let’s talk
next fifteen communications group plc  
annual report 2009    overview
introduction ifc
highlights 1
who we are 2
global reach 4
chairman’s statement 6
business review
chief executive officer’s review 10
operational review 12
financial review 18
governance
board of directors  22
senior management team 24
report of the directors 26
remuneration report 29
directors’ statement on corporate governance 34
statement of directors’ responsibilities 37
independent auditors’ report 38
financial statements
consolidated income statement 40 
consolidated statement of recognised income  
and expense 41 
consolidated balance sheet 42
consolidated statement of cash flow 43
notes to the accounts 45
company balance sheet 78
reconciliation of movements in  
shareholders’ funds 79
notes forming part of the company 
financial statements 80
additional information
fiveyear financial information 84
financial calendar 85 
advisers 85 
investor relations contacts 85 
contact information 86
introduction
contents
next fifteen has once again looked at the best way to  
communicate with its shareholders and other stakeholders 
within the constraints of the budget appropriate for a  
small company  w e are pleased to see that many people  
accessed our online annual report through our website 
www  nextfifteencom and delighted by how few paper 
copies we still have lying around the office w e were also  
encouraged by the number of people who watched the 
video clips this year we are building on this success and 
using video clips in which some of our senior management 
team answer key questions that have been asked by  
employees and shareholders at the same time we respect 
the wishes of some shareholders who prefer a printed copy  
but would encourage them to look at the online version if 
they get the opportunity  w e have incorporated a question 
facility in the online version so that shareholders do not  
have to wait until the annual general meeting to have their  
questions answered w e look forward to talking to you
tim dyson chief executive officer
 w e listen   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 1
 additional information 8488
 financial statements 4083
 governance 2239
 business review 1021
 overview 19
operational highlights
our results
financial highlights
highlights 
1
 see note 5 of the financial statements   
2
 see note 10 of the financial statements
strong cash flow with £48m generated 
during the year from operations before 
investing and financing activities
acquired all outstanding shares in lexis 
public relations in october 2008
in october 2009 acquired 55 of  
upstream asia to give bite a strong  
ap ac regional offer
merged londonbased inferno with bite  
in may 2009 to create strong client 
proposition
in august 2009 acquired m booth  
associates a new yorkbased consumer  
pr agency
in october 2009 acquired a further 30  
of 463 communications taking ownership 
to 70
revenue £m
09
08
07
654
631
593
36
£654m
2008 £631m
adjusted profit before tax £m
1
09
08
07
525
658
558
202
£525m
2008 £658m
adjusted basic earnings per share pence
2
09
08
07
648
862
709
248
648p
2008 862p
dividend per share pence
09
08
07
17
17
15
level
17p
2008 17p 2 next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009
our brands
who we are
text 100 
is next fifteen’s largest brand founded in 1981 it now employs around 450 people 
in 25 offices in major commercial centres around the world it has built its  
reputation on an intimate knowledge of the technology industry a painstaking 
focus on quality a passion for new ideas and a commitment to flawless execution 
these attributes put into practice every day by highquality professionals with 
immense local knowledge enable text 100 to work for some of the world’s most 
powerful companies including cisco lenovo sandisk skype ibm and xerox
wwwtext100com
bite
which was founded in 1995 employs around 200 people from its offices in london 
stockholm san francisco los angeles new york toronto beijing hong kong 
shanghai singapore and sydney bite brings determination and zeal to its 
communications campaigns for its range of b2b and b2c clients bite has built its 
business on a strategy of developing creative resultsorientated campaigns for 
marketleading brands and for fastgrowing startup brands its client list includes 
amd hp  infosys microsoft and sony  
wwwbitecommunicationscom
lexis public relations 
next fifteen bought a 25 stake in lexis public relations in 2005 and in 2008 
increased its ownership to 100 now employing around 90 members of staff  
lexis is a fullservice agency with consumer corporate healthcare sport and youth 
divisions these provide indepth pr expertise supported by planning creative 
digital marketing sponsorship and design specialists lexis delivers awardwinning 
campaigns for some of the uk’s bestknown brands including barclays boots  
cocacola dove and edf 
wwwlexisprcom
next fifteen communications group plc is the holding 
compan y for a worldwide group of pr consultancies
it comprises five independently operating subsidiary pr brands  
next fifteen also owns two research businesses and a policy 
c ommunications business    next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 3
 additional information 8488
 financial statements 4083
 governance 2239
 business review 1021
 overview 19
redshift research 
was established as a subsidiary of the group in 2007  it is a fullservice market 
research consultancy which conducts both businesstobusiness and consumer 
research it has a strong record in the consumer technology and it sectors 
particularly in support of pr research
wwwredshiftresearchcouk
context analytics 
formed in 1992 and becoming a subsidiary of text 100 in 2003 context analytics  
is a research and consulting company providing market analysis services such as 
news media social media analyst corporate reputation campaign roi competitive 
and primary research context’s clients operate in a variety of industries and include 
cisco genentech lenovo skype and sprint
wwwcontextanalyticscom
outcast communications
is one of the most respected technologypr firms operating in north america  
from its offices in new york and san francisco it aims to provide unparalleled public 
relations services to the best and brightest technology companies outcast works 
with leading companies including amazon emc facebook intuit salesforcecom 
vmware and yahoo founded in 1997  outcast joined next fifteen in 2005
wwwoutcastprcom
m booth 
next fifteen acquired new yorkbased m booth  associates in august 2009 which 
expanded next fifteen’s presence in the consumer pr market m booth specialises 
in building strong and powerful brands it represents some of the world’s best 
known corporations and products across several industries – consumer goods 
consumer health beauty fashion and retailing travel and lifestyle food and 
beverage wine and spirits online brands corporate communications and 
technology its client list includes jcpenney unilever and remy cointreau usa
wwwmboothcom 
463 communications
next fifteen owns a 70 stake in 463 a communications consultancy with offices  
in palo alto and washington dc this seniorlevel firm helps corporations industry 
groups and other agency teams develop databased communications campaigns 
around key issues that establish business technology and public policy leadership 
and brand building
www463com 4 next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009
next fifteen has 43 offices in  
19 countries and a client list that 
includes many of the highestprofile 
international brands the group 
employs around 900 people and  
has become one of the world’s most 
respected pr consultancies
the group has achieved this level  
of global coverage largely through 
organic growth but in recent years  
has supplemented that with some 
notable acquisitions the group  
remains ambitious and is committed  
to international expansion and intends  
to open more offices for existing brands 
with the possibility of further acquisitions 
where the strategic fit and value  
are compelling
global reach
our global  
footprint
us and canada
many of the world’s largest companies are based in the us  
and so unsurprisingly it is our largest market for public relations 
next fifteen has 1 2 offices located in some of the us technology 
industry’s major cities and one in canada our staff of around 300 
provides some of the highest quality pr media and analyst 
relations public affairs research and financial communications in 
the marketplace our clients range from those employing a third 
of a million people to those newly started up in august 2009  
m booth  associates a new yorkbased consumer agency was 
welcomed to the next fifteen family
united kingdom
next fifteen began here 28 years ago when text 100 opened a 
twoperson business in richmond over a quarter of a century 
later we have around 200 employees in three brands providing 
pr and communications to some of the world’s largest 
technology and consumer names including ibm microsoft and 
cocacola london is the headquarters of next fifteen and is 
now the group’s largest single employment centre redshift 
research a startup in 2007  is based in t onbridge kent
brands operating in the united kingdom
1 t ext 1 00 pbite ilexis 
hredshift research
5
5
8
8
san francisco
rochester
washington dc
1
1
1
p
s
m
w
toronto
los angeles
w
p new york
boston
1
p
m 1
brands operating in the us and canada
1 t ext 1 00  m463  pbite  
woutcast scontext analytics 1m booth
p   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 5
 additional information 8488
 financial statements 4083
 governance 2239
 business review 1021
 overview 19
europe and africa
europe with its expanded eu is now an easier place in which to 
do business than it was in previous years and the strength of the 
euro increases the potential rewards next fifteen has ten offices 
and a licensed partner in europe and africa with over 100 
consultants providing services to companies of all sizes many of 
our accounts in this region are multicountry engagements
asia paciﬁc
with 16 offices and three licensed partners next fifteen has a 
considerable presence in a region where local knowledge is often 
the most vital criterion for success in business the group has 
around 300 staff and many licensed practitioners which serve 
clients in ten countries across the region these include some of 
the world’s largest technology companies next fifteen were 
delighted to add the pr businesses of upstream to the bite 
network in this region in october 2009
brands operating in europe and africa
1 t ext 1 00 pbite 
brands operating in asia pacific
1 t ext 1 00 pbite 
 licensed partner
oslo
paris
london
gmt
gmt
chennai
johannesburg
milan
munich
amsterdam
sydney
taipei
seoul
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
beijing
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
p
i
p
1
1
 11
 11
madrid
1
h
1
helsinki
copenhagen
stockholm
new delhi
bangalore
mumbai
kuala lumpur
singapore
shanghai
hong kong
p
p
p
p
p
auckland
1
1
5½
5½
tokyo
8
8
1 6 next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009
chairman’ s statement
next fifteen communications group plc 
‘next fifteen’ or ‘the group’ the global 
public relations consultancy group is 
pleased to report its results for the year 
to 31 july 2009 the group like many 
businesses has been impacted by the 
global economic downturn despite  
this the group has reported revenues  
up 36 to £654m 2008 £631m 
profitability was more sensitive to the 
economic slowdown with profit before 
tax down to £32m 2008 £55m but the 
adjusted profit was £52m 2008 £66m 
see note 5 earnings per share was 
similarly impacted at 367p 2008 7 08p 
with the adjusted basic earnings per 
share being 648p 2008 862p see  
note 10 the group continues to have a 
strong balance sheet ending the year 
with net funds of £18m 2008 £34m 
see note 20 achieved after making 
£45m of acquisitionrelated payments  
in view of this and the improving outlook 
overall the board has proposed a final 
dividend of 125p per share which 
maintains the total dividend for the year 
at 17p
the group’s results were significantly 
impacted by the currency contracts 
placed before the start of the year  
which matured during the year  
these protection contracts effectively 
locked the group into what became 
unfavourable rates after sterling fell 
sharply against both the us dollar and 
euro these maturing contracts created 
an additional loss of £17m above their 
fair value at the beginning of the year 
which is included in other operating 
charges within head office costs  
but not shown as an adjustment to  
profit note 5 
corporate activity
just after the year end the group 
announced the acquisition of new york
based consumer agency m booth and in 
recent weeks it has also announced the 
acquisition of the asian pr assets of  
aimlisted upstream marketing and 
communications inc which will give  
the group’s bite business a strong asia 
pacific operation to complement its 
existing us and european operations 
the group also announced its  
purchase of a further 30 stake in 463 
communications llc a usbased policy 
communication consultancy in which  
it already has a 40 interest lastly the 
group also announces that it intends  
to open a digital communications 
agency in the next three months  
two executives from bite are moving 
over to lead this venture
cost control 
during the year the group made  
some significant headcount reductions 
following the slowdown in most of its 
markets following a strategic review 
decisions were also taken to merge 
londonbased inferno into bite and to 
close the text 100 offices in seattle and 
dublin these actions resulted in one
time charges of £195m of which £04m 
related to the cost of surplus office space 
setting these aside the group continued 
to keep staff costs as a percentage of 
revenue at 67 the close management 
of staff costs should help the business  
to restore its profit margins in the 
coming year as revenue growth  
begins to recover
strengthened client base
the group already has an enviable  
client base that includes ibm microsoft 
cisco facebook amd unilever and 
cocacola just after the year end the 
group added hp as a significant client  
in the us which helped make up for  
the loss of sun microsystems following 
the announcement that it was being 
acquired by oracle the group also 
added autodesk and vmware as clients 
during this period 
in v estment  
in a challenging  
en vironment   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 7
 additional information 8488
 financial statements 4083
 governance 2239
 business review 1021
 overview 19
growth strategy
the group has continued to explore 
organic growth opportunities supported 
by selective acquisitions of specialist 
agencies in growth sectors this is 
demonstrated by the acquisition of  
m booth who are working with the 
existing uk business of lexis to create  
a global consumer agency for the  
group the acquisition of upstream’s  
pr agencies in china singapore and 
australia will enable bite to offer its 
existing and new clients a singleagency 
solution in europe north america and 
asia pacific lastly the creation of a 
digital agency to leverage the group’s 
existing capabilities in social media and 
related digital services is further evidence 
that the group continues to focus on 
longterm growth with strong cash
generation from operations and existing 
acquisition facilities the group remains 
well placed to make additional targeted 
acquisitions of a size that would not lead 
to a significantly geared balance sheet 
an approach that the board continues  
to feel is prudent given the current 
economic climate
prospects
the group has managed its cost base 
and balance sheet well during this 
difficult economic cycle unlike some 
others in the marketing services sector it 
remains conservative about cash having 
ended the year with net funds of £18m 
on its balance sheet despite the slow 
but gradual improvement in the 
economic climate the group will 
continue to be careful in its approach to 
running the business and as reported 
last year focus heavily on the three cs  
of customers cost base and cash  
the group has seen an improvement  
in trading conditions after a tough first 
quarter of the 2009 calendar year but it 
will continue to manage the business  
in a way that reflects the general 
uncertainty that surrounds the 
sustainability of economic recovery  
in the first two months of the current 
financial year the group has seen good 
momentum and the board remains 
optimistic about the prospects for  
the year
will whitehorn
chairman  
1 1 november 2009
adjusted eps p
09
08
07
648
862
709
dividend per share p
09
08
07
17
17
15
1 49
    adjusted profit margin  
    before head office costs  
    2008 1590 8 next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009
given the current challenging economic conditions  
we have been asked many questions on our strategy by  
employees shareholders and analysts here are a selection  
of them which will be answered in this report by some of the 
senior management team
growth has been difficult in the last 1 2 months but 
does the next fifteen brand portfolio still offer good 
growth prospects   
q 1
for the answer please see page 11
next fifteen’ s technology clients have been early 
adopters of social media services what demand  
for these services have m booth seen  
q2 
for the answer please see page 12
the acquisition of m booth has added to the consumer 
pr capabilities of the next fifteen group but in what 
ways will this benefit lexis  
q 3
for the answer please see page 14   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 9
t ext 1 00 has a network of 25 offices in 1 7 countries but 
does this really allow it to compete directly with the 
large marcoms groups for global client mandates  
q4 q4
the recent acquisition of upstream asia is an 
interesting move how will this help the growth 
prospects for the bite group  
q 5 
staffcost torevenue is a key performance measure for 
the group how do you propose to manage this down 
towards the target rate of 65 
q6 q6
for more information please see page 16 for more information please see page 16
for the answer please see page 17
for the answer please see page 20
t ext 1 00 has a network of 25 offices in 1 7 countries but 
does this really allow it to compete directly with the 
large marcoms groups for global client mandates  
q4
for the answer please see page 16
 additional information 8488
 financial statements 4083
 governance 2239
 business review 1021
 overview 19 10 next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009
chief executive officer’ s review
back in 2001 when the dotcom bubble 
was bursting our business faced a very 
difficult road ahead i was however 
optimistic about our prospects as i 
believed we had a strong talentbase 
and a sound and quite simple strategy–
focus on building a global consultancy 
that does great work i felt a similar level 
of optimism as we approached the 
winter of 2008 when banks were being 
rescued almost daily and governments 
around the world were forced to inject 
vast amounts of capital into their 
economies in 2001 we emerged a 
stronger business today despite recent 
events the company is much larger than 
it was in 2001 and has an even stronger
talent base and a client list that is the 
envy of the industry for the record  
the simple strategy remains
despite the climate we grew
last year we achieved modest revenue 
growth of 36 to £654m 2008 £631m 
this derived from a stronger us dollar 
and euro relative to sterling profit fared 
less well with adjusted profit declining 
to £52m from £66m the previous year 
that said the group did have to incur 
some significant losses from foreign 
exchange contracts which resulted  
in a £17m charge to the profit and loss 
account as several analysts noted had 
these not occurred then adjusted profit 
would actually have risen year on year
a client base that keeps  
getting better
beyond the financial metrics there are 
several other measures that investors 
should look at these include the quality 
of the company’s client base on this 
front i am pleased to report that the 
business has maintained an excellent list 
that includes ibm microsoft cisco amd 
salesforcecom facebook yahoo xerox 
sony unilever cocacola and boots  
i’m also pleased to note that the group 
has added some additional bluechip 
clients including hitachi data systems 
autodesk vmware and hp 
platforms for future growth
another important measure of the 
group’s performance is its ability to 
deliver growth in the future while many 
businesses have simply hunkered down 
and focused on survival we have 
continued to invest in our future shortly 
after our year end we made a series of 
announcements firstly we announced 
the acquisition of m booth a new york
based consumer agency that includes 
unilever and jc penney amongst its 
clients secondly we announced that we 
have acquired the pr assets of upstream 
asia which will become bite asia and 
will give bite offices in beijing shanghai 
hong kong singapore and sydney 
thirdly we announced that we now  
own 70 of 463 communications  
a public policy consultancy based in 
doing great work is 
what really matters
average number of staff
09
08
07
847
913
893
19
    number of countries with                  
    next fifteen offices  
    2008 19
43
offices worldwide  
2008 41   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 11
washington dc and silicon valley  
lastly we announced that in the next 
few months we will be opening a digital 
communications consultancy to service 
clients in the us and europe
all you need is luv
as you can see we have been busy 
during these difficult times and i’m 
proud of the great progress we have 
made that said the economic impact  
of this latest recession is still being felt  
in many parts of the world however  
i believe our business is set for what  
is being described as a ‘luv’shaped 
recovery ie where the models of 
economic recovery are l shaped  
in europe ushaped in the us and 
vshaped in asia this would certainly 
match the signs we have seen during 
the last six months
this last year placed some strong 
challenges in front of our people they 
experienced clients being forced to cut 
back on marketing expenditure due to 
their declining sales they witnessed an 
increasingly active merger and 
acquisitions market that had clients 
disappearing and also appearing from 
nowhere they were engaged in the 
accelerating trend towards using social
media as a major part of pr campaigns 
as traditional media continue to struggle 
in all this they maintained one constant 
belief that doing great work is what 
really matters i’m delighted to say that  
in these difficult times they did a lot of 
great work which is why today we have 
a customer base that keeps getting 
better and an outlook that suggests that 
as the world economy emerges from the 
uncertainty that has enveloped it in the 
last year we will be presented with some 
wonderful opportunities which we 
intend to take advantage of
 
tim dyson
chief executive officer  
1 1 november 2009
a1 
“growth prospects will 
come from two areas 
firstly  a general 
improvement in the 
economic environment  
and secondly the 
acquisitions and organic 
expansions we are 
making   ”
 additional information 8488
 overview 19
 governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 business review 1021
like to know more 
view tim’s video at
httpar09nextfifteencom 12 next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009
operational review
introduction
the us remains the most important 
market for the group generating 48  
of total revenue in this financial year 
since the year end the group has added 
new yorkbased consumer pr agency  
m booth  associates to its us interests 
as well as increasing its investment  
in policy communication company  
463 communications to 70 this 
demonstrates its commitment to and 
confidence in the us market the group 
now has 1 3 offices in the us and canada 
and employs over 300 members of staff
this year was the most difficult for the 
us market since 2001 unsurprisingly our 
businesses in north america were not 
immune to the challenges that the 
global economic crisis created which 
were first felt in this region many clients 
cut budgets in the face of the uncertain 
sales outlook some clients withdrew 
their agency spend completely and 
others moved more of their spend  
to a project basis rather than monthly 
retainer the group responded with 
headcount reductions and the closure  
of the seattle office although this office 
had reduced in significance in recent 
years it was the first next fifteen office 
in the us opened in 1995 and so it was 
disappointing to see it close
despite these challenges the region 
responded extremely positively on a 
number of fronts
doing great work
outcast celebrated its tenth year 
working with cloud computing leader 
salesforcecom and achieved a major 
milestone with mozilla with the launch 
of firefox 35 which brought firefox over 
the one billion user downloads mark 
outcast also had a successful year  
with amazon which launched the  
bestselling kindle 2 and kindle dx 
outcast worked with fellow next  
fifteen agency text 100 on amazon  
and brought 463 communications  
in to foundation capital yahoo and 
facebook text 100 achieved great 
coverage for the rebranding of 
macrovision as rovi and also for  
mtv with the global announcement 
around the launch of the beatles  
rock band game
on the research side context analytics 
produced a study on the most influential 
blogs in north america and another on 
the relationship between brand value 
and media coverage which found that 
pr was more important than advertising 
for generating brand value for 
companies that sell featurerich or 
complicated products such as consumer 
electronics and financial services
us and canada
many of the world’ s largest companies are in the us  
and so unsurprisingly it is our largest market for public relations
key clients
amd ibm hp yahoo xerox   
emc  sybase facebook lenovo american express 
vmware rovi cisco fuji salesforcecom
£31 2m
revenue
1 9 1 
   adjusted profit before  
   income tax margin
61 
contribution to  
adjusted profit
a2 
“m booth has seen great 
demand for social media 
services amongst our 
clients and i think that 
social media is really 
going to become a 
major piece of work for 
us in the new year    ”
like to know more 
view margi booth’s video at
httpar09nextfifteencom   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 13
client wins and extended 
relationships
in tough economic times the focus is 
rightly on keeping existing clients happy 
however to grow their businesses the 
next fifteen brands were also busy 
pitching and winning some exciting 
new clients outcast won work from 
admob autodesk liveops hara 
mellmo redpoint intuit and vmware 
text 100 won new mandates from cnn 
mindjet obopay irex intralinks and 
cognizant it was also successful in 
extending its global footprint with 
bostonbased the mathworks and now 
represents them in 14 countries adding 
india australia and denmark this year 
bite was successful with hitachi data 
systems lonely planet and vonage  
the biggest challenge for bite came 
towards the end of the year when  
its largest client sun microsystems  
was acquired by oracle bite responded 
in typically confident style by winning  
a corporate brief for hp  focusing on 
innovation and sustainability
increased momentum  
in social media 
the group’s businesses have continued 
to drive innovation in the field of social 
media communications this gives them 
an opportunity to win more business 
and gain access to client budgets held 
outside traditional pr demonstrating 
their social media expertise also leads  
to opportunities in sectors beyond the 
ones they normally work in and helps 
them remain relevant as 
communications continues to shift 
online and away from traditional media 
relations activity outcast’s work with 
facebook continues to give them 
unique insights amongst other tasks 
they helped launch facebook connect 
and the new facebook home page 
intuit hired outcast to lead their social 
media efforts for quicken online and its 
iphone application became the new york 
times application of the week text 100’s 
project with new client cnn was 
specifically around a revamp of its  
online profile
giving something back
it’s not all about client work though and 
the group’s businesses are proud to give 
something back to the communities 
they work in for example bite’s people 
helped in the community kitchens of 
new york and with beachcleaning in 
san francisco text 100 partnered with 
technoserve and provided employees 
on secondment to work in peru and 
tanzania providing pr support to local 
entrepreneurs 
recognition
doing great work is important for clients 
and rewarding when recognised by 
others bite won the ama award for 
green marketing and the 2009 
prsourcecode top tech communicators 
award for its work for amd
the year ahead
the us market having been first into  
the downturn seems to be climbing  
out as we head towards the end of 2009 
the technologyfocused brands are 
partnering with many of the most 
interesting and important technology 
companies in the world and can be 
justifiably excited about recovery 
prospects in 2010 with the recent 
acquisition of m booth the group has a 
strong partner in the consumer field and 
opportunity to transfer skills between 
the two sectors for the benefit of the 
clients of each
 
 additional information 8488
 overview 19
 governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 business review 1021 14 next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009
operational review continued
introduction
the uk is the second most important 
revenue market for the group 
representing over 25 of total revenue  
it is also the place where the group was 
founded back in 1981 and where it is 
headquartered although tim dyson  
the group ceo has been happily based 
in the us for the last 14 years the first 
quarter of the financial year was strong 
with good momentum continuing from 
the previous record year and it seemed 
at that time that the worst of the 
downturn might be contained to the 
financial sector however by the 
beginning of 2009 the uk businesses 
had seen some client budget allocations 
significantly reduced and it was clear 
that the uk faced a very difficult year 
agencymanagement teams responded 
quickly and decisively cutting non
essential costs and reducing staff costs in 
line with revenue projections alongside 
the downturn traditional media outlets 
continued to shrink and the shift to 
online media consumption gathered 
pace so with the prospect of reduced 
client spend and a diminishing demand 
for traditional media relations services 
the response had to be both ambitious 
and thorough
merging inferno and bite
inferno had been created by a team 
from bite in 2003 as a response to client 
conflicts where bite could not handle 
the work inferno had developed 
independently into a good business  
with some great clients but following a 
strategic review in early 2009 it was felt 
that a merger with bite would create a 
single entity better positioned to 
succeed in the current marketplace  
this merged team created a broader 
group of specialists able to deliver 
counsel create content and drive 
communications campaigns helping 
clients reach the right audiences with 
the right messages through the right 
media this decision was vindicated as 
the newly merged business pitched  
and won the logica account in the uk
united kingdom
next fifteen began here 28 years ago when t ext 1 00 opened  
a twoperson business in richmond
key clients
boots microsoft edf energy cocacola corp 
sony nxp ibm unilever 
total amd barclays norwich union
£165m
revenue
1 5 1 
   adjusted profit before     
   income tax margin
26
contribution to  
adjusted profit
a3 
“w e believe that in 
bringing lexis and  
m booth together  we 
are both going to have  
a stronger offer than  
we had separately    ”
like to know more 
view margot raggett’s video at
httpar09nextfifteencom   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 15
client wins
despite the economic climate and the 
clear need to deliver outstanding work 
to existing clients there was still a desire 
to pitch and win new clients text 100 
secured regional wins in europe with 
leading technology brands skype and 
sandisk where london provides the 
central hub team taking the lead  
on content creation campaign 
development and international 
coordination bite was successful against 
some strong competition in securing 
new business from amadeus 4music 
juniper and xerox consumer agency 
lexis had success with dhl weight 
watchers strepsils beck’s and flora
working together
research agency redshift has a different 
business model being almost exclusively 
reliant on ad hoc research projects  
so the success of this business depends 
on its ability to win deliver and secure 
repeat commissions from clients 
working with other parts of the group 
was a key objective when redshift was 
formed redshift works closely with lexis 
on the consumer side and provides 
media analysis and evaluation work for 
group companies as they pitch for new 
business this has helped win business 
with hitachi data systems sony 
professional hp  amd and amadeus 
redshift has also worked with bite in  
the us to develop a proprietary way  
of proving return on investment for  
pr campaigns other examples of the  
uk businesses working together are  
exo the design team at lexis working 
with bite and text 100 clients and lexis 
working with text 100’s worldwide 
network on the barclays premier  
league account
increased momentum in  
social media 
as mentioned above social media  
and digital campaigns are becoming 
increasingly imbedded into all  
client pr programmes worldwide  
text 100 worked on more than 300  
social media projects many of which 
were regular projects for key clients  
such as ibm here text 100 has been 
working on a landmark social media 
campaign to showcase ibm’s 
technological expertise in the virtual 
forbidden city a breathtaking second 
lifelike representation of a chinese 
world from five hundred years ago  
the campaign utilised social media 
tactics as an integrated component of a 
more traditional marketing programme 
to generate new influencer audiences 
and generate new business leads
giving something back
despite the tough climate there are 
always those less fortunate to consider 
the uk businesses have once again 
shown that they care and lexis raised 
nearly £15000 for cancer research  
and two staff members went to ecuador 
to help rebuild a school as part of the  
sir bobby moore project for prostate 
cancer text 100 has supported action 
for children since 2005 by raising money 
on byte night the it industry’s annual 
sleepout in support of action for 
children  over the last five years  
text 100 has raised over £23000 
recognition
it’s a source of pride and motivation  
to be recognised for good work and a 
good culture text 100 uk was shortlisted 
for the pr week international consultancy 
of the year and was voted as exceptional 
by best companies and ranked no 29 in 
the sunday times best small companies 
to work for where lexis also featured 
once again lexis was also shortlisted for 
best consumer campaign by pr week for 
their work for boots’ no7 antiwrinkle 
cream protect  perfect intense redshift 
research was also recognised with a 
shortlisting in the best new agency 
category by the market research society
the year ahead
2009 has been difficult and the new 
financial year started in august with only 
tentative signs of economic recovery 
the uk businesses of next fifteen have 
weathered the downturn taken the right 
action and are well positioned to benefit 
from any sustained recovery next 
fifteen is still investing in the uk market 
with the recent announcement of a 
digital pr startup business in both the 
uk and us which seeks to supplement 
the work that the existing agencies are 
already doing for their clients
 additional information 8488
 overview 19
 governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 business review 1021 16 next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009
operational review continued
introduction
europe and africa represented 15  
of group revenue this year reported 
revenue declined by 3 but based at 
constant exchange rates the decline was 
13 the region was affected in a similar 
way to the united kingdom in terms of 
client budget cuts although the cycle 
was a little behind but has been more 
prolonged and very difficult to forecast 
one reason for this lack of visibility is the 
high degree of project revenue in this 
region rather than monthly retainers  
the proportion is 34 in europe  
and africa compared to 15 in us 
this is also an increasing trend  
and it therefore makes it more difficult  
to predict when the recovery will begin 
headcount reductions to match the 
more volatile revenue took longer to 
implement and are more costly than in 
the uk and us these factors contributed 
to adjusted profit margins falling to 89 
from 1 16 last year 
client change
looking back on the last year reveals  
a higher than usual amount of client 
churn the client base was under 
pressure to make significant cost 
reductions and this pressure resulted  
in a rise in repitching where it is  
always more difficult for the incumbent 
to win the two largest and most 
disappointing losses were arm and 
novell these losses detract from a 
successful newbusiness campaign  
the most notable successes were the 
sandisk and skype wins where london 
acts as the hub for work performed in 
france germany spain and italy in the 
case of sandisk this also extends to cover 
netherlands denmark sweden and 
norway from a next fifteen perspective 
the best new client win in the region 
was the amd account where bite 
benefited from its relationship in the us 
to win the emea lead agency role and 
then brought in text 100 to carry out 
local market implementation in the uk 
germany and france
cost reduction
the management priority in 2009 was  
to protect the future health of the region 
headcount reductions were made to 
match the projected revenue salary 
reviews were postponed and all non
essential overhead expenditure was cut 
back another action taken to reduce 
cost was the closure of the small office  
in dublin
return to growth
it is a little early to be calling an end to 
the downturn in europe but markets  
like germany and spain are performing 
better than expected in the first quarter 
of the current year bite which only has 
one office in the region is still looking  
to have a bigger presence in the core 
european markets of germany and 
france and this is something that they 
will explore in 2010
europe and africa
next fifteen has ten offices and a licensed partner in europe and africa 
with over 1 00 consultants providing services to companies of all sizes
key clients
ibm lenovo amd sandisk  
nxp gartner warner skype
£ 98m
revenue
89
adjusted profit before 
income tax margin
9
contribution to  
adjusted profit
a 4                   
“t ext 1 00 can compete 
with the global firms  
in a way that no other 
agency can that’ s 
simply because we  
built this agency 
organically    ”
like to know more 
view aedhmar hynes’ video at
httpar09nextfifteencom   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 17
introduction
the asia pacific region represents one  
of our biggest management challenges 
simply because of the geographic and 
cultural diversity of the region or 
actually grouping of regions asia pacific 
increased its share of group revenue 
from 106 last year to 12 this year with 
a reported growth rate of 17 but on an 
underlying basis at constant exchange 
rates this was a flat performance  
this reflects the fact that overall the 
region was only affected by the global 
economic crisis for a relatively short 
period and has been able to return to 
growth the group has 16 offices spread 
from china to australia plus a further 
three licensed partners so not all 
markets experienced the downturn 
similarly
client activity
the text 100 business had a strong  
newbusiness performance and with its 
established office footprint continues  
to attract clients who want a multiple
market solution reliance globalcom 
became a new global retainer based  
out of mumbai 
india also won a retainer with yahoo and 
attracted facebook as a client paypal 
appointed text 100 to new southeast 
asia and japan programmes the cisco 
relationship was extended to include a 
pr hub in india and a south asia pr hub 
in singapore the nokia business was 
retained after a repitch in the south asia 
and australia region and further projects 
were added in india and china lenovo is 
a global client and the regional mandate 
was extended to new areas such as 
internal communications
management talent
text 100 has strong leadership in the  
asia pacific region located in china  
and australia to address the geographic 
diversity strong leadership and a 
talented workforce were rewarded  
by text 100 being named by the  
holmes report as asia pacific’s global 
technology consultancy of the year
investment to accelerate growth
next fifteen has been looking to expand 
its activities in the region for some  
time and it was very pleasing to be  
able to conclude a deal in october  
2009 with upstream marketing and 
communications inc to buy its  
pr activities in china singapore and 
australia these businesses will form  
the bite asia pacific region allowing bite 
to offer a global solution to its existing 
and potential clients 
asia pacific
with 1 6 offices and three licensed partners next fifteen has a 
considerable presence in a region where local knowledge is often  
the most vital criterion for success in business
key clients
lenovo symantec       nokia ibm cisco sandisk
philips nxp       adobe microsoft swift htc
£ 7 8m
revenue
54
adjusted profit before 
income tax margin
4
contribution to  
adjusted profit
a5                    
“by buying upstream 
asia and incorporating  
a fantastically capable 
set of individuals bite is 
now able to give its 
clients what they want  
in the region   ”
like to know more 
view clive armitage’s video at
httpar09nextfifteencom
 additional information 8488
 overview 19
 governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 business review 1021 18 next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009
overview
the year to 31 july 2009 was a difficult 
one it started with strong momentum 
carried over from the last financial year 
but with the unfolding of the world 
financial crisis in the first quarter by the 
end of the first half in january 2009 the 
business was in a very different place  
for the whole of the 2009 calendar year 
the business has been anticipating and 
reacting to changes in client budgets 
and trying to steer a course which 
maintained its ability to service client 
needs at an acceptable staffcost ratio 
revenue grew by 36 to £654m 2008 
£631m but when adjusting for currency 
movements and the consolidation of a 
previously equity accounted associate 
underlying activity was down 13 this 
reduced activity resulted in headcount 
adjustments of a matching scale which 
is the main element of the separately 
identified reorganisation costs of £195m 
there are a number of adjustments that 
distort the underlying performance of 
the group and in this review the 
adjusted profit and earnings numbers 
have been used adjusted profit before 
income tax fell by 20 to £52m 2008 
£66m see note 5 and the adjusted eps 
fell by 25 to 648p 2008 862p see 
note 10 the group ebitda
1
 was £55m 
2008 £7 4m and it generated £48m  
cash from operating activities 2008 
£85m which helped the group 
maintain a positive net funds position  
of £18m 2008 £34m
2
 
foreign exchange risk
the group has established treasury 
policies and procedures which monitor 
exposure to the us dollar and euro 
which are the two main operating 
currencies other than sterling at the 
beginning of the financial year the  
policy of providing protection for the 
anticipated cash profits arising in these 
currencies was in place with the us 
dollar protected at 1975 compared  
with the actual rate of 20 for the 
previous financial year and the euro  
at 1389 compared with the actual rate  
of 1348 for the previous financial year 
the significant weakening of sterling 
firstly against the us dollar from august 
2008 and then against the euro from 
november 2008 meant that the 
moderate amount of rangeflexibility  
in the cover was breached and over the 
course of the year the contracts that 
matured generated realised losses of 
£207m of which £038m was reflected 
in the fair values in the opening balance 
sheet most of the contracts expired 
during the year and the group has 
reassessed its policy on placing forward 
cover with the result that cover periods 
have shortened and cover is now based 
on the expected surplus cash receipts 
returned to the uk within the current 
financial year only
ifrs and ias impacts
the use of ifrs in the consolidated 
accounts continues to generate a 
number of areas of increased volatility  
in reported pretax profits compared 
with the position under uk gaap  in the 
income statement this year acquisition 
costs have been written off as incurred 
not only on acquisitions that did not 
complete but also on successful ones 
which completed after the year end 
which would previously have been 
treated as part of the investment  
see note 30 
under ias 27  all entities that are 
controlled within a group must be 
included in the consolidated financial 
statements under the agreement 
signed in 2006 which gave the group  
its 40 ownership stake in 463 
communications ‘463’ next fifteen  
had the right to take a controlling stake 
in 463 during the whole of the financial 
year ended 31 july 2009 even though 
this right was not exercised until october 
2009 the financial statements for this 
year show 463 on a consolidated basis 
with the minority interests reflecting the 
60 nonowned holding
1
 operating profit before depreciation  
amortisation and impairment 
2
 see net funds analysis in the capital risk 
management section of note 20 of the  
financial statements
financial review
strong 
management  
in difficult times   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 19
 additional information 8488
 overview 19
 governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 business review 1021
key performance indicators
our strategy is to deliver sustainable and profitable growth 
by attracting a highquality global client base and focusing  
on margin improvement
staff costs to revenue 
09
08
07
670
673
674
670
2008 673
adjusted profit before income tax margin 
09
08
07
80
104
94
80
2008 104
net cash from operating activities £m
09
08
07
48
85
52
£48m
2008 £85m
earnings before interest tax depreciation  
and amortisation £m
09
08
07
55
74
72
£55m
2008 £74m
revenue by region 
09
08
12
10
ap ac
09
08
15
16
europe and africa
09
08
25
30
uk
09
08
48
44
us and canada
adjusted profit by region 
09
08
4
7
ap ac
09
08
9
12
europe and africa
09
08
26
25
uk
09
08
61
56
us and canada 20 next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009
geographic and client analysis
the group has 43 offices in 19 countries 
and a further four licensed partners
during the last year the proportion of 
the group’s revenue outside the uk was 
around 75 us and canada remained 
the largest region accounting for 48  
of revenue with the uk share of revenue 
being 25 the group generated 73 of 
its revenue in the two strongest markets 
for public relations services in europe 
and africa the businesses experienced  
a downturn in activity in 2009 of 13 but 
the stronger euro reduced the reported 
fall in revenue to 3 at £98m 2008 
£101m the asia pacific region grew by 
17 to £7 8m 2008 £67m thanks to 
stronger currency translation and strong 
results posted by its operations in india 
malaysia and japan but the underlying 
performance overall was flat
it is also pleasing to note that the spread 
of the group’s key clients has remained 
similar to last year the top ten clients 
now represent approximately 36 of the 
revenue of the business with no single 
client accounting for more than 7  
of the total
margin performance
the adjusted profit margin of the group 
fell to 80 from 104 last year as a 
consequence of the sudden loss of 
revenue in some markets and the 
foreign exchange contract losses noted 
above excluding head office costs 
which include the foreign exchange 
contract losses the adjusted profit 
margin was 149 compared with 159 
last year the group has worked very 
hard in difficult economic circumstances 
to stay close to its mediumterm goal of 
getting this figure up to 16 the us is 
operating well above this level at an 
impressive 191 but there is still much  
to achieve in some of the smaller  
and less sophisticated markets in the 
apac region the staffcosttorevenue 
ratio is critical to managing margin 
performance and this was reduced to 
67 2008 67 3 but is still 2 higher 
than our mediumterm target of 65
cash flow
the net cash generated from operations 
was strong once again at £63m which 
was 1 77 of operating profit the main 
investment activities in the year requiring 
a cash payment were £25m for the 
purchase of the remaining stakes in  
lexis in october 2008 and a deferred
consideration payment for outcast in 
november 2008 of £18m dividends 
paid to next fifteen shareholders  
totalled £09m 
financial review continued
a6 
“w e have decided to  
put into the businesses  
a much better planning 
and resource
management tool and 
so have started to 
implement a product 
called epicor in the major 
markets   ”
like to know more 
view david’s video at
httpar09nextfifteencom   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 21
 additional information 8488
 overview 19
 governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 business review 1021
balance sheet
the key movement in the group’s 
balance sheet is the further goodwill 
arising from the final 1285 stake 
acquired in lexis during the year this 
transaction also meant that the share 
purchase obligation was satisfied and 
the share purchase reserve unwound 
the cash balances were £7 1m compared 
to £95m last year following the 
acquisition payments referred to above 
the net funds position after deducting 
bank loans and finance leases was £18m 
2008 £34m net assets at 31 july 2009 
were £249m 2008 £196m
treasury and funding
the group has a revolvingcredit facility 
from barclays bank of £5m to march 201 1 
which it used to fund the purchases of 
lexis the bite minorities and outcast 
the facility is available in a combination 
of sterling us dollar and euro at an 
interest rate of 125 over libor in 
addition the group has a £6m revolving
credit facility with barclays bank 
repayable in december 201 1 to help 
fund any future acquisitions at  
a rate of 225 over libor of which  
4m has been used to fund the initial 
consideration for the purchase of  
m booth in august 2009 and 05m  
for the purchase of upstream asia in 
october 2009 also available is an 
overdraft facility of £15m available in 
sterling us dollar and euro which is 
reviewed annually in november 
all of the uk businesses are part of a 
composite accounting system which 
allows the offset of uk overdrawn and 
credit balances in the us the group has 
consolidated facilities with wells fargo 
supported by a 2m credit line for 
working capital purposes the group 
aims to return any surplus cash to the uk 
subject to any local transfer restrictions 
and as far as possible to hold only 
moderate nondeposit cash balances in 
overseas subsidiaries subject to working 
capital needs
taxation 
the total tax charge for the year is  
£09m 2008 £17m on consolidated 
profit before tax of £31m 2008 £55m  
during the year the group implemented 
a new transfer pricing policy which 
resulted in a more tax efficient allocation 
of worldwide profit and a reduction  
in the group’s effective tax rate to 28 
2 lower than last year  the group 
considers 28–30 to be a realistic 
effective tax rate range for the  
current year
earnings 
basic earnings per share adjusted for  
the highlighted items shown in note 5 
fell 25 to 648p see note 10 this fall 
reflected the reduced profit levels but 
was mitigated by the improvement  
to the tax charge in the year but also 
reflects the increased number of shares 
in issue following shares issued for the 
acquisition of the final stake in lexis
dividends
the proposed final ordinary dividend per 
share is 125p which takes the total for 
the year to 17p held in line with a total 
dividend of 17p last year it will be paid 
on 5 february 2010 assuming that  
it is approved at the agm on 26 january 
2010 the board continues to view its 
dividend policy over the medium term 
and aims to strike a balance between  
the relevance placed on dividends by 
shareholders and the needs of the 
company to invest for future growth
 
david dewhurst
finance director  
1 1 november 2009 22 next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009
will whitehorn chairman 

aged 49
will whitehorn joined virgin group as group public relations manager in 1987   
over the following years he was responsible for presenting virgin’s joint venture 
strategy and spent several months working in japan and began to move into a more 
general management role will worked on the strategy to expand the brand into new 
areas such as financial services and telecoms from 1995 onwards will became part  
of a team developing the virginbranded venture capital model for global expansion  
in 1997 he became a director of virgin rail group and in 2000 he was appointed 
brand development and corporate affairs director for virgin in 2004 he became 
president of virgin galactic in 2007 he took on that role in an executive capacity and 
became a special adviser to sir richard branson he is also a trustee of the virgin unite 
social entrepreneurship and environmental notforprofit foundation
will is a member of the development board of the university of aberdeen in 2007  
he was also invited to join the advisory board of the british national space centre  
he is also a member of the first minister of scotland’s ‘globalscot’ business  
mentoring network will was appointed as nonexecutive chairman of next fifteen 
communications group plc in 2004 and is chairman of the nomination committee
tim dyson chief executive officer 

aged 48
tim dyson joined the group in 1984 straight from loughborough university and 
became its ceo in 1992 as one of the early pioneers of tech pr he has worked on 
major corporate and product campaigns with such companies as cisco microsoft 
ibm sun and intel tim oversaw the flotation of the company on the london stock 
exchange and has managed a string of successful acquisitions by the group in recent 
years including applied communications outcast communications and m booth in 
the us and lexis in the uk 
tim moved from london to set up the group’s first us business in 1995 in seattle and 
is now based in palo alto the heart of silicon valley outside next fifteen tim is on 
the advisory boards of several emerging technology companies tim also writes a 
blog at httptimdysonwordpresscom where he comments on news and 
topical issues affecting the public relations industry
board of directors   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 23
 additional information 8488
 overview 19
 financial statements 4083
david dewhurst aca finance director
aged 46
david dewhurst graduated from the university of birmingham in 1984 with a bcom 
degree he then joined kpmg peat marwick as a trainee accountant qualifying in 
1987  david worked as a corporate accountant and business analyst for hillsdown 
holdings plc between 1988 and 1990 and was then group accountant for premier 
brands limited one of hillsdown’s subsidiaries in 1992 david became group finance 
director for strong  fisher holdings plc before being appointed in 1997  to the  
same post at the media business group plc he joined the board of next fifteen 
communications group plc as finance director in 1999 to take the company through 
its flotation in december 1999
ian taylor mbe mp nonexecutive director 

aged 64
ian taylor graduated from keele university with a degree in economics politics and 
modern history he spent 18 years in investment banking and development capital  
in london and paris before being elected as member of parliament for esher in 1987 
now esher and walton
he was minister for science and technology at the department of trade and industry 
from 1994–1997  during the last conservative administration he is now on various  
allparty parliamentary technology committees including those on science 
information technology and space since 1997  ian has been a nonexecutive  
director of or adviser to a number of companies including some in the technology 
security and financial sectors
he joined the board in 1999 and is chairman of the remuneration and audit 
committees
 member of the audit committee 
 member of the remuneration committee 
 member of the nomination committee
 governance 2239
 business review 1021 24 next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009
aedhmar hynes – text 100
aedhmar hynes is ceo of text 100 a global communications consultancy that 
counsels companies using technology as a competitive advantage in 30 countries 
worldwide under her leadership text 100 has evolved into the creative thought 
partner of choice in public relations and integrated communications prior to her 
appointment as ceo she was regional director of text 100’s us operations and has 
worked with text 100 for almost 20 years based in new york she is a board member 
of the council of pr firms a trustee of the arthur w page society and a member of 
the aspen institute roundtable on technology she also serves as a board director  
of technoserve a nonprofit dedicated to helping entrepreneurial men and women 
build businesses in poor areas of the developing world in 2008 aedhmar was voted 
one of the 25 most powerful pr people in the industry by prweek and named a 
henry crown fellow of the aspen institute
clive armitage – bite 
clive armitage joined the group in 1990 working in text 100’s london office  
in 1994 he was seconded to johannesburg south africa to help set up and establish 
text 100’s first presence in africa he returned from south africa in 1995 to help  
cofound bite communications clive became ceo of bite communications in 1998 
and subsequently moved to san francisco in 2003 to manage the acquisition of 
applied communications and its subsequent integration into bite communications 
clive is now based back in bite’s london office
margit wennmachers – outcast communications
margit wennmachers cofounded outcast in 1997  her clear vision and relentless 
focus have helped establish countless brands and managed some of the toughest 
communications challenges she has worked for clients such as dell yahoo nvidia 
jawbone mozilla zimbra and many others
before cofounding outcast communications margit wennmachers spent over four 
years at blanc  otus where she managed several of that agency’s largest client 
accounts such as sybase and the ibm–sponsored olympics following the 1996 
olympic games margit helped grow the agency’s internet client group which 
included verisign
before joining blanc  otus margit was living in germany where she was responsible 
for european marketing and communications at stardent computers a graphics 
workstation manufacturer headquartered in sunnyvale ca
senior management team   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 25
 additional information 8488
 overview 19
 financial statements 4083
 governance 2239
 business review 1021
caryn marooney – outcast communications
caryn marooney cofounded outcast communications in 1997  caryn brings  
energy experience and a fierce belief that pr tactics and strategy are two sides  
of the same coin
over the years caryn has provided leadership experience and a passion for  
the practice of pr she has been an instrumental voice in outcast’s work with  
salesforcecom for whom she has advised since 1998 from early positioning  
around ‘the end of software’ through a highly successful ipo caryn continues  
to lead the salesforcecom team at outcast she also leads the facebook team  
at outcast which keeps her happily entrenched in the world of social media
margot raggett – lexis public relations
margot raggett joined lexis in 1993 as its first graduate trainee and rose through the 
ranks as the company grew she instigated and was part of a successful management 
buyout team in 2002 at which point she became operations director during her 
career she has advised clients ranging from cocacola to domino’s pizza boots to 
early learning centre she has also led the uk pr for dove’s campaign for real beauty 
for the past five years margot became ceo of lexis in august 2007 
margi booth – m booth  
margi booth founded m booth  associates in 1985 to create innovative 
communications programmes for highly respected consumer lifestyle and corporate 
brands under her leadership the agency’s client roster has grown to include 
american express unilever jcpenney and ebay among others in addition the firm 
was recently named 2009 creative agency of the year and among the ten best 
places to work in public relations prior to founding m booth margi was a vice 
president at ruder finn where she headed up their broadcast department she was 
named one of the 50 most powerful women in the pr industry and is a new york 
women in communications matrix award recipient for career advancement in public 
relations she is a founding member of the council of public relations firms and is a 
board member of the national center for learning disabilities the center for 
palliative care common cents and the community resource exchange  report of the directors  
26   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 
the directors present their annual report together with the audited financial statements of next fifteen communications 
group plc the ‘company’ and its subsidiaries the ‘group’ for the year ended 31 july 2009 
principal activity 
the principal activity of the group during the year continued to be the provision of public and press relations services  
to clients predominantly in the technology sector over the last few years the group’s strategy has broadened to include  
nontechnology and consumer clients also 
the group consists of five independent subsidiary pr brands that operate as autonomous businesses thus enabling them to 
service competing clients these are text 100 bite outcast lexis and m booth the group also has two research businesses 
redshift research and context analytics and 463 communications a policy communications business 
review of business and future prospects 
a detailed review of the business current trading and future developments is given in the chairman’s statement the  
chief executive officer’s review and the financial review the latter of which includes an overview of the key performance 
indicators of the business details of the group’s principal risks and uncertainties are given in the directors’ statement on 
corporate governance 
results and dividends 
the group’s financial statements for the year ended 31 july 2009 show that profit before tax for the financial year was 
£3158000 2008 £5516000 the group made a profit attributable to shareholders of the company for the year of £1932000 
2008 £3663000 the interim dividend paid during the year was 045p per share 2008 045p a final dividend of 125p per 
share 2008 125p has been proposed making the total for the year 17p 2008 17p 
company’s listing 
the company continues to be listed on the alternative investment market aim of the london stock exchange 
acquisitions and disposals 
on 27 october 2008 the company acquired the remaining 1285 of panther communications group limited ‘panther’  
the parent company of the uk public relations company lexis public relations limited for consideration of £177m this was 
satisfied through a combination of cash and shares in the company panther is therefore now 100 owned by the company 
share capital 
details of changes in the issued ordinary share capital of the company during the year are set out in note 21 of the  
financial statements 
on 15 october 2008 the company purchased 214258 of its own shares representing 04 of the company’s issued share 
capital at an average price of 425p per share this purchase of own shares was made under the authority granted at the 
company’s 2008 annual general meeting on 29 january 2008 the shares will be held in treasury 
financial instruments 
information on both the group’s financialriskmanagement objectives and the group’s policies on exposure to relevant risks 
in respect of financial instruments is set out in note 20 
directors 
the names and biographical details of the directors who held office at the date of this report appear on pages 22 and 23  
in accordance with the company’s articles of association onethird of the directors must retire by rotation each year  
will whitehorn and ian taylor will retire from the board at the next annual general meeting of the company and offer 
themselves for reelection as ian has been a nonexecutive director for ten years  he will in accordance with good  
corporate governance retire and offer himself for reelection every year both ian and will are engaged pursuant to  
letters of appointment and continue to be effective nonexecutive directors and demonstrate commitment to the role 
additional information relating to directors’ remuneration service agreements and interests in the company’s shares is given 
in the remuneration report 
other than service contracts no director has a material interest in any contract to which the company or any of its 
subsidiaries is a party   
next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009   27 
 overview 19
 business review 1021
 governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 additional information 8488
substantial shareholdings 
on 11 november 2009 the following interests in 3 or more of the issued share capital had been notified to the company 
name 
ordinary shares  
of 25p each 
 of ordinary 
share capital
liontrust asset management 7121061 1297
timothy dyson 5781004 1053
blackrock investment management uk limited 5322120 970
herald investment management 5231796 953
thomas lewis 5074436 925
matthew ravden 3209294 589
river and mercantile asset management llp 2814268 513
the market price of the company’s shares during the year was as follows 
price at 1 august 2008 41p
highest price 5550p
lowest price 2550p
price at 31 july 2009 48p
charitable donations 
during the year the group made charitable donations of £19000 2008 £54000 
political donations 
it is the group’s policy not to make donations for political purposes 
payments to suppliers 
it is the policy of the group to agree suitable terms and conditions for its business transactions with all suppliers these terms 
and conditions range from standard written terms to individually drafted contracts once such terms are agreed it is the 
group’s policy to adhere fully to them provided the supplier has also complied with the terms and conditions the number  
of days taken by the company to pay suppliers on the basis of trade creditors at 31 july 2009 and average daily purchases  
for the year was 28 days 2008 28 days 
employee involvement 
the group operates a policy of regularly informing all employees of the group’s financial performance through a 
combination of meetings and electronic communications in addition the group’s employee share option schemes  
longterm incentive schemes and bonus schemes encourage employees at all levels to contribute to the achievement  
of the group’s shortterm and longterm goals 
equal opportunities 
the group gives full and fair consideration to all applications for employment made by people with disabilities having  
regard to their particular aptitudes and abilities the group’s policies for training career development and promotion do  
not disadvantage such people the group seeks to recruit develop and employ throughout the organisation suitably 
qualified capable and experienced people irrespective of sex age race religion or belief marital or civil partnership status  
or sexual orientation 
auditors 
all the current directors have taken all the steps they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any information 
needed by the group’s auditors for the purpose of their audit and to establish that the auditors are aware of that information 
the directors are not aware of any relevant audit information of which the auditors are unaware 
a resolution to reappoint the company’s auditors will be proposed at the forthcoming annual general meeting  report of the directors continued 
 
28   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 
annual general meeting 
the annual general meeting of the company will be held at the company’s offices at the triangle 5–17 hammersmith grove 
london w6 0lg on tuesday 26 january 2010 at 300 pm the notice convening the meeting is included in the mailing with 
this annual report for those shareholders who requested a hard copy and is also available on the company’s website 
wwwnextfifteencom 
subsequent events 
on 3 august 2009 the company acquired new yorkbased m booth  associates inc the initial consideration paid on 
completion was us 4m deferred consideration of up to a maximum of us 1325m may be payable over the next four years 
subject to the achievement of certain revenue and profit performance targets the total maximum consideration is therefore 
us 1725m any deferred consideration that may be payable may be satisfied by cash or up to 25 in the company’s shares  
at the option of the company 
on 27 october 2009 the company acquired the marketing communications trading subsidiaries of upstream marketing  
and communications inc ‘upstream asia’ these businesses will be integrated into bite communications group the initial 
consideration was us 09m paid in cash and the assumption of us 02m of upstream asia’s liabilities making a total of  
us 11m the company owns 55 of upstream asia and a hong kongbased company asset pioneer limited owns the 
residual 45 the company has entered into an option deed under which it has a right to acquire asset pioneer’s shares  
over a fiveyear period based on the profitability of the acquired businesses 
on 31 october 2009 the company acquired a further 30 stake in 463 communications llc this took the company’s total 
stake to 70 the company paid consideration of us 214m in cash and shares in the company 
 
 
by order of the board 
david dewhurst 
company secretary 
11 november 2009  remuneration report 
next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009   29 
 overview 19
 business review 1021
 governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 additional information 8488
introduction 
this report provides information on directors’ remuneration as the company is listed on aim it does not have to comply with 
the directors’ remuneration report regulations 2002 the ‘regulations’ the board will however continue to follow best 
practice and comply with the regulations to the extent it considers reasonable and a resolution will be put to shareholders  
at the company’s annual general meeting inviting them to approve this report 
the remuneration committee the ‘committee’ and its role 
for the year ended 31 july 2009 the committee consisted of the company’s two nonexecutive directors ian taylor 
committee chairman and will whitehorn the chief executive attends certain meetings of the committee by invitation  
to discuss other executives’ performance as appropriate during the year the committee received advice from the chief 
executive in respect of the remuneration of the finance director the committee takes professional advice as and when  
it considers this necessary  
the committee’s principal function is to determine the remuneration packages of the company’s senior executives and 
executive directors and make recommendations to the board concerning the allocation of bonuses and longterm incentive 
rewards to the two executive directors and to senior executives in the group in addition it considers the objectives set for 
each senior executive and how he or she has performed against those targets its key terms of reference are to 
• determine and agree with the board a general policy for the remuneration of the executive directors and senior executives 
• determine the total individual remuneration package of each executive director 
• determine the policy for and scope of pension arrangements for executive directors and 
• determine and approve the longterm performanceincentive arrangements for executive directors and senior executives 
of the group 
it takes into consideration the performance of the senior executives and directors and sets the scale and structure of their 
remuneration and the basis of their service agreements with due regard to the interests of shareholders no one may 
participate in decisions regarding his or her own remuneration the committee’s terms of reference are published on  
the company’s website 
remuneration policy 
the group’s remuneration policy aims are to 
• attract develop motivate and retain at all levels talented people of the calibre required to continue the group’s growth 
and development 
• ensure that key executives are appropriately rewarded for their contribution to the group and  
• encourage the holding of company shares as an effective way of aligning the interests of employees with those  
of shareholders 
in framing this policy the remuneration committee and the board have given consideration to the provision of the 
combined code and the qca guidelines for aim companies in arriving at its recommendations the committee considers 
salary surveys covering aim small cap and international pr companies 
remuneration package for executive directors 
the policy for executive directors’ remuneration is to ensure they are fairly rewarded for their individual contribution to  
the group’s performance this is done through a combination of a competitive salary and the opportunity to increase 
remuneration with shortterm and longterm incentives executive remuneration packages are reviewed each year  
the remuneration package for executive directors consists of a basic salary benefits an annual performancerelated bonus 
pension and participation in a longterm incentive plan details for each director are set out below as the chief executive  
has a large shareholding in the company this is also taken into consideration when decisions are made regarding shortterm 
and longterm incentives the ongoing value of his shareholding is considered to be a longterm incentive for the chief 
executive and therefore less emphasis is placed on other longterm incentives for him  remuneration report continued 
30   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 
shortterm incentives 
executive directors’ remuneration includes an element of performancerelated pay so that awards can be aligned to 
improvements in shareholders’ value the level of bonuses is entirely at the discretion of the remuneration committee 
bonuses are based on the performance of the group as a whole against budgets and the committee’s assessment of the 
performance of individuals against the personal objectives they have been set 
longterm incentives 
the remuneration committee recommends the award of share options and performance shares to executive directors  
apart from the chief executive and senior executives to incentivise and retain them in january 2005 shareholders approved 
the company’s longterm incentive plan ‘ltip’ which provides share option and performance share awards to directors  
and senior employees 
under the terms of the ltip participants are either awarded share options with a grant price equal to the market price on  
the day before the grant date or are awarded performance shares in the company which are released to the participant  
upon both the satisfaction of certain performance conditions and the participant remaining an employee of the group 
during the year the following performance shares were awarded to directors 
name of director number of shares grant date 
end of  
performance  
period 
executive directors   
david dewhurst 80000 november 2008 31 july 2011 
nonexecutive directors   
will whitehorn 30000 october 2008 31 july 2011 
ian taylor 30000 october 2008 31 july 2011 
the share options and performance shares under the ltip are subject to the following performance conditions 
• the adjusted earnings per share ‘eps’ of the group must exceed the retail prices index ‘rpi’ by an average of 15 or 
more per annum over the performance period for 100 of the award to vest 
• if there is an average of between 5 and 15 eps growth over rpi per annum over the performance period between 20 
and 100 of the award will vest on a straightline basis 
• if eps does not grow an average of 5 or more over rpi per annum over the performance period none of the award  
will vest 
the performance period over which the above test is measured is three consecutive financial years of the group commencing 
with the financial year in which the award is granted 
eps growth will be calculated from the information published in the group’s accounts the awards will vest when the 
preliminary results for the final financial year of the relevant performance period are released 
various employees and directors still have options that were issued under previous next fifteen executive share option 
schemes under such schemes share options were issued at the market price on the day before the option was granted or 
on another date no more than 30 days prior to the grant date the share options become exercisable on the following dates 
• the first onethird of the total number granted on the third anniversary of the date of granting 
• the second onethird of the total number granted on the fourth anniversary of the date of granting 
• the final onethird of the total number granted on the fifth anniversary of the date of granting   
next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009   31 
 overview 19
 business review 1021
 governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 additional information 8488
the share options will lapse on the date of cessation of the participant’s employment with the group or ten years after the 
date on which the options were granted 
for all options granted after 30 november 1999 there is a performance criterion that the options may not be exercised unless 
the group’s earnings per share has over a threeyear period beginning not earlier than the financial year in which the option 
is granted and ending on the financial year preceding the year in which the option is exercised grown by at least 30 
options granted before this date did not have specific performance criteria share price growth was expected to be derived 
from eps growth but without a hurdlerate for exercise 
directors’ service contracts 
all executive directors have rolling contracts that are terminable on six months’ notice there are no contractual entitlements 
to compensation on termination of the employment of any of the directors other than payment in lieu of notice at the 
discretion of the company the executive directors are allowed to accept appointments and retain payments from sources 
outside the group provided such appointments are approved by the board in writing details of the executive directors’ 
current service contracts are 
executive director 
date of current  
letter of contract notice period
tim dyson 1 june 1997 6 months
david dewhurst 7 july 1999 6 months
nonexecutive directors 
the executive directors are responsible for setting the nonexecutive directors’ fees all nonexecutive directors are engaged 
under letters of appointment terminable on three months’ notice at any time owing to his length of service as a non
executive director ian taylor has a letter of appointment that is renewable by the company annually after each annual 
general meeting nonexecutive directors are not entitled to any pension benefit or any payment in compensation for early 
termination of their appointment details of the date of the current letters of appointment for nonexecutive directors are 
nonexecutive director 
date of current  
letter of contract notice period
will whitehorn 23 january 2007 3 months
ian taylor 27 january 2009 3 months
directors’ remuneration 
 
salary and 
fees 
2009 
£’000
performance 
related cash bonus 
2009
£’000
shares receivable 
under ltip 
2009 
£’000
pension 
contributions
2009
£’000
taxable 
benefits 
2009 
£’000
total  
2009  
£’000 
total 
2008 
£’000
executive 
directors  
tim dyson 401 – – 42 13 456 392
david dewhurst 185 – 13 19 2 219 225
nonexecutive 
directors  
will whitehorn 104–––– 104 100
ian taylor 39 –––– 39 37
  remuneration report continued 
32   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 
directors’ share options 
at 31 july 2009 the following directors held options to purchase 25p ordinary shares 
name of director 
unexercised 
options  
at 1 august  
2008 
granted 
during year
exercised 
during year
unexercised 
options 
at 31 july 
2009
exercise  
price 
date from  
which exercisable 
david dewhurst 200000 – – 200000 300p 22102005 
as at 31 july 2009 the following directors held the following performanceshare awards under the ltip over ordinary shares 
of 25p each 
name of director 
number of shares 
at 1 august 
2008
shares vesting and 
exercised during 
year
number of shares 
at 31 july 
2009 grant date 
end of  
performance  
period 
executive directors   
david dewhurst 29438 29438 – 11112005 3172008 
 27918– 27918 18102006 3172009 
 45860– 45860 09112007 3172010 
 –– 80000 21112008 3172011 
nonexecutive directors   
will whitehorn – – 30000 22102008 3172011 
ian taylor – – 30000 22102008 3172011 
directors’ interests in the shares of next fifteen communications group plc 
the interests of the directors in the share capital of the company at 1 august 2008 and 31 july 2009 are detailed below 
  ordinary shares share options ltip performance shares 
 
1 august  
2008 
31 july 
2009
1 august 
2008
31 july 
2009
1 august  
2008 
31 july  
2009 
executive directors    
david dewhurst 200000 229438 200000 200000 103216 153778 
tim dyson 5781004 5781004 – – – – 
nonexecutive directors    
will whitehorn 881126 1000126 – – – 30000 
ian taylor 40000 65000 – – – 30000 
   
next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009   33 
 overview 19
 business review 1021
 governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 additional information 8488
performance graph 
the following graph illustrates the group’s total shareholder return since 31 july 2004 relative to the ftse media index 
since march 2005 the company has been listed on aim in the media sector but there are no fiveyear historical data for this 
sector the committee considers that a comparison of its total shareholder return to that of similar businesses on the full list is 
more relevant than a comparison with the ftse aim allshare index 
 
the graph looks at the value by the end of july 2009 of £100 invested in the company compared with £100 invested in the 
ftse media index 
on behalf of the board 
ian taylor 
chairman of the remuneration committee 
11 november 2009 
  directors’ statement on corporate governance 
34   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 
the board is accountable to the company’s shareholders for good corporate governance the company is committed to high 
standards of corporate governance throughout the group and has adopted appropriate measures for a company of its size 
this report sets out the measures it has taken 
the board 
the board of directors is responsible for the strategic direction investment decisions and effective control of the group  
as tim dyson the chief executive is located in san francisco the board meets mainly by telephone conference at least 
monthly and at other times when required they meet facetoface when possible and aim to do so at least quarterly there is 
a schedule of matters reserved for board approval which is regularly reviewed and includes among other things the group’s 
annual budget establishment of new subsidiaries property leases significant acquisitions or disposals of fixed assets and 
significant client contracts during the year 19 board meetings were held which included three facetoface meetings the 
others being by telephone conference all directors attended all meetings save for ian taylor who was unable to attend two 
meetings and david dewhurst who was unable to attend one meeting 
the audit committee and remuneration committee comprise the two nonexecutive directors ian taylor committee 
chairman and will whitehorn the nomination committee comprises will whitehorn committee chairman ian taylor  
and tim dyson there were two remuneration committee meetings and two audit committee meetings during the year 
and these were attended by all members 
prior to each monthly board meeting every member of the board receives an agenda supporting documents and when 
relevant monthly trading results together with a detailed commentary the nonexecutive directors are encouraged to ask 
for further information if necessary 
the nonexecutive directors held meetings during the year without the executives present to discuss among other things 
the performance of the company and that of the executive directors 
chairman and chief executive 
the roles of the chairman and chief executive are separate and clearly defined the chairman will whitehorn is responsible 
for the leadership of the board and the chief executive tim dyson is responsible for managing the group’s operations 
board balance and independence 
there were no changes to the board during the year to 31 july 2009 the board comprises two executive directors tim dyson 
chief executive and david dewhurst finance director there are two nonexecutive directors will whitehorn chairman and 
ian taylor who is also the company’s senior independent director biographies of all the directors are set out on pages 22  
and 23 the board considers that the current board structure is appropriate and it complies with the qca guidelines for aim 
companies which permits an independent chairman to be counted as one of the two independent nonexecutive directors 
the board views both ian taylor and will whitehorn as independent by the criteria set out in the combined code and free 
from any relationship or circumstance which could affect their independent judgement 
appointments to the board 
appointments to the board are the responsibility of the board upon recommendation of the nomination committee  
there was no requirement for a nomination committee meeting during the year 
information and professional development 
the directors have adopted a number of policies and procedures to help them operate effectively these include access  
to independent professional advice appropriate training for new and existing directors is provided where necessary 
reelection of directors 
in accordance with the company’s articles of association onethird of the directors must retire by rotation each year  
this year will whitehorn and ian taylor will retire and will be subject to reelection   
next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009   35 
 overview 19
 business review 1021
 governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 additional information 8488
remuneration 
the remuneration report on pages 29 to 33 sets out details of the directors’ remuneration and the work of the  
remuneration committee 
financial reporting 
the statement of the directors’ responsibilities in respect of the financial statements is set out on page 37 the directors  
have reviewed the group’s budget and cash requirements for the year ending 31 july 2010 and considered outline plans for 
the group thereafter the directors are satisfied that the company and the group have adequate resources to continue in 
operational existence for the foreseeable future accordingly they continue to adopt the goingconcern basis in preparing 
the financial statements 
internal control and principal risks 
the directors have responsibility for the system of internal control for the group and for reviewing its effectiveness it is the 
responsibility of management to implement board policies on risk and control the group’s system of internal control is 
designed to manage and reduce rather than eliminate risk 
the board assesses key areas of internal control and risk management and sets policies accordingly at least once a year each 
of the core businesses is given the task of identifying and setting out its own key risks the resulting document must contain a 
review of the extent and likelihood of each risk and the effectiveness of the controls that manage these risks the board also 
requires the businesses to identify and report any significant risks that arise during the year as soon as they arise the audit 
committee reviews the businesses’ risk documents and produces a significantrisks document for the group which is 
considered and approved by the board it identifies ways to manage and control these risks and sets policies accordingly 
the board can therefore confirm that there is a process for identifying evaluating and managing the significant risks facing the 
group it has been in place throughout the year and is uptodate as at the date of approval of these financial statements  
it is regularly reviewed and accords with the turnbull guidance 
the board considers the principal risks and uncertainties facing the group to be 
• employee risk – ensuring that the right people are in the right roles and key employees are retained as a public relations 
business the company is heavily reliant on key employees who are vital to its success the ability to recruit new talent  
and retain existing employees remains an important issue for the group the group’s hr teams regularly consider  
talentmanagement issues and the remuneration and motivation of staff 
• client risk – the loss of a major client the group is continuing to reduce the percentage of total revenue that comes from  
a few major clients however the loss of clients is still a risk to the group in the technology sector merger and acquisition 
activity has led to increased consolidation of companies which can also lead to the loss of clients all businesses continue 
to actively seek new clients to keep the reliance on major clients to a minimum 
• currency risk – although the company is listed in the uk it makes much of its profit outside the uk this exposes it to the 
risk of fluctuations in foreign exchange rates the group has established treasury policies and procedures to mitigate this 
risk as much as possible a subcommittee of the board has been established to consider if and when hedging products 
should be put in place 
• regional risk – as a global company the group needs different approaches  in different regions as the economy changes 
the group needs to ensure it has appropriate strategies and policies to respond to regional changes  
the board has considered the need for a separate internal audit function but has decided that because of the size of the 
group this function will continue to be carried out by existing finance staff this decision will be reviewed annually  directors’ statement on corporate governance continued 
36   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 
audit committee and auditors 
the audit committee meets periodically and at least twice per year with the external auditors and with other directors  
and management attending by invitation the primary role of the committee is to keep under review the group’s financial 
reporting procedures and financial systems and controls and to ensure the integrity of the financial information reported  
to shareholders its key terms of reference are 
• reviewing the findings of the audit work undertaken by the group’s auditors 
• reviewing the effectiveness of the financial reporting and internal control procedures 
• reviewing the relationship with external auditors and 
• determining the level of the auditors’ fees 
its terms of reference are available on the company’s website wwwnextfifteencom the independence and objectivity of  
the auditors are considered by the committee on a regular basis the split between audit and nonaudit work for the year  
is set out in note 4 to the financial statements the nonaudit fees were in respect of nonaudit tax services advice on the 
company’s share option and longterm incentive schemes and corporate finance advisory work this work is not considered 
to affect the independence or objectivity of the auditors the committee also receives an annual confirmation of 
independence from the auditors 
relations with shareholders 
the company meets regularly with its institutional shareholders and is keen to encourage shareholder participation at  
the annual general meeting at which the chief executive makes a presentation summarising the progress of the group 
throughout the year and invites any questions from attendees proxy votes are disclosed following a show of hands on each 
resolution prior to last year’s annual general meeting all shareholders were given the opportunity to submit questions to  
the board even if they were unable to attend these questions were answered by the board and a video of this question 
andanswer session was uploaded to the company’s website the company also publishes its annual and interim reports  
on its website as well as the company’s regulatory news announcements and some analyst reports the company has also 
started adding video clips to its website when it announces its interim and fullyear results to explain the results further  
these measures enable information on the company to reach a greater number of investors and interested stakeholders 
the chairman chief executive and finance director regularly attend onetoone meetings with key institutional shareholders 
after the publication of the company’s interim and preliminary results while the other nonexecutive director does not 
ordinarily attend meetings with major shareholders he would do so if requested by the shareholders 
  statement of directors’ responsibilities 
next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009   37 
 overview 19
 business review 1021
 governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 additional information 8488
the directors are responsible for preparing the annual report and the financial statements the directors are required to 
prepare the financial statements for the group in accordance with applicable law and international financial reporting 
standards ‘ifrs’ as adopted by the european union and the rules of the london stock exchange for companies trading 
securities on the alternative investment market the directors have chosen to prepare financial statements for the company 
in accordance with uk generally accepted accounting practice 
international accounting standard 1 requires that financial statements present fairly for each financial period the group’s 
financial position financial performance and cash flows this requires the faithful representation of the effects of transactions 
other events and conditions in accordance with the definitions and recognition criteria for assets liabilities income and 
expenses set out in the international accounting standards board’s ‘framework for the preparation and presentation of 
financial statements’ in virtually all circumstances a fair presentation will be achieved by compliance with all applicable 
international financial reporting standards a fair presentation also requires the directors to 
• consistently select and apply appropriate accounting policies 
• present information including accounting policies in a manner that provides relevant reliable comparable and 
understandable information and 
• provide additional disclosures when compliance with specific requirements in ifrs is insufficient to enable users to 
understand the impact of particular transactions other events and conditions on the entity’s financial position and  
financial performance 
company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view  
of the state of affairs of the company and of the profit or loss of the company for that period in preparing these financial 
statements the directors are required to 
• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently 
• prepare the financial statements on a goingconcern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the company will 
continue in business 
• make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent and 
• state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed subject to any material departures disclosed and 
explained in the financial statements 
financial statements are published on the company’s website in accordance with legislation in the united kingdom 
governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements which may vary from legislation in other jurisdictions 
the maintenance and integrity of the company’s website is the responsibility of the directors the directors’ responsibility  
also extends to the ongoing integrity of the financial statements contained therein 
 
 
  independent auditors’ report to the members  
of next fifteen communications group plc 
38   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 
we have audited the financial statements of next fifteen communications group plc for the year ended 31 july 2009 which 
comprise the consolidated income statement the consolidated and company balance sheets the consolidated statement  
of cash flow the consolidated statement of recognised income and expense the company reconciliation of movements  
in shareholders’ funds and the related notes the financial reporting framework that has been applied in the preparation  
of the group financial statements is applicable law and international financial reporting standards ‘ifrss’ as adopted  
by the european union the financial reporting framework that has been applied in preparation of the parent company 
financial statements is applicable law and united kingdom accounting standards united kingdom generally accepted 
accounting practice  
this report is made solely to the company’s members as a body in accordance with sections 495 and 496 of the companies 
act 2006 our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the company’s members those matters we are 
required to state to them in an auditors’ report and for no other purpose to the fullest extent permitted by law we do not 
accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the company and the company’s members as a body for our audit 
work for this report or for the opinions we have formed 
respective responsibilities of directors and auditors 
as explained more fully in the statement of directors’ responsibilities the directors are responsible for the preparation of  
the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view our responsibility is to audit the financial 
statements in accordance with applicable law and international standards on auditing uk and ireland those standards 
require us to comply with the auditing practices board’s apb’s ethical standards for auditors  
scope of the audit of the financial statements 
an audit involves obtaining evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements sufficient to give 
reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free from material misstatement whether caused by fraud or error  
this includes an assessment of whether the accounting policies are appropriate to the group’s and the parent company’s 
circumstances and have been consistently applied and adequately disclosed the reasonableness of significant accounting 
estimates made by the directors and the overall presentation of the financial statements  
opinion on financial statements 
in our opinion  
• the financial statements give a true and fair view of the state of the group’s and the parent company’s affairs as at 31 july 
2009 and of the group’s profit for the year then ended 
• the group financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with ifrss as adopted by the european union 
• the parent company’s financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with united kingdom generally 
accepted accounting practice and 
• the financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the companies act 2006 and  
as regards the group financial statements article 4 of ias regulations   
next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009   39 
 overview 19
 business review 1021
 governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 additional information 8488
opinion on other matters prescribed by the companies act 2006 
in our opinion the information given in the directors’ report for the financial year for which the financial statements are 
prepared is consistent with the financial statements  
matters on which we are required to report by exception 
we have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the companies act 2006 requires us to report to you if 
in our opinion 
• adequate accounting records have not been kept by the parent company or returns adequate for our audit have not been 
received from branches not visited by us or 
• the parent company financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns or 
• certain disclosures of directors’ remuneration specified by law are not made or 
• we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit 
 
scott mcnaughton senior statutory auditor 
for and on behalf of bdo llp statutory auditor 
london 
united kingdom 
11 november 2009 
bdo llp is a limited liability partnership registered in england and wales with registered number oc305127  consolidated income statement  
for the year ended 31 july 2009 
 
40   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 
 note 
2009 
£’000 
2009 
£’000
2008    
£’000    
restated 
2008    
£’000    
restated 
billings 77287 73916   
revenue 2 65394 63107   
staff costs 3 43792 42455    
depreciation 412 1168 1203    
amortisation and impairment 411 513 113    
reorganisation costs 5 1950 –    
other operating charges 14121 13219    
total operating charges 61544 56990   
operating profit 4 3850 6117  
finance expense 6 839 892   
finance income 7 147 174   
net finance expense 692 718   
share of profit of equity accounted associate – 117   
profit before income tax 24 3158 5516   
income tax expense 8 884 1655   
profit for the year 2274 3861   
attributable to   
equity holders of the parent 1932 3663   
minority interest 342 198   
 2274 3861   
earnings per share 10  
basic pence 367 708   
diluted pence 366 699   
see note 1a 
 
 
  consolidated statement of recognised income  
and expense 
for the year ended 31 july 2009 
next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009   41 
 overview 19
 business review 1021
 governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 additional information 8488
 
2009  
£’000  
2008 
£’000 
foreign currency translation differences for foreign operations 1540 15
translation differences on longterm foreign currency intercompany loans 140 28
income recognised directly in equity 1680 43
profit for the year 2274 3861
total recognised income for the year 3954 3904
attributable to  
equity holders of the company 3612 3706
minority interest 342 198
total recognised income for the year 3954 3904 consolidated balance sheet  
as at 31 july 2009 
 
 
42   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 
 note 
2009 
£’000 
2009 
£’000
2008  
£’000 
2008  
£’000 
assets   
property plant and equipment 12 1949 2435  
intangible assets 11 18441 15462  
investment in equity accounted associate 14 – 190  
deferred tax asset 19 1695 1468  
other receivables 1320 533 651  
total noncurrent assets 22618 20206 
trade and other receivables 1320 14595 15720  
cash and cash equivalents 20 7130 9525  
corporation tax asset 1115 701  
total current assets 22840 25946 
total assets 2 45458 46152 
liabilities   
loans and borrowings 20 4922 5315  
deferred tax liabilities 19 42 32  
other payables 1520 73 385  
provisions 16 282 –  
deferred consideration 18 – 139  
total noncurrent liabilities 5319 5871 
loans and borrowings 20 156 –  
trade and other payables 1520 13679 14914  
corporation tax liability 20 559 677  
deferred consideration 1820 228 2630  
derivative financial liabilities 20 615 685  
share purchase obligation 18 – 1737  
total current liabilities 15237 20643 
total liabilities 20556 26514 
total net assets 24902 19638 
equity   
share capital 2125 1381 1354  
share premium reserve 25 5157 5157  
merger reserve 25 3075 2659  
share purchase reserve 25 – 1380  
foreign currency translation reserve 25 1349 191  
investment in own shares 2425 644 663  
treasury shares 2425 595 504  
retained earnings 25 14424 12960  
total equity attributable to  
equity holders of the company 24147 19392 
minority interests 755 246 
total equity 24902 19638 
these financial statements were approved and authorised by the board on 11 november 2009 
w whitehorn 
chairman 
d dewhurst 
finance director  consolidated statement of cash flow 
for the year ended 31 july 2009 
 
 
next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009   43 
 overview 19
 business review 1021
 governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 additional information 8488
 
 note 
2009 
£’000 
2009 
£’000
2008  
£’000 
2008 
£’000 
cash flows from operating activities  
profit for the period 2274 3861 
adjustments for  
depreciation 412 1168 1203 
amortisation and impairment 411 513 113 
finance income 7 147 174 
finance expense 6 839 892 
share of profit from equity  
accounted associate 14 – 117 
loss on sale of property plant  
and equipment 4 5 2 
income tax expense 8 884 1655 
sharebased creditcharge 422 57 237 
movement in fair value of forward  
foreign exchange contracts 4 325 589 
net cash inflow from operating 
activities before changes in  
working capital 5154 8261
change in trade and other receivables 2999 1417 
change in trade and other payables 2174 2755 
increase in provision 16 282 – 
change in working capital 1107 1338
net cash generated from operations 6261 9599
income taxes paid 1476 1090
net cash from operating activities 4785 8509
cash flows from investing activities  
acquisition of subsidiary net of  
cash acquired 4448 829 
acquisition costs 101 – 
acquisition of property plant  
and equipment 415 1591 
proceeds on disposal of property  
plant and equipment 40 – 
acquisition of intangible assets 134 329 
payments for longterm cash deposits – 233 
receipts from longterm cash deposits 202 – 
interest received 7 147 174 
net cash outflow from investing 
activities 4709 2808
net cash from operating and  
investing activities 76 5701
  consolidated statement of cash flow continued 
for the year ended 31july 2009 
 
 
 
44   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 
 note 
2009 
£’000
2009 
£’000
2008  
£’000 
2008  
£’000 
net cash from operating and  
investing activities 76 5701 
cash flows from financing activities   
proceeds from sale of own shares 63 64  
acquisition of own shares 24 91 504  
repayment of bank borrowings 1462 337  
capital element of finance lease  
rental repayment 225 217  
interest paid 6 489 414  
minority dividend paid 9 226 –  
dividend paid to shareholders of the parent 9 900 807  
net cash outflow from  
financing activities 3330 2215 
net decreaseincrease in cash  
and cash equivalents 3254 3486 
cash and cash equivalents at  
beginning of the year 9525 5834 
exchange gains on cash held 859 205 
cash and cash equivalents  
at end of the year 20 7130 9525 
  notes to the accounts 
for the year ended 31 july 2009 
next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009   45 
 overview 19
 business review 1021
 governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 additional information 8488
1 accounting policies 
the principal accounting policies applied in the preparation of the consolidated financial statements are set out below  
these policies have been consistently applied to all the periods presented unless otherwise stated 
a basis of preparation 
the group’s financial statements have been prepared in accordance with international financial reporting standards adopted 
by the european union ‘adopted ifrs’ 
the income statement for the year ended 31 july 2008 presented gains or losses on forward foreign exchange contracts that 
were settled during the year within other operating charges the movement in the fair value of forward foreign exchange 
contracts open at the opening and closing balance sheet dates was presented within finance expense the income statement 
for the year ended 31 july 2008 has been restated to ensure that these items are both presented within other operating 
charges this resulted in a decrease in finance expense and a corresponding increase in other operating charges of £589000 
there is no impact on profit for the year 
b transitional provisions of ifrs accounting policies 
the group’s date of transition to adopted ifrs is 1 august 2006 ifrs 1 firsttime adoption of international financial reporting 
standards sets out the procedures that the group has followed as the basis for preparing its consolidated financial statements 
under ifrs the group was required to establish its ifrs accounting policies as at 31 july 2008 and in general apply these 
retrospectively to determine the ifrs balance sheet at the date of transition 
the standard provides a number of optional exemptions to this general principal the most significant of these are set out 
below together with the description in each case of the exemptions adopted by the group 
i business combinations that occurred before the transition date ifrs 3 business combinations 
the group has elected not to apply ifrs 3 retrospectively to business combinations that took place before the date of 
transition as a result in the transition balance sheet goodwill arising on past business combinations remains as stated under 
uk gaap as at 31 july 2006 
ii fair value or revaluation at deemed cost ias 16 property and equipment 
the option to restate items of property plant and equipment to their fair value at the transition date has not been taken  
by the group for all items the group has elected to take their carrying value as shown previously under uk gaap as their 
deemed cost 
iii foreign currency translation reserve ias 21 the effects of changes in foreign exchange 
for accounting periods beginning on or after the transition date ifrs requires amounts taken to reserves on the translation  
of foreign subsidiaries associates and branches to be recorded in a separate foreign currency translation reserve and to be 
included in the future calculation of profit or loss on disposal of the subsidiary associate or branch the foreign currency 
translation reserve was set at zero at the transition date 
c basis of consolidation 
the group’s financial statements consolidate the results of next fifteen communications group plc and all of its subsidiary 
undertakings using the acquisition method of accounting 
subsidiaries are all entities over which the group has the power to govern the financial and operating policies generally 
accompanying a shareholding of more than one half of the voting rights the existence and effect of potential voting rights 
that are currently exercisable or convertible are considered when assessing whether the group controls another entity 
in the consolidated balance sheet the acquiree’s identifiable assets liabilities and contingent liabilities are initially recognised 
at their fair values at the acquisition date the results of acquired operations are included in the consolidated income 
statement from the date on which control is obtained   notes to the accounts continued 
46   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 
1 accounting policies continued 
c basis of consolidation continued 
where the group obtains and recognises the power to govern the financial and operating policies of an associate 
undertaking the associate becomes a subsidiary the assets liabilities contingent liabilities and results are accounted for in 
line with subsidiary accounting discussed above effective from the date in which control is recognised the acquisition date 
control can be gained where the right to purchase the majority shareholding exists whether or not that right is exercised 
where the recognition of control is accompanied with a purchase of a shareholding in the now subsidiary goodwill is 
calculated at the acquisition date goodwill is calculated separately for each tranche of shares acquired and is based on the  
fair value of the consideration less the fair value of assets liabilities and contingent liabilities acquired the original holding 
prior to the recognition of the associate as a subsidiary is revalued based on existing fair values at the acquisition date  
and any gain or loss is recognised in a separate revaluation reserve within equity in the consolidated balance sheet  
see viii for information regarding accounting for the increase in stake of a subsidiary  
intercompany transactions balances and unrealised gains on transactions between group companies next fifteen 
communications group plc and its subsidiaries are eliminated unrealised losses are also eliminated unless the transaction 
provides evidence of an impairment of the asset transferred accounting policies for subsidiaries have been changed where 
necessary to ensure consistency with the policies adopted by the group 
d merger reserve 
where the conditions set out in section 131 of the companies act 1985 section 612 of the companies act 2006 after  
1 october 2009 are met shares issued as part of the consideration in a business combination are measured at their fair  
value in the consolidated balance sheet and the difference between the nominal value and fair value of the shares issued  
is recognised in the merger reserve 
e associates 
where the group has the power to exercise significant influence but not control over the financial and operating policy 
decisions of another entity it is classified as an associate associates are initially recognised in the consolidated balance sheet 
at cost the group’s share of postacquisition profits and losses is recognised in the consolidated income statement except 
that losses in excess of the group’s investment in the associate are not recognised unless there is an obligation to make good 
those losses 
profits and losses arising on transactions between the group and its associates are recognised only to the extent of unrelated 
investors’ interests in the associate the investor’s share in the associate’s unrealised profits and losses resulting from these 
transactions is eliminated against the carrying value of the associate 
f revenue 
billings represents amounts receivable from clients exclusive of vat sales taxes and trade discounts in respect of charges for 
fees commission and rechargeable expenses incurred on behalf of clients 
revenue is billings less amounts payable on behalf of clients to external suppliers where they are retained to perform part  
of a specific client project or service and represents fees commissions and markups on rechargeable expenses revenue is 
recognised on the following basis 
• retainer and other nonretainer fees are recognised as the services are performed in accordance with the terms of the 
contractual arrangement 
• project fees are recognised on a percentage completion basis as contract activity progresses if the final outcome can be 
assessed with reasonable certainty the stage of completion is generally measured on the basis of the services performed  
to date as a percentage of the total services to be performed 
• expenses are recharged to clients at cost plus an agreed markup when the services are performed   
next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009   47 
 overview 19
 business review 1021
governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 additional information 8488
 
1 accounting policies continued 
g intangible assets 
goodwill goodwill represents the excess of the cost of a business combination over the interest in the fair value of identifiable 
assets liabilities and contingent liabilities acquired cost comprises the fair values of assets given liabilities assumed and 
equity instruments issued plus any direct costs of acquisition goodwill is capitalised as an intangible asset with any 
impairment in carrying value being charged to the consolidated income statement 
software licences for software that are not integral to the functioning of a computer are capitalised as intangible assets  
costs that are directly associated with the production of identifiable and unique software products controlled by the group 
and that are expected to generate economic benefits exceeding costs beyond one year are recognised as intangible assets 
direct costs include software development employee costs 
amortisation is provided on software at rates calculated to write off the cost less estimated residual value of each asset evenly 
over its expected useful life of five to seven years 
no amortisation is charged on assets in the course of construction until they are available for operational use in the business 
capitalised computer software that is not an asset in the course of construction is amortised on a straightline basis over its 
useful economic life costs associated with maintaining computer software programmes are recognised as an expense  
as incurred 
trade names trade names acquired in a business combination are recognised at fair value at the acquisition date trade names 
have a finite useful life and are carried at costs less accumulated amortisation amortisation is calculated using the straightline 
method to allocate the cost of trade names over their estimated useful lives of 20 years 
customer relationships contractual customer relationships acquired in a business combination are recognised at fair value at  
the acquisition date the contractual customer relationships have a finite useful life and are carried at cost less accumulated 
amortisation amortisation is calculated using the straightline method over the expected life of the customer relationship  
of three to five years 
h property plant and equipment 
property plant and equipment is stated at cost net of depreciation depreciation is provided on all property plant and 
equipment at annual rates calculated to write off the cost less estimated residual value of each asset evenly over its expected 
useful life as follows 
short leasehold improvements – over the term of the lease or until the first break clause 
office equipment – 20 – 50 per annum straightline 
office furniture – 20 per annum straightline 
motor vehicles – 25 per annum straightline 
i impairment 
impairment tests on goodwill are undertaken annually at the financial year end other nonfinancial assets including 
investments in associates but excluding deferred tax are subject to impairment tests whenever events or changes in 
circumstances indicate that their carrying amount may not be recoverable 
where the carrying value of an asset exceeds its recoverable amount which is measured as the higher of value in use and  
fair value less costs to sell the asset is impaired accordingly 
where it is not possible to estimate the recoverable amount of an individual asset the impairment test is carried out on the 
asset’s cashgenerating unit defined as the lowest group of assets in which the asset belongs for which there are separately 
identifiable cash flows goodwill is allocated on initial recognition to each of the group’s cashgenerating units that are 
expected to benefit from the synergies of the combination giving rise to the goodwill 
impairment charges are included within amortisation in the consolidated income statement except to the extent they 
reverse gains previously recognised in the consolidated statement of recognised income and expense an impairment loss 
recognised for goodwill is not reversed  notes to the accounts continued 
48   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 
1 accounting policies continued 
j foreign currency 
transactions entered into by group entities in a currency other than the currency of the primary economic environment  
in which they operate their ‘functional currency’ are recorded at the exchange rates ruling when the transactions occur 
foreign currency monetary assets and liabilities are translated at the exchange rates ruling at the balance sheet date 
exchange differences arising on the retranslation of unsettled monetary assets and liabilities are recognised immediately in 
the income statement foreign exchange movements on intercompany loans with indefinite terms and for which there  
is no expectation of a demand for repayment are recognised directly in equity    
on consolidation the results of overseas operations are translated into sterling at the average exchange rates for the 
accounting period all assets and liabilities of overseas operations including goodwill arising on the acquisition of those 
operations are translated at the exchange rates ruling at the balance sheet date exchange differences arising on translating 
the opening net assets at opening rates the results of overseas operations at average rates and on foreign currency 
borrowings are recognised directly in the foreign currency translation reserve within equity 
on disposal of a foreign operation the cumulative translation differences recognised in the foreign currency translation 
reserve relating to that operation up to the date of disposal are transferred to the consolidated income statement as part  
of the profit or loss on disposal 
k segment reporting 
a business segment is a distinguishable component of the group that is engaged in providing an individual product or 
service or a group of related products or services that is subject to risks and returns that are different from those of other 
business segments a geographical segment is a distinguishable component of the group that is engaged in providing 
products or services within a particular economic environment and that is subject to risks and returns that are different from 
those of components operating in other economic environments 
primary segment the group has one business segment being the provision of public relations services 
 a second business segment being research is not large enough to require segmental disclosure 
secondary segments the group operates in four geographical segments being the uk europe and africa us and canada 
and asia pacific 
l financial instruments 
financial assets and liabilities are recognised on the group’s balance sheet when the group becomes party to the contractual 
provisions of the asset or liability the group’s accounting policies for different types of financial asset and liability are 
described below 
trade receivables trade receivables are initially recognised at fair value and will subsequently be measured at amortised cost 
less allowances for impairment an allowance for impairment of trade receivables is established when there is objective 
evidence such as significant financial difficulties on the part of the counterparty or default or significant delay in payment 
that the group will not be able to collect all amounts due according to the original terms of the receivables the amount of 
the allowance is the difference between the asset’s carrying amount and the present value of estimated future cash flows 
associated with the impaired receivable such provisions are recorded in a separate allowance account with the loss being 
recognised as an expense in the other operating charges line on confirmation that the trade receivable will not be 
collectable the gross carrying value is written off against the associated allowance 
cash and cash equivalents cash and cash equivalents comprise cash in hand and shortterm call deposits held with banks  
bank overdrafts are shown within loans and borrowings in current liabilities on the consolidated balance sheet except where 
there is a pooling arrangement with a bank that allows them to be offset against cash balances in such cases the net cash 
balance will be shown within cash and cash equivalents in the consolidated balance sheet   
next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009   49 
 overview 19
 business review 1021
governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 additional information 8488
 
1 accounting policies continued 
derivative financial instruments derivative financial instruments utilised by the group are protection contracts on us dollar 
interest rate contracts capandcollar and us dollar and euro foreign exchange contracts derivative financial instruments  
are initially recognised at fair value at the contract date and continue to be stated at fair value at the balance sheet date  
with gains and losses on revaluation being recognised immediately in the consolidated income statement 
the fair value of derivative financial liabilities is determined by reference to third party market valuations 
bank borrowings interestbearing bank loans and overdrafts are recognised at their fair value net of direct issue costs and 
thereafter at amortised cost finance costs are charged to the consolidated income statement over the term of the debt so 
that the amount charged is at a constant rate on the carrying amount finance costs include issue costs which are initially 
recognised as a reduction in the proceeds of the associated capital instrument and unwound over the term of the debt 
share purchase obligation put option agreements that allow the group’s equity partners to require the group to purchase  
the minority interest are recorded in the balance sheet as liabilities on initial recognition the liability is measured at the 
present value of the ultimate expected payment with the corresponding debit included in the share purchase reserve 
subsequent movements in the present value of the ultimate expected payment are recognised in the consolidated  
income statement 
trade payables trade payables are initially recognised at fair value and thereafter at amortised cost 
m provisions 
provisions are recognised when the group has a present obligation as a result of a past event and it is probable that the 
group will be required to settle that obligation and are discounted to present value where the effect is material 
n borrowing costs 
finance costs of borrowing are recognised in the income statement over the term of the borrowings 
o retirement benefits 
pension costs which relate to payments made by the group to employees’ own defined contribution pension plans are 
charged to the consolidated income statement as incurred 
p sharebased payments 
the group issues equitysettled sharebased payments to certain employees the sharebased payments are measured at  
fair value at the date of the grant and expensed on a straightline basis over the vesting period the cumulative expense is 
adjusted for failure to achieve nonmarket vesting conditions 
fair value is measured by use of a blackscholes model on the grounds that there are no marketrelated vesting conditions  
the expected life used in the model has been adjusted based on the board’s best estimate for the effects of non
transferability exercise restrictions and behavioural considerations 
q leased assets 
where substantially all of the risks and rewards incidental to ownership of a leased asset have been transferred to the group  
a ‘finance lease’ the asset is treated as if it had been purchased outright the amount initially recognised as an asset is the 
lower of the fair value of the leased asset and the present value of the minimum lease payments payable over the term of the 
lease the corresponding lease commitment is shown as a liability lease payments are analysed between capital and interest 
the interest element is charged to the consolidated income statement over the period of the lease and is calculated so that it 
represents a constant proportion of the lease liability the capital element reduces the balance owed to the lessor 
where substantially all of the risks and rewards incidental to ownership are not transferred to the group an ‘operating lease’ 
the total rentals payable under the lease are charged to the consolidated income statement on a straightline basis over the 
lease term the aggregate benefit of lease incentives is recognised as a reduction to the rental expense over the lease term  
on a straightline basis 
the land and buildings elements of property leases are considered separately for the purposes of lease classification  notes to the accounts continued 
50   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 
1 accounting policies continued 
r deferred taxation 
deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognised where the carrying amount of an asset or liability in the balance sheet differs 
from its tax base except for differences arising on 
• the initial recognition of goodwill 
• the initial recognition of an asset or liability in a transaction which is not a business combination and at the time of the 
transaction affects neither accounting nor taxable profit and 
• investments in subsidiaries and jointly controlled entities where the group is able to control the timing of the reversal  
of the difference and it is probable that the difference will not reverse in the foreseeable future 
recognition of deferred tax assets is restricted to those instances where it is probable that taxable profit will be available 
against which the asset can be utilised 
the amount of the asset or liability is determined using tax rates that have been enacted or substantively enacted by the 
balance sheet date and are expected to apply when the deferred tax liabilitiesassets are settledrecovered 
deferred tax assets and liabilities are offset when the group has a legally enforceable right to offset current tax assets and 
liabilities and the deferred tax assets and liabilities relate to taxes levied by the same tax authority on either 
• the same taxable group company or 
• different group entities which intend either to settle current tax assets and liabilities on a net basis or to realise the assets 
and settle the liabilities simultaneously in each future period in which significant amounts of deferred tax assets or liabilities 
are expected to be settled or recovered 
where a temporary difference arises between the tax base of employee share options and their carrying value a deferred  
tax asset should arise to the extent the future tax deduction exceeds the related cumulative ifrs 2 sharebased payments 
‘ifrs 2’ expense the excess of the associated deferred tax balance is recognised directly in equity to the extent the future 
tax deduction matches the cumulative ifrs 2 expense the associated deferred tax balance is recognised in the consolidated 
income statement 
s dividends 
equity dividends are recognised when they become legally payable interim equity dividends are recognised when paid  
final equity dividends are recognised when approved by the shareholders at an annual general meeting 
t employee share ownership plan esop 
as the group is deemed to have control of its esop trust the trust is treated as a subsidiary and consolidated for the purposes 
of the group accounts the esop’s assets other than investments in the company’s shares liabilities income and expenses 
are included on a linebyline basis in the group financial statements the esop’s investment in the group’s shares is deducted 
from equity in the consolidated balance sheet as if they were treasury shares and presented in the investmentinownshares 
reserve 
u treasury shares 
when the group reacquires its own equity instruments those instruments treasury shares are deducted from equity  
no gain or loss is recognised in the consolidated income statement on the purchase sale issue or cancellation of the group’s 
treasury shares such treasury shares may be acquired and held by other members of the group consideration paid or 
received is recognised directly in equity   
next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009   51 
 overview 19
 business review 1021
governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 additional information 8488
 
1 accounting policies continued 
v significant estimates and judgements 
the preparation of the consolidated financial statements requires the group to make certain estimates and assumptions  
that have an impact on the application of the policies and amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements 
estimates and judgements are evaluated based on historical experiences and expected outcomes and are believed to be 
reasonable at the time such estimates and judgements are made although actual experience may vary from these estimates 
i impairment of goodwill in line with las 36 impairment of assets the group is required to test the carrying value of goodwill  
at least annually for impairment as part of this review process the recoverable amount of the goodwill is determined using 
valueinuse calculations which requires estimates of future cash flows and as such is subject to estimates and assumptions 
further details are contained in note 11 
ii taxation the group is subject to income tax in numerous jurisdictions and significant judgement is required in determining 
the provision for income taxes the group recognises assetsliabilities for anticipated tax issues based on estimates of the tax 
treatment where the final tax outcome is different from the amounts that were initially recorded such differences will impact 
the income tax and deferred tax provisions 
iii accounting for the increase in stake of a subsidiary ifrs 3 business combinations does not provide guidance on this subject as 
increasing the holding in a business which is already treated as a subsidiary is outside the scope of ifrs 3 the purchase of  
an additional stake in a business does not constitute a business combination as the business combination occurred when 
control was established the board has exercised judgement regarding the accounting treatment of increasing the holding  
in a subsidiary and the part or full acquisition of a minority interest is treated as giving rise to additional economic interest 
held by the group a purchase will generally result in the recognition of goodwill and reduced minority interest goodwill is 
recognised according to the fair value of the consideration and the fair value of the assets and liabilities acquired at the date  
of the purchase 
w new standards and amendments not applied 
standards interpretations and amendments to existing standards that have been published as mandatory for later 
accounting periods but are not yet effective and have not been adopted early by the group are as follows 
a interpretations to existing standards and new standards which are not yet effective but are mandatory to the group’s future 
accounting periods which the group has not early adopted 
ifrs 8 operating segments effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 january 2009 replaces ias 14 and aligns 
segment reporting with the requirements of the us standard and sfas 131 disclosures about segments and an enterprise 
and related information the new standard uses a ‘management approach’ under which segment information is presented 
on the same basis as that used for internal reporting purposes 
ias 1 presentation of financial statements revised effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 january 2009  
ias 1 has been revised to enhance the usefulness of information presented in the group financial statements 
ifrs 3 business combinations revised effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 july 2009 requires that all 
acquisition costs must be expensed contingent consideration is to be measured at fair value at the acquisition date and  
any subsequent movements must be recognised as an expense in the consolidated income statement in addition equity 
interests held prior to control being obtained must be remeasured at fair value at the acquisition date with any gain or  
loss recognised in the consolidated income statement increases in ownership interest in a subsidiary that do not result  
in a change of control are treated as transactions amongst equity holders and reported within equity  notes to the accounts continued 
52   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 
1 accounting policies continued 
amendments to ias 27 consolidated and separate financial statements effective for accounting periods beginning on or 
after 1 july 2009 this amendment relates in particular to acquisitions of subsidiaries achieved in stages and disposals of 
interests with significant differences in the accounting depending on whether control is gained or not or a transaction  
simply results in a change in the percentage of the controlling interest the amendment does not require the restatement  
of previous transactions the amendment to ias 27 must be adopted at the same time as ifrs 3 revised 
ias 23 borrowing costs revised effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 january 2009 the revised standard 
eliminates the option of expensing all borrowing costs and requires all borrowing costs to be capitalised if they are directly 
attributable to the acquisition construction or production of a qualifying asset 
ifrs 2 sharebased payment vesting conditions and cancellations effective for accounting periods beginning on or  
after 1 january 2009 requires that vesting conditions are service conditions and performance conditions only and that  
all cancellations whether by the entity or other parties should receive the same accounting treatment 
amendments to ifrs 7 effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 january 2009 this amendment requires  
the analysis of each class of financial asset and financial liability into a threelevel fair value measurement hierarchy it also 
implements some changes to the definition of and disclosures associated with liquidity risk 
ias 39 financial instruments recognition and measurement eligible hedged items effective for accounting periods 
beginning on or after 1 july 2009 clarifies the principles that determine whether a hedged risk or portion of cash flows  
is eligible for designation 
ifric 16 hedges of a net investment in a foreign operation effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 october 
2009 clarifies that the presentation currency does not create an exposure to which an entity may apply hedge accounting 
and the hedging instruments may be held by any entity or entities within the group other than the entity being hedged 
ias 24 related party transactions effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 january 2011 clarifies and simplifies 
the definition of a related party 
b interpretations to existing standards which are not yet effective and not relevant for the group’s operations 
ifrs 1 las 27 cost of an investment in a subsidiary jointly controlled entity or associate effective for accounting periods 
beginning on or after 1 january 2009 
ifric 17 distributions of noncash assets to owners effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 july 2009 
ifric 18 transfer of assets from customers effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 july 2009 
amendments to ias 32 and ias 1 puttable financial instruments and obligations arising on liquidation effective for 
accounting periods beginning on or after 1 january 2009 
amendments to ifric 9 and ias 39 embedded derivatives effective for accounting periods beginning on or after  
30 june 2009 
amendments to ifrs2 group cashsettled sharebased payment transactions effective for accounting periods beginning  
on or after 1 january 2010 
the group does not consider that these standards will have a significant impact on the financial statements of the group  
in the period of initial application the impact of the revisions to ias 27 and ifrs 3 will depend on the circumstances of the 
business combinations occurring on or after 1 august 2009   
next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009   53 
 overview 19
 business review 1021
governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 additional information 8488
 
2 segment information 
primary reporting format – business segments 
the group operates in one business segment being the provision of public relations services a second business segment 
being research is not large enough to require segmental disclosure 
secondary reporting format – geographical segments 
the group’s operations are based in four main geographical areas the uk is the home country of the parent company 
 
revenue 
£’000
profit before
income tax 
£’000
adjusted  
profit before 
income tax
1
 
£’000 
total assets  
£’000 
capital 
expenditure 
£’000
year ended 31 july 2009   
uk 16544 1166 2493 10338 180
europe and africa 9774 674 866 3940 62
us and canada 31233 5348 5963 15421 92
asia pacific 7843 421 421 4738 141
head office – 4451 4494 11021 114
 65394 3158 5249 45458 589
year ended 31 july 2008  
uk 1878723362520 13096 785
europe and africa 10074 1164 1164 4085 52
us and canada 27522 5576 5704 16186 559
asia pacific 6724 667 667 4262 366
head office – 4227 3473 8523 349
 6310755166582 46152 2111
1
adjusted profit before income tax has been reached by adjusting profit before income tax for movements in fair value of financial instruments reorganisation costs 
incurred in the year the unwinding of the discount on deferred consideration and share purchase obligation and goodwill impairment charges see note 5 
reconciliation of proforma financial measures 
3 employee information 
 
2009  
£’000 
2008
£’000 
staff costs for all employees including directors consist of  
wages and salaries 39011 37906
social security costs 3713 3327
pension costs 1125 985
sharebased payment creditcharge 57 237
 43792 42455
the group recognised restructuring costs of £1950000 see note 5 £1503000 of the reorganisation costs can be attributed 
to headcount reductions and are in addition to staff costs of £43792000 of the £1503000 £1251000 relates to staff 
reductions required to reflect revenue expectations in the worsening economy £82000 due to the text seattle office closure 
and £170000 due to the merger of inferno communications limited with bite communications limited on 1 may 2009 
  notes to the accounts continued 
54   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 
3 employee information continued 
 
2009  
number 
2008  
number 
the average number of employees during the year by geographical location was as follows  
uk 201 229 
europe and africa 115 133 
us and canada 278 307 
asia pacific 232 226 
head office 21 18 
 847 913 
details of directors’ remuneration by director are set out below 
 
salary and fees 
2009 
£’000 
performance
related cash 
bonus  
2009  
£’000  
shares  
receivable 
under ltip 
2009 
£’000 
pension 
contributions 
2009 
£’000 
taxable 
benefits 
2009 
£’000 
total  
2009  
£’000  
total  
2008  
£’000 
executive directors    
tim dyson 401 – – 42 13 456 392 
david dewhurst 185 – 13 19 2 219 225 
nonexecutive 
directors    
will whitehorn 104 – – – – 104 100 
ian taylor 39 – – – – 39 37 
during the year the following performance shares were awarded to directors 
 
number of 
shares grant date 
end of  
performance  
period 
executive directors   
david dewhurst 80000 nov 2008 31 july 2011 
nonexecutive directors   
will whitehorn 30000 oct 2008 31 july 2011 
ian taylor 30000 oct 2008 31 july 2011 
during the year the following directors held options to purchase 25p ordinary shares 
 
unexercised  
options at  
1 august  
2008 
granted during 
year 
exercised during 
year 
unexercised 
options at 
31 july 
2009 exercise price 
date from which 
exercisable 
david dewhurst 200000 – – 200000 300p  22102005 
the sharebased payment credit recognised in relation to directors for the year ended 31 july 2009 is £9000  
2008 £13000 charge   
next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009   55 
 overview 19
 business review 1021
governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 additional information 8488
 
4 operating profit 
 
2009  
£’000  
2008    
restated
£’000    
this is arrived at after chargingcrediting  
depreciation of owned property plant and equipment 1130 1151  
depreciation of assets held under finance leases 38 52  
amortisation and impairment of intangible assets 513 113  
reorganisation costs 1950 –  
loss on disposal of property plant and equipment 5 2  
movement in fair value of forward foreign exchange contracts 325 589  
defined contribution pension cost 1124 985  
sharebased payment creditcharge
1
 57 237  
operating lease income 63 71   
operating lease rentals – property 3940 2815   
 – plant and machinery 180 204   
exchange lossgain 1432 51   
fees payable to group auditors 508 398   
1
see note 22 
see note 1a 
auditors’ remuneration 
during the year the group including its overseas subsidiaries obtained the following services from the company’s auditors 
and its associates 
 
2009  
£’000 
2008
£’000 
fees payable to the company’s auditor for the statutory audit  
of the company’s and consolidated annual statements 88 120
other services  
the auditing of financial statements of the subsidiaries pursuant to legislation 187 164
other services pursuant to legislation 5 5
tax services 79 96
other services 149 13
 508 398
  notes to the accounts continued 
56   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 
5 reconciliation of pro forma financial measures 
 
2009  
£’000  
2008  
£’000 
profit before income tax 3158 5516 
movement in fair value of interest rate capandcollar contract
1
 255 165 
movement in fair value of forward foreign exchange contracts
2
 325 589 
reorganisation costs
3
 1950 – 
unwinding of discount on deferred consideration and share purchase obligation
4
 95 312 
impairment charge
5
 116 – 
adjusted profit before income tax 5249 6582 
adjusted profit before income tax has been presented to provide additional information which may be useful to the reader 
1
see note 6 
2
forward foreign exchange contracts held by the group are recognised at fair value on the balance sheet at each reporting date and the movement on such 
contracts is recognised within operating expenses in the income statement these financial instruments comprise financial products used for hedging currency 
exposure on us dollar and euro the movement in fair value of the forward foreign exchange contracts since 31 july 2008 is a credit of £325000 2008 charge  
of £589000 
3
the reorganisation costs of £1950000 relate to redundancies across the group the closure of the text 100 seattle office and the costs associated with the merger 
of inferno communications limited ‘inferno’ into bite communications limited ‘bite’ on 1 may 2009 £115000 of the costs can be attributed to the closure of the 
seattle office £82000 due to headcount reductions and £33000 due to other office closure costs and £584000 of the reorganisation costs relate to the merger of 
inferno with bite £282000 of these costs can be attributed to the onerous lease provision and dilapidations provision on the premises occupied by inferno until 
the date of the merger £170000 can be directly attributed to redundancy costs and the remaining £132000 relates to other office closure costs the remaining 
£1251000 of reorganisation costs have been incurred as a result of headcount reductions required to reflect revenue expectations in the worsening economy 
4
a total interest charge of £95000 2008 £312000 has been recognised during the period £61000 2008 £128000 of the charge relates to the unwinding of the 
discount on the deferred consideration payable for outcast communications corporation a wholly owned subsidiary of the group since june 2005 and £34000 
2008 £184000 relates to the unwinding of the discount on the share purchase obligation for lexis public relations limited a wholly owned subsidiary of the 
group since october 2008 this interest charge is notional and relates to the difference between the discounted liability recognised and the actual liability settled 
5
in accordance with the group’s accounting policy the carrying values of goodwill and intangible assets with indefinite useful lives are reviewed for impairment 
annually or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate that the asset might be impaired an impairment charge has been recognised for the 
goodwill recognised by bite communications limited ‘bite’ on acquisition of credo communications limited ‘credo’ on 31 december 2005 the operations 
were transferred into bite and the decision has been made to write down the goodwill by £116000 due to credo client revenue reductions see note 11 
6 finance expense 
 
2009  
£’000 
2008    
restated 
£’000    
financial liabilities at amortised cost   
bank interest payable 454 393  
unwinding of discount on deferred consideration 61 128  
financial liabilities at fair value through profit and loss   
unwinding of discount on share purchase obligation 34 184  
movement in fair value of interest rate capandcollar contract 255 165  
other   
finance lease interest 35 21  
other interest payable – 1  
finance expense 839 892  
see note 1a 
   
next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009   57 
 overview 19
 business review 1021
governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 additional information 8488
 
7 finance income 
 
2009 
£’000 
2008   
£’000 
financial assets at amortised cost  
bank interest receivable 144 147
other  
other interest receivable 3 27
finance income 147 174
8 taxation 
the major components of income tax expense for the year ended 31 july 2009 are 
 
2009 
£’000 
2008
£’000 
consolidated income statement  
current income tax  
current income tax expense 1189 1544
adjustments in respect of over provision of current income tax in prior years 201 460
deferred income tax  
relating to the origination and reversal of temporary differences 97 523
adjustments in respect of deferred tax for prior years 7 48
income tax expense reported in the consolidated income statement 884 1655
consolidated statement of changes in equity  
net revaluation of sharebased remuneration 7 117
income tax expense reported in equity 7 117
factors affecting the tax charge for the year  
the tax assessed for the year is higher than the standard rate of corporation in the uk of 28 
2008 2933 the difference is explained below  
profit before income tax 3158 5516
corporation tax expense at 28 2009 and 2933 2008 884 1618
effects of  
disallowed expenses 167 439
recognition and utilisation of previously unrecognised tax losses 192 32
nonutilisation of overseas tax losses 30 95
higher rates of tax on overseas earnings 608 661
deductions for overseas taxes 597 714
adjustments in respect of prior years 16 412
 884 1655
the tax charge on associated undertakings included in the above amount is nil 2008 £47000  notes to the accounts continued 
58   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 
9 dividend 
 
2009 
£’000 
2008 
£’000 
dividends paid during the year   
final dividend paid for prior year of 125p per ordinary share 2007 11p 238 571 
interim dividend paid of 045p per ordinary share 2008 045p 662 236 
 900 807 
minority dividend paid¹ 226 – 
¹the group acquired control of 463 communications llc as at 1 august 2008 during the year the partners of the business paid themselves a dividend of  
374000 £226000 
the esop waived its right to dividends in the financial year ended 31 july 2009 £18000 and the year ended  
31 july 2008 £27000 
a final dividend of 125p per share 2008 125p has been proposed this has not been accrued the interim dividend was 
045p per share 2008 045p making a total for the year of 170p per share 2008 170p the final dividend if approved at the 
agm on 26 january 2010 will be paid on 5 february 2010 to all shareholders on the register of members on 8 january 2010 
the exdividend date for the shares is 6 january 2010 
10 earnings per share 
 
2009  
£’000 
2008  
£’000 
earnings attributable to ordinary shareholders 1932 3663 
reorganisation costs after taxation 1339 – 
unwinding of discount on deferred consideration and share purchase obligation after tax 71 264 
movement in fair value of interest rate capandcollar contract after tax 184 118 
movement in fair value of forward foreign exchange contracts after tax 234 414 
impairment charges 116 – 
adjusted earnings attributable to ordinary shareholders 3408 4459 
 
 
number number 
weighted average number of ordinary shares 52585175 51737491 
dilutive shares 133987 652320 
diluted weighted average number of ordinary shares 52719162 52389811 
basic earnings per share 367p 708p 
diluted earnings per share 366p 699p 
adjusted earnings per share 648p 862p 
diluted adjusted earnings per share 646p 851p 
adjusted and diluted adjusted earnings per share have been presented to provide additional useful information the adjusted 
earnings per share is the performance measure used for the vesting of employee share options and performance shares  
the only difference between the adjusting items in this note and the figures in note 5 is the tax effect of those adjusting items   
next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009   59 
 overview 19
 business review 1021
governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 additional information 8488
 
11 intangible assets 
software 
£’000 
trade name 
£’000 
customer 
relationships 
£’000
goodwill  
£’000  
total 
£’000
cost  
at 1 august 2007 1326 – – 13839 15165
additions resulting from internal 
development 494––– 494
acquired through business combinations – – – 1367 1367
exchange differences 9 – – 226 235
at 31 july 2008 1829 – – 15432 17261
additions resulting from internal 
development 134––– 134
acquired through business combinations
1
 – 192 465 1507 2161
exchange differences 62 25 51 1253 1394
at 31 july 2009 2025 217 516 18192 20950
amortisation and impairment  
at 1 august 2007 497 – – 1161 1658
charge for the year 113 – – – 113
exchange differences 8 – – 20 28
at 31 july 2008 618 – – 1181 1799
charge for the year 258 10 129 – 397
impairment charge – – – 116 116
exchange differences 47 – 6 156 197
at 31 july 2009 923 10 123 1453 2509
net book value at 31 july 2009 1102 207 393 16739 18441
net book value at 31 july 2008 1211 – – 14251 15462
1
on 1 august 2008 the group recognised control of 463 communications llc ‘463 llc’ and acquired intangibles of £470000 relating to trade name £192000 
and customer relationships £278000 
on 1 september 2008 bite communications limited a wholly owned subsidiary of the company purchased the business and certain assets of aimpr public 
relations ab a company based in stockholm sweden and acquired intangibles of £187000 relating to customer relationships including £4000 of capitalised  
legal and professional fees   
see note 27 
impairment testing for cashgenerating units containing goodwill 
goodwill acquired through business combinations is allocated to groups of cashgenerating unit ‘cgus’ for impairment 
testing as follows 
 
2009  
£’000 
2008 
£’000 
bite uk 1628 1744
bite us 321 269
lexis uk 8383 6876
outcast us 6377 5338
context analytics us 30 24
 16739 14251
the recoverable amounts of all cgus have been determined from valueinuse calculations using a projection period of five 
years for each cashgenerating unit the basis for this is the 2010 budget approved by the board with a further four years 
based on projected pretax cash flows extrapolated using a growth rate of 25 after the initial projection period a steady 
longterm growth rate of 25 has been applied to the pretax cash flow forecast into perpetuity this is considered prudent 
based on experience and current expectations of the longterm industry growth rate a pretax discount rate being the 
group’s weighted average cost of capital of 100 2008 122 has been used in discounting the projected cash flows  notes to the accounts continued 
60   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 
11 intangible assets continued 
the board has considered reasonable possible sensitivities in key assumptions on which the valueinuse calculations are 
based if growth rates reduced to 1 or if the discount rate increased to 20 this would not cause the carrying values of the 
groups of cgus to exceed their recoverable amounts in all cases except for lexis sensitivity analysis shows that if the discount 
rate is increased in isolation to 172 the estimated recoverable amount of lexis is equal to carrying value 
the review performed at year end resulted in the impairment of credo part of the bite uk cgu credo was acquired on  
31 december 2005 and was fully integrated into bite communications limited the impairment loss of £116000 arose due  
to credo client revenue reductions 
there was no other impairment of goodwill as the estimated recoverable amount exceeds the carrying value in all  
other cases 
12 property plant and equipment 
 
short leasehold 
improvements 
£’000 
office equipment 
£’000 
office furniture 
£’000 
motor vehicles  
£’000  
total  
£’000 
cost   
at 1 august 2007 2618 4358 999 100 8075 
exchange differences 58 193 32 1 284 
additions 102833522133 1617 
disposals 10088339928 1968 
at 31 july 2008 2696 4053 1153 106 8008 
exchange differences 219 491 141 6 857 
additions 111309296 455 
disposals 8826411659 527 
at 31 july 2009 2938 4589 1207 59 8793 
accumulated depreciation   
at 1 august 2007 1679 3427 749 58 5913 
exchange differences 38 172 24 – 234 
charge for the year 522 540 117 24 1203 
disposals 8658177520 1777 
at 31 july 2008 1374 3322 815 62 5573 
exchange differences 105 349 98 4 556 
charge for the year 481 534 145 8 1168 
disposals 1629311133 453 
at 31 july 2009 1944 3912 947 41 6844 
net book value   
at 31 july 2009 994 677 260 18 1949 
at 31 july 2008 1322 731 338 44 2435 
the net book value of property plant and equipment for the group includes assets held under finance lease contracts  
as follows £62000 of short leasehold improvements 2008 £74000 and £11000 of office equipment and furniture  
2008 £23000   
next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009   61 
 overview 19
 business review 1021
governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 additional information 8488
 
13 trade and other receivables 
 
2009  
£’000  
2008 
£’000 
current 
trade receivables 10684 11315
less provision for impairment of trade receivables 201 233
trade receivables – net 10483 11082
other receivables 729 847
prepayments and accrued income 3383 3791
 14595 15720
noncurrent  
rent deposits 533 651
as of 31 july 2009 trade receivables of £201000 2008 £233000 were impaired movements in the provision are as follows 
 
 2009 
 £’000 
 2008 
£’000 
at 1 august 233 167
provision for receivables impairment 128 259
receivables written off during the year as uncollectable 115 64
reversed 65 143
foreign exchange movements 20 14
at 31 july 201 233
the provision for receivables impairment has been determined by considering specific doubtful balances and by reference  
to historic default rates owing to the immaterial level of the provision for impairment of receivables no further disclosure is 
made the group considers there to be no material difference between the fair value of trade and other receivables and their 
carrying amount in the balance sheet 
as at 31 july the analysis of trade receivables that were not impaired is as follows 
 
2009  
£’000 
2008 
£’000 
not past due 5272 7222
up to 30 days 3573 2730
31 to 60 days 1131 627
greater than 61 days 507 503
at 31 july 10483 11082
  notes to the accounts continued 
62   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 
14 investment in associates 
on 31 january 2006 the company invested in a 40 stake of 463 communications llc ‘463 llc’ for a consideration of 
20000 and has until 1 august 2008 treated this as an associate undertaking in the group accounts under the equity method 
of accounting the carrying value of the investment at 31 july 2008 was £190000  
on 1 august 2008 the group had the right to purchase an additional 11 of 463 llc taking the holding to 51 and acquire 
control of the business since this date 463 llc has been accounted for as a subsidiary 
amounts relating to the associate are as follows 
 
2009  
£’000 
2008  
£’000 
share of the associate’s balance sheet   
total assets – 244 
total liabilities – 81 
net assets – 163 
share of the associate’s revenue and profit   
revenue – 753 
profit after tax – 117 
carrying amount of the investment – 190 
15 trade and other payables 
 
2009  
£’000  
2008  
£’000 
current 
trade creditors 1855 1709 
finance lease obligation 194 415 
other taxation and social security 1363 1599 
shortterm compensated absences 1347 1431 
other creditors 3659 3558 
accruals and deferred income 5261 6202 
 13679 14914 
noncurrent   
finance lease obligation 73 385 
16 provisions 
 
2009  
£’000 
 2008  
£’000 
at 1 august  – – 
additions 282 – 
at 31 july  282 – 
provisions comprise liabilities where there is uncertainty about the timing of settlement but where a reliable estimate can be 
made of the amount the provision covers the cost of rent rates and dilapidations on an unoccupied leasehold property due 
to the merger of inferno communications limited into bite communications limited on 1 may 2009 for which the lease runs 
to december 2010 no reimbursement for a sublease is expected and the effect of discounting is deemed immaterial   
next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009   63 
 overview 19
 business review 1021
governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 additional information 8488
 
17 amounts due under finance leases 
 minimum lease payments
present value of 
minimum lease payments
 
2009
£’000
2008
£’000 
2009 
£’000 
2008
£’000 
amounts payable  
within one year 209 471 194 415
in two to five years 82 425 73 385
 291 896 267 800
less finance charges allocated to future periods 24 96 – –
present value of lease obligations 267 800 267 800
18 other financial liabilities 
 
deferred    
consideration
1
  
£’000    
share   
purchase   
obligation
2
 
£’000  
at 1 august 2007 2428  3063 
arising during the year 1145  – 
exchange differences 45  – 
utilised 977  1510 
unwinding of discount 128  184 
at 31 july 2008 2769  1737 
arising during the year 100  – 
exchange differences 334  – 
utilised 3036  1771 
unwinding of discount 61  34 
at 31 july 2009 228  – 
1
outcast communications corporation ‘outcast’ became a wholly owned subsidiary of the group in june 2005 £176000 of the current deferred consideration 
liability relates to the final payment due in october 2009 of discounted cash consideration for outcast 
on 1 september 2008 bite communications limited a wholly owned subsidiary of the group acquired the business and certain assets of aimpr public relations 
ab ‘aimpr’ a company based in stockholm sweden initial consideration of sek990000 £84000 was paid and a further sek1206000 £100000 deferred  
prior to the 31 july 2009 sek574000 £48000 of this deferred consideration was settled with sek632000 £52000 outstanding at the year end 
in november 2008 3023000 £1843000 of deferred consideration was paid for outcast £1145000 for lexis public relations limited ‘lexis’ and in february 
2009 £48000 of deferred consideration for aimpr was paid total deferred consideration paid during the year was £3036000  
2
the share purchase obligation of £1737000 at 31 july 2008 related to the purchase of lexis public relations ltd the group acquired the remaining minority 
interest in october 2008  
  notes to the accounts continued 
64   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 
19 deferred taxation 
temporary differences between the carrying value of assets and liabilities in the balance sheet and their relevant value for tax 
purposes result in the following deferred tax assets and liabilities 
 
total 
£’000 
accelerated 
capital 
allowances 
£’000  
shortterm 
compensated 
absences 
£’000 
sharebased 
remuneration 
£’000 
provision for 
impairment 
of trade 
receivables 
£’000 
excess book 
basis over  
tax basis of 
intangible 
assets  
£’000 
derivative 
financial 
instruments 
£’000  
other 
temporary 
differences 
£’000 
at 1 august 2007 2157 537 441 279 30 55 21 946 
creditcharge to income 571 10 53 9 10 93 210 750 
exchange differences 12 7 – – 1 3 – 7 
taken to equity     
share option schemes 162 – – 162 – – – – 
at 31 july 2008 1436 534 494 126 41 151 189 203 
creditcharge to income 104 90 183 63 7 83 17 187 
exchange difference 106 46 62 – 7 19 – 10 
taken to equity     
share option schemes 7 – – 7 – – – – 
at 31 july 2009 1653 670 373 70 55 87 172 400 
after netting off balances the following are the deferred tax assets and liabilities recognised in the consolidated  
balance sheet 
 
 2009  
£’000 
2008 
£’000 
net deferred tax balance   
deferred tax assets 1695 1468 
deferred tax liabilities 42 32 
net deferred tax asset 1653 1436 
deferred tax has been calculated using the anticipated rates that will apply when the assets and liabilities are expected to 
reverse based on tax rates enacted or substantively enacted by the balance sheet date the recoverability of deferred tax 
assets is supported by the expected level of future profits in the countries concerned 
20 financial instruments 
financial risk management policies and strategies 
the group’s principal financial instruments comprise bank loans finance leases cash and shortterm deposits and derivative 
financial instruments the main purpose of these financial instruments is to provide finance for the group’s operations  
the group has various other financial assets and liabilities such as trade receivables and payables which arise directly  
from operations 
the group enters into derivative transactions primarily capandcollar interest rate and forward foreign exchange contracts 
the purpose of such contracts is to protect the profits and surplus funds arising in principal markets from currency 
fluctuations and to manage the interest rate risks on the group’s sources of finance at 31 july 2009 a total of 2400000  
and €1875000 was protected by the derivative foreign exchange transactions entered into by the group 
the main risks arising from the group’s financial instruments are interest rate risk liquidity risk foreign exchange risk and  
credit risk the board reviews and agrees policies for managing each of these risks and they are summarised below   
next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009   65 
 overview 19
 business review 1021
governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 additional information 8488
 
20 financial instruments continued 
interest rate risk 
the group’s exposure to the risk of changes in market interest rates relates primarily to the group’s longterm debt obligations 
with floating interest rates and capandcollar interest rate derivatives 
the group’s policy is to manage its interest costs arising on variable rate debts by entering into interest rate capandcollar 
contracts these agreements are designated to protect underlying debt obligations against significant increases in interest 
rates as required under the terms of the group’s revolving loan facility with barclays bank at 31 july 2009 all us dollar 
borrowings have been capped at 625 
the following table demonstrates the sensitivity to a reasonable possible change in interest rates with all other variables held 
constant of the group’s profit before tax at 31 july 2009 based on year end balances and rates 
 
movement in 
basis points 
2009  
£’000  
2008 
£’000 
united kingdom 200 5 18
us 200 143 180
eurozone 200 – 8
a rise in us interest rates of 2 would give a positive movement of £240000 2008 £260000 in the fair value of the interest 
rate capandcollar contract 
liquidity risk 
the group manages its risk to a shortage of funds with a mixture of long and shortterm committed facilities as at 31 july 
2009 the group had undrawn committed facilities of £6000000 2008 £7500000 in addition the group has an overdraft 
facility of £1500000 at a rate of 225 above barclays banks base rate available in sterling us dollar and euro and an 
overdraft facility of £1206000 2000000 at a rate of wells fargo bank’s prime rate or libor 125 available in us dollars 
the barclays bank’s overdraft facility is reviewed at the bank’s discretion with no expiry date the wells fargo bank’s overdraft 
facility is reviewed on an annual basis and expires in december 2009 the following table summarises the maturity profile 
based on the remaining period at the balance sheet to the contractual maturity date of the groups financial liabilities at  
31 july 2009 and 2008 based on contractual undiscounted payments 
within
one year 
£000
greater than 
one year 
£’000 
total
£000
as at 31 july 2009   
financial liabilities  14587 132 14719
derivative financial instruments – cash inflows 2870 – 2870
derivative financial instruments – cash outflows 3218 438 3656
 14935 570 15505 
as at 31 july 2008  
financial liabilities 20161 6727 26888
derivative financial instruments – cash inflows 2162 338 2500 
derivative financial instruments – cash outflows 2620 654  3274 
 20619 7043  27662 notes to the accounts continued 
66   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 
20 financial instruments continued 
currency risk 
as a result of significant global operations the group’s balance sheet can be affected significantly by movements in the 
foreign exchange rates against sterling this is largely through the translation of balances denominated in a currency other 
than the functional currency of an entity it is the group’s policy to manage these risks through the use of currency derivatives 
and spot transactions the group has transactional currency exposures in the europe and africa region foreign currency  
bank accounts and intercompany recharges the group uses currency derivatives to protect significant us dollar and euro 
currency exposures against changes in exchange rates 
the following table demonstrates the sensitivity to reasonable possible changes in exchange rates with all other variables 
held constant of the group’s profit before tax at 31 july 2009 based on year end balances and rates 
 
weakening 
against sterling 
2009  
£’000  
2008  
£’000 
us dollar 20 2955 1497 
euro 20 73 457 
australian dollar 20 682 278 
chinese renminbi 20 448 92 
hong kong dollar 20 9 106 
indian rupee 20 92 21 
japanese yen 20 12 82 
norwegian kroner 20 8 33 
singapore dollar 20 180 3 
south african rand 20 17 69 
a movement in exchange rates of 20 would give a positive movement of £310000 2008 £840000 on the us dollar 
currency derivatives and £340000 2008 £640000 on the euro currency derivatives  
credit risk 
the group’s principal financial assets are bank balances and cash trade and other receivables which represent the group’s 
maximum exposure to credit risk in relation to financial assets the group trades only with recognised creditworthy third 
parties it is the group’s policy that customers who wish to trade on credit terms be subject to credit verification procedures  
in addition receivable balances are monitored on an ongoing basis with the result that the group’s exposure to bad debts has 
not been significant the amounts presented in the balance sheet are net of provisions for impairment of trade receivables 
estimated by the group’s management based on experience and their assessment of the current economic environment 
the credit risk on liquid funds is limited because the counterparties are reputable banks with high credit ratings assigned by 
international creditrating agencies although the board recognises that in the current economic climate these indicators 
cannot be relied upon exclusively 
maximum exposure to credit risk 
 
 2009  
£’000 
2008 
£’000 
total trade and other receivables 15128 16371 
cash and cash equivalents 7130 9525 
capital risk management 
the group manages its capital to ensure that entities in the group will be able to continue as a going concern while 
maximising the return to stakeholders through the optimisation of the debt and equity balance the capital structure of  
the group consists of debt which includes the borrowings disclosed below cash and cash equivalents attributable to  
equity holders of the parent comprising issued capital reserves and retained earnings disclosed in notes 21 24 and 25   
next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009   67 
 overview 19
 business review 1021
governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 additional information 8488
 
20 financial instruments continued 
capital risk management continued 
 
2009  
£’000  
2008 
£’000 
cash and cash equivalents 7130 9525
total loans and borrowings 5078 5315
finance leases 267 800
net funds 1785 3410
equity attributable to equity holders of the parent 24147 19392
total capital 25932 22802
externally imposed capital requirement 
under the terms of the group’s banking covenants the group must meet certain criteria based on gross borrowings to 
earnings before interest tax depreciation amortisation and impairment interest cover and guarantee ratios on turnover 
operating profit total assets and total operating cash flows to consolidated gross financing costs there have been no  
unwaived breaches of the banking covenants in the current or prior years 
fair values of financial assets and liabilities 
fair value is the amount at which a financial instrument can be exchanged in an arm’slength transaction between informed 
and willing parties other than a forced or liquidation sale 
the book value of the group’s financial assets and liabilities equals the fair value of such items as at 31 july 2009 with the 
exception of obligations under finance leases the book value of obligations under finance leases is £267000 2008 £800000 
and the fair value is £291000 2008 £896000 
financial instruments – detailed disclosures 
financial instruments recognised in the balance sheet 
the ias 39 categories of financial assets and liabilities included in the balance sheet and the heading in which they are 
included are as follows 
 
at fair value 
through 
profit and 
loss account 
£’000
financial 
liabilities at 
amortised 
cost 
£’000
loans and 
receivables  
£’000 
total 
£’000
as at 31 july 2009  
noncurrent financial assets  
other receivables – – 533 533
 – – 533 533
current financial assets  
cash and cash equivalents – – 7130 7130
trade and other receivables – – 14595 14595
 – – 21725 21725
current financial liabilities  
loans and borrowings – 156 – 156
trade and other payables – 13679 – 13679
deferred consideration – 228 – 228
share purchase obligation – – – –
derivative financial liabilities 615 – – 615
 615 14063 – 14678
noncurrent financial liabilities  
loans and borrowings – 4922 – 4922
obligations under finance leases – 73 – 73
provisions – 282 – 282
deferred consideration – – – –
 – 5277 – 5277
  notes to the accounts continued 
68   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 
20 financial instruments continued 
financial instruments recognised in the balance sheet continued 
 
at fair 
value through 
profit and 
loss account 
£’000 
financial
liabilities
at amortised
cost
£’000 
loans  and 
receivables  
£’000 
total  
£’000 
as at 31 july 2008   
noncurrent financial assets   
other receivables – – 651 651 
 ––651 651 
current financial assets   
cash and cash equivalents – – 9525 9525 
trade and other receivables – – 15720 15720 
 ––25245 25245 
current financial liabilities   
trade and other payables – 14914 – 14914 
deferred consideration – 2630 – 2630 
share purchase obligation
1
 1737–– 1737 
derivative financial liabilities 685–– 685 
 242217544– 19966 
noncurrent financial liabilities   
loans and borrowings – 5315 – 5315 
trade and other payables – 385 – 385 
deferred consideration – 139 – 139 
 –5839– 5839 
1
the share purchase obligation relates to lexis public relations limited ‘lexis’ this obligation was settled in october 2008 and lexis became a wholly owned 
subsidiary of the group 
interestbearing loans and borrowings 
the table below provides a summary of the group’s loans and borrowing as at 31 july 2009 
 
effective interest rate 
2009 
£’000 
2008 
£’000 
current   
obligations under finance lease 342 194 415 
variable rate bank loan barclays bank callloan rate 125 156 – 
noncurrent   
obligations under finance leases 342 73 385 
variable rate bank loan barclays bank callloan rate  125 4826 4815 
variable rate bank loan 650 96 – 
variable rate bank loan barclays bank callloan rate  10 – 500 
   
next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009   69 
 overview 19
 business review 1021
governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 additional information 8488
 
21 share capital 
calledup share capital 
ordinary shares of 25p each 
 number £’000
authorised  
at 31 july 2008 and 31 july 2009 60000000 1500
allotted called up and fully paid  
at 1 august 2008 54148966 1354
issued in the year in respect of  
final stage of lexis acquisition 1098591 27
at 31 july 2009 55247557 1381
22 sharebased payments 
the group uses a blackscholes model to calculate the fair value of options on grant date at each year end the  
cumulative expense is adjusted to take into account any changes in estimate of the likely number of shares expected  
to vest details of the relevant option schemes are given in note 23 all the sharebased plans are subject to nonmarket  
performance conditions such as earnings per share targets and continued employment all schemes are equity settled  
the key inputs are listed below and market price on any given day is obtained from external publicly available sources 
 2009 2008 
riskfree rate 413 413
dividend yield 416 388
volatility
1
 35 30
1
volatility is based on the group’s share price movement between january 2003 and july 2009 in the opinion of the directors this period is appropriate given the 
group’s history of growth and acquisitions and external industry factors 
the group recognised a credit of £57000 2008 £237000 charge 
movement on options granted represented in ordinary shares 
 
outstanding at 
1 august 
2008 
number 
‘000 
granted 
number 
‘000 
lapsed 
number 
‘000 
exercised  
number  
‘000 
outstanding  
31 july  
2009  
number  
‘000 
exercisable 
31 july 
2009 
number 
‘000
executive share option scheme 1571 – 105 190 1276 575
longterm incentive plan – options 252 – 16 – 236 –
longterm incentive plan – performance shares 3096 2189 748 374 4163 –
 49192189869564 5675 575
weightedaverage exercise price p 1832 – 785 1098 1348 3102
a total of 564117 shares were exercised during the year ended 31 july 2009 at a weighted average share price of 4458p 
options over ordinary shares outstanding 
range of exercise prices p 0 – 215
weighted average exercise price p 1348
weighted average contractual life months 29
  notes to the accounts continued 
70   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 
22 sharebased payments continued 
the fair value of options granted in the year calculated using the blackscholes model 
 
may 
2009
november 
2008 
october 
2008 
fair value of performance shares granted under the ltip p 29 27 27 
share price at date of grant p 39 37 38 
riskfree rate  413 413 413 
expected life years 3 3 3 
expected volatility  35 35 35 
dividend yield  416 416 416 
performance shares issued by the company under the next fifteen communications longterm incentive plan are granted  
at a nil exercise price 
23 share options 
the company has issued options over its shares to employees as follows 
share option type 
number 
of shares 
option price 
per share option  grant date 
next fifteen communications  
executive share option schemes 58000 4725p 19 august 1999 
 18000 215p 22 november 2000 
 17800060p21 may 2001 
 64000235p23 october 2001 
 36499930p22 october 2002 
 285001595p22 october 2003 
 968000 
next fifteen communications  
californian executive share option schemes 88000 30p 22 october 2002 
 190334595p22 october 2003 
 3000063p12 may 2004 
 308334 
next fifteen communications  
longterm incentive plan 64683 56p 16 june 2005 
 73660 56p 11 november 2005 
 2954566p10 april 2006 
 6867362p18 october 2006 
 236561 
 
performance shares 
number 
of shares performance period start date performance period end date 
next fifteen communications  
longterm incentive plan 350672 1 august 2006 31 july 2009 
 559993 1 august 2007 31 july 2010 
 1136990 1 august 2007 31 july 2010 
 60000 1 august 2008 31 july 2011 
 1853999 1 august 2008 31 july 2011 
 200000 1 august 2008 31 july 2011 
 4161654   
next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009   71 
 overview 19
 business review 1021
governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 additional information 8488
 
23 share options continued 
under the next fifteen executive share option schemes save as explained hereafter all options are normally exercisable on 
or after the third anniversary of the date of grant and remain exercisable until the tenth anniversary of the date of the grant  
to the extent that they have vested options will vest in respect of onethird of the shares on each of the third fourth and fifth 
anniversaries of their date of grant options granted to employees in california from 23 october 2001 are exercisable at a rate 
of 20 per year over five years from the date of grant the vesting of all share options granted after 30 november 1999 is 
conditional on achievement of a performance criterion of the group’s earnings per share growing over a threeyear period 
after the grant by at least 30 
3559230 share optionsperformance shares issued by the company under the next fifteen communications executive  
share option schemes and longterm incentive plan are options over unissued shares the remaining 2115319 
optionsperformance sharesconditional shares will be largely satisfied by either shares held by the employee share 
ownership plan 951061 or by shares held by the company in treasury 1164258 see note 24 
under the next fifteen longterm incentive plan the performance test for share options and performance shares is measured 
over a period of three consecutive financial years of the group commencing with the financial year in which the award is 
granted the performance condition is an earnings pershare target the growth of adjusted earnings per shares ‘eps’ of  
the group must exceed the retail prices index rpi by an average of 15 or more per annum over the performance period  
for 100 of the award to vest if the growth of adjusted eps is between an average of 5 and 15 eps growth over rpi per 
annum over the performance period between 20 and 100 of the award will vest on a straightline basis if eps does not 
grow by an average of 5 or more over rpi per annum over the performance period none of the award will vest for all 
grants of options and performance shares after november 2007 there is also a second performance test associated with  
the profit growth of the group company in which the participant is employed if during the performance period the profit 
before tax of the company is in line with budget then the award will vest at the level determined by the first performance  
test the ‘initial calculation’ for each 1 that the company exceeds budget a further 2 of the shares awarded under the 
option or performance share award will vest in addition to the initial calculation up to a maximum of 25 for each 1 that 
the company’s profit before tax is below budget 2 of the shares awarded under the option or performance share award  
will be deducted from the initial calculation up to a maximum of 25 provided that an award can never be below zero  
each participant can therefore receive up to 125 of their initial award 
on 1 may 2009 inferno communications limited ‘inferno’ a wholly owned subsidiary of the group merged into bite 
communications limited ‘bite’ also a wholly owned subsidiary of the group following the merger there was a oneoff grant 
of performance shares to two senior members of inferno who transferred to bite  the extent to which the award will vest shall 
be determined by reference to the retention of key clients by bite for which the participants are the key account directors  
if the client remains with bite on 1 may 2010 60 will vest and the final 40 will vest if the client still remains on 1 may 2011 
24 investment in own shares 
employee shares ownership plan esop 
the purpose of the esop is to enable the company to offer participation in the ownership of its shares to group employees 
principally as a reward and incentive scheme arrangements for the distribution of benefits to employees which may be the 
ownership of shares in the company or the granting of options over shares in the company held by the esop are made at 
the esop’s discretion in such manner as the esop considers appropriate administration costs of the esop are accounted for 
in the profit and loss account of the company as they are incurred 
at 31 july 2009 the esop held 951061 2008 1515178 ordinary shares in the company which represents 17 2008 28 
of the ordinary share capital the esop reserve of £644000 2008 £663000 represents the cost of these shares held by the 
esop in the company at 31 july 2009 the nominal value of shares held was £23777 2008 £37879 and the market value  
at 31 july 2009 was £456509 2008 £622000 the right to receive dividends on all shares has been waived 
during the year to 31 july 2009 a number of employees exercised their options in total 190000 2008 138419 esop options 
were exercised for proceeds of £63301 2008 £63000 as were 374117 performance shares 
treasury shares 
the group holds 1164258 2008 950000 treasury shares at a cost of £595000 2008 £504500 during the year to 31 july 
2009 the group purchased 214258 of its own shares at the market value of £91000 shown in the treasury shares reserve  
the nominal value of shares held at 31 july 2009 was £29106 2008 £23750 and the market value was £558844  
2008 £390000 the right to receive dividends on all shares has been waived  notes to the accounts continued 
72   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 
25 reconciliation of movement in reserves 
 
calledup 
share 
capital 
£’000 
share  
premium  
account  
£’000  
merger   
reserve¹  
£’000   
share   
purchase  
 reserve² 
£’000   
foreign  
 currency  
translation   
reserve³ 
£’000   
esop  
 reserve
4
 
£’000  
treasury    
shares
5
  
£’000   
retained 
 earnings  
£’000  
equity  
attributable to 
shareholders  
of the  
company  
£’000 
at 1 august 2008 1354 5157 2659  1380  191  663  504   12960 19392 
profit attributable  
to shareholders – – –  –  –  –  –   1932 1932 
dividends – – –  –  –  –  –   900 900 
shares issued  
on acquisitions 27 – 416  –  –  –  –   – 443 
movement in share 
purchase obligation – – –  1380  –  –  –   391 1771 
movement in relation to  
sharebased payments – –  –  –  –  –  –   57 57 
deferred tax on  
sharebased payments – – –  –  –  –  –   7 7 
translation differences  
on foreign currency  
net investments – – –  –  1540  –  –   – 1540 
movement due to esop 
share option exercises – – –  –  –  19  –   44 63 
purchase of own shares – – –  –  –  –  91   – 91 
translation differences  
on longterm  
intercompany loans – – –  –  –  –  –   140 140 
minority dividend – – –  –  –  –  –   226 226 
revaluation of  
investment in associate – – –  –  –  –  –   133 133 
at 31 july 2009 1381 5157 3075  –  1349  644  595   14424 24147 
1
shares issued as part of the consideration in a business combination are measured at their fair value and the difference between the nominal value and fair value 
of the shares issued is recognised in the merger reserve 
2
relates to the share purchase obligation of lexis public relations limited the obligation was settled in october 2008 
3
the foreign currency translation reserve is used to record exchange differences arising from the translation of financial statements of overseas subsidiaries 
4
the esop trust’s investment in the group’s shares is deducted from equity in the consolidated balance sheet as if they were treasury shares and presented  
in the esop reserve 
5
when the group reacquires its own equity instruments those instruments treasury shares are deducted from equity and presented in the treasury  
shares reserve 
   
next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009   73 
 overview 19
 business review 1021
governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 additional information 8488
 
25 reconciliation of movement in reserves continued 
 
calledup 
share 
capital 
£’000 
share  
premium  
account  
£’000  
 merger 
reserve 
£’000 
share 
purchase 
reserve 
£’000 
foreign 
currency 
translation 
reserve 
£’000 
esop 
reserve 
£’000 
treasury  
shares  
£’000 
retained 
earnings  
£’000  
equity 
attributable to 
shareholders 
of the 
company 
£’000 
at 1 august 2007 1334 5157 2160 2890 206 681 – 9910 14784
profit attributable to 
shareholders –– ––––– 3663 3663
dividends –– ––––– 807 807
shares issued  
on acquisitions 20 – 499 – – – – – 519
movement in share    
purchase obligation – – – 1510 – – – – 1510
movement in relation to 
sharebased payments –– ––– –– 237 237
deferred tax on  
sharebased payments – – – – – – – 117 117
translation differences  
on foreign currency  
net investments –– –– 15 –– – 15
movement due to esop    
share option exercises – – – – – 18 – 46 64
purchase of own shares –– ––– – 504 – 504
translation differences  
on longterm  
intercompany loans –– ––– –– 28 28
at 31 july 2008 1354 5157 2659 1380 191 663 504 12960 19392
26 commitments and contingent liabilities 
operating leases – group as lessee 
as at 31 july 2009 the group’s total future minimum lease rentals are as follows 
 
 2009 
land and 
buildings 
£’000 
2009 
other 
£’000 
2008  
land and  
buildings  
£’000  
2008 
other 
£’000 
in respect of operating leases which will expire  
within one year 3374 208 460 25
in two to five years 6797 254 2835 506
after five years 2642 – 5262 –
 12813 462 8557 531
  notes to the accounts continued 
74   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 
27 acquisitions 
1 on 1 august 2008 the group recognised control of 463 communications llc ‘463 llc’ 463 llc is a venture based  
in palo alto and washington dc working to position technology companies organisations and coalitions in global  
policy debates 
 on 31 january 2006 the company invested in a 40 stake of 463 llc for a consideration of 20000 and has until  
1 august 2008 treated this as an associate undertaking in the group accounts under the equity method of accounting 
the carrying value of the investment at 31 july 2008 was £190000 
 on 1 august 2008 the group had the right to purchase an additional 11 of 463 llc taking the holding to 51 and 
acquire control of the business since this date 463 llc has been accounted for as a subsidiary 
 from 1 august 2008 the date of acquisition to 31 july 2009 463 llc contributed 3799000 £2401000 to revenue  
and 959000 £606000 profit before interest tax and amortisation of intangibles 
 the sale and purchase agreement relating to the acquisition of 463 llc provides the group with the opportunity to 
purchase 100 of the business and it is the group’s intention to do so 
details of the fair values of identifiable assets and liabilities brought onto the balance sheet as at 1 august 2008 are as follows 
 
book value 
at acquisition 
£’000 
fair value   
 adjustments
1
  
£’000    
fair value  
to the group  
£’000 
noncurrent assets   
intangible assets 61 409   470 
property plant and equipment 5 –   5 
current assets   
cash and cash equivalents
2
 195 –   195 
other current assets 348 –   348 
current liabilities 206 –   206 
net assets acquired 403 409   812 
goodwill  – 
total consideration  – 
1
the fair value adjustment relating to intangible assets is due to the recognition of 380000 £192000 in respect of the 463 llc trade name and 430000 
£217000 in respect of customer relationships which have been independently valued the trade name will be amortised over its useful economic life of 20 years 
and the customer relationships will be amortised over three years 
2
the inflow of cash and cash equivalents on acquisition is the cash acquired of 387000 £195000 control of 463 llc was acquired for nil consideration 
2 on 1 september 2008 bite communications limited ‘bite’ a wholly owned subsidiary of the group acquired the business 
and certain assets of aimpr public relations ab a company based in stockholm sweden this business was integrated into 
bite’s existing swedish operation   
next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009   75 
 overview 19
 business review 1021
governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 additional information 8488
 
27 acquisitions continued 
the following table sets out the book values of the identifiable assets acquired and their fair value to the group 
 
book value 
at acquisition 
£’000 
fair value   
 adjustments
1
  
£’000    
fair value 
to the group 
£’000
noncurrent assets  
intangible assets – 183   183
property plant and equipment 2 –   2
assets acquired 2 183   185
goodwill  –
consideration
2
  
cash consideration  132
total deferred cash consideration  52
capitalised acquisition costs
1
  4
1
the fair value adjustment relating to intangible assets is due to the recognition of sek2174000 £183000 in respect of customer relationships the customer 
relationships will be amortised over five years total intangibles of sek2222000 £187000 have been capitalised including sek48000 £4000 of legal and 
professional fees 
2
initial consideration of sek990000 £84000 was paid on the date of acquisition a further sek574000 £48000 was paid in february 2009 based on revenue of 
retained clients during the first six months an estimated sek632000 £52000 of consideration has been deferred and the amount paid will be based on revenue 
of retained clients over the 12 months following completion  
3 on 27 october 2008 the group acquired the remaining 1285 stake in panther communications group limited 
‘panther’ the parent company of lexis public relations limited ‘lexis’ the stake was acquired for a total consideration  
of £1771000 of which £1328000 was satisfied in cash and £443000 in shares 1098591 shares taking the group’s  
total stake to 100 based on the acquisition balance sheet additional goodwill of £1507000 has been capitalised 
 on 27 october 2008 the group paid £1145000 relating to the deferred consideration for the purchase on 4 april 2008  
of a 1055 stake in panther 
4 on 3 november 2008 the group paid us3023000 £1843000 relating to the deferred consideration for the purchase  
of outcast communications corporation ‘outcast’ outcast is a wholly owned subsidiary acquired in june 2005 
  notes to the accounts continued 
76   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 
28 subsidiaries 
the group’s principal subsidiaries at 31 july 2009 are listed below 
name country of incorporation 
directly owned by 
the company 
percentage voting 
rights held  
by group 
beijing text 100 consulting services limited china 100 
beijing bite communications limited china 100 
bite communications canada limited canada 100 
bite communications corporation usa 100 
bite communications group limited england 100 
bite communications limited england 100 
context analytics corporation usa 100 
inferno communications limited
1
 england 100 
lexis public relations limited england 100 
next fifteen communications corporation usa 100 
next fifteen communications hong kong limited hong kong 100 
outcast communications corporation usa 100 
proxima public relations sl spain 100 
text 100 ab sweden 100 
text 100 bv netherlands 100 
text 100 corporation usa 100 
text 100 sarl france 100 
text 100 gmbh germany 100 
text 100 international limited england 100 
text 100 ireland limited ireland 100 
text 100 italy srl italy 100 
text 100 japan kk japan 100 
text 100 limited england 100 
text 100 pte limited singapore 100 
text 100 pty limited south africa 100 
text 100 pty limited australia 100 
text 100 sl spain 100 
text hundred india private limited india 100 
vox public relations india private limited india 100 
redshift research limited england 100 
463 communications llc
2
 usa 40 
1
nontrading company at 31 july 2009 
2
see note 27 
the principal activity of the subsidiary undertakings is public relations work specialising predominantly in the technology 
sector except for lexis public relations limited which works for clients predominantly in nontechnology sectors  
and context analytics corporation and redshift research limited which are research companies 
all subsidiary undertakings operate in the country in which they have been incorporated 
all subsidiary undertakings listed are included in the consolidated results   
next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009   77 
 overview 19
 business review 1021
governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 additional information 8488
 
29 relatedparty transactions 
the ultimate controlling party of the group is next fifteen communications group plc incorporated in england and wales  
the company has a relatedparty relationship with its subsidiaries note 28 and with directors and executive officers 
transactions between the company and its subsidiaries have been eliminated on consolidation and are not disclosed in  
this note 
during 2009 there were no other relatedparty transactions 
30 events after the balance sheet date 
m booth  associates inc 
on 3 august 2009 the group acquired new york based m booth  associates inc ‘m booth’ a leading pr consultancy in 
north america the initial consideration paid in cash on completion was 4000000 £2413000 deferred consideration of up 
to a maximum of 13250000 £7992000 may be payable over the course of the next four years subject to the achievement 
of certain revenue and profit performance targets the total maximum consideration is therefore 17250000 £10405000 
the first 11250000 £6786000 of deferred consideration that may be payable may be satisfied by cash or up to 25 in 
shares at the option of the group the final 2000000 £1206000 that may be payable may be satisfied 100 in shares  
at the option of the group 
for the year ended 31 december 2008 m booth had consolidated revenues of 10400000 £6273000 and profit before tax 
of 1000000 £603000 the consolidated gross assets at 31 december 2008 were 4300000 £2594000 the business  
will be acquired with 1500000 £905000 of net working capital the above numbers have been extracted from the 
management accounts of m booth and are therefore unaudited 
acquisition costs of 154000 £97000 were paid in relation to the purchase of m booth and recognised within the 
consolidated income statement for the year ended 31 july 2009 
upstream marketing and communications inc 
on 27 october 2009 the group acquired the marketing communications trading subsidiaries of upstream marketing  
and communications inc ‘upstream asia’ which will be integrated into the bite communications group the initial 
consideration was us900000 £551000 paid in cash and the assumption of us200000 £122000 of upstream asia’s 
liabilities making a total of us1100000 £673000 the group owns 55 of upstream asia and a hong kong based 
company asset pioneer limited ‘asset pioneer’ owns the residual 45 the group has entered into an option deed  
under which it has a right to acquire asset pioneer’s shares over a fiveyear period based on the profitability of the  
acquired businesses  
acquisition costs of us103000 £63000 were paid in relation to the acquisition of upstream asia and recognised within  
the consolidated income statement in october 2009 
463 communications llc 
on 31 october 2009 the group acquired a further 30 stake in 463 communications llc ‘463 llc’ taking the group’s total 
stake to 70 the stake was acquired for a total consideration of 2139000 £1298000 of which 1426000 £865000  
was satisfied in cash and 713000 £433000 in shares 805095 shares the fair value of the shares was determined by 
reference to the average of the midmarket price of the company’s shares for the ten trading day period ended four days  
prior to issuance  
no external acquisition costs were paid in relation to the increased interest in 463 llc   
information required in order to calculate and recognise goodwill and acquired intangibles in relation to m booth upstream 
asia and 463 llc is not yet available and will be shown in the interim report for the six months ending 31 january 2010  
  company balance sheet 
as at 31 july 2009 
 
78   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 
 
 note 
2009 
£’000
2009 
£’000
2008  
£’000 
2008  
£’000 
fixed assets    
tangible assets  3 1013 1041  
investments  4 15031 13229  
 16044 14270  
current assets    
debtors amounts falling due within one year  5 6916 4056   
cash at bank and in hand  3080 –   
 9996 4056  
current liabilities    
creditors amounts falling due within one year  6 7890 3696  
net current assets  2106 360  
debtors amounts falling due after more than one year 33391 32519  
total assets less current liabilities  51541 47149  
creditors amounts falling due after more than one year 7 35409 30162 
net assets  16132 16987  
capital and reserves    
called up share capital  8 1381 1354   
share premium account  8 5157 5157   
merger reserve  8 3075 2659   
sharebased payment reserve  8 671 728   
esop reserve  8 644 663  
treasury shares  8 595 504  
profit and loss account  8 7087 8256   
equity shareholders’ funds  16132 16987  
these financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the board on 11 november 2009  
 
w whitehorn  
chairman  
d dewhurst 
finance director 
 
company number 
01579589 
  reconciliation of movements  
in shareholders’ funds 
for the year ended 31 july 2009 
next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009   79 
 overview 19
 business review 1021
 governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 additional information 8488
 
company  
2009  
£’000 
company 
2008 
£’000 
lossprofit attributable to shareholders  313 3429 
dividends  900 807 
 1213 2622 
issue of shares  443 519 
shares to be issued  – 190 
sharebased payment reserve  57 237 
disposal of own equity shares held in esop  63 64 
treasury shares  91 504 
net addition to shareholders’ funds  855 2748 
opening shareholders’ funds  16987 14239 
closing shareholders’ funds  16132 16987 notes forming part of the company financial statements 
for the year ended 31 july 2009 
80   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 
1 accounting policies  
the financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention and are in accordance with applicable 
accounting standards in the united kingdom as permitted by section 408 of the companies act 2006 the company has  
not presented its own profit and loss account  
merger reserve  
in accordance with the provisions of merger relief under section 131 of the companies act 1985 section 612 of the 
companies act 2006 after 1 october 2009 where the company issues shares as part of an acquisition the company records 
the cost of the investment at the nominal value of the shares issued and records the excess of fair value over nominal value  
as a merger reserve  
tangible fixed assets  
tangible fixed assets are stated at cost net of depreciation depreciation is provided on all tangible fixed assets at annual rates 
calculated to write off the cost less estimated residual value of each asset evenly over its expected useful life as follows  
office equipment  – 2050 per annum straightline  
computer software  – 1420 per annum straightline  
payments on account in respect of tangible fixed assets which are not yet operational in the business are recorded in a 
separate fixed asset category called ‘assets in the course of construction’ and represent the cost of purchasing constructing 
and installing tangible fixed assets ahead of their productive use only the incremental costs which are directly attributable to 
the asset in the course of construction are capitalised  
no depreciation is charged on assets in the course of construction until they are brought into operational use in the business 
at which point the assets are transferred into the relevant asset category on the fixed asset register and depreciated over  
their useful economic life upon review management determined that the expected useful life the new it system should  
be increased from five to seven years 
the carrying values of tangible fixed assets are reviewed for impairment periodically if events or changes in circumstances 
indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable  
foreign currencies  
monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are expressed in sterling at the rate of exchange ruling  
at the balance sheet date foreign currency transactions are expressed in sterling at the rates of exchange ruling at the dates 
of the transactions exchange gains and losses and translation differences are taken directly to the profit and loss account  
financial instruments  
derivative financial instruments utilised by the company are interest rate capandcollar contracts and forward foreign 
exchange contracts the company does not enter into speculative derivative contracts all such instruments are used  
to alter the risk profile of an underlying exposure of the company in line with the group’s risk management policies 
premiums payable under foreign exchange contracts are expensed over the life of the contract and any gains and losses 
arising on these contracts are deferred and are recognised in the profit and loss account only when the protected  
transaction has itself been reflected in the company’s financial statements  
leasing transactions  
assets held under finance leases are included in the balance sheet the amount capitalised is the present value of the 
minimum lease payments depreciation on the relevant assets is charged to the profit and loss account over the shorter of  
the estimated useful economic life and the period of the lease the interest element on these obligations is charged to the 
profit and loss account so as to approximate a constant interest rate over the life of each agreement operating lease rentals 
are charged to the profit and loss account in equal amounts over the lease term  
pension costs  
pension costs which relate to payments made by the company to employees’ own defined contribution pension plans  
are charged to the profit and loss account as incurred  
investments  
fixed asset investments are stated at cost less provisions for impairment    
next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009   81 
 overview 19
 business review 1021
 governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 additional information 8488
 
1 accounting policies continued 
deferred taxation  
deferred tax is provided in full on timing differences which result in an obligation at the balance sheet date to pay more tax  
or a right to pay less tax at a future date at rates expected to apply when they crystallise based on current tax rates and law 
timing differences arise from the inclusion of items of income and expenditure in taxation computations in periods different 
from those in which they are included in the financial statements deferred tax is not provided on timing differences arising 
from the revaluation of fixed assets where there is no commitment to sell the asset or on unremitted earnings of subsidiaries 
where there is no commitment to remit these earnings deferred tax assets are recognised to the extent that it is regarded as 
more likely than not that they will be recovered deferred tax assets and liabilities are not discounted  
sharebased employee remuneration  
there are share options granted prior to 7 november 2002 which remain outstanding at 31 july 2009 details of all grants are 
disclosed in note 23 of the consolidated financial statements  
fair value is measured by use of a blackscholes model on the grounds that there are no marketrelated vesting  
conditions the expected life used in the model has been adjusted based on the board’s best estimate for the effects of  
nontransferability exercise restrictions and behavioural considerations details of the riskfree rate and dividend yield used  
to underpin these assumptions are included in note 22 of the consolidated financial statements the market price on any 
given day is obtained from external publicly available sources  
employee share ownership plan  
the cost of the company’s shares held by the esop is deducted from shareholders’ funds in the company and company 
balance sheet any gain or loss made by the esop on disposal of the shares it holds is also recognised directly in shareholders’ 
funds other assets and liabilities of the esop including borrowings are recognised as assets and liabilities of the company  
finance costs  
finance costs are charged to profit over the term of the debt so that the amount charged is at a constant rate on the carrying 
amount finance costs include issue costs which are initially recognised as a reduction in the proceeds of the associated 
capital instrument  
dividends  
equity dividends are recognised when they become legally payable interim equity dividends are recognised when paid  
final equity dividends are recognised when approved by the shareholders at an annual general meeting as required by  
frs 21 events after the balance sheet date  
dividends receivable from investments are recognised in the profit and loss account in the period in which they are paid  
treasury shares  
when the company reacquires its own equity instruments those instruments treasury shares are deducted from equity  
no gain or loss is recognised in the profit and loss account on the purchase sale issue or cancellation of the company’s 
treasury shares such treasury shares may be acquired and held by other members of the group consideration paid or 
received is recognised directly in equity 
cash flow statement  
the company has applied the exemption allowed under frs 1 and has not presented a cash flow statement the cash flow 
statement has been presented in the group financial statements  
2 profit and loss account of the parent company  
as permitted by section 230 of the companies act 1985 the profit and loss account of the parent company is not presented 
as part of these accounts the parent company’s loss after tax for the financial year was £313000 2008 profit of £3429000    notes forming part of the company financial statements continued 
82   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 
3 tangible assets  
company  
 
office 
equipment 
£’000
computer 
software  
£’000 
total  
£’000 
cost    
at 1 august 2008  456 1103 1559 
additions  12 181 193 
disposals  – – – 
at 31 july 2009  468 1284 1752 
accumulated depreciation    
at 1 august 2008  443 75 518 
charge for the year  11 210 221 
disposals  – – – 
at 31 july 2009  454 285 739 
net book value    
at 31 july 2009  14 999 1013 
at 31 july 2008  13 1028 1041 
4 investments 
 
company  
equity interest  
in subsidiaries  
£’000 
cost   
at 1 august 2008  13229 
additional acquired equity stake in subsidiary undertakings  1802 
at 31 july 2009  15031 
the directors consider the value of investments in subsidiary undertakings to be not less than that stated in the balance sheet 
of the company  
the group’s principal subsidiaries are listed in note 28 of the consolidated financial statements  
5 debtors  
 
company  
2009  
£’000 
company  
2008  
£’000 
amounts falling due within one year    
amounts due from subsidiary undertakings  6437 3701  
other debtors  91 104  
prepayments and accrued income  78 248  
corporation tax recoverable  223 –  
deferred tax asset  39 3  
other taxation 48 – 
 6916 4056  
amounts falling due after more than one year    
amounts due from subsidiary undertakings
1
 33391 32519  
total debtors  40307 36575  
1
the amounts due from subsidiary undertakings in the company balance sheet relate to the reorganisation of the next fifteen us businesses undertaken during 
2006 and 2008    
next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009   83 
 overview 19
 business review 1021
 governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 additional information 8488
 
6 creditors amounts falling due within one year   
 
company  
2009  
£’000 
company 
2008 
£’000 
overdraft  2344 54 
bank loan 156 146
obligations under finance leases  118 187 
deferred consideration – 1145 
trade creditors  191 84 
amounts owed to subsidiary undertakings  5015 1976 
other taxation and social security  34 15 
other creditors  32 85 
accruals and deferred income  – 4 
 7890 3696 
7 creditors amounts falling due after more than one year   
 
company  
2009  
£’000 
company 
2008 
£’000 
bank loans
1
 4922 5312 
obligations under finance leases  77 385 
amounts owed to subsidiary undertakings
2
  30410 24465 
 35409 30162 
1
the 2009 company figure of £4922000 comprises £4826000 in relation to a £5000000 revolvingloan facility at an interest rate of 125 above barclays’ callloan 
rate and £96000 in relation to a £252000 loan at an interest rate of 650 
the bank loans are valued at the net proceeds drawn down at the exchange rates ruling at the time they are drawn the foreign currency element of the loans is 
revalued at the prevailing rate at 31 july 2009  
2
the amounts payable to subsidiary undertakings in the company balance sheet relate to the reorganisation of the next fifteen us businesses undertaken during 
2006 and 2008  
8 reserves 
 
share 
capital  
£’000 
shares to 
be issued 
£’000
share 
premium 
account 
£’000
merger 
reserve 
£’000
share
based 
payment 
reserve 
£’000
esop 
reserve 
£’000
treasury 
shares  
£’000 
profit  
and loss  
account  
£’000 
total 
£’000
at 1 august 2007 1334 190 5157 2160 491 681 – 5588 14239
profit attributable to shareholders – – – – – – – 3429 3429
dividends  – – – – – – – 807 807
shares issued on acquisitions
1
 20 190 –499 – – – – 329
movement in relation to  
sharebased payments – – – – 237 – – – 237
investment in own shares – – – – – – 504 – 504
movement due to esop share  
option exercises – – – – – 18 – 46 64
at 31 july 2008  1354  – 5157 2659 728 663 504 8256  16987 
loss attributable to shareholders – – – – – – – 313 313
dividends  – – – – – – – 900 900
shares issued on acquisitions
1
 27 – – 416 – – – – 443
movement in relation to  
sharebased payments – – – – 57 – – – 57
investment in own shares  – – – – – – 91 – 91
movement due to esop share  
option exercises – – – – – 19 – 44 63
at 31 july 2009  1381 – 5157 3075 671 644 595 7087 16132
1
in respect of lexis public relations limited  fiveyear financial information 
for the year ended 31 july 2009 unaudited 
84   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 
 
 
2009
ifrs
£’000
2008 
restated 
ifrs   
£000   
2007 
ifrs 
£000 
2006  
restated  
uk gaap  
£000 
2005  
restated  
uk gaap  
£000 
profit and loss    
billings  77287 73916   69422 63278  48516  
net revenue  65394 63107   59268 56007  43226  
operating profit before amortisation  
and impairment 4363 6230   5737 3995  3265  
amortisation and impairment 513 113  44 727 232 
operating profit after amortisation  
and impairment 3850 6117 5693 3268  3033  
net interest payablereceivable  692 718  627 265 21  
translation differences on longterm  
foreign currency intercompany loans  – –  – –  69  
profit on ordinary activities before taxation  3158 5516   5122 3003  3123  
tax on profit on ordinary activities  884 1655  1781 1494 1332 
profit on ordinary activities after taxation  2274 3861  3341 1509  1791  
minority interests  342 198  241 179 183 
profit attributable to shareholders  
of the company  1932 3663  3100 1330  1608  
dividend per share p  170 170   150 1365  123  
balance sheet    
noncurrent assets  22618 20206   18442 14343  9878  
net current assets  7603 5303   5224 7233  6159  
creditors amounts falling due after  
more than one year  5319 5871  8684 6834 3259 
provisions   282 –  – –  5  
net assets  24902 19638   14982 14742  12773  
equity shareholders΄ funds  24147 19392   14784 14742  12325  
minority interests  755 246   198 –  448  
total equity  24902 19638   14982 14742  12773  
cash flow    
group operating profit  3850 6117   5693 3094  3033  
depreciation and amounts written off 
intangible assets  1681 1316   1465 2176  1347  
other noncash items and working capital  730 2166   45 322 562 
cash flow from operating activities  6261 9599   7203 4948  3818  
returns on investments and servicing  
of finance  140 240  311 325 8  
taxation  1476 1090  1992 2430 996 
capital expenditure and investing activities  509 2153  1246 1203 1955 
acquisitions and disposals  4549 829  1959 2354 3634 
equity dividends paid  900 807  691 590 444 
financing  1715 994  1193 2919  3106  
minority dividend paid 226 –  – – – 
decreaseincrease in cash for the year  3254 3486   2197 965  97 
 see note 1a  financial calendar 
 
next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009   85 
 overview 19
 business review 1021
 governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 additional information 8488
 
final dividend 
exdividend date 6 january 2010
record date 8 january 2010
annual general meeting  26 january 2010
payment of 2009 final dividend 5 february 2010
 
interim dividend 
interim results announcement 27 april 2010
exdividend date 5 may 2010
record date 7 may 2010
payment of 2010 interim dividend 1 june 2010
 
preliminary results 
full year results announcements 19 october 2010
 
advisers  
nominated adviser 
and brokers 
canaccord adams 
limited 
cardinal place 
80 victoria street 
london sw1e 5jl 
auditors 
bdo llp 
55 baker street 
london w1u 7eu 
solicitors 
salans llp 
millennium bridge 
house 
2 lambeth hill 
london ec4v 4aj 
bankers 
barclays bank plc 
floor 28 
1 churchill place 
london e14 5hp 
registrars 
capita registrars 
northern house 
woodsome park 
fenay bridge 
huddersfield hd8 0la
 
investor relations contacts 
david dewhurst 
finance director and company secretary 
tel 440 20 8846 0771  
daviddewhurstnextfifteencom 
registrars 
shareholders can check their details and transaction histories via the registrars’ website at wwwcapitaregistrarscom  
if you have a query about your shareholding please contact the registrars using the contact information below  
the registrars should be informed of any changes in your personal details 
capita registrars 
northern house 
woodsome park fenay bridge 
huddersfield hd8 0la 
telephone from the uk 0871 664 0300 
calls cost 10p per minute plus network extras 
telephone from overseas 44 0208 639 3399 
email ssdcapitaregistrarscom 
registered office 
next fifteen communications group plc 
the triangle 517 hammersmith grove 
london w6 0lg  
tel 44 0 20 8846 0770 
fax 44 0 20 7160 5322 
company number 
01579589 contact information 
86   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 
text 100  
wwwtext100com 
emea 
text 100 amsterdam 
text 100 bv 
ytech gebouw 
van diemenstraat 
164166  
1013 cn amsterdam 
netherlands 
t 31 20 530 43 33 
f 31 20 530 43 31 
text 100 copenhagen 
frederiksberg alle 15 17 
3sal 
1820 frederiksberg c 
denmark 
t 45 333 65 333 
f 45 333 65 343 
text 100 helsinki 
text 100 conexio 
töölönkatu 3a 4 floor 
00100 helsinki 
finland 
t 358 09 88 666 600 
f 358 09 88 666 610 
text 100 johannesburg 
text 100 pty limited 
bentley office park 
block 8 1st floor 
corner bevan and  
wessels road 
rivonia 
gauteng 2196  
south africa 
t 27 11 803 2800 
f 27 11 803 5141 
text 100 london 
text 100 limited 
the triangle 
517 hammersmith grove 
london w6 0lg 
united kingdom 
t 44 0 20 8846 0700 
f 44 0 20 7160 5300 
 
 
 
licensed partner 
text 100 madrid 
text 100 sl 
plaza de colón no2 
torre 1 – planta 17 
28046 madrid 
spain 
t 34 91 561 94 15 
f 34 91 561 61 25 
proxima 
proxima public relations sl  
plaza de colón no2 
torre 1 – planta 17 
28046 madrid 
spain 
t 34 91 561 94 15 
f 34 91 561 61 25 
text 100 milan 
text 100 italy srl 
via scarlatti 12 
20124 milano 
italy 
t 39 02 202 0211 
f 39 02 204 046 55 
text 100 munich 
text 100 gmbh 
nymphenburger straße 168 
80634 munich 
germany 
t 49 89 9983700 
f 49 89 9828881 
text 100 oslo 
munkedamsveien 61 
0270 oslo 
norway 
t 47 23 23 75 00 
f 47 23 23 75 01 
text 100 paris 
text 100 sarl 
17 rue de la banque 
75002 paris 
france 
t 33 156 99 71 30 
f 33 156 99 71 31 
text 100 stockholm 
text 100 ab 
saltmätargatan 9 
113 59 stockholm 
sweden 
t 46 08 54 55 14 50 
f 46 08 54 55 14 51 
north america  
text 100 boston 
text 100 corporation 
31 milk street 
suite 201 
boston 
ma 02109 
usa 
t 1 671 723 1044 
f 1 671 723 1045 
text 100 new york 
text 100 corporation 
352 park avenue south 
7th floor 
new york ny 10010 
usa 
t 1 212 529 4600 
f 1 212 989 7149 
text 100 rochester 
text 100 corporation 
4 commercial street 
suite 500  
rochester ny 14614 
usa 
t 1 585 697 7723 
f 1 585 697 7817 
text 100 san francisco 
text 100 corporation 
77 maiden lane 
3rd floor 
san francisco ca 94108 
usa 
t 1 415 593 8400 
f 1 415 593 8401 
asia pacific 
text 100 auckland 
pursuit public relations 
level 3  
70 shortland street 
auckland 1143 
new zealand 
t 64 9 913 7520 
f 64 9 913 7532 
text 100 bangalore 
text hundred india  
pvt limited 
2nd floor lakeview manor 
20 annaswamy mudaliar 
street 
ulsoor 
bangalore 560 042 
india 
t 91 80 2554 8808 11 
f 91 80 2554 8808 123 
text 100 beijing 
beijing text 100 
consulting services limited 
room 1702 tower c  
grand pacific building 
8a guangua road 
beijing 100026 
china 
t 86 10 6583 2131 
f 86 10 6583 2249 
text 100 chennai 
text hundred india  
pvt limited 
no 401 third floor 
apeejay business centre 
3912 haddows road 
nungambakkam  
chennai – 600 006 
india 
t 91 44 2822 4949 
text 100 hong kong 
next fifteen 
communications 
hong kong limited 
unit 3805 38f  
hopewell centre 
183 queen’s road  
wanchai 
hong kong 
t 852 2821 8600 
f 852 2866 6220 
text 100 malaysia 
a84 northpoint office 
suites 
mid valley city 
medan syed putra utara 
59200 kuala lumpur 
malaysia 
t 603 2282 2152 
f 603 2283 2041   
next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009   87 
 overview 19
 business review 1021
 governance 2239
 financial statements 4083
 additional information 8488
 
text 100 mumbai 
text 100 hundred india 
pvt limited 
113 mittal chambers 
11th floor  
228 nariman point 
mumbai 400 021  
india 
t 91 22 6659 5519 
f 91 22 6659 5524 
text 100 new delhi 
text hundred india  
pvt limited 
2nd floor tdi centre 
plot number 7 
jasola district centre 
new delhi 110025 
india 
t 91 11 4061 2000 
f 91 11 4061 2052 
text 100 seoul 
text 100 sunny relations 
5f central building 
1550 11 seo cho dong 
seo chu gu 
seoul 137070  
korea 
t 82 2 2084 9234 
f 82 2 523 7447 
text 100 shanghai 
beijing text 100 
consulting services limited 
room 2005 ascendas plaza 
333 tian yao qiao road 
shanghai 200030 
china 
t  86 21 6426 3989 
f  86 21 6426 3986 
text 100 singapore 
text 100 pte ltd 
20 cross street  
031708 china square 
central 
singapore 048 422 
t  65 6557 2717 
f  65 6325 8262 
 
 
 
 
licensed partner 
 
text 100 sydney 
text 100 pty limited 
level 6  
77 berry street 
north sydney nsw 2060 
australia 
t 61 2 9956 5733 
f 61 2 9956 5406 
text 100 taipei 
text 100 apex 
7f 51 tung hsin road 
taipei 11070 
taiwan  
t 886 2 7718 7777 
f 886 2 7718 7789 
text 100 tokyo 
text 100 japan kk 
soteira building 
10 ichibancho 
chiyodaku 
tokyo 102 0082 
japan 
t 81 3 5210 1981 
f 81 3 5210 2005 
bite communications 
wwwbitecommunications
com 
emea 
bite communications 
london 
bite communications 
limited 
the character building 
41b beavor lane 
london w6 9bl 
united kingdom 
t 44 20 8741 1123 
f 44 20 8741 2790 
bite communications 
stockholm 
kungsgatan 17 
111 43 stockholm 
sweden 
t 46 08 402 01 05 
f 46 08 402 01 29 
north america and 
canada 
bite communications  
los angeles 
bite communications 
corporation 
9701 wilshire boulevard 
10th floor  
beverly hills ca 90212 
usa 
t  1 310 601 7133 
f  1 310 601 7110 
bite communications 
new york 
bite communications 
corporation 
317 madison avenue 
suite 811 
new york ny 10017 
usa 
t 1 212 857 9370 
f 1 212 857 9371 
bite communications 
san francisco 
bite communications  
corporation 
345 spear street 
suite 750 
san francisco ca 94105 
usa 
t 1 415 365 0222 
f 1 415 365 0223 
bite communications 
toronto 
bite communications 
canada limited 
1235 bay street 
suite 1000 
toronto on m5r 3k4 
canada 
t 1 416 217 0777 
f 1 416 969 8916 
asia pacific 
bite communications 
hong kong 
26f 46 lyndhurst terrace 
central hong kong 
tel 852 2973 0222 
fax 852 2973 6900 
bite communications 
beijing 
room 1602 building no15 
china central place 
89 jinguo road  
chaoyang district 
beijing 100025 china 
tel 86 10 6530 7200 
fax 86 10 6530 7430 
bite communications 
shanghai 
room 3305 united plaza 
1468 west nanjing road 
shanghai 200040 china 
tel 86 21 6289 8585 
fax 86 21 6289 8586 
bite communications 
singapore 
50 armenian street 
0201 wilmer place 
singapore 179938 
tel 65 6323 7377 
fax 65 6323 7366 
bite communications 
sydney 
level 10 
32 martin place 
sydney nsw 2000 
australia 
tel 61 2 9377 1111 
fax 61 2 9377 1199  contact information continued 
 
88   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 
m booth  
wwwmboothcom 
m booth  associates inc 
300 park avenue south 
12th floor 
new york 
ny 10010 
t 212 481 7000 
f 212 481 9440 
outcast communications 
wwwoutcastprcom 
outcast new york 
outcast communications 
corp 
41 east 11th street 
11th floor 
new york ny 10003  
usa 
t1 212 905 6040 
f1 212 905 6053 
outcast san francisco 
outcast communications 
corp 
123 townsend street 
suite 500  
san francisco ca 94107 
usa 
t 1 415 392 8282 
f 1 415 392 8281 
lexis public relations 
wwwlexisprcom 
lexis public relations limited 
8 bolsover street 
london w1w 6ab 
united kingdom 
t 44 20 7908 6488 
f 44 20 7908 6490 
463 communications 
www463com 
463 communications 
washington dc 
463 communications llc 
1667 k street nw 
suite 520 
washington dc 20006 
t 1 202 463 0013 
f 1 202 463 0013 
463 communications 
palo alto 
463 communications llc 
2251 yale street 
palo alto ca 94306 
t  1 415 948 4372 
redshift research 
wwwredshiftresearch 
couk 
redshift research ltd 
commotion house 
morley road 
tonbridge 
kent 
tn9 1ra 
t 44 01732 356 399 
context analytics 
wwwcontext
analyticscom 
context analytics 
corporation 
77 maiden lane 
3rd floor 
san francisco ca 94108 
t 1 415 593 8499 
f 1 415 593 8401  designed and produced by radley yeldar wwwrycom using the paperless proofing  
system wizardry 
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next fifteen communications group plc  
the triangle
5–1 7 hammersmith grove
london
w6 0lg
t 44 0 20 8846 0770
f 44 0 20 7160 5322
company number 01 579589


Summary:
 6 next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009
chairman’ s statement
next fifteen communications group plc 
‘next fifteen’ or ‘the group’ the global 
public relations consultancy group is 
pleased to report its results for the year 
to 31 july 2009 the group like many 
businesses has been impacted by the 
global economic downturn despite  
this the group has reported revenues  
up 36 to £654m 2008 £631m 
profitability was more sensitive to the 
economic slowdown with profit before 
tax down to £32m 2008 £55m but the 
adjusted profit was £52m 2008 £66m 
see note 5 earnings per share was 
similarly impacted at 367p 2008 7 08p 
with the adjusted basic earnings per 
share being 648p 2008 862p see  
note 10 the group continues to have a 
strong balance sheet ending the year 
with net funds of £18m 2008 £34m 
see note 20 achieved after making 
£45m of acquisitionrelated payments  
in view of this and the improving outlook 
overall the board has proposed a final 
dividend of 125p per share which 
maintains the total dividend for the year 
at 17p
the group’s results were significantly 
impacted by the currency contracts 
placed before the start of the year  
which matured during the year  
these protection contracts effectively 
locked the group into what became 
unfavourable rates after sterling fell 
sharply against both the us dollar and 
euro these maturing contracts created 
an additional loss of £17m above their 
fair value at the beginning of the year 
which is included in other operating 
charges within head office costs  
but not shown as an adjustment to  
profit note 5 
corporate activity
just after the year end the group 
announced the acquisition of new york
based consumer agency m booth and in 
recent weeks it has also announced the 
acquisition of the asian pr assets of  
aimlisted upstream marketing and 
communications inc which will give  
the group’s bite business a strong asia 
pacific operation to complement its 
existing us and european operations 
the group also announced its  
purchase of a further 30 stake in 463 
communications llc a usbased policy 
communication consultancy in which  
it already has a 40 interest lastly the 
group also announces that it intends  
to open a digital communications 
agency in the next three months  
two executives from bite are moving 
over to lead this venture
cost control 
during the year the group made  
some significant headcount reductions 
following the slowdown in most of its 
markets following a strategic review 
decisions were also taken to merge 
londonbased inferno into bite and to 
close the text 100 offices in seattle and 
dublin these actions resulted in one
time charges of £195m of which £04m 
related to the cost of surplus office space 
setting these aside the group continued 
to keep staff costs as a percentage of 
revenue at 67 the close management 
of staff costs should help the business  
to restore its profit margins in the 
coming year as revenue growth  
begins to recover
strengthened client base
the group already has an enviable  
client base that includes ibm microsoft 
cisco facebook amd unilever and 
cocacola just after the year end the 
group added hp as a significant client  
in the us which helped make up for  
the loss of sun microsystems following 
the announcement that it was being 
acquired by oracle the group also 
added autodesk and vmware as clients 
during this period 
in v estment  
in a challenging  
en vironment   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 7
 additional information 8488
 financial statements 4083
 governance 2239
 business review 1021
 overview 19
growth strategy
the group has continued to explore 
organic growth opportunities supported 
by selective acquisitions of specialist 
agencies in growth sectors this is 
demonstrated by the acquisition of  
m booth who are working with the 
existing uk business of lexis to create  
a global consumer agency for the  
group the acquisition of upstream’s  
pr agencies in china singapore and 
australia will enable bite to offer its 
existing and new clients a singleagency 
solution in europe north america and 
asia pacific lastly the creation of a 
digital agency to leverage the group’s 
existing capabilities in social media and 
related digital services is further evidence 
that the group continues to focus on 
longterm growth with strong cash
generation from operations and existing 
acquisition facilities the group remains 
well placed to make additional targeted 
acquisitions of a size that would not lead 
to a significantly geared balance sheet 
an approach that the board continues  
to feel is prudent given the current 
economic climate
prospects
the group has managed its cost base 
and balance sheet well during this 
difficult economic cycle unlike some 
others in the marketing services sector it 
remains conservative about cash having 
ended the year with net funds of £18m 
on its balance sheet despite the slow 
but gradual improvement in the 
economic climate the group will 
continue to be careful in its approach to 
running the business and as reported 
last year focus heavily on the three cs  
of customers cost base and cash  
the group has seen an improvement  
in trading conditions after a tough first 
quarter of the 2009 calendar year but it 
will continue to manage the business  
in a way that reflects the general 
uncertainty that surrounds the 
sustainability of economic recovery  
in the first two months of the current 
financial year the group has seen good 
momentum and the board remains 
optimistic about the prospects for  
the year
will whitehorn
chairman  
1 1 november 2009
adjusted eps p
09
08
07
648
862
709
dividend per share p
09
08
07
17
17
15
1 49
    adjusted profit margin  
    before head office costs  
    2008 1590 8 next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009
given the current challenging economic conditions  
we have been asked many questions on our strategy by  
employees shareholders and analysts here are a selection  
of them which will be answered in this report by some of the 
senior management team
growth has been difficult in the last 1 2 months but 
does the next fifteen brand portfolio still offer good 
growth prospects   
q 1
for the answer please see page 11
next fifteen’ s technology clients have been early 
adopters of social media services what demand  
for these services have m booth seen  
q2 
for the answer please see page 12
the acquisition of m booth has added to the consumer 
pr capabilities of the next fifteen group but in what 
ways will this benefit lexis  
q 3
for the answer please see page 14   next fifteen communications group plc annual report 2009 9
t ext 1 00 has a network of 25 offices in 1 7 countries but 
does this really allow it to compete directly with the 
large marcoms groups for global client mandates  
q4 q4
the recent acquisition of upstream asia is an 
interesting move how will this help the growth 
prospects for the bite group  
q 5 
staffcost torevenue is a key performance measure for 
the group how do you propose to manage this down 
towards the target rate of 65 
q6 q6
for more information please see page 16 for more information please see page 16
for the answer please see page 17
for the answer please see page 20
t ext 1 00 has a network of 25 offices in 1 7 countries but 
does this really allow it to compete directly with the 
large marcoms groups for global client mandates  
q4
for the answer please see page 16
 additional information 8488
 financial statements 4083
 governance 2239
 business review 1021
 overview 19