — — 233
share based payment transactions — — — 268 268
dividends — — — 534 534
total transactions with owners 69 164 — 266 33
balance at 31 march 2013 5412 18427 1521 3108 28468
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statements of financial position
at 31 march 2014
note
 group company
2014 
£000
2013
£000
2014
£000
2013
£000
noncurrent assets
property plant and equipment 10 11 11828 13360 2414 2457
intangible assets 12 13 16959 18366 — —
equity investments 14 — — 33551 33551
deferred tax assets 15 16 1257 966 842 436
total noncurrent assets 30044 32692 36807 36444
current assets
inventories 17 30574 30439 — —
trade and other receivables 18 27665 27248 1531 1422
cash and cash equivalents 19 26 15535 10750 743 154
total current assets 73774 68437 2274 1576
total assets 3 103818 101129 39081 38020
current liabilities
bank overdraft 19 26 31 195 3700 6048
other interestbearing loans and borrowings 20 26 10950 11334 — —
trade and other payables 21 24678 21029 4317 3396
tax payable 2120 1424 — —
provisions 23 124 700 — 104
total current liabilities 37903 34682 8017 9548
noncurrent liabilities
other interestbearing loans and borrowings 20 26 2524 4418 — —
provisions 23 938 701 — —
deferred tax liabilities 15 16 786 906 216 4
total noncurrent liabilities 4248 6025 216 4
total liabilities 3 42151 40707 8233 9552
net assets 61667 60422 30848 28468
equity 
share capital 5435 5412 5435 5412
share premium 18488 18427 18488 18427
reserves 6888 11971 1521 1521
retained earnings 30856 24612 5404 3108
total equity 61667 60422 30848 28468
the notes on pages 99 to 131 form part of these financial statements
these financial statements were approved by the board of directors on 16 june 2014 and were signed on its behalf by
malcolm diamond mbe 
director
james barker 
director
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97 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
statements of cash flows
for the year ended 31 march 2014
note
 group company
2014 
£000
2013
£000
2014
£000
2013
£000
cash flows from operating activities
profitloss for the year 6598 4708 2768 674
adjustments for
depreciation amortisation and impairment 1323 1586 57 56
financial income 85 45 33 36
financial expense 619 763 76 50
gainloss on sale of property plant and 
equipment and investments 26 14 — —
dividends received — — 5843 1619
equity settled sharebased payment  
chargecredit 67 91 86 76
taxation 2276 1734 134 108
operating cash inflowoutflow before 
changes in working capital and provisions 10824 8823 2927 2039
change in trade and other receivables 1336 183 44 77
change in inventories 1605 839 — —
change in trade and other payables 4281 969 921 43
change in provisions 339 638 104 104
cash generated fromused in operations 11825 7872 2066 2055
tax paid 1809 1427 — 180
net cash fromused in operating activities 10016 6445 2066 2235
cash flows from investing activities
proceeds from sale of property plant 
and equipment 12 18 — —
interest received 85 45 33 36
acquisition of subsidiary net of cash acquired — 1389 — —
acquisition of property plant and equipment 10 11 838 869 14 3
dividends received — — 5843 1619
net cash used infrom investing activities 741 2195 5862 1652
cash flows from financing activities
proceeds from the issue of share capital 84 233 84 233
repayment of borrowings 20 26 1679 4707 — 999
payment of finance lease liabilities 20 26 51 178 — —
dividends paid 867 534 867 534
interest paid 619 763 76 50
net cash used in financing activities 3132 5949 859 1350
net change in cash and cash equivalents 6143 1699 2937 1933
cash and cash equivalents at 1 april 19 10555 11798 5894 3961
effect of exchange rate fluctuations on  
cash held 1194 456 — —
cash and cash equivalents at 31 march 19 15504 10555 2957 5894
the notes on pages 99 to 131 form part of these financial statements
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notes to the financial statements
forming part of the financial statements 
1 accounting policies 
a significant accounting policies
trifast plc ‘the company’ is a company incorporated in the united kingdom the registered office details are on page ibc
the group financial statements consolidate those of the company and its subsidiaries together referred to as the group 
the parent company financial statements present information about the company as a separate entity and not about its 
group the profit after tax for the company is £277 million 2013 loss £067m
statement of compliance
both the parent company financial statements and the group financial statements have been prepared and approved by 
the directors in accordance with international accounting standards as adopted by the eu ‘adopted ifrss’ except as 
explained below
on publishing the parent company financial statements here together with the group financial statements the company 
is taking advantage of the exemption in s408 of the companies act 2006 not to present its individual consolidated income 
statement and related notes that form a part of these approved financial statements
the accounting policies set out below have unless otherwise stated been applied consistently to all periods presented in 
these group and parent company financial statements 
ifrs not yet applied
at the date of approval of these financial statements the following standards interpretations and amendments were issued 
but not yet mandatory and early adoption has not been applied
•	 amendments to ifrs10 ifrs12 and ias27 investment entities
•	 amendments to ias32 offsetting financial assets and financial liabilities
•	 amendments to ias36 recoverable amount disclosures for nonfinancial assets
•	 ifric21 levies
•	 amendments to ias39 novation of derivatives and continuation of hedge accounting
•	 amendments to ias19 defined benefit plans employee contributions
•	 ifrs9 financial instruments
it is considered that the above standards amendments and interpretations will not have a significant effect on the 
consolidated or company results or net assets
b basis of preparation
the financial statements are prepared in sterling rounded to the nearest thousand they are prepared on the historical cost 
basis with the exception of certain items which are measured at fair value as disclosed in the accounting policies below
the preparation of the financial statements requires management to make judgements estimates and assumptions that 
affect the application of policies and reported amounts of assets and liabilities income and expenses actual results may 
differ from these estimates
the estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis revisions to accounting estimates are 
recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised if the revision affects only that period or in the period of the revision 
and future periods if the revision affects current and future periods
judgements made by management in the application of ifrs that have significant effect on the financial statements and 
estimates with a significant risk of material adjustment in the next year are discussed in note 31
a review of the business activity and future prospects of the group are covered in the chairman’s and ceo’s statement 
and the directors’ business review the financial position of the group its cash flows liquidity position and borrowing 
facilities are described in the finance review detailed information regarding the group’s current facility levels liquidity risk 
and maturity dates are provided in note 26
current trading and forecasts show that the group will continue to be profitable and generate cash the banking facilities 
and covenants that are in place provide appropriate headroom against our forecasts
considering the current forecasts the directors have a reasonable expectation that the group has adequate resources 
to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future thus they continue to adopt the going concern basis of 
accounting in preparing the annual financial statements
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notes to the financial statements continued
forming part of the financial statements 
1 accounting policies continued
c basis of consolidation
i subsidiaries
subsidiaries are entities controlled by the group control exists when the group has the power directly or indirectly to 
govern the financial and operating policies of an entity so as to obtain benefits from its activities in assessing control 
potential voting rights that are currently exercisable or convertible are taken into account the financial statements of 
subsidiaries are included in the consolidated financial statements from the date that control commences until the date that 
control ceases
ii transactions eliminated on consolidation
intragroup balances and any unrealised gains and losses or income and expenses arising from intragroup transactions 
are eliminated in preparing the consolidated financial statements
d foreign currency
i foreign currency transactions
transactions in foreign currencies are translated at the foreign exchange rate ruling at the date of the transaction monetary 
assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies at the balance sheet date are translated to sterling at the foreign 
exchange rate ruling at that date foreign exchange differences arising on translation are recognised in the consolidated 
income statement nonmonetary assets and liabilities that are measured in terms of historical cost in a foreign currency are 
translated using the exchange rate at the date of the transaction 
ii financial statements of foreign operations
the assets and liabilities of foreign operations including goodwill and fair value adjustments arising on consolidation are 
translated to sterling at foreign exchange rates ruling at the balance sheet date the revenues and expenses of foreign 
operations are translated to sterling at average rates of exchange for the period where this rate approximates to the 
foreign exchange rates ruling at the dates of the transactions
foreign exchange differences arising on retranslation are recognised directly in a separate component of equity the 
translation reserve they are released into the income statement upon disposal
e hedge of net investment in foreign operations
the portion of the gain or loss on an instrument used to hedge a net investment in a foreign operation that is determined 
to be an effective hedge is recognised directly in equity in the translation reserve the ineffective portion is recognised 
immediately in the income statement the effective portion is recycled and recognised in the income statement upon 
disposal of the operation
f property plant and equipment 
i  owned assets
property plant and equipment are stated at cost or deemed cost less accumulated depreciation see below and 
impairment losses see accounting policy l
certain items of property plant and equipment that had been revalued to fair value on or prior to 1 april 2004 the date of 
transition to adopted ifrs are measured on the basis of deemed cost being the revalued amount at the date of transition
ii depreciation
depreciation is charged to the income statement on a straightline basis over the estimated useful lives of each part of an 
item of property plant and equipment land is not depreciated the depreciation rates are as follows
freehold and long leasehold buildings — 2 per annum on a straightline basis or the period of the lease
short leasehold properties — period of the lease
motor vehicles — 20–25 on a straightline basis
plant and machinery — 10–20 per annum on a straightline basis
fixtures fittings and office equipment — 10–25 per annum on a straightline basis
when parts of an item of property plant and equipment have different useful lives those components are accounted for as 
separate items of property plant and equipment where relevant residual values are reassessed annually
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1 accounting policies continued
iii leased assets
the rental charges on assets held under operating leases are taken to the profit and loss account on a straightline basis 
over the life of the lease
leases in which the group assumes substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership of the leased asset are classified 
as finance leases where land and buildings are held under leases the accounting treatment of the land is considered 
separately from that of the buildings leased assets acquired by way of finance lease are stated at an amount equal to the 
lower of their fair value and the present value of the minimum lease payments at inception of the lease less accumulated 
depreciation and less accumulated impairment losses lease payments are accounted for as described in note s
iv subsequent costs
the group recognises in the carrying amount of an item of property plant and equipment the cost of replacing part of such 
an item when that cost is incurred if it is probable that the future economic benefits embodied within the item will flow to 
the group and the cost of the item can be measured reliably all other costs are recognised in the income statement as an 
expense is incurred
g intangible assets 
i goodwill
all business combinations are accounted for by applying the purchase method in respect of business acquisitions that 
have occurred since 1 april 2004 goodwill represents the difference between the cost of the acquisition and the fair value 
of the net identifiable assets acquired identifiable intangibles are those which can be sold separately or which arise from 
legal rights regardless of whether those rights are separable
positive goodwill arising on acquisitions is stated at cost less any accumulated impairment losses goodwill is allocated to 
cashgenerating units and is not amortised but is tested annually for impairment see accounting policy l 
goodwill arising on acquisitions before 1 april 1998 was written off to reserves in the year of acquisition under ifrs1 and 
ifrs3 this goodwill will now remain eliminated against reserves goodwill arising on acquisitions after 1 april 1998 but 
before 31 march 2004 is included on the basis of its deemed cost which represents the amortised amount recorded under 
uk gaap as at 31 march 2004 the classification and accounting treatment of business combinations that occurred prior 
to 1 april 2004 has not been reconsidered in preparing the group’s year end balance sheets
decreases in goodwill resulting from the non payment of contingent consideration are recognised in the period when non 
payment occurs
negative goodwill arising on an acquisition is recognised directly in profit or loss
ii other intangible assets
intangible assets other than goodwill that are acquired by the group are stated at cost less accumulated amortisation see 
below and impairment losses see accounting policy l 
expenditure on internally generated goodwill and brands is recognised in profit or loss as an expense as incurred
iii subsequent expenditure
subsequent expenditure on capitalised intangible assets is capitalised only when it increases the future economic benefits 
embodied in the specific asset to which it relates all other expenditure is expensed as incurred
iv amortisation
amortisation is charged to the consolidated income statement on a straightline basis over the estimated useful lives of 
intangible assets unless such lives are indefinite goodwill and intangible assets with an indefinite useful life are tested 
systematically for impairment at each annual balance sheet date
the amortisation rates of other intangibles are as follows
customer relationships — 83 to 125 per annum
h investments in subsidiaries
investments in subsidiaries are held in the company balance sheet at historic cost net of any impairment
i trade and other receivables
trade and other receivables are stated at their fair value and subsequently at cost less impairment losses see accounting 
policy l
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notes to the financial statements continued
forming part of the financial statements 
1 accounting policies continued
j inventories
inventories are stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value with provision being made for obsolete and slowmoving 
items in determining the cost of raw materials consumable and goods purchased for resale a firstin firstout purchase 
price is used and includes expenditure incurred in acquiring the inventories and bringing them to their existing location and 
condition for work in progress and finished goods manufactured by the group cost is taken as production cost which 
includes an appropriate proportion of attributable overheads based on normal operating capacity
k cash and cash equivalents
cash and cash equivalents comprise cash balances and call deposits with an original maturity of three months or less 
bank overdrafts that are repayable on demand and form an integral part of the group’s cash management are included as 
a component of cash and cash equivalents only for the purpose of the statement of cash flows
l impairment
the carrying amounts of the group’s assets other than inventories see accounting policy j and deferred tax assets see 
accounting policy t are reviewed at each balance sheet date to determine whether there is any indication of impairment if 
any such indication exists the asset’s recoverable amount is estimated see accounting policy ll 
financial assets are considered to be impaired if objective evidence indicates that one or more events has had a negative 
effect on the estimated future cash flows of that asset
for goodwill and other intangible assets that have an indefinite useful life the recoverable amount is estimated at each 
annual balance sheet date
an impairment loss is recognised whenever the carrying amount of an asset or its cashgenerating unit exceeds its 
recoverable amount impairment losses are recognised in the consolidated income statement unless the asset is recorded 
at a revalued amount in which case it is treated as a revaluation decrease
impairment losses recognised in respect of cashgenerating units are allocated first to reduce the carrying amount of any 
goodwill allocated to cashgenerating units and then to reduce the carrying amount of the other assets in the unit on a  
pro rata basis a cash generating unit is the smallest identifiable group of assets that generates cash inflows that are largely 
independent of the cash inflows from other assets or groups of assets
i calculation of recoverable amount
the recoverable amount is the greater of net selling price and value in use in assessing value in use the estimated future 
cash flows are discounted to their present value using a pretax discount rate that reflects current market assessments of 
the time value of money and the risks specific to the asset for an asset that does not generate largely independent cash 
inflows the recoverable amount is determined for the cash generating unit to which the asset belongs
ii reversals of impairment
an impairment loss in respect of goodwill is not reversed an impairment loss on any other asset is reversed only to the 
extent that the asset’s carrying amount does not exceed the carrying amount that would have been determined net of 
depreciation or amortisation if no impairment loss had been recognised
m share capital — dividends
dividends to the company’s shareholders are recognised as a liability and deducted from shareholders’ equity in the period 
in which the shareholders’ right to receive payment is established
n interestbearing borrowings
interestbearing borrowings are recognised initially at fair value where existing facilities are extinguished rather than 
modified arrangement fees and related costs are expensed in full in the income statement as incurred subsequent to initial 
recognition interestbearing borrowings are stated at amortised cost 
i defined contribution plans
the group operates defined contribution pension schemes which include stakeholder pension plans 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 schemes in respect of the accounting period
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1 accounting policies continued
ii sharebased payment transactions
the share option programme allows group employees to acquire shares of the parent company the fair value of options 
granted is recognised as an employee expense with a corresponding increase in equity the fair value is measured at grant 
date and spread over the period during which the employees become unconditionally entitled to the options the fair value 
of the options granted is measured using black scholes binomial lattice and monte carlo models taking into account the 
terms and conditions upon which the options were granted the amount recognised as an expense is adjusted to reflect 
the actual number of share options that vest except where forfeiture is only due to share prices not achieving the threshold 
for vesting ifrs2 has been applied in accordance with ifrs1 to equity settled share options granted after 7 november 
2002 and not vested at 1 april 2005
iii termination benefits
termination benefits are recognised as an expense when the group is demonstrably committed without realistic possibility 
of withdrawal to a formal plan to terminate employment before the normal retirement date
p provisions
a provision is recognised in the balance sheet when the group has a present legal or constructive obligation as a result 
of a past event and it is probable that an outflow of economic benefits will be required to settle the obligation if the effect 
is material provisions are determined by discounting the expected future cash flows at a pretax rate that reflects current 
market assessments of the time value of money and when appropriate the risks specific to the liability
i restructuring
a provision for restructuring is recognised when the group has approved a detailed and formal restructuring plan and the 
restructuring has either commenced or has been announced publicly future operating costs are not provided for
ii dilapidations
a provision for dilapidations is recognised when expected costs become more likely than not and can be estimated reliably
iii onerous contracts
a provision for onerous contracts is recognised when the expected benefits to be derived by the group from a contract are 
lower than the unavoidable cost of meeting its obligations under the contract the provision is measured at the present value 
of the lower of the expected cost of terminating the contract and the expected net cost of continuing with the contract
q trade and other payables 
trade and other payables are stated at cost
r revenue
revenue from the sale of goods rendered is recognised net of vat in the consolidated income statement when the 
significant risks and rewards of ownership have been transferred to the buyer in accordance with normal practice this will 
be on dispatch of goods
s expenses
i  operating lease payments
payments made under operating leases are recognised in the consolidated income statement on a straightline basis over 
the term of the lease lease incentives received are recognised in the consolidated income statement as an integral part of 
the total lease expense
ii  finance lease payments
minimum lease payments are apportioned between the finance charge and the reduction of the outstanding liability the 
finance charge is allocated to each period during the lease term so as to produce a constant periodic rate of interest on  
the remaining balance of the liability
iii  net financing costs
net financing costs comprise interest payable on borrowings calculated using the effective interest rate method and interest 
receivable on funds invested interest income is recognised in the consolidated income statement as it accrues using 
the effective interest method net finance costs also include arrangement fees and related costs recognised in line with 
accounting policy n
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notes to the financial statements continued
forming part of the financial statements 
1 accounting policies continued
t taxation
tax on the profit or loss for the periods presented comprises current and deferred tax tax is recognised in the 
consolidated income statement except to the extent that it relates to items recognised directly in equity in which case it is 
recognised in equity
current tax is the expected tax payable on the taxable income for the year using tax rates enacted or substantively 
enacted at the balance sheet date and any adjustment to tax payable in respect of previous years
deferred tax is provided using the balance sheet liability method providing for temporary differences between the carrying 
amounts of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts used for taxation purposes the following 
temporary differences are not provided for the initial recognition of goodwill not deductible for tax purposes the initial 
recognition of assets or liabilities that affect neither accounting nor taxable profit and differences relating to investments in 
subsidiaries to the extent that they will probably not reverse in the foreseeable future the amount of deferred tax provided 
is based on the expected manner of realisation or settlement of the carrying amount of assets and liabilities using tax rates 
enacted or substantively enacted at the balance sheet date
a deferred tax asset is recognised only to the extent that it is probable that future taxable profits will be available against 
which the asset can be utilised deferred tax assets are reduced to the extent that it is no longer probable that the related 
tax benefit will be realised
additional income taxes that arise from the distribution of dividends are recognised at the same time as the liability to pay 
the related dividend information as to the calculation of income tax on the profit or loss for the period presented is included 
in note 9
u operating segment reporting
a segment is a distinguishable component of the group that is engaged in providing products or services within a particular 
geographical economic environment whose operating results are reviewed regularly by the group’s chief operating 
decision maker the board in order to allocate resources and assess its performance and for which discrete financial 
information is available 
the group operates in a number of geographical economic environments the company only operates in one business 
segment being the manufacture and logistical supply of industrial fasteners and category ‘c’ components
v financial guarantee contracts
where the company enters into financial guarantee contracts to guarantee the indebtedness of other companies within its 
group the company considers these to be insurance arrangements and accounts for them as such in this respect the 
company treats the guarantee contract as a contingent liability until such time as it becomes probable that the company 
will be required to make a payment under the guarantee
w earnings per share
the group presents basic and diluted earnings per share eps data for its ordinary shares basic eps is calculated by 
dividing the profit or loss attributable to ordinary shareholders of the company by the weighted average number of ordinary 
shares outstanding during the period diluted eps is determined by adjusting the profit or loss attributable to ordinary 
shareholders and the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding for the effects of all dilutive potential 
ordinary shares which comprise share options granted to employees
x underlying measure of profits and losses
the group believes that underlying operating profit and underlying profit before tax provide additional guidance to statutory 
measures to help understand the underlying performance of the business during the financial period the term underlying 
is not defined under international financial reporting standards it is a measure that is used by management to assess the 
underlying performance of the business internally and is not intended to be a substitute measure for adopted ifrss’ gaap 
measures the group defines these underlying measures as follows
underlying operating profit is profit before taxation and separately disclosed items see note 2
underlying earnings used in the calculation of underlying earnings per share is profit after tax excluding separately 
disclosed items
stock code tri
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104 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
1 accounting policies continued
it should be noted that the definitions of underlying items being used in these financial statements are those used by the 
group and may not be comparable with the term ’underlying’ as defined by other companies within the same sector or 
elsewhere
separately disclosed items are included within the income statement caption to which they relate
y separately disclosed items see note 2
separately disclosed items are those significant items which in management’s judgement should be highlighted by virtue  
of their size or incidence to enable a full understanding of the group’s financial performance
2 underlying profit and separately disclosed items
note
2014
£000
2013
£000
underlying profit before tax 9162 7253
separately disclosed items within administrative expenses
 ifrs2 sharebased payment charge 67 91
 intangible amortisation 12 221 331
 restructuring costs — 389 
profit from continuing operations before tax 8874 6442
there were no separately disclosed items in 2014 other than the ifrs2 share based charge and intangible amortisation in 
relation to customer relationships acquired through acquisitions in previous years
of the 2013 restructuring costs £019 million refers to redundancy payments and associated costs in relation to 
compensation for loss of office for seamus murphy following his departure from the board on 31 january 2013 the 
remaining balance of £020 million were further redundancies within the uk to drive the ongoing efficiencies
3 operating segmental analysis
segment information as discussed in note 1 is presented in the consolidated financial statements in respect of the 
group’s geographical segments this reflects the group’s management and internal reporting structure and the operating 
basis on which individual operations are reviewed by the chief operating decision maker the board
performance is measured based on segment underlying profit before finance costs and income tax as included in 
the internal management reports that are reviewed by the chief operating decision maker this is used to measure 
performance as management believes that such information is the most relevant in evaluating the results of certain 
segments relative to other entities that operate within the industry 
intersegment pricing is determined on an arm’s length basis
segment results assets and liabilities include items directly attributable to a segment as well as those that can be allocated 
on a reasonable basis 
segment capital expenditure is the total cost incurred during the period to acquire segment assets that are expected to be 
used for more than one period
 geographical operating segments
the group is comprised of the following main geographical operating segments
uk
mainland europe includes norway sweden hungary ireland holland and poland
usa includes usa and mexico
asia includes malaysia china singapore taiwan thailand and india
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notes to the financial statements continued
forming part of the financial statements 
3 operating segmental analysis continued
in presenting information on the basis of geographical operating segments segment revenue and segment assets are 
based on the geographical location of our entities across the world and are consolidated into the four distinct geographical 
regions which the board use to monitor and assess the group
march 2014
uk
£000
mainland 
europe
£000
usa
£000
asia
£000
common 
costs
£000
total
£000
revenue
revenue from external customers 63237 25365 2817 38356 — 129775
inter segment revenue 1584 441 99 5425 — 7549
total revenue 64821 25806 2916 43781 — 137324
underlying operating result 5460 1726 247 5270 3007 9696
net financing costs 359 33 1 98 43 534
underlying segment result 5101 1693 246 5172 3050 9162
separately disclosed items see 
note 2 288
profit before tax 8874
specific disclosure items
depreciation and amortisation 146 47 13 907 210 1323
assets and liabilities
segment assets 36615 11539 1531 47296 6837 103818
segment liabilities 23843 3562 143 12036 2567 42151
march 2013
uk
£000
mainland 
europe
£000
usa
£000
asia
£000
common 
costs
£000
total
£000
revenue
revenue from external customers 57258 22912 2519 38855 — 121544
inter segment revenue 1672 564 104 4253 — 6593
total revenue 58930 23476 2623 43108 — 128137
underlying operating result 4135 1108 295 4411 1978 7971
net financing costs 471 1 1 195 50 718
underlying segment result 3664 1107 294 4216 2028 7253
separately disclosed items see 
note 2 811
profit before tax 6442
specific disclosure items
depreciation and amortisation 140 49 15 1065 317 1586
assets and liabilities
segment assets 34071 10448 1362 51401 3847 101129
segment liabilities 22925 2817 150 13152 1663 40707
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3 operating segmental analysis continued
there were no major customers that represent more than 10 of the revenue
there was no material difference in the uk mainland europe and usa regions between the external revenue based on 
location of the entities and the location of the customers of the asian external revenue £308 million 2013 £266m was 
sold into the american market and £554 million 2013 £564m sold into the european market 
revenue is derived solely from the manufacture and logistical supply of industrial fasteners and category ‘c’ components
4 other operating income
2014
£000
2013
£000
rental income received from freehold properties 163 166
other income 149 320
312 486
5 expenses and auditor’s remuneration
included in profit for the year are the following
note
2014
£000
2013
£000
depreciation 10 1102 1255
amortisation of acquired intangibles 12 221 331
operating lease expense 2342 2330
lossprofit on disposal of fixed assets 26 15
forex gainloss 394 250
auditor’s remuneration 
2014
£000
2013
£000
audit of these financial statements 40 40
audit of financial statements of subsidiaries pursuant to legislation 153 147
other services relating to taxation 26 36
other services supplied pursuant to such legislation 30 25
other services relating to transaction services 175 —
6 staff numbers and costs
the average number of persons employed by the group including directors during the year analysed by category was as 
follows
 group
number of employees
2014 2013
office and management 93 92
manufacturing 274 271
sales 157 155
distribution 514 509
1038 1027
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notes to the financial statements continued
forming part of the financial statements 
6 staff numbers and costs continued
the aggregate payroll costs of these persons were as follows
 group
2014
£000
2013
£000
wages and salaries including bonus 22437 20382
share based payments 67 91
social security costs 1876 1605
other pension costs see note 22 1525 1425
25905 23503
7 directors’ emoluments
2014
£000
2013
 £000
directors’ emoluments 1799 1355
deferred equity 890 —
compensation for loss of office — 161
company contributions to money purchase pension plans 95 106
2784 1622
the emoluments of individual directors are shown in the remuneration report on page 82
the aggregate of emoluments of the highest paid director was £064 million which included deferred equity of £023 
million 2013 £030m and company pension contributions of £nil 2013 £nil were made to a money purchase scheme 
on his behalf 
 number of directors
2014 2013
retirement benefits are accruing to the following number of directors under 
money purchase schemes 3 4
the number of directors who exercised share options was — 2
see pages 74 to 86 of the remuneration report for more details
directors’ rights to subscribe for shares in the company are also set out in the remuneration report
8 financial income and expense
2014
£000
2013
£000
financial income 85 45
financial expenses
interest payable on bank loans and hire purchase liabilities 619 763 
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9 taxation
recognised in the income statement
2014
£000
2013
£000
current uk tax expense
 current year 510 5
 adjustments for prior years 53 —
563 5
current tax on foreign income for the year 1603 1192
adjustments for prior years 15 114
1618 1306
total current tax 2181 1311
deferred tax expense note 15
 origination and reversal of temporary differences 49 434
 adjustments for prior years 46 11
95 423
tax in income statement 2276 1734
tax recognised directly in equity
2014
£000
2013
£000
current tax recognised directly in equity 41 69
deferred tax recognised in equity 506 160
total tax recognised in equity 547 229
reconciliation of effective tax rate ‘etr’ and tax expense
 2014
£000
 etr

 2013
£000
 etr

profit for the period 6598 4708
tax from continuing operations 2276 1734
profit before tax 8874 6442
tax using the uk corporation tax rate of 23 2013 24 2041 23 1546 24
tax suffered on dividends 115 1 174 3
nondeductible expenses 247 3 231 4
ifrs2 share option credit 4 — 10 —
deferred tax assets not recognised 130 1 184 3
different tax rates on overseas earnings 182 2 171 3
adjustments in respect of prior years 114 1 103 2
tax rate change 75 1 45 —
total tax in income statement 2276 26 1734 27
on 1 april 2013 the uk corporation tax rate reduced from 24 to 23 resulting in a headline uk corporation tax rate for 
the year of 23 the uk government has reduced the uk corporation tax rate to 21 with effect from 1 april 2014 and to 
20 with effect from 1 april 2015 and these reductions have been reflected in the measurement of deferred tax balances
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notes to the financial statements continued
forming part of the financial statements 
10 property plant and equipment – group
land and 
buildings
£000
leasehold 
improvements
£000
plant and
equipment
£000
fixtures 
 fittings
£000
motor 
vehicles
£000
total
£000
cost
balance at 1 april 2012 10912 736 16793 4620 302 33363
additions 8 91 553 161 56 869
disposals — — 134 40 72 246
effect of movements in foreign 
exchange 344 44 653 49 14 1104
balance at 31 march 2013 11264 871 17865 4790 300 35090
balance at 1 april 2013 11264 871 17865 4790 300 35090
additions 122 54 434 195 33 838
disposals — 13 653 578 37 1281
effect of movements in foreign 
exchange 945 45 1789 179 32 2990
balance at 31 march 2014 10441 867 15857 4228 264 31657
depreciation and impairment
balance at 1 april 2012 1807 455 13318 4274 217 20071
depreciation charge for the year 175 58 867 119 36 1255
disposals — — 131 40 72 243
effect of movements in foreign 
exchange 49 16 515 57 10 647
balance at 31 march 2013 2031 529 14569 4410 191 21730
balance at 1 april 2013 2031 529 14569 4410 191 21730
depreciation charge for the year 172 62 724 106 38 1102
disposals — 13 645 551 34 1243
effect of movements in foreign 
exchange 107 29 1449 155 20 1760
balance at 31 march 2014 2096 549 13199 3810 175 19829
net book value
at 1 april 2012 9105 281 3475 346 85 13292
at 31 march 2013 9233 342 3296 380 109 13360
at 31 march 2014 8345 318 2658 418 89 11828
included in the net book value of land and buildings is £708 million 2013 £778m of freehold land and buildings and 
£127 million 2013 £145m of long leasehold land and buildings
£1126 million 2013 £1091m of land and buildings have been recognised at a deemed cost that is equal to their fair 
value at transition date as allowable under ifrstransition rules 
included in the total net book value of plant and machinery is £nil 2013 £058m in respect of assets held under finance 
leases and similar hire purchase contracts depreciation for the year on these assets was £010 million 2013 £012m
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11 property plant and equipment — company
land and
 buildings
£000
fixtures 
 fittings
£000
total
£000
cost
balance at 1 april 2012 3497 750 4247
additions — 3 3
balance at 31 march 2013 3497 753 4250
balance at 1 april 2013 3497 753 4250
additions — 14 14
balance at 31 march 2014 3497 767 4264
depreciation and impairment 
balance at 1 april 2012 993 744 1737
depreciation charge for the year 54 2 56
balance at 31 march 2013 1047 746 1793
balance at 1 april 2013 1047 746 1793
depreciation charge for the year 54 3 57
balance at 31 march 2014 1101 749 1850
net book value
at 1 april 2012 2504 6 2510
at 31 march 2013 2450 7 2457
at 31 march 2014 2396 18 2414
included in the net book value of land and buildings is £240 million 2013 £245m of freehold land and buildings 
£350 million 2013 £350m of land and buildings have been recognised at a deemed cost that is equal to their fair value 
at transition date as allowable under ifrstransition rules
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notes to the financial statements continued
forming part of the financial statements 
12 intangible assets — group 
goodwill
£000
other
£000
total
£000
cost
balance at 1 april 2012 30538 2973 33511
fair value adjustment 96 — 96
effect of movements in foreign exchange 928 55 983
balance at 31 march 2013 31562 3028 34590
balance at 1 april 2013 31562 3028 34590
effect of movements in foreign exchange 1510 89 1599
balance at 31 march 2014 30052 2939 32991
amortisation and impairment 
balance at 1 april 2012 13884 1758 15642
amortisation for the year — 331 331
effect of movements in foreign exchange 246 5 251
balance at 31 march 2013 14130 2094 16224
balance at 1 april 2013 14130 2094 16224
amortisation for the year — 221 221
effect of movements in foreign exchange 400 13 413
balance at 31 march 2014 13730 2302 16032
net book value
at 1 april 2012 16654 1215 17869
at 31 march 2013 17432 934 18366
at 31 march 2014 16322 637 16959
other intangible assets are made up of customer relationships acquired as part of the acquisitions of serco ryan ltd and 
power steel and electroplating works sdn bhd psep during the year the assets of serco ryan became fully amortised 
while the remaining amortisation period left on the assets of psep is 975 years
the 2013 fair value adjustment relates to a psep deferred tax liability recognised upon revaluation of buildings performed 
prior to the acquisition in december 2011
there were £nil impairments made during 2014 2013 £nil
the following cash generating units have significant carrying amounts of goodwill
2014
£000
2013
£000
special fasteners engineering co ltd taiwan 9029 10050
tr fastenings ab sweden 1063 1063
lancaster fastener company ltd uk 1245 1245
serco ryan ltd within tr fastenings ltd uk 4083 4083
power steel and electroplating works sdn bhd psep malaysia 798 887
other 104 104
16322 17432
the group tests goodwill annually for impairment the recoverable amount of cash generating units is determined from 
value in use calculations
value in use was determined by discounting the future cash flows generated from the continuing use of the unit in this 
method the free cash flows after funding internal needs of the subject company are forecast for a finite period of five years 
based on actual operating results budgets and economic market research beyond the finite period a terminal residual 
value is estimated using an assumed stable cash flow figure 
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12 intangible assets — group continued
the values assigned to the key assumptions represent management’s assessment of future trends in the fastenings market 
and are based on both external and internal sources of historical data
the table below highlights the key assumptions on our taiwanese subsidiary
 taiwan
2014 2013
discount rate 10 13
long term growth rate 4 4
 long term growth rate
five year management plans are used for the group’s value in use calculations long term growth rate into perpetuity has 
been determined as the lower of
•	 the nominal gdp rates for the country of operation and
•	 the long term compound annual growth rate in ebitda in years six to ten estimated by management
 posttax risk adjusted discount rate
the discount rate applied to the cash flows of each of the group’s operations is based on the weighted average cost of 
capital ‘wacc’ using posttax numbers the cost of equity element uses the risk free rate for ten year bonds issued 
by the government in the respective market adjusted for a risk premium to reflect both the increased risk of investing in 
equities and the systematic risk of the specific group operating company 
in making this adjustment inputs required are the equity market risk premium that is the increased return required over and 
above a risk free rate by an investor who is investing in the market as a whole and the risk adjustment beta applied to 
reflect the risk of the specific group operating company relative to the market as a whole
in determining the risk adjusted discount rate management has applied an adjustment for the systematic risk to each 
of the group’s operations determined using an average of the betas of comparable listed fastener distribution and 
manufacturing companies and where available and appropriate across a specific territory management has used a 
forwardlooking equity market risk premium that takes into consideration studies by independent economists the average 
equity market risk premium over the past ten years and the market risk premiums typically used by investment banks in 
evaluating acquisition proposals
the table above discloses the wacc on a posttax basis this takes into account certain components such as various 
discount rates reflecting different risk premiums and tax rates in the respective regions overall the board is confident that 
the discount rate adequately reflects the circumstances in taiwan and is in accordance with ias 36
 sensitivity to changes in assumptions
other than as disclosed below management believes that no reasonably possible change in any of the above key 
assumptions would cause the carrying value of any cash generating unit to exceed its recoverable amount
the estimated value in use at 31 march 2014 of the group’s operations in taiwan was £547 million above its carrying 
value any material adverse change in key assumptions could in isolation cause a significant reduction in the headroom 
against the carrying value
the table below shows what the variables used in the ‘value in use’ calculation for taiwan need to change to in isolation in 
order for the estimated recoverable amount to be equal to its carrying value
taiwan
discount rate 13
budgeted reduction in ebit 29
long term growth rate 0
other subsidiaries are not included in the calculation as their individual cash generating units show a significant headroom 
over the goodwill carrying value
the £102 million and £009 million decrease in the goodwill of sfe and psep respectfully refer to foreign exchange losses 
as these investments are held in singapore dollars within tr asia investment holdings pte ltd
there was no material difference between pre and posttax discount rates
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notes to the financial statements continued
forming part of the financial statements 
13 intangible assets — company
other
£000
cost
balance at 1 april 2012 and 31 march 2013 62
balance at 31 march 2014 62
amortisation and impairment 
balance at 1 april 2012 62
amortisation for the year —
balance at 31 march 2013 62
balance at 1 april 2013 62
amortisation for the year —
balance at 31 march 2014 62
net book value
at 1 april 2012 —
at 31 march 2013 —
at 31 march 2014 —
14 equity investments — company 
 investments in subsidiaries
£000
cost
balance at 1 april 2012 and 31 march 2013 41436
balance at 31 march 2014 41436
provision
balance at 1 april 2012 and 31 march 2013 7885
balance at 31 march 2014 7885
net book value
at 1 april 2012 33551
at 31 march 2013 33551
at 31 march 2014 33551
details of principal subsidiary and associate undertakings country of registration and principal activity are included on  
page 131
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114 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
15 deferred tax assets and liabilities — group
 recognised deferred tax assets and liabilities 
deferred tax assets and liabilities are attributable to the following
 assets liabilities net
2014
£000
2013
£000
2014
£000
2013
£000
2014
£000
2013
£000
property plant and equipment 131 178 1218 1113 1087 935
intangible assets 10 10 21 56 11 46
inventories 451 389 — — 451 389
provisions 221 426 195 103 26 323
ifrs2 1042 317 — — 1042 317
tax value of loss cfwd 50 12 — — 50 12
tax assetsliabilities 1905 1332 1434 1272 471 60
tax setoff 648 366 648 366 — —
net tax assets liabilities 1257 966 786 906 471 60
a potential £081 million 2013 £102m deferred tax asset relating to tax losses at tr fastenings inc was not recognised 
on the grounds that recovery is uncertain in addition a potential £129 million 2013 £129m deferred tax asset relating to 
the company’s trapped management losses was not recognised on the grounds that recovery of these losses is uncertain
 movement in deferred tax during the year
1 april 
2013
£000
recognised
in income
£000
recognised on 
acquisitions
£000
recognised in
equity
£000
31 march 
2014
£000
property plant and equipment 935 241 — 89 1087
intangible assets 46 35 — — 11
inventories 389 68 — 6 451
provisions 323 313 — 16 26
ifrs2 317 320 — 405 1042
tax value of loss cfwd 12 36 — 2 50
60 95 — 506 471
 movement in deferred tax during the prior year
1 april 
2012
£000
recognised
in income
£000
recognised on 
acquisitions
£000
recognised in
equity
£000
31 march 
2013
£000
property plant and equipment 599 211 96 29 935
intangible assets 89 43 — — 46
inventories 284 105 — — 389
provisions 439 119 — 3 323
ifrs2 117 — — 200 317
tax value of loss cfwd 267 241 — 14 12
419 423 96 160 60
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notes to the financial statements continued
forming part of the financial statements 
16 deferred tax assets and liabilities — company
 recognised deferred tax assets and liabilities 
deferred tax assets and liabilities are attributable to the following
 assets liabilities net
2014
£000
2013
£000
2014
£000
2013
£000
2014
£000
2013
£000
property plant and equipment — — 216 4 216 4
provisions 1 181 — — 1 181
ifrs2 841 255 — — 841 255
tax assetsliabilities 842 436 216 4 626 432
a potential £129 million 2013 £129m deferred tax asset relating to the company’s trapped management losses was not 
recognised on the grounds that recovery of these losses is uncertain
 movement in deferred tax during the year
1 april 
2013
£000
recognised in 
income
£000
recognised in 
equity
£000
31 march 
2014
£000
property plant and equipment 4 212 — 216
provisions 181 180 — 1
ifrs2 255 265 321 841
432 127 321 626
 movement in deferred tax during the prior year
1 april 
2012
£000
recognised in 
income
£000
recognised in 
equity
£000
31 march 
2013
£000
property plant and equipment 2 6 — 4
provisions 272 91 — 181
ifrs2 87 — 168 255
361 97 168 432
17 inventories
 group
2014
£000
2013
£000
raw materials and consumables 2962 3374
work in progress 1057 1460
finished goods and goods for resale 26555 25605
30574 30439
18 trade and other receivables
 group company
2014
£000
2013
£000
2014
£000
2013
£000
trade receivables 26330 25872 — —
non trade receivables and prepayments 1335 1376 55 6
amounts owed by subsidiary undertakings — — 1476 1416
27665 27248 1531 1422
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116 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
19 cash and cash equivalentsbank overdrafts
 group company
2014
£000
2013
£000
2014
£000
2013
£000
cash and cash equivalents per statement of  
financial position 15535 10750 743 154
bank overdrafts per statement of financial position 31 195 3700 6048
cash and cash equivalents per cash flow statements 15504 10555 2957 5894
20 other interestbearing loans and borrowings
this note provides information about the contractual terms of the group and company’s interestbearing loans and 
borrowings for more information about the group and company’s exposure to interest rate and foreign currency risk  
see note 26
 current  noncurrent
initial loan value rate maturity
2014
£000
2013
£000
2014
£000
2013
£000
group
asset based lending 
£1830m maximum
base 189 
to 225 2015 9504 9675 — —
acquisition term loan 
s1511m fixed 314 2016 1441 1604 2522 4411
finance lease liabilities various 201314 5 55 2 7
10950 11334 2524 4418
total group 10950 11334 2524 4418
 finance lease liabilities
minimum lease 
payments
2014
£000
interest
2014
£000
principal
2014
£000
less than one year 5 1 4
between one and two years 2 — 2
7 1 6
21 trade and other payables
 group company
2014
£000
2013
£000
2014
£000
2013
£000
trade payables 14370 12851 — —
amounts payable to subsidiary undertakings — — 2589 2593
nontrade payables and accrued expenses 9077 7012 1702 782
other taxes and social security 1231 1166 26 21
24678 21029 4317 3396
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notes to the financial statements continued
forming part of the financial statements 
22 employee benefits
 pension plans
defined contribution plans
the group operates a number of defined contribution pension plans which include stakeholder pension plans whose 
assets are held separately from those of the group in independently administered funds
the total expense relating to these plans in the current year was £153 million 2013 £143m and represents contributions 
payable by the group to the funds
at the end of the financial year there were outstanding pensions contributions of £010 million 2013 £009m which are 
included in creditors
 sharebased payments
the group share options and share matching plans provide for a grant price equal to the average quoted market price 
of the group shares on the date of grant the vesting period is generally three years the options expire if they remain 
unexercised after the exercise period has lapsed furthermore options are forfeited if the employee leaves the group 
before the options vest unless for retirement redundancy or health reasons the options are equity settled
the number and weighted average exercise prices of share options are as follows
2014 2013
options
weighted 
average 
exercise 
price options
weighted 
average 
exercise
price
outstanding at beginning of year 7953790 013 8976859 013
granted during the year 290828 049 525754 035
forfeitedlapsed during the year 87044 053 185621 035
exercised during the year 431918 019 1363202 017
outstanding at the end of the year 7725656 014 7953790 013
exercisable at the end of the year 5811466 009 6047782 009
the options outstanding at 31 march 2014 had a weighted average remaining contractual life of 45 years 2013 52 years 
and exercise prices ranging from £0085 to £0825 2013 £0085 to £0825
the fair value of services received in return for share options granted are measured by reference to the fair value of share 
options granted the estimate of the fair value of the services received is measured based on black scholes binominal 
lattice and monte carlo models the contractual life of the option is used as an input into this model
options granted before september 2004 with the exception of saye can only be exercised if the company’s growth 
based on annualised earnings per share in the period or any three consecutive financial years after the grant exceeds rpi 
plus an average of 2 per annum options granted in september 2004 can only be exercisable where the company’s 
earnings per share growth is at least rpi plus 4 over the three year period from date of grant
the options granted in september 2009 are exercisable between september 2012 and september 2019 at an exercise 
price of £0085 per share they can only be exercised when the company’s share price has reached a minimum of £051 
maintained as an average over the three month period preceding the notice of exercise and the company has achieved a 
minimum of 10 return on capital employed
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118 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
22 employee benefits continued
the only vesting conditions on all other options are detailed below
date of
grant
t ype of
instrument
valuation
model
no
out
standing
on
31 march
2014
share 
price
on date 
of
grant
£
exercise 
price
£
expected
volatility

vesting
period
yrs
expected
life
yrs
risk
free
rate

expected 
annual
dividend

fair 
value
£
27092004 share options binomial 40000 0760 0730 3745 300 300 472 250 022
15032005 share options binomial 7000 0830 0830 2924 300 300 485 250 013
01102007 saye 7 year binomial 6091 0740 0750 2926 700 700 506 339 020
01102008 saye 5 year binomial 14466 0370 0450 3402 500 500 417 767 004
01102008 saye 7 year binomial 17836 0370 0450 3402 700 700 431 767 004
30092009 share options monte carlo 5750000 0280 0085 5354 300 300 194 332 009
01102009 saye 5 year binomial 631141 0280 0170 4544 500 500 258 338 012
01102009 saye 7 year binomial 304327 0280 0170 4544 700 700 309 338 012
01102010 saye 3 year black scholes 5760 0370 0250 4786 300 300 111 136 016
01102010 saye 5 year black scholes 91464 0370 0250 4786 500 500 183 136 018
01102010 saye 7 year black scholes 11682 0370 0250 4786 700 700 243 136 020
01102011 saye 3 year black scholes 61764 0410 0450 4763 300 300 054 000 012
01102011 saye 5 year black scholes 8226 0410 0450 4763 500 500 056 000 016
01102011 saye 7 year black scholes 7920 0410 0450 4763 700 700 056 000 019
01102012 saye 3 year black scholes 433520 0460 0350 4808 300 300 079 109 018
01102012 saye 5 year black scholes 47139 0460 0350 4808 500 500 137 109 021
01102012 saye 7 year black scholes 14080 0460 0350 4808 700 700 193 109 024
01102013 saye 3 year black scholes 246240 068 0500 4606 300 300 085 119 027
01102013 saye 5 year black scholes 27000 068 0500 4606 500 500 155 119 031
expected volatility was determined by calculating the historical volatility of the group’s share price over one two and three 
years back from the date of grant the expected life used in the model has been adjusted based on management’s best 
estimate for the effects of nontransferability exercise restrictions and behavioural considerations
the group recognised total charges of £007 million and £009 million in relation to equitysettled sharebased payment 
transactions in 2014 and 2013 respectively
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notes to the financial statements continued
forming part of the financial statements 
22 employee benefits continued
as at 31 march 2014 outstanding options to subscribe for ordinary shares of 5p were as follows
grant dateemployees entitled
number of 
instruments contractual life of options
270904executive 40000 sep 2007 – sep 2014
150305executive 7000 mar 2008 – mar 2015
011007saye 6091 oct 2014
011008saye 32302 oct 2013 2015
011009saye 935468 oct 2014 2016
300910executive 5750000 sep 2012 – sep 2019
011010saye 108906 oct 2013 2015 2017
011011saye 77910 oct 2014 2016 2018
011012saye 494739 oct 2015 2017 2019
011013saye 273240 oct 2016 2018
7725656
in accordance with ifrs1 transitional provisions share option arrangements granted before 7 november 2002 have not 
been included in the ifrs2 charge calculated
all options require continued employment from grant date to the later of vesting date or exercise date
23 provisions
group
restructuring 
costs
£000
dilapidations
£000
total
£000
balance at 31 march 2013 450 951 1401
provisions made during the year — 305 305
provisions utilised during the year 361 283 644
balance at 31 march 2014 89 973 1062
the restructuring provision relates to onerous leases arising from ‘rightsizing’ our portfolio of properties within the uk
dilapidations relate to properties and will be utilised on vacation of the property
group
restructuring 
costs
£000
dilapidations
£000
2014
total
£000
2013
total
£000
noncurrent greater than 1 year — 938 938 701
current less than 1 year 89 35 124 700
balance at 31 march 89 973 1062 1401
in respect of the company there are £nil provisions 2013 £010m
stock code tri
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120 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
24 capital and reserves
 capital and reserves — group and company
see statements of changes in equity on pages 95 to 96
the translation reserve comprises all foreign exchange differences arising from the translation of foreign operations as well 
as from the translation of liabilities that hedge the company’s net investment in foreign subsidiaries
the merger reserve has arisen under section 612 companies act 2006 and is a nondistributable reserve
on 30 may 2014 the company issued 3 million shares as part consideration of the acquisition of vic see note 32
 share capital 
 number of 
 ordinary shares
2014 2013
in issue at 1 april 108230910 106867708
shares issued 453270 1363202
in issue at 31 march — fully paid 108684180 108230910
the fair value of the ordinary shares issued was based on a share price of 185 pence and a nominal value of 50 pence 
the total number of shares issued during the year was 453270
2014
£000
2013
£000
allotted called up and fully paid
ordinary shares of 5p each 5435 5412
the holders of ordinary shares are entitled to receive dividends as declared from time to time and are entitled to one vote 
per share at meetings of the company 
 dividends
during the year the following dividends were declared and paid by the group
2014
£000
2013
£000
final paid 2013 – 080 pence 2012 050p per qualifying ordinary share 867 534
interim paid 2014 — 040 pence 2013 nilp per qualifying ordinary share 435 —
1302 534
 the interim 2014 dividend was paid in april 2014
after the balance sheet date a final dividend of 100 pence per qualifying ordinary share 2013 080p was proposed by 
the directors
2014
£000
2013
£000
final proposed 2014 — 100 pence 2013 080p per qualifying ordinary share 1087 867
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notes to the financial statements continued
forming part of the financial statements 
25 earnings per share 
 basic earnings per share
the calculation of basic earnings per share at 31 march 2014 was based on the profit attributable to ordinary shareholders 
of £660 million 2013 £471m and a weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the year ended  
31 march 2014 of 108533645 2013 107324310 calculated as follows
 weighted average number of ordinary shares
2014 2013
issued ordinary shares at 1 april 108230910 106867708
effect of shares issued 302735 456602
weighted average number of ordinary shares at 31 march 108533645 107324310
 diluted earnings per share
the calculation of diluted earnings per share at 31 march 2014 was based on profit attributable to ordinary shareholders  
of £660 million 2013 £471m and a weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the year ended  
31 march 2014 of 114485387 2013 112586386 calculated as follows
 weighted average number of ordinary shares diluted
2014 2013
weighted average number of ordinary shares at 31 march 108533645 107324310
effect of share options on issue 5951742 5262076
weighted average number of ordinary shares diluted at 31 march 114485387 112586386
the average market value of the company’s shares for the purposes of calculating the dilutive effect of share options was 
based on quoted market prices for the period that the options were outstanding
2014
eps
2013
eps
eps total
earnings
£000 basic diluted
earnings
£000 basic diluted
profit for the financial year 6598 608p 576p 4708 439p 418p
separately disclosed items
 ifrs2 share option 67 006p 006p 91 008p 008p
 intangible amortisation 221 020p 019p 331 031p 029p
 restructuring costs — — — 389 036p 035p
 tax charge on 
 adjusted items 66 006p 006p 195 018p 017p
adjusted 6820 628p 595p 5324 496p 473p
the ‘adjusted diluted’ earnings per share is detailed in the above tables in the directors’ opinion this best reflects the 
underlying performance of the group and assists in the comparison with the results of earlier years see note 2
stock code tri
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122 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
26 financial instruments
 a fair values of financial instruments
there is no difference between the fair values and the carrying values shown in the balance sheet
 b financial instruments risks
exposure to credit interest rate and currency risks arises in the normal course of the group’s business and the group 
continues to monitor and reduce any exposure accordingly information has been disclosed relating to the individual 
company only where a material risk exists 
i credit risk
credit risk is the risk of financial loss to the group if a customer or counterparty to a financial instrument fails to meet its 
contractual obligations and arises principally from the group’s receivables from customers 
management has a credit policy in place and the exposure to credit risk is monitored on an ongoing basis
credit evaluations are performed on all customers requiring credit over a predetermined amount bad debt insurance 
is taken out on all key accounts where the cost is appropriate given the risk covered all overdue debts are monitored 
regularly and customers are put on credit hold if payments are not received on time the carrying amount of trade 
receivables represents the maximum credit exposure for the group therefore the maximum exposure to credit risk at the 
balance sheet date was £2633 million 2013 £2587m being the total carrying amount of trade receivables net of an 
allowance management do not consider there to be any significant unimpaired credit risk in the yearend balance sheet 
2013 £nil
at the balance sheet date there were no significant concentrations of credit risk 
the amount of trade receivables which are beyond 90 days from their due date is £040 million 2013 £069m this 
represents 1 of the total gross receivable balance
impairment losses
the movement in the allowance for impairment in respect of loans and receivables during the year was as follows
2014
£000
2013
£000
balance at 1 april 640 451
impairment movement 87 189
balance at 31 march 553 640
there are no significant lossesbad debts provided for specific customers
ii liquidity and interest risk
the group holds net debt and hence its interest and liquidity risks are associated with the maturity of its loans against cash 
inflows from around the group the group’s objective is to maintain a balance of continuity of funding and flexibility through 
the use of loans and banking facilities as applicable 
in may 2014 the group agreed new banking facilities with hsbc comprising
•	 a term loan facility of up to €2500 million ‘facility a’ used to fund the acquisition of vic
•	 a revolving multicurrency credit facility of up to £1000 million ‘facility b’ replacing the existing revolving credit facility 
of £5 million
the obligations of trifast under facility a and facility b the ‘facilities’ are guaranteed by the uk nondormant subsidiaries 
of the company
facility a is repayable in semiannual instalments of €125 million on 31 october 2014 30 april 2015 31 october 2015 
30 april 2016 and 31 october 2016 then at the rate of €250 million payable on 30 april 2017 31 october 2017 30 april 
2018 and 31 october 2018 with the final balance being payable on the date five years after the date of the facility
interest on the facilities is charged at the aggregate rate of liboreuribor plus a margin initially 240  ratcheted 
from six months after drawdown in accordance with a formula incorporating the ratio of consolidated net debt of the 
enlarged group against the consolidated ebitda of the enlarged group
the facilities are secured by way of a charge over the group’s premises at uckfield a first fixed and floating charge over all 
other uk assets of the enlarged group a share charge over tr asia investment holdings pte ltd singapore and a quota 
charge over vic
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notes to the financial statements continued
forming part of the financial statements 
26 financial instruments continued
in addition the group has an asset based lending facility providing up to a maximum of £1830 million secured over the 
receivables and inventory of the group’s uk subsidiaries and the property of the holding company 
in december 2011 to part fund the power steel  electroplating works sdn bhd acquisition tr asia investment 
holdings pte ltd took out a five year term loan with the singaporean bank dbs at a fixed rate of 314 which is secured 
by corporate guarantees from the company and tr formac pte ltd 
 covenant headroom
the current term facilities are subject to quarterly covenant testing as follows
interest cover underlying ebitda to net interest to exceed a ratio of three
debt service cover adjusted ebitda to debt service to exceed a ratio of one
net debt cover total net debt to adjusted ebitda not to exceed a ratio of 275
with respect to the asian loan facility the covenant testing is as follows
minimum tangible net worth tr asia investment holdings pte ltd of s20 million
minimum consolidated tangible net worth asia group of s35 million
maximum asia group net debt to ebitda ratio of 20x
minimum asia group debt service cover dsc of 12x
these covenants currently provide sufficient headroom and forecasts indicate no breach is anticipated
 liquidity headroom
trading forecasts show that the current facilities provide sufficient liquidity headroom the group continues to maintain 
positive relationships with a number of banks and the directors believe that appropriate facilities will continue to be made 
available to the group as and when they are required
 interest risk
the group monitors closely all loans outstanding which currently incur interest at floating rates
in respect of incomeearning financial assets and interestbearing financial liabilities the following table indicates their 
effective interest rates at the balance sheet date and the periods in which they mature
 
2014 2013
company
effective
interest
rate

total
£000
0 to
 1 year
£000
1 to
2 years
£000
effective
interest
rate

total
£000
0 to
1 year
£000
1 to
2 years
£000
cash and cash 
equivalents 743 743 — 154 154 —
bank overdrafts 3700 3700 — 6048 6048 —
total company 2957 2957 — 5894 5894 —
group
cash and cash 
equivalents 15535 15535 — 10750 10750 —
secured bank loans 343 13467 10945 2522 343 15690 11279 4411 
finance lease liabilities 298400 7 5 2 298400 62 55 7
bank overdrafts 31 31 — 195 195 —
total group 2030 4554 2524 5197 779 4418
with the exception of the loan taken out by tr asia investment holdings ltd which bears a fixed interest rate of 314 all 
other assets and liabilities bear interest at a floating rate and therefore may change within one year
stock code tri
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124 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
26 financial instruments continued
sensitivity analysis
a change of 1 point in interest rates at the balance sheet date would change equity and profit and loss by £010 million 
2013 £010m this calculation has been applied to risk exposures existing at the balance sheet date
this analysis assumes that all other variables in particular foreign currency rates remain consistent and considers the 
effect of financial instruments with variable interest rates the analysis is performed on the same basis for the 
comparative period
iii foreign currency risk
the group is exposed to foreign currency risk on sales purchases and cash borrowings that are denominated in a 
currency other than local functional currency the group faces additional currency risks arising from monetary financial 
instruments held in nonfunctional local currencies
operational foreign exchange exposure
where possible the group tries to invoice in the local currency at the respective entity if this is not possible then to mitigate 
any exposure the group tries to buy from suppliers and sell to customers in the same currency
where possible the group tries to hold the majority of its cash and cash equivalent balances in the local currency at the 
respective entity
monetary assetsliabilities
the group continues to monitor exchange rates and buy or sell currencies in order to minimise open exposure to foreign 
exchange risk the group does not speculate on exchange rates
the group’s exposure to foreign currency risk is as follows based on the carrying amount for monetary financial 
instruments held in nonfunctional currencies
31 march 2014
sterling
£000
euro
£000
us dollar
£000
singapore 
dollar
£000
total
£000
cash and cash equivalents 334 1830 3788 154 6106
balance sheet exposure 334 1830 3788 154 6106
31 march 2013
sterling
£000
euro
£000
us dollar
£000
singapore 
dollar
£000
total
£000
cash and cash equivalents 576 431 2423 794 4224
balance sheet exposure 576 431 2423 794 4224
sensitivity analysis
group
a 1 change in the following currencies against local functional currency at 31 march would have changed equity and 
profit and loss by the amount shown below this calculation assumes that the change occurred at the balance sheet date 
and had been applied to risk exposures existing at that date
this analysis assumes that all other variables in particular other exchange rates and interest rates remain constant the 
analysis is performed on the same basis for the comparative period
 equity  profit or loss
2014
£000
2013
£000
us dollar to sterling 9 2
euro to sterling 10 —
singapore dollar to sterling 18 15
singapore dollar to us dollar 3 5
taiwanese dollar to us dollar 1 5
a 1 strengthening of the above currencies against the pound sterling at 31 march would have had the equal but opposite 
effect on the above currencies to the amounts shown above on the basis that all other variables remain constant
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notes to the financial statements continued
forming part of the financial statements 
26 financial instruments continued
iv capital management
the group’s objectives when managing capital are to ensure that all entities within the group will be able to continue as 
going concerns while maximising the return to shareholders through the optimisation of the debt and equity balance we 
regularly review and maintain or adjust the capital structure as appropriate in order to achieve these objectives and this is 
consistent with the management of capital for previous periods
the group has various borrowings and available facilities see section ii liquidity  interest risk and note 20 that 
contain certain external capital requirements ‘covenants’ that are considered normal for these types of arrangements as 
discussed above we remain comfortably within all such covenants 
identification of the total funding requirement is achieved via a detailed cash flow forecast which is reviewed and updated 
on a monthly basis
the capital structure of the group is presented below
2014
£000
2013
£000
cash and cash equivalents note 19 15504 10555
borrowings note 20 13474 15752
net debt 2030 5197
equity 61667 60422
capital 59637 65619
there is a continuous process for identifying evaluating and managing the key risks faced by the group activities are  
coordinated by the audit committee it has responsibility on behalf of the board for ensuring the adequacy of systems  
for identifying and assessing significant risks that appropriate control systems and other mitigating actions are in place 
and that residual exposures are consistent with the group’s strategy and objectives assessments are conducted for all 
material entities
27 operating leases
noncancellable operating lease rentals are payable as follows
 group company
2014 
£000
2013
£000
2014
£000
2013
£000
less than one year 2384 2197 18 27
between two and five years 3567 3375 10 20
more than five years 834 389 — —
6785 5961 28 47
the group leases a number of offices warehouse and factory facilities under operating leases 
none of the leased properties have been sublet by the group 2013 £nil the group has recognised a provision of  
£001 million 2013 £010m in respect of onerous leases which is included within the restructuring provision see  
note 23
 group
during the year £234 million was recognised as an expense 2013 £233m in the income statement in respect of 
operating leases
 company
during the year £003 million 2013 £006m was recognised as an expense in the income statement in respect of 
operating leases
stock code tri
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28 contingencies
 group and company
i the company has cross guarantees on its uk banking facilities with its three uk subsidiaries the amount outstanding 
at the end of the year was £370 million 2013 £619m
ii in accordance with the provisions of section 17 of the republic of ireland companies amendment act 1986 trifast 
plc has given irrevocable guarantees in respect of the financial year 1 april 2013 to 31 march 2014 in respect of the 
liabilities as are referred to in section 5c of that act for the subsidiary company tr southern fasteners limited
29 related parties group and company
compensation of key management personnel of the group 
full details of the compensation of key management personnel are given in the directors’ remuneration report
in addition to details of the compensation of key management personnel given in the directors’ remuneration report the 
charge for the year in relation to share based payments was £007 million 2013 charge of £009m
transactions with directors and directors’ close family relatives  
during the year a relative of the chairman provided itmarketing consultancy services totalling £14375 2013 £16250 
on an arm’s length basis and terms similar to other third party suppliers the outstanding balance at 31 march 2014 was 
£1000 2013 £1000
related party transactions 
details of principal subsidiary undertakings country of registration and principal activities are included on page 131
 company related party transactions — incomeexpenditure
 income expenditure
rent
£000
management 
fees
£000
loan 
interest
total
£000
management 
fees
£000
tr fastenings ltd 196 300 — 496 215
tr southern fasteners ltd — 20 — 20 —
tr norge as — 24 — 24 —
tr fastenings ab — 33 — 33 —
tr miller bv — 38 24 62 —
lancaster fastener co ltd — 22 — 22 —
tr hungary kft — 31 9 40 —
tr asia investments pte ltd — 321 — 321 —
tr fastenings inc — 38 — 38 —
196 827 33 1056 215
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notes to the financial statements continued
forming part of the financial statements 
29 related parties group and company continued
 company related party transactions – receivablepayable
balances 
receivable
trade 
receivables
£000
 balances 
payable
trade payables
£000
tr fastenings ltd 445 17
tr southern fasteners ltd 2 —
tr norge as 2 —
tr fastenings ab 3 —
tr miller bv 663 —
lancaster fastener co ltd 28 —
tr hungary kft 8 5
tr fastenings inc 3 —
tr asia investments pte ltd 2 —
dormant subsidiaries — 267
trifast overseas holdings ltd — 2300
trifast holdings bv 303 —
tr fastenings poland sp zoo 17 —
1476 2589
all related party transactions are on an arms length basis
30 subsequent events
there are no material adjusting or nonadjusting events subsequent to the balance sheet date
stock code tri
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128 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
31 accounting estimates and judgements
the preparation of financial statements in conformity with adopted ifrs’s requires management to make judgements 
estimates and assumptions that affect the application of policies and reported annual amounts of assets and liabilities 
income and expenses the estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and various other 
factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances the results of which form the basis of making the 
judgements about carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources actual results 
may differ from these estimates
the estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis revisions to accounting estimates are 
recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised if the revision affects only that period or in the period of the 
revision and future periods if the revision affects both current and future periods
the group believes the principal accounting estimates assumptions and uncertainties employed in the preparation of 
these financial statements are
•	 recoverable amount of goodwill note 12 
the recoverable amount is the greater of net selling price and value in use where value in use is determined by 
discounting the future cash flows generated from the continuing use of the unit further details are provided in note 13 
•	 provisions note 23 
a provision is recognised in the balance sheet where the group has a present legal or constructive obligation as a 
result of a past event and it is probable that an outflow of economic benefits will be required to settle the obligation 
management have based their judgements on the latest available information reflecting the expected outcome
in respect of onerous leases and dilapidation provisions external advisors were used to provide estimates of potential 
costs and likelihood of subletting rental the future cash flows were then discounted using risk free rates over the length 
of the leases
•	 inventory valuation note 17 
inventories are stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value with provision being made for obsolete and slow 
moving items management have based their judgements on the classification of inventory and the item’s demand
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notes to the financial statements continued
forming part of the financial statements 
32  post balance sheet event
on 30 may 2014 the group acquired the entire issued capital stock of viterie italia centrale srl ‘vic’ for an aggregate 
consideration of €27 million £225 million 
the consideration for the acquisition comprised €2415 million £2012 million payable in cash on completion of the 
acquisition and €285 million £238 million to be represented by the issue and allotment of 3000000 shares of 5 
pence each in trifast plc subject to adjustment in the event that the agreed level of working capital was not left in vic at 
completion under italian law the capital stock of vic is represented solely by ‘quotas’ rather than shares and trifast will 
be purchasing the entire issued capital stock of vic
in addition it was agreed that a further payment may become due to the vendors of vic the ‘vendors’ depending on the 
performance of vic over the 12 month period ending on 31 december 2014 if vic generates a posttax profit as defined 
in the acquisition agreement for the year ending 31 december 2014 which exceeds €3000000 then for each €1 above 
this sum an additional €5 is payable to the vendors subject to a maximum amount of €5000000 this sum would be 
paid once the posttax profit has been calculated in accordance with the acquisition agreement until such time as these 
additional monies have been paid in accordance with the acquisition agreement any warranty or indemnity claims can be 
offset if proved or settled against monies due to be paid and if any claim is not settled or resolved an amount can be 
withheld from the monies paid until this matter is resolved
the cash element of the consideration is funded from a new bank facility details of which are shown in note 26
the details for the rationale of the acquisition can be found in the chairman’s  ceo’s statement
vic had net assets and gross assets as at 31 december 2013 of €1789 million and €3188 million respectively a summary 
of the trading results for vic as extracted without material adjustment from the vic historical financial information is 
set out below
year ended
31 december 
2013
revenue €2707m
gross profit €790m
profit before tax €542m
total assets €3188m
net cash €230m
total equity €1789m
note full details of the acquisition are contained in the class 1 circular issued to shareholders on 6 may 2014 a copy of 
which can be found on both our ir website and lodged at the national storage mechansim ‘nsm’
due to the short period between completing the acquisition and announcing our 2014 results it was not possible to 
disclose all of the information required by ifrs3b64 such as goodwill and fair value adjustments of the assets acquired
stock code tri
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130 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
33  trifast plc principal trading subsidiaries
name
country of 
incorporation or 
registration
issued and fully paid 
share capital principal activity
percentage of 
ordinary shares held
group company
europe
trifast overseas holdings ltd united kingdom £111 holding company 100 100
tr fastenings ltd united kingdom £10200 manufacture and 
distribution of fastenings
100 —
tr southern fasteners ltd republic of ireland €254 distribution of fastenings 100 —
tr norge as norway nok300000 distribution of fastenings 100 —
tr miller holding bv holland €45378 distribution of fastenings 100 —
lancaster fastener company ltd united kingdom £40000 distribution of fastenings 100 —
tr fastenings ab sweden sek1500000 distribution of fastenings 100 —
tr hungary kft hungary huf 3000000 distribution of fastenings 100 —
tr fastenings poland sp z oo poland pln 50000 distribution of fastenings 100 100
viterie italia centrale srl italy €187200 manufacture and 
distribution of fastenings
100 100
asia
tr asia investment holdings pte ltd singapore s4 holding company 100 —
tr formac pte ltd singapore s315000 manufacture and 
distribution of fastenings
100 —
tr formac malaysia sdn bhd malaysia myr480000 manufacture and 
distribution of fastenings
100 —
tr formac shanghai pte ltd china us200000 distribution of fastenings 100 —
special fasteners engineering co ltd taiwan tw100000000 manufacture and 
distribution of fastenings
100 —
tr formac suzhou co ltd china us2000000 manufacture and 
distribution of fastenings
100 —
tr formac fastenings private ltd india inr12500000 distribution of fastenings 100 —
power steel  electroplating works sdn bhd malaysia myr4586523 manufacture and 
distribution of fastenings
100 —
tr formac co ltd thailand thb10000000 distribution of fastenings 100 —
americas
tr fastenings inc usa us1168063 distribution of fastenings 100 100
a full list of the group companies will be included in the company’s annual return
there were no changes in ownership during the year
all of the above subsidiaries have been included in the group’s financial statements apart from vic which was acquired 
on 30 may 2014
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131 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
glossary of terms
assets
anything owned by the company having a monetary value eg fixed 
assets like buildings plant and machinery vehicles these are not 
assets if rented and not owned and potentially including intangibles 
like trademarks and brand names and current assets such as 
inventory debtors and cash
pe ratio price per earnings
the pe ratio is an important indicator as to how the investing market 
views the health performance prospects and investment risk of a 
plc the pe ratio is arrived at by dividing the share price by the 
earnings per share profit after tax and interest divided by the number 
of ordinary shares in issue to calculate the pe ratio
•	 find the total profit after tax and interest for the past year
•	 divide this by the number of shares issued
•	 this gives you the earnings per share
•	 divide the price of each share by the earnings per share
•	 this gives the priceearnings or pe ratio
profit and loss account pl
the pl shows how well the company has performed in its trading 
activities and would cover a trading account for a period
the pl shows profit performance and typically shows sales 
revenues cost of salescost of goods sold generally a gross profit 
margin fixed overheads andor operating expenses and then a profit 
before tax figure pbt 
balance sheet 
the balance sheet provides a ‘snapshot’ at a particular date in time 
of who owns what in the company and what assets and debts 
represent the value of the company
the balance sheet is where to look for information about shortterm 
and long term debts gearing the ratio of debt to equity reserves 
inventory values materials and finished goods capital assets cash 
and the value of shareholders’ funds the balance sheet equation is
capital  liabilities where the money came from  
 assets where the money is now
cagr
compounded annual growth rate
cash flow
the movement of cash in and out of a business from dayto
day direct trading and other nontrading effects such as capital 
expenditure tax and dividend payments
cash flow statement
the cash flow statement shows the movement and availability of cash 
through and to the business over a given period and it is fundamental 
that financial forecasting and reporting of cash movement and 
availability is accurate for any business ‘cash is king’ and essential to 
meet payments for example to suppliers staff and other creditors
current assets
cash and anything that is expected to be converted into cash within  
12 months of the balance sheet date for example debtors inventory
current liabilities
money owed by the business that is generally due for payment within  
12 months of balance sheet date for example creditors bank 
overdraft taxation
depreciation
the proportion of cost relating to a capital item over an agreed 
period based on the useful life of the asset for example a piece 
of equipment costing £10000 having a life of five years might be 
depreciated over five years at a cost of £2000 per year
this for example would be shown in the pl as a depreciation cost 
of £2000 per year the balance sheet would show an asset value of 
£8000 at the end of year one reducing by £2000 per year and the 
cash flow statement would show all £10000 being used to pay for it 
in year one
dividend
a dividend is a payment made per share to a company’s 
shareholders and is based on the profits of the year but not 
necessarily all of the profits normally a half year dividend is 
recommended by a company board whilst the final dividend for the 
year is proposed by the board of directors and shareholders consider 
this and vote at an annual general meeting
earnings before
there are several ‘earnings before…’ ratios the key ones being
•	 pbt profitearnings before taxes 
•	 ebit earnings before interest and taxes
•	 ebitda  earnings before interest taxes depreciation and 
amortisation
earnings relate to operating and nonoperating profits eg interest 
dividends received from other investments depreciation and 
amortisation are noncash charges to the balance sheet which is 
made in writingoff an asset over a period 
stock code tri
trifast plc annual report 2014
132 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
glossary of terms continued
gearing
the ratio of debt to equity usually the relationship between long term 
borrowings and shareholders’ funds
goodwill
any surplus money paid to acquire a company that exceeds its net 
tangible assets value
icaew
institute of chartered accountants in england  wales
intellectual property ip
this is an intangible asset such as a copyright or patent
copyright is the exclusive right to produce copies and to control an 
original work and is granted by law for a specified number of years
a patent is a government grant to an inventor assuring the inventor the 
sole right to make use and sell an invention for a limited period
open ended investment companies oeic
funds managed by institutional investors these funds can mix 
different types of investment strategies such as income and growth 
and small cap and large cap stocks there are no bid and ask quotes 
on the oeic shares buyers and sellers receive the same price 
the value of oeic investment and any income from it is not 
guaranteed and can go down as well as up and investors may not get 
back the original amount invested
profit
the surplus remaining after total costs are deducted from 
total revenue 
retained profit 
a business profit which is after tax and dividend payments to 
shareholders it is often retained by the business and used 
for reinvestment
net profit 
the actual profit made during a specific period of business activity 
after deducting all costs from gross receipts
reserves
the accumulated and retained difference between profits and losses 
year on year since the company’s formation
retained earnings
the earnings of a company which is used for reinvestment rather than 
being distributed to shareholders as dividends
return on capital employed roce
a fundamental financial performance measure a percentage figure 
representing profit before interest against the money that is invested in 
the business 
ebit ÷ capital employed net assets  net debt × 100  roce
share capital
the balance sheet nominal value paid into the company by 
shareholders at the times shares were issued
shareholders’ funds
a measure of the shareholders’ total interest in the company 
represented by the total share capital plus reserves
trademark
the name or a symbol used by a manufacturer or dealer to distinguish 
its products from those of competitors a registered trademark is one 
that is officially registered and legally protected
working capital
current assets less current liabilities representing the required 
investment continually circulating to finance inventory debtors and 
work in progress
wwwtrifastcom
133 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
shareholder notes
stock code tri
trifast plc annual report 2014
134 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
company  advisers
head office and  
registered office
trifast house bellbrook park  
uckfield tn22 1qw 
telephone 44 01825 747366 
facsimile 44 01825 747368 
registered number 1919797
audit committee
neil chapman chairman 
jonathan shearman 
scott mac meekin
remuneration committee
jonathan shearman chairman 
neil chapman 
scott mac meekin
nominations committee
neil chapman chairman 
jonathan shearman 
malcolm diamond mbe 
jim barker
company secretary
mark belton 
trifast plc
incorporated in the united kingdom
advisers
registered auditors
kpmg audit plc 
1 forest gate brighton road  
crawley rh11 9pt
corporate stockbroker
arden partners plc 
125 old broad street 
london ec2n 1ar
solicitors
charles russell llp 
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registrars
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bristol bs13 8ae
financial pr
tooleystreet communications  
regency court 68 caroline street  
birmingham b3 1ug
 
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stock code tri  
forwardlooking statements 
this document contains certain forwardlooking statements and reflect the knowledge and information 
available to the company during the preparation and up to the publication of this document by their very 
nature these statements depend upon circumstances and relate to the events that may occur in the future 
thereby involving a degree of uncertainty therefore nothing in this publication should be construed as a 
profit forecast by the company
for more information 
email corporateenquiriestrifastcom
visit our websites 
investors wwwtrifastcom 
commercial wwwtrfasteningscom
of service innovation
years
wwwtrifastcom
ibc 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
25
global locations
1100
staff worldwide
over
8
international 
manufacturing sites
trifast plc trifast house bellbrook park uckfield east sussex tn22 1qw
tel 44 01825 747366 fax 44 01825 747368


Summary:
 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
chairman’s  ceo’s statement
the trifast board management and staff take pride in reporting an impressive track 
record of total shareholder return tsr since early 2009 especially when compared to 
the two relevant ftse indices shown below for the same period
1000
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
trifast plc ftse fledgling index ftse all share industrial engineering index
800
600
400
200
0
in march 2009 the share price was languishing at around 8p during this year being 
reported the share price traded between 57p and 87p giving a market capitalisation at 
31 march 2014 of £946 million 1 april 2013 £617m as at 12 june 2014 the group’s 
share price closed at 127p thus taking the market capitalisation from below £10 million 
in 2009 to over £141 million this quantum leap in value is testament that our investors 
support our growth strategy and aspirations recently underpinned with our largest 
acquisition in history which extends our offering and european footprint this together 
with reasonable ongoing share trading liquidity has enabled trifast shares to be promoted 
from the fledgling index to be included within the ftse small cap and ftse allshare 
indices from 23 june 2014 this inclusion widens the category of potential institutional 
investors we consider that our enhanced profile coupled with our tangibly progressive 
dividend policy has positioned us firmly within the investor fraternity whilst providing 
powerful motivation to our entire workforce to drive the business even harder for the 
immediate and medium term future
keith sandells
tr’s design  application engineering skills
stock code tri
trifast plc annual report 2014
12 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
business overview
whilst pleased with this year’s organic 
growth results we have openly expressed 
our objective to accelerate expansion 
by strategic acquisitions we have also 
committed to applying strict criteria 
to the structure and currentpotential 
performance of selected targets although 
at any one time there is always at least 
one target under scrutiny our selectivity 
clearly restricts our commitment to 
finalising a transaction however there are 
sufficient opportunities in our market for 
us to remain confident that continuing our 
search remains entirely legitimate 
this search for the ‘right’ acquisition has 
been highly active over a two year period 
since acquiring psep in malaysia at the 
end of the 2011 calendar and post the 
financial year end culminated in extending 
our business through the acquisition of 
viterie italia centrale srl ‘vic’ in italy 
which we completed on 30 may 2014 
more detail about this acquisition can be 
found on pages 19 and 50
meanwhile our ongoing ‘self help’ 
initiatives continue to make material 
improvements around the business 
particularly with gross margins — thus 
providing tangible impetus to our ongoing 
financial progress
where our organic growth 
‘hotspots’ are developing
asean region comprises singapore 
malaysia thailand vietnam 
philippines and indonesia
the asean free trade area ‘afta’ is 
now revealing opportunities for tr as new 
factory investments are starting to favour 
the region sometimes as an alternative to 
china part of local government incentives 
depend on the requirement for new 
participating beneficiary companies to 
source a minimum of 40 of materials and 
components from within the afta region 
tr has two fastener factories in malaysia 
and one in singapore thus providing a 
steady flow of potential new assembly 
customers moving into the region — 
sometimes from china
for this reason tr has strengthened 
personnel resources by setting up a 
subsidiary in thailand and has registered 
for vat in order to allow local currency 
invoicing our main sector targets are 
automotive two and four wheel and 
electronics mainly consumer
once again we congratulate 
and thank all of our colleagues 
around the world for these 
outstanding results yielded with 
less than a 1 increase in staff 
numbers employed”
taiwan
our operation in this region special 
fasteners engineering co ltd ‘sfe’ is 
already a strategic supplier to fastener 
distributors in europe and the usa 
plus tr fastenings as a group due to 
competitive pricing quality and service for 
manufacturing specialised components 
sfe is enjoying both full capacity and 
sufficient return on capital employed 
‘roce’ to actively seek opportunities to 
increase capacity of both buildings and 
plant and these initiatives have gained full 
trifast board support
shanghai
following extensive product and 
engineering training from tr colleagues 
in europe last year our shanghai team 
tr formac is gaining increasing 
business from sister plants of our existing 
automotive tier 1 customers who are 
already long established with tr within 
europe this validates one of our core 
growth strategies set five years ago to 
develop global multinational assembly 
customers that we can follow from 
country to country the rising costdriven 
trend for the major car manufacturers 
to establish ‘global platforms’ the most 
costly component to developing the 
main floor pan for example the new 
imminent ford medium saloon broadens 
our opportunities to offer common 
platform components such as reclining 
seat bolts on a global basis ultimately to 
plants in asia europe and the usa where 
uniformity of price quality and availability is 
a minimum requirement to gain orders
shanghai is also gaining the benefit from 
mobile phone base station renewals as 
4g technology supplants 3g where the 
hardware is substantially different
our forecasting for the next three years 
reflects our confidence in the ongoing 
growth from both automotive and 
electronics sector dynamics within china
malcolm diamond mbe  jim barker
keith sandells
our ongoing ‘self help’ 
initiatives continue 
to make material 
improvements around the 
business particularly with 
gross margins”
jim barker
chief executive
wwwtrifastcom
13 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
manufacturing  
 distribution
manufacturing 24
distribution – tr direct 6
distribution – lancaster 3
distribution – oem 67
group sales by sector 
as at march 2014
automotive 35
electronics 22
distributors 11
domestic applicances 8
other 24
singapore
despite being in a high cost country tr 
formac singapore continues to deliver 
strong margins and for this reason 
our earlier thoughts of transferring the 
manufacturing facility across the border to 
malaysia have been discounted as we now 
focus on new customer potential around 
the afta region with particular emphasis 
on south korea and thailand
malaysia
power steel  electroplating works 
sdn bhd ‘psep’ continues to expand 
its capabilities with high tech larger 
components as a key resource within 
tr especially to automotive customers 
sales activity is now beginning to embrace 
thailand as a key future potential  
market opportunity
in order to prepare for anticipated 
expansion of demand for safety critical 
automotive components in the region 
approval has been given for investing in an 
additional new large diameter cold forging 
machine to be installed
this £1 million machine is a ‘best of 
breed’ multistage parts former weighing 
42 tonnes manufactured in japan this 
investment will provide a quantum leap in 
our production capability with regard to 
complexity and accuracy of customised 
components
usa
our relatively new houston location for 
tr fastenings inc continues to expand 
its resources both with extra personnel 
and enlarged warehousing we anticipate 
that there will be a year of consolidation 
in order to service the emergence of 
automotive opportunities arising from the 
increasing globalisation of component 
specification where tr already is supplying 
sister plants in europe and asia
our forecasting for the next 
three years reflects our 
confidence in ongoing growth 
from both automotive and 
electronics sector dynamics 
within china”
uk and mainland europe
following on from an excellent 
performance in the year under review 
all of our uk ireland and mainland 
european business teams expect this 
trend to continue driven substantially by 
automotive new model production start 
dates running from mid2014 into 2015 
as a result of exhaustive work involving 
concept and application engineering 
estimating quoting prototyping and 
component testing undertaken as far back 
as winter 2012 although the development 
cycle of new specifications can be as long 
as two years or more before production 
invoicing commences these types of 
contracts tend to run for the lifetime of the 
vehicle typically five to seven years as 
a result this restricts competitive activity 
to a relatively limited number of fastener 
suppliers who have the financial and 
engineering resources to cope with this 
level of complexity and delay and even 
less who can offer support on a global 
scale we believe that this limited choice 
of alternatives to tr has and continues to 
contribute to our organic growth
chairman’s  ceo’s statement continued
large diameter cold forging machine for psep
stock code tri
trifast plc annual report 2014
14 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
tr sweden had a particularly good 
year in terms of sales growth profit and 
cash generation this was in both the 
automotive and telecoms sectors and tr 
holland likewise enjoyed sales growth both 
in automotive and domestic appliances 
whilst tr hungary’s growth has been 
predominantly in electronics
the only division that has struggled is 
tr norway mainly due to the demise 
of traditional business emigrating to 
lower cost countries however much 
preparatory work has been done both on 
the supply and sales side to develop our 
business into the oil and gas industries 
which are so prevalent in the norwegian 
economy this new diversification is also 
proving to be relevant to our scottish 
and houston teams we expect this 
sector focus switch to begin yielding both 
revenue and profit positive results  
by mid 2015
meanwhile the electronics and white 
goods sectors show tangible evidence 
of recovery within europe which tr 
should benefit from due to its strong 
presence in the electronics sector and the 
recent acquisition of vic which operates 
predominantly in the white goods sector
‘continuous improvement’
in last year’s report we highlighted the 
focus on sales profit and cash and also 
the adoption of the 8020 pareto principle 
by each of the 15 uk and mainland 
europe business team locations this has 
been a major contributor to the profitability 
and cash generation improvement across 
all of these business teams and is now a 
constituent part of our routine operational 
disciplines and processes this concept 
that ‘80 of our results come from 20 
of our activity’ has been widely accepted 
and is part of our induction and training 
programmes for everyone in the business
it was also indicated that more sales 
applications engineers would be recruited 
since then we have added four new 
and experienced experts to the global 
automotive team with clear geographic 
segmentation and targeted product 
category sales activity these developments 
and strategy rollout are reflected in this 
year’s results the product launch of 
plastic fasteners as a standalone new 
sector has proven very successful and has 
become a meaningful part of our growth 
strategy that is measured and reported to 
the board on a monthly basis
maria johnson ian carlton stevie meiklem dave fisk helen toole colin coddington tr uk management board
sales
1
total 
costs
1
net prot
 20
10 12
90 89
100 101
1
2
3
source john winkler 
cost model example shows if 
sales of £100m 1 
variable costs of 50 1 
fixed costs of 40 1 
 20 in profit
with clear geographic 
segmentation and targeted 
product category sales 
activity these developments 
and strategy rollout are 
reflected in this year’ s 
results”
wwwtrifastcom
15 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
ongoing margin improvement has been 
achieved by innovative group sourcing 
policies key vendor consolidation and 
freight and packaging efficiencies further 
software enhancements to our global sales 
enquiry portal during last year is enabling 
all new major group potential contracts 
to be monitored at board level at the time 
of quoting this is a risk management 
process to ensure that our teams resist 
any price pressure that could result in 
them being tempted to apply suboptimal 
margins in order to gain an order more 
easily this direct ‘power of veto’ has been 
the main driver behind cost modelling 
enhancements and improving buysell 
margins with major oem customers 
our mission is to sell ‘total installed cost 
reduction’ whilst the actual component 
price is usually only a small part of  
that equation 
it is for this reason that our marketing 
strategy for large volume oem assemblers 
has been focused on senior management 
who are in a position to calculate the 
indirect costs of ‘goods in’ processing 
and storage deployment of components 
to the line the cost of shortages and 
quality issues to production continuity 
and the benefits of tr engineers assisting 
in new product optimum design and 
application whereas the procurement 
personnel are invariably only measured on 
price which during the recent prolonged 
five year downturn has forced many 
component producers out of business 
the irony that is developing as recovery 
now slowly builds momentum is that there 
are clear signs of restricted capacity in 
some component sectors thus inevitably 
replacing the focus on lowest price with 
best availability it is for this reason that 
the board consider further investment in 
production capacity is timely
management development and succession 
planning is progressing on two levels 
the tr fastenings uk board that was 
established in june 2013 has met regularly 
and proven effective in coordinating 
the key functions of sales inventory 
management finance quality hr and 
it the management development 
programme for all uk and european 
business unit managers is providing 
the dual benefit of improving overall 
business skills and awareness whilst at 
the same time enhancing the teamwork 
across numerous locations an essential 
requirement for effectively supporting 
sister plants of multinational oems where 
consistency of service quality and price is a 
minimum in gaining preferred vendor status
group strategic overview 
the global fastener market has been 
estimated to exceed £25 billion per year 
and growing at a cagr of 5 until 
2022 therefore current market share 
for trifast is not a fundamentally relevant 
metric but nevertheless clearly points 
to the huge opportunities ahead for 
growth by marketing our relatively unique 
combination of low costhigh quality 
manufacturing global logistics resources 
and engineering design and application — 
predominantly to global oems
although supplying multinational oems 
is our foundation business model that 
currently yields 40 of group revenue this 
strategy is underpinned by five additional 
target markets previously described as 
‘strings to our bow’
chairman’s  ceo’s statement continued
hayley neilly
promoting the tr brand is essential
matthew swainback
stock code tri
trifast plc annual report 2014
16 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
tr’s high quality manufacturing in asia
sophisticated automated component inspection
lee turner
production of a hank bush
wwwtrifastcom
17 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
steve rex
chairman’s  ceo’s statement continued
these are
•	 tr branded products  
specialised components for sheet 
metal pcbs and plastic mouldings 
supplied mainly to distributors in the 
uk europe and the usa
•	 tr direct 
standardised ‘off the shelf’ fasteners for 
next day delivery to oems in the uk
•	 lancaster fastener company 
expanding range of catalogued 
standard and specialised fasteners for 
next day delivery to distributors in the 
uk europe and beyond
•	 plastic fasteners and spacers 
for global oems — available both from 
inventory and to customer specification
•	 manufacturing licences 
acquired for specialised highly 
engineered large volume fastener 
applications for automotive and 
electronics oem multinationals
the management team is confident that 
this combination of strategic and dynamic 
business streams is not only driving our 
current organic growth but will continue to 
do so for the foreseeable future moreover 
as the fastener supply sector remains 
highly fragmented there is ample scope 
for consolidation by acquisition
following the successful acquisition of 
malaysian based psep in december 
2011 the board has committed to the 
ongoing search for additional earnings 
enhancing acquisitions that deliver both 
a cultural and strategic fit with tr during 
the year we engaged closely with two 
opportunities one a european distributor 
and the other a us based manufacturer
although both were eminently strong 
culturally and strategically unfortunately 
after due diligence was undertaken we 
failed to complete the transactions on the 
basis of current profitability and inadequate 
strategic and tactical resources for forward 
profit growth 
plastic fasteners now a core product
agim nela
stock code tri
trifast plc annual report 2014
18 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
we are very clear in openly declaring that 
we do not want to risk investor funds with 
turnaround requirements where either 
there is a lack of current operational 
profitability or competent incumbent 
management in order to financially justify 
growth by acquisition our search has 
continued for targets that ‘add value’ for 
minimal risk
post year end acquisition
following extensive research and 
individual assessments of potential 
targets as explained above shareholder 
approval was granted on 30 may 2014 for 
completion on the class 1 acquisition of 
viterie italia centrale srl in italy normally 
referred to as ‘vic’ summarising the key 
facts relating to vic below is an extract 
from our rns announcement released 
from the london stock exchange on 
tuesday 6 may 2014
•	 vic is complementary to the group’s 
business model and significantly 
strengthens tr’s presence in the 
domestic appliance market whilst also 
offering tr additional opportunities in 
existing electronic and automotive  
tier 1 markets
•	 funded from a new bank facility 
and minimal dilution arising from the 
allotment of consideration shares to  
the vendor
•	 a technological innovator vic is 
utilising its ‘knowhow’ and customised 
approach in fastening applications 
gained from its leading position in 
the white goods industry and taking 
it into different markets including the 
automotive and electronics sectors
•	 vic has grown rapidly through 
integration and diversification of its 
product since its formation in 1964
•	 vic offers tailormade solutions and 
a highly efficient logistics service to a 
strong customer base
•	 longstanding relationships and key 
customers encompass europe’s 
leading manufacturers of white goods 
including indesit whirlpool electrolux 
elica bsh bosch and siemens
•	 vic’s operational management team will 
benefit from trifast’s global sales and 
marketing resources 
•	 acquisition will extend the group’s 
customer base as well as increasing 
tr’s overall business with limited overlap
•	 significant opportunity to grow 
the enlarged business consistent 
with trifast’s strategy and grow the 
combined businesses by selectively 
investing in new facilities plant  
and machinery
•	 vic will form a key additional part of 
trifast’s future expansion by providing 
an additional competitive manufacturing 
facility in europe to complement the 
group’s existing resources in asia
•	 vic will be earnings enhancing self
managing without the need  
for synergies 
the feedback on this transaction has been 
extremely positive with highlights being 
the logical strategic fit the immediate 
earnings enhancement the broadening 
of our domestic appliance customer 
sector and the introduction of major 
manufacturing capability into europe 
— thus offering short lead times and 
protection from eu antidumping threats  
in the future
this clearly had a positive impact on the 
share price 
it’s all about our people
the board of directors is under no 
illusions as to what is driving us forward 
in size capability and profit and so for 
that reason we are in awe of what our 
tr management and their teams are 
achieving and so offer our heartfelt 
appreciation and thanks for their 
unflinching efforts and ‘can do’ attitude
we welcome also our new colleagues 
in italy to the tr portfolio — we were 
delighted to receive resounding support 
from our investors at the end of may to 
enable us to complete the acquisition — 
we look forward to working with the team 
sharing ideas skills and resources
tr direct – 24 hour delivery
lancaster constantly adding new products
vic resourced for further growth
tr and vic now working as one
agim nela
wwwtrifastcom
19 2340104 28 july 2014 624 pm proof 8
chairman’s  ceo’s statement continued
outlook
the directors are pleased to report that 
the business is continuing to benefit from 
the uplift in economic confidence and 
manufacturing output this is being seen 
across a number of our key sectors and 
across our business units tr’s focus 
on overhead control remains key whilst 
also balancing our investment for future 
growth cash management continues to 
be highly effective and the balance sheet 
remains strong we will continue to pursue 
opportunities to add geographic coverage 
product range and customers to the  
tr footprint
the group entered this new financial 
year with confidence and enthusiasm to 
date underlying organic growth has been 
encouraging and this has been bolstered by 
the introduction of vic into the group and 
the opportunities that this brings 
management remains confident that we 
can continue to deliver another strong 
performance and we look forward to 
keeping all stakeholders updated with  
our progress
continuing investment in automated inspection for zerodefect in asia
we will continue to pursue 
opportunities to add geographic 
coverage product range and 
customers to the tr footprint”
malcolm diamond mbe 
executive chairman 
 
jim barker 
chief executive
16 june 2014
stock code tri
trifast plc annual report 2014
20