wwwtibbettbrittencom
annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
wwwtibbettbrittencom
integral to the supply chain
tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 tibbett  britten is a ukbased international group of
companies providing physical distribution and logistical
support services for major retailers and manufacturers 
it focuses on the consumer sector and has established 
a strong presence in the food and beverage fashion 
and consumer nonfood markets
the group’s objective is to develop partnerships with its customers and consolidate 
its position as an international leader in contract logistics and supply chain management
through the translation of experience and transfer of customer franchise across territorial
and sector boundaries
contents
1 overview
2 chairman’s statement
4 tibbett  britten at a glance
5 chief executive’s review
10 increasing product availability
12 improving customer service
14 reducing costs
16 financial review
19 our people
20 board of directors 
21 social environmental and 
ethical matters
24 report of the directors
26 directors’ remuneration report
31 corporate governance
33 directors’ responsibility for ﬁnancial
reporting and internal control
34 consolidated proﬁt and 
loss account
35 consolidated balance sheet
36 company balance sheet
37 consolidated statement of total
recognised gains and losses
37 note of historical cost proﬁt 
and losses
38 consolidated cash ﬂow statement
38 reconciliation of movement 
in net debt
39 notes to the consolidated cash
ﬂow statement
41 notes to the ﬁnancial statements
63 report of the independent auditors
64 financial record
ibc directors secretary and advisors
shareholder information and
ﬁnancial calendar
directors secretary and advisors
chairman
j a harvey cbe ba fcit filt
chief executive
m r arrowsmith bsc fcma
directors
s hammad ba mba
m a whiteling mcom
nonexecutive directors
c w e r buchan bsc fca
w a c thomson
r w wood bsc ccmi
secretary
n l smith llb
registered ofﬁce
centennial park
elstree
hertfordshire wd6 3tl
united kingdom
tel 020 8327 2000
fax 020 8327 2199
registered number
1838882 england
auditors
pricewaterhousecoopers llp
10 bricket road
st albans
herts al1 3jx
solicitors
denton wilde sapte
1 fleet place
london ec4m 7ws
registrar and transfer ofﬁce
lloyds tsb registrars
the causeway worthing
west sussex bn99 6da
tel 0870 6003970
principal clearing bankers
lloyds tsb bank plc
city ofﬁce
1115 monument street
london ec3v 9ja
stockbrokers
dresdner kleinwort
wasserstein
20 fenchurch street
london ec3p 3db
merchant bankers
dresdner kleinwort
wasserstein
20 fenchurch street
london ec3p 3db
shareholder information and ﬁnancial calendar
shareholder enquiries
if you have any queries about the administration of shareholdings such as change of address transfer of ownership dividend mandate
forms or dividend payment please contact the registrar at the address given above the best way to ensure that dividends are
received as quickly as possible is to instruct the registrar to pay them directly into your bank account tax vouchers are then posted
to you separately see the registrar’s website wwwshareviewcouk for further details
share price information
the middle market price of a tibbett  britten group plc share on 31 december 2003 was 4045 pence during the year the 
share price ﬂuctuated between 3350 pence and 5625 pence the company’s share price is available from the group’s website
wwwtibbettbrittencom with a 15 minute delay and from the london stock exchange website wwwpriceslondonstockexchangecom
with a similar delay prices are also published in most newspapers and on ceefax and teletext in the uk
financial calendar
annual general meeting 19 may 2004 proposed 2003 ﬁnal dividend payment date 28 may 2004
exdividend date for 2003 ﬁnal dividend 5 may 2004 announcement of 2004 interim results september 2004
record date for 2003 ﬁnal dividend payment date 7 may 2004 proposed 2004 interim dividend payment date november 2004
analysis of shareholdings as at 31 december 2003
range nos of holders  of holders nos of shares  of shares
1 to 1000 1614 7239 527261 108
1001 to 5000 352 1578 767866 158
5001 to 10000 65 291 478631 098
10001 to 50000 97 435 2540291 522
50001 to 100000 34 152 2696346 554
100001 and over 68 305 41627460 8560
totals 2230 10000 48637855 10000
number of individuals – 1681 7538 representing 3625846 shares 745
number of institutions – 549 2462 representing 45012009 shares 9255
this document has been printed on paper manufactured from 50 tcf pulps from plantation forests and 50 recycled and deinked ﬁbres from pre and post consumer
waste no chlorine has been used in the deinking process
designed and produced by linnett webb jenkins printed by empress litho ltd overview
tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 1
financial highlights
turnover up 8 to £16335m
†
adjusted operating proﬁt £259m
†

operating proﬁt £224m
proﬁt before tax £155m
adjusted earnings per share 
of 291 pence

dividend for year maintained
at 253 pence
†continuing operations
before goodwill and exceptionals
before goodwill amortisation 
exceptionals and related tax
operational highlights
††
employees 34700
operational sites 346
countries of operation 35
warehousing million sq m 49
vehicles and trailers 15729
retailers 79
suppliers 21
††
as at 31 december 2003
highlights
turnover up 8 to £163bn 2002 – £152bn
good progress in european and international divisions 
overshadowed by unsatisfactory performance in americas
action taken to refocus americas mexico back on track
europe integration of uk and mainland operations progressing 
uk – strong progress mainland europe – encouraging growth 
in a difficult trading environment
international strong performance – growth in south africa 
and china
adjusted profit before tax £201m 2002 – £294m profit before 
tax £155m 2002 – £133m
strong cash flow net debt reduced to £508m 2002 – £672m
dividend for year maintained at 253 pence 2002 – 253 pence
strategically well placed for macroeconomic change – 
wta and enlarged eu
99 00 01 02 03
11072
13414
14056
15169
16335
99 00 01 02 03
284
364
374
353
259
99 00 01 02 03
437
472
431
387
291
99 00 01 02 03
215
232
244
253
253
turnover
†
£m
adjusted
operating proﬁt
†

£m
adjusted earnings 
per share

pence
net dividends 
pence chairman’s statement
2 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
good progress at our european and international divisions was
overshadowed by the unsatisfactory performance of our americas
operations in europe our successful development reflected the
benefits we are now realising from the restructuring of the uk business
implemented in 2002 and the new management structure put in place
last year the international division performed well particularly 
in south africa and with sustained growth in china
in north america we have restructured the business following the management changes announced
at the end of last year overheads have been substantially reduced and development realigned 
to deliver better consistency and performance from the market leading positions we have achieved
after 12 years of unbroken growth
the business is a global leader ﬁrmly focused within consumer logistics as such it is strategically
well positioned to sustain growth in our core european and americas markets whilst capitalising 
on our established presence in central europe and china at a time when the may 2004 eu
accessions and the adoption of the world trade agreement accelerate supply change and
migration of production
financial results
reported turnover was up 8 at £1634m 2002 – £1517m and reported operating proﬁt was
£224m 2002 – £263m reﬂecting the impact of one off events in the ﬁrst half and an unsatisfactory
performance in the second half in north america and mexico pretax proﬁts were £22m better 
at £155m as 2002 was impacted by exceptional items accordingly basic earnings per share
improved to 202 pence per share 2002 – 54 pence per share adjusted earnings per share were
291 pence 2002 – 387 pence the group’s operations remain strongly cash generative with
operating cash inﬂow of £523m 2002 – £746m 2002 cash ﬂow beneﬁted from the receipt of 
the outstanding safeway receivable of £175m free cash ﬂow after the payment of interest and
taxation was £310m 2002 – £441m net debt was £508m 2002 – £672m at the yearend
dividend
the board is recommending maintaining the full year dividend of 253 pence per ordinary share
2002 – 253 pence therefore for the year ended 31 december 2003 it is recommended that 
a ﬁnal dividend of 171 pence per ordinary share 2002 – 174 pence be paid on 28 may 2004 
to shareholders on the register at 7 may 2004 the proposed dividend is covered 115 times by
earnings before goodwill amortisation and loss on investment 2002 – 153 times it is the board’s
intention to rebuild dividend cover as earnings grow
john harvey 
chairman tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 3
management
mike sprague resigned from the board and as president of our americas division on 6 january
2004 i would like to thank him for his contribution to developing our americas business over 
the last ten years we are currently in the process of recruiting a successor
after 47 years in the industry and 35 with this business i shall be retiring as chairman at the 
end of this year the nominations committee which comprises myself and the three independent
nonexecutive directors have put in place a process working with search consultants to identify 
a suitable successor who will lead the board and will work closely with mike arrowsmith and his
executive team 
edward buchan the senior nonexecutive director will step down in may at the agm edward
joined the board in 1996 and currently heads the audit committee on behalf of all my colleagues 
i thank him for his support and counsel over the last eight years
outlook
the underlying growth drivers for supply chain change and outsourcing underpin growth and
opportunity in all our markets although cost and margin compression are an increasing trading
issue our strategic focus and scale enable us to exploit the opportunities inherent in the
increasing complexity of extended supply chain management and so mitigate the impact 
of competitive pressures
the business is exceptionally well positioned to exploit growth opportunities within our core markets
and beyond after the events of last year operations in the americas are projected to recover
strongly following the restructuring of their overhead base at a cost of approximately £20m
in western europe we continue to inﬁll in the major markets notably in our nonfood operations
the accession in may this year of ten primarily central and eastern european countries to the
enlarged european union will be a catalyst accelerating change we are positioned to capitalise 
on our established presence in the central european markets similarly for six years we have 
been building critical mass in china within a rapidly developing consumer sector the effect of 
the wta will be to accelerate change in both global sourcing and the domestic chinese market
we will beneﬁt from both including the development of offshore supply chain services
ja harvey cbe chairman
37 americas
38 uk and ireland
17 mainland europe
8 rest of world
39 consumer merchandise
22 clothingtextiles
39 foodgrocery
geographical turnover sector turnover tibbett  britten at a glance
4 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
americas europe rest of the world
turnover £5966m £9079m £1290m
2002 – £6053m £5834m 2002 – £8378m £8589m 2002 – £738m £877m
operating proﬁt
†
£04m £228m £27m
2002 – £159m £150m 2002 – £181m £189m 2002 – £13m £20m
number of employees 11800 20000 2900
sites 87 186 73
total warehousing sq m 2300000 2000000 580000
commercial vehicles 8222 6570 937
and trailers
business heads mike arrowsmith saad hammad david musgrave
abbott labs al futtaim
auchan big c black 
decker british american
tobacco burger king
cadbury schweppes
carnaudmetalbox carrefour
colgatepalmolive 
east african breweries
energizer gillette
glaxosmithkline henkel
heysoon johnson 
johnson kelloggs
kimberlyclark kraft
makro nabisco nestlé
nutricia olayan pﬁzer
procter  gamble 
schick siemens lighting
stanley works unilever
warnerlambert wu mei
arcadia group auchan beiersdorf 
ben sherman big food group billa
black  decker boots burger king
carphone warehouse carrefour 
cocacola colgatepalmolive corteﬁel
danone debenhams dixons eroski
findus frigo frudesa ej gallo gap
gillette glaxosmithkline henkel hewlett
packard homebase ibm intermarché
johnson  johnson kimberlyclark
kingﬁsher levi strauss littlewoods 
mf girbaud makro marks  spencer
masterfoods mccain metro mothercare
nestlé o
2
 polo ralph lauren prisunic
reckitt benckiser reebok remington
rewe rubbermaid europe sainsbury’s
sara lee spar systeme u tengelmann
tesco tk maxx unilever hpc export
unilever bestfoods walmart
alberta glc associated wholesale
grocers bc hot house black  decker
bristol myers conagra foods effem
foods gap gillette home mart
kelloggs kimberlyclark kraft the
kroger company neilson dairy novartis
pepsico procter  gamble roche
rubbermaid safeway 7eleven
shoppers drug mart jm smucker
talbots unilever bestfoods united
supermarkets walmart wella
customers include
operator of the largest
distribution network 
in subsaharan africa
logistics market leader 
for consumer products 
in china
principal distributor of frozen food in
central europe biggest drinks and fresh
produce logistics company in france
market leader for consumer logistics in
portugal largest distributor of clothing
home and personal care and technology
products in the uk and ireland
market leader in grocery retail logistics 
in both canada and the usa and the
largest specialist distribution business 
in canada and mexico – operating 
from coast to coast growing interests 
in latin america and the caribbean
market positions
bahrain china hong
kong kenya kuwait
malaysia morocco saudi
arabia singapore south
africa taiwan tanzania
thailand uganda 
united arab emirates
austria belgium czech republic
france germany hungary ireland
netherlands poland portugal
romania slovak republic spain
turkey united kingdom
argentina canada mexico 
puerto rico usa
geographic spread
†
before goodwill amortisation 
and exceptional items
at constant exchange rates chief executive’s review
tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 5
our primary focus is on the continued development of our two core markets of europe and north
america whilst building critical mass in china in many countries within these markets we have
achieved leading positions in our chosen sectors of clothing grocery and mass consumer
merchandise we have continued to extend our activities and competencies across the supply
chain including offshore support mainly from asia and eastern europe in the context of extending
our capabilities across the supply chain we acquired vfw ag a fourth party reverse logistics provider
in germany which is now integrated into the group and performing ahead of our business plan
americas
although turnover for the americas at £5966m was ahead of last year by 2 at constant exchange
rates the division had a disappointing and unsatisfactory year we have taken action to improve
ﬁnancial performance this has included substantial management changes restructuring the
business reducing overhead closing the latin american ofﬁce in miami and the realignment of 
our business development activities these actions will enable the business to exploit more effectively
opportunities in an expanding market overall the restructuring of the americas’ business is expected
to result in a 2004 ﬁrst half exceptional charge of approximately £20m
the north american market continues to grow and new contracts were started for kimberlyclark
procter  gamble smuckers and payless shoes we also extended our business with walmart
following the introduction of the sam’s club store format in canada in the second half of the year
we were awarded a contract to design and operate a major distribution centre for a leading canadian
supermarket chain projected to become operational in early 2005 in december following a change
in senior management jc penney advised their contractors that during 2004 they would be 
taking back inhouse all their major third party operations including the two sites we currently
operate on their behalf
north american operating proﬁt before goodwill amortisation was £28m this result was impacted 
by the previously announced exceptional events in the ﬁrst half of 2003 these were the full
provision for the £31m outstanding from a former customer that has ﬁled for chapter 11 protection
and the £35m writeoff associated with the decision by safeway inc to exercise the onetime
option to take the operation in north california inhouse operating proﬁt was also impacted 
by a weaker us dollar that reduced earnings by £05m compared to last year
during 2003 we continued to make good progress towards achieving
our strategic objectives particularly in our european and international
divisions however the americas performance was unsatisfactory
the issues underlying this have now been addressed and we expect 
to see a substantial rebound in performance during 2004 
mike arrowsmith
chief executive 6 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
in mexico although turnover of £452m was up by 39 at constant exchange rates an operating loss
before goodwill amortisation of £25m was recorded the loss was mainly due to difﬁculties associated
with the consolidation under the direction of the north american management of seven sites around
mexico city into a single purposebuilt facility the transfers were not well executed resulting in
signiﬁcant cost overruns and customer penalty payments by the end of 2003 these operations
had been stabilised and are now on track to deliver the beneﬁts originally envisaged there have
been considerable management changes the overhead cost base has been reduced and investment
made in new business development infrastructure the deployment of transport planning software
has recommenced and will further reduce cost and increase service efﬁciencies during the year
substantial new warehousing contracts commenced with procter  gamble and rubbermaid 
europe
in 2003 we made signiﬁcant headway in europe the restructuring of the uk business has been
completed with a single uniﬁed support structure now serving both the consumer products and
fashion teams under the leadership of saad hammad who joined the group in february 2003 
the integration of the uk and mainland european operations is progressing this is both cost
effective and facilitates our capability to share best practice across frontiers and business operations
increasingly multinational customers are managing their activities on a coordinated regional and
most frequently a paneuropean basis accordingly we have reorganised our business development
teams to create a central resource to support strategic customer partnerships and our own
national initiatives
total turnover of our european operations at £9079m was up by 6 at constant exchange rates
there was strong progress in the uk with the ﬁrst half loss of the ms textiles and general
merchandise contract being offset by the new business wins with homebase and boots which
commenced in the second half of the year in mainland europe we achieved substantial topline
growth however increased pricing pressures and operational challenges in france in the ﬁrst 
half lowered operating margins 
in the uk and ireland turnover at £6248m and operating proﬁt before goodwill amortisation at
£174m were 2 and 23 higher than last year respectively the continuing interest in outsourcing
has been evidenced by a signiﬁcant number of contract wins and renewals within all our key
customer segments we reinforced our signiﬁcant involvement with retailers by commencing new
reverse logistics
as pressure grows to recycle
products and materials both to
cut costs and to conserve non
renewable resources reverse
logistics is becoming increasingly
important already in europe the
focus is shifting from disposal 
to recovery partly driven by 
new legislation – such as the 
eu restriction of hazardous
substances and the waste
electrical and electronic
equipment weee directives
adopted in february 2003
tibbett  britten’s 2003
acquisition of leading german
based reverse logistics specialist
vfw reﬂects the group’s resolve 
to be in the forefront of this ﬁeld
vfw is a market leader in reverse
logistics to the retail pharmacy
sector and is also one of two
market leaders in germany in 
the management of returnable
deposit drinks containers over
time the group plans to translate
this expertise into other product
and geographic markets chief executive’s review continued
contracts with bq the big food group boots homebase marks  spencer sainsbury and
tesco among manufacturers we won new business with o
2
and secured contract renewals 
with danone gillette and unilever within fashion we secured new business with arcadia 
ben sherman fred perry lvmh next sainsbury tesco and tk maxx 
operating proﬁt beneﬁted from lower overhead costs and the 2002 closure of the underperforming
multiuser fashion network however as reported at the interim stage this performance has been
ﬂattered by the ms textiles and general merchandise termination payment we have recently 
won additional business with ms for the offshore consolidation and import management of 
wines which extends our exclusive uk storage contract 
mainland europe experienced encouraging growth in a difﬁcult economic environment at constant
exchange rates turnover increased by 15 to £2831m with doubledigit growth in all major
markets operating proﬁt before goodwill amortisation of £54m was up by 13 at constant
exchange rates reported results beneﬁted from an £08m exchange beneﬁt from a stronger 
euro and the german acquisition vfw in october 
thailand tieup
the group’s acquisition of a
substantial equity stake in davids
distribution thailand during 2002
is enabling it to offer integrated
services along the singapore
malaysiathailand geographical
axis it is now also sharing in
fulﬁlling a major logistics contract
with hypermarket retailer big c –
part of established customer 
the casino group of france
davids distribution’s giant new
wang noi distribution centre
operates 24x7 and is already
capable of handling up to
100000 cases of merchandise 
a day for big c the ﬁrst phase 
of the 103000 sq m 11m sq ft
centre shown here is handling the
warehousing and distribution of a
wide range of fresh and ambient
goods to 34 big c supercenter
stores all over thailand
always in fashion
today tibbett  britten group 
is an international fullservice
logistics provider with a threefold
focus on the fashion food and
beverage and nonfood consumer
goods sectors but it is the ﬁrst 
of these – clothing and textiles
logistics – that provides a common
thread running through the
group’s history
tesco the uk’s largest retailer 
is progressively growing its
fashion and nonfood businesses
and turned to the sector leader 
in 2003 to provide a dedicated
central warehousing and
distribution service for all its
boxed clothing lines in the uk –
some 30m cases a year 
the operation is based at our
recently completed 22400 sq m
240000 sq ft highbay fastway
distribution centre in the english
midlands shown left chief executive’s review continued
8 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
vfw our fourth party packaging return business performed ahead of plan and has continued 
to increase its customer base in late 2003 its nationwide system for the return of oneway drinks
containers was launched and has already been accepted by spar rewe and other major retailers
the contract logistics operations particularly for healthcare and medical gases continue to
expand with distribution into austria and other central european countries 
new business activities continue at a satisfactory level through both national initiatives and support
from the paneuropean development team during the year major new contracts included castorama
and ssl in france carrefour and corteﬁel in spain levi strauss in benelux and henkel johnson
 johnson kelly’s merkur rewe and tesco in central and eastern europe in germany the new
bingen warehouse for walmart was successfully commissioned in march and our operations
continued to deliver high levels of service 
in may the enlargement of the european union will prove to be a catalyst for accelerated change
we are beneﬁting from our established presence in central europe with the migration of production
and sourcing and the development of transnational retailing
during the year we strengthened our country management teams with new appointments in france
as well as central and eastern europe
international
our established businesses in asia the middle east and africa continue to develop rapidly with 
a clear mandate for proﬁtable growth and increased return on investment turnover increased by
47 to £1290m and operating proﬁt before goodwill amortisation was up by 35 at £27m at
constant exchange rates our presence in these markets supports our core international customer
base and is a signiﬁcant part of our strategy to develop long term partnerships with key customers
in china our jointventure with hutchison whampoa continues to expand in response to a rapidly
consolidating domestic retail sector prior to the wta driven deregulation of the market in early
2005 this proposed change has increased outsourcing opportunities with both local and
international supermarket chains our addedvalue managed transport operations also continue 
to expand offering nationwide delivery to over 350 cities following a slow start to the year caused
by the uncertainty following the outbreak of the sars virus the second half saw an increased
tempo of new business opportunities new contracts have been won with abbott laboratories
auchan bacardi bq heysong paciﬁc dairy procter  gamble stanley tools and wu mei
china promise
through our jointventure with
hutchison whampoa – hutchison
tibbett  britten htb – the
group has been building critical
mass in china for six years as a
result we are now well positioned
to beneﬁt from the changes in both
global sourcing and the domestic
chinese market likely to result
from trade deregulation in 2005
htb is already preparing for this
increased activity and opened a
new purposebuilt shareduser
distribution centre in shanghai
right during 2003 one of the
largest in the region it is already
serving a number of multinational
and domestic companies providing
them with world class levels 
of service quality in the middle east a jointventure agreement was signed with the al futtaim group in dubai 
this jv is providing supply chain management services in the region to al futtaim’s prestigious
franchise portfolio – including ikea marks  spencer and toys r us in the retail sector and
toyota honda chryslerjeep volvo sanyo toshiba and national panasonic in the automotive
and electronics sectors in saudi arabia our jointventure with the olayan group had a difﬁcult
trading year due to the conﬂict in iraq however in the second half year there were signs 
of improvement and we expect growth to return to this market in 2004
in south africa the new multiuser distribution centre at gauteng was successfully commissioned
and is progressively moving towards full operational throughput 
mike arrowsmith chief executive
scale and resilience
the group’s threedimensional
growth strategy is to focus on 
the consumer market sector –
which has scale and resilience 
to develop in selected geographies
and to pursue longterm
international partnerships with
substantive customers
one such company is procter 
 gamble following the group’s
progressive takeon of pg
logistics operations in the usa
argentina and china we set 
up three new pg distribution
centres in mexico during 200203
and now handle 55 of the total
volumes produced by procter 
gamble mexico this 66900 sq m
720000 sq ft facility in mexico
city left is the largest pg site 
in latin america
tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 9 10 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
velmore is a clothing manufacturer
based in ellesmere port in cheshire
its uk operation focuses on design
and technology with some of 
its manufacturing outsourced to
morocco it is a leading supplier
to marks  spencer and has
been a tibbett  britten customer
for 25 years
increasing product availability
because we carry out quality
assessment checks in morocco
before shipping we only transport
product that is of merchantable
quality this cuts reject rates
increases product availability
reduces overordering and
writedowns on unsold stock
it also improves margins
laetitia banzet is responsible 
for our warehousing operation in
morocco that’s two warehouses
– in tangier and casablanca –
storage of up to half a million
items and the people we 
employ there
we’ve worked with velmore to
reshape its logistics strategy –
eliminating transport legs
handling processes and an entire
distribution centre we have
established a direct sourcing
blueprint for marks  spencer
and taken 57 days out of the
replenishment process it’s more
than just moving trucks
in october 2002 we began
operating in romania in our 
ﬁrst full year – 2003 – we moved
six million garments 30 trucks
a week at peak all from 
a standing start tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 11
all components for clothes made
in morocco are imported from
somewhere else in tangier our
warehouse holds a selection of
velmore’s raw materials and
delivers to their factories then
collects up to 90000 ﬁnished
garments a week we even stock
the polybags to wrap them too
last year we moved 11 million
garments from morocco 
to the uk
clothing is one of the world’s most competitive industries –
at the leading edge of globalisation working initially with
velmore and marks  spencer – and now with others –
we have developed a fashion logistics model that
can improve margins and increase product
availability in fashion what else is there
11m
we have a model that works and
can apply it to other markets
during 2004 for example we 
will be looking to develop our
clothing offer in lithuania latvia
and bulgaria 12 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
improving customer service
bc hot house founded in 
1973 is a cooperative of 60
growers of high quality tomatoes
cucumbers lettuce and peppers
based in vancouver in canada 
it is probably the largest business
of its kind in the northern
hemisphere the united states
represents around 85 of 
its market
the fast ‘n’ fresh business is 
like distributing news there’s no
market for yesterday’s papers…
or old produce every day on the
supply chain costs money if it
takes three days to get to los
angeles rather than two then the
value of the load reduces by 30
produce can be a target for bio
terrorism and since 911 it has
become very much more difﬁcult to
transport such merchandise across
the uscanadian border so we
commissioned a new distribution
centre in washington state that 
will be supplied from vancouver
and other countries around the
world – to reduce the number 
of crossborder trips required
a lettuce is mostly water and 
a tomato on the vine thinks 
it’s still on the plant – so carries
on ripening these are difﬁcult
customers for any logistics
specialist to handle but since
we began working with bc hot
house we have reduced claims
that produce has deteriorated 
in transit by almost 90
90

fast ‘n’ fresh taps into
freightsmart’s computerised load
building and transport scheduling
services for efﬁcient daily deliveries
all over north america built on
powerful i2 technologies
freightsmart is the tibbett 
britten group americas member
company specialising in load
consolidation and optimisation
routing and scheduling carrier
management and webenabled
supply chain visibility tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 13
tibbett  britten doesn’t grow fruit or vegetables but it can
receive check store pack and deliver them over thousands 
of miles and since our fast ‘n’ fresh subsidiary took over 
the warehousing and distribution operations of bc hot house 
in canada the customer’s costs have fallen by 
1014 while service quality has improved
we don’t just handle warehousing
and distribution for bc hot
house at our 18580 sq m state
ofthe art facility in vancouver all
produce is graded by some of the
most advanced equipment in
north america
fast ‘n’ fresh delivers produce
across north america – from
british columbia to florida –
over distances ranging from 
4 to 6000 miles 14 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
reducing costs
necessity is the mother of
invention and our customer care
centre – c
3
– was developed 
in africa because of local realities
as a result c
3
is the most
advanced logistics technology
consultancy service in the world –
bar none – allowing customers 
to model supply chains improve
strategic planning and monitor
business processes
some drugs such as serums need
an auditable temperaturecontrolled
environment from the moment they
leave the manufacturing plant in
say california to the moment 
they are used kinesis’ processes
conform to the highest international
pharmaceutical qa standards
including track and trace of
individual consumer packs – 
right back to the production batch
the cost of distribution through
wholesalers before kinesis was
set up was approximately 
175 of product value now 
it is around 65 
in 1999 four of the world’s largest
drug companies pﬁzer warner
lambert glaxo wellcome and
smithkline beecham together 
with south africa’s largest drug
manufacturer aspen pharmacare
set up a new channel to market 
it was called kinesis this company
which became part of tibbett 
britten in 2001 has transformed
the supply chain bypassing
wholesalers and delivering direct 
to customers
as part of a world health
organisation initiative we were
recently asked if we could
distribute antiretroviral drugs
anywhere in africa we said
yes and then we proved it 
in a trial that included
distribution to angola and
cameroon malawi
mozambique and uganda
175
175
65 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 15
we serve 8000 customers
nationwide – retail pharmacies
hospitals clinics doctors many
hundreds of outlets have online
terminals – connected to c
3
–
that provide all of the information
they need to allow them to
purchase the right product at
the right price at the right time
cost matters but lifesupporting
service is paramount this includes
a delivery leadtime of two to three
hours twice a day if needed or
airborne emergency distribution
direct to operating theatres speed
is the essence of kinesis – right
through the supply chain
for its three major customers –
pﬁzer which now includes warner
lambert glaxosmithkline and
aspen pharmacare – kinesis
provides africa’s highest quality
pharmaceutical distribution channel
covering all elements of supply
chain management and operation
from order processing to credit
management and cash collection
two 
three
hours
pharmaceutical companies are under pressure – ethical 
and commercial – to ensure affordable supplies of lifesaving
drugs throughout the developing world in south africa 
tibbett  britten’s stateoftheart technology and unique
distribution system have helped strip out costs and cut 
prices to needy consumers financial review
16 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
proﬁtability
operating proﬁt before exceptional items and goodwill amortisation decreased by £94m 27 
to £259m while the ﬁrst half was negatively impacted by the writeoff of the unamortised costs
associated with the safeway inc contract being taken back inhouse and the full provision for the
outstanding receivable with a former us customer now in chapter 11 proceedings the second
half was impacted most signiﬁcantly by the operational problems experienced in mexico these 
are discussed more fully in the chief executive’s report however operating proﬁt was down only
£39m 15 reﬂecting the higher amortisation charge following the vfw acquisition offset by the
nonrecurrence of the writeoff of goodwill in argentina recognised in 2002 
nonoperating items
in july 2003 the group disposed of its entire shareholding in autologic for £77m and recognised 
a loss of £11m compared to the book value at the end of december 2002 this writedown was
recognised in the ﬁrst half and there was no further charge in the second half this amount has
been presented separately on the face of the proﬁt and loss account and the 2002 results have
been restated to reﬂect a consistent presentation £71m loss
additionally pursuant to the termination of the marks  spencer warehousing contracts we were
obliged to sell two properties in which we had a 50 interest to marks  spencer these disposals
generated a proﬁt for the group of £22m and the cash proceeds have been used to pay down
debt and to ﬁnance the vfw acquisition
net interest and pension ﬁnance charge
net interest for the year of £65m has decreased by £02m 3 reﬂecting the broadly unchanged
debt levels over the course of the year the pension ﬁnance charge in the year of £15m which 
is a noncash item was £23m adverse to the £08m credit reported in 2002 this reﬂects the
change in the pension funding status between 1 january 2002 and 1 january 2003 in 2004
although the deﬁcit was similar between december 2002 and december 2003 we anticipate 
that the change in assumptions at 31 december means that the pensions ﬁnance charge will be
approximately nil excluding nonoperating items and the pension ﬁnance charge the net interest
cost was covered 34 times 2002 – 39 times
taxation
the group’s reported tax charge fell by £50m to £57m on an adjusted basis see note 8 to the
ﬁnancial statements the effective tax rate improved to 299 2002 – 364 this effective tax
rate reﬂects the signiﬁcantly greater proportion of income earned by the group in the uk in 2003
compared to 2002 and a one off beneﬁt from the release of a deferred tax provision
we would anticipate going forward that the tax rate would return to a level nearer the 2002
effective rate
total turnover for the year for the group increased by £1166m 8
to £16335m excluding the impact of exchange rate movements
turnover was up by 7 principally reflecting the weaker us offset 
by a stronger 1
dividend per share
pence
99 00 01 02 03
215
232
244
253
253 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 17
earnings per share
2003 earnings per share improved to 202 pence per share 2002 – 54 pence per share this
reﬂects the decrease in exceptional and nonoperating charges and the improved tax rate offset
by the decline in operating earnings 
proﬁt reconciliation
the table below reconciles adjusted operating proﬁt to the amounts reported in the proﬁt and loss
account on page 34
2003 2002
£m £m
adjusted operating proﬁt 259 353
net interest payable 80 59
proﬁt on sale of property – share of jointventures 22 –
adjusted proﬁt before tax 201 294
goodwill amortisation 35 30
goodwill impairment – argentina – 60
loss on salewritedown of investment 11 71
proﬁt on ordinary activities before tax 155 133
cash ﬂow and balance sheet
the net cash inﬂow from operating activities decreased by £223m to £523m 2002 – £746m
reﬂecting principally the beneﬁt in 2002 of the receipt of the outstanding safeway receivable
£175m there was as £106m inﬂow of working capital in the year 2002 – £190m reﬂecting 
the neutral working capital model for much of our business
gross capital expenditure of £330m 2002 – £322m was up marginally approximately one third
of this spend is on information technology and related software as part of our continued development
of the business approximately £40m was spent on ﬂeet replacement in europe other major projects
were new distribution centres in belgium for levi strauss south africa for unilever and ﬁt out 
of our new macrocentre in mexico free cash ﬂow after the payment of interest and taxation 
was £310m 2002 – £441m primarily reﬂecting the operating cash ﬂow impact above the free 
cash ﬂow was used partly to ﬁnance the vfw acquisition and in conjunction with the proceeds 
from the sale of our autologic holding led to a reduction of yearend net debt of £164m to £508m 
2002 – £672m gearing adjusted for the net pension ﬁnance liability ended the year at 53
2001 – 64 on net assets of £226m 2002 – £324m 
retirement beneﬁt plan
note 29 to the ﬁnancial statements sets out the detail assessment of the major uk pension plan
and its performance in the current year the plan saw a 267 increase in its assets to £2875m
2002 – £2270m primarily due to strong performance in the uk equities market this led to 
a £311m excess of actual versus expected return on assets 2002 – deﬁcit of £685m however
this outperformance versus expectations has been offset by the change in certain plan assumptions
as required under frs 17 the most signiﬁcant of these was the change in the discount rate 
to 54 2002 – 56 and the increase in the inﬂation assumption to 25 2002 – 23 
operating cash ﬂow
£m
geographical operating proﬁt
before goodwill amortisation
99 00 01 02 03
525
366
736
746
523
£04m americas
£27m rest of world
£174m uk and ireland
£54m mainland europe 18 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
this inﬂation assumption which would normally be expected to move with the discount rate 
has moved in the opposite direction reﬂecting a net 04 change in the inﬂationadjusted discount
rate the inﬂation assumption also drives our salary and pension increases and these have been
adjusted accordingly the combined effect of the changes in plan assumptions has been to increase
the liability by £373m 2002 – decrease of £143m 
the combined result of the above plus the increased contribution into the scheme of £110m
2002 – £63m means that the net liability has increased marginally to £726m from £721m
treasury management
the group board has established a treasury committee with a clearly deﬁned responsibility for
establishing strategy and controls over ﬁnancing currency and interest rate risk management
across the group
management of the group’s debt liquid resources interest rate risk and the maintenance of banking
relationships are controlled centrally by group treasury 
group treasury is also responsible for maintaining adequate committed bank facilities to cover all
anticipated funding requirements as well as ensuring appropriate average debt maturities for existing
debt at yearend the group’s net debt position was substantially ﬁnanced by the us75m us
private placement issued during the course of 2000 
international financial reporting standards ifrs
during the course of 2003 the company initiated a groupwide process in order to prepare the group 
for the adoption of ifrs as required under eu regulation effective from 1 january 2005 this project 
is necessarily complicated by the fact that the standards themselves are still subject to change and 
that the guidance for interpretation of these standards is still to a large part being developed 
this project which will continue during 2004 is intended to ensure that all appropriate staff within 
the group are appropriately trained and capable of making the correct technical judgements regarding
the adoption of the new standards this process is being undertaken in conjunction with the audit
committee which is tracking progress of the overall project and our auditors 
however there are a number of interested constituents our shareholders our bankers and the 
people we do business with – customers and suppliers accordingly during the course of 2004 we 
will start communicating more actively with these groups in order to ensure that they have the greatest 
level of understanding of the impact of ifrs on the group prior to our ﬁrst reporting period in 2005
accounting policies
the group has implemented the provisions of uitf 38 accounting for esop schemes and restated
the balance sheet as required under the standard the balance sheet impact of the adoption of 
these standards is detailed in note 1 to the ﬁnancial statements
mark whiteling group finance director
financial review continued tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 19
our people
americas management development
in the americas the group has launched the general management development programme
gmdp in partnership with york university in toronto to create a highly skilled senior team
consistently capable of taking on demanding general management roles combining elearning
with group and individual coaching and mentoring the programme also allows participants to
select real projects that can make a difference to the group’s performance one such project
looked at changing the way outbound store trailers are loaded and involved pierre neill dave
mulligan and jerry cooper from tibbett  britten americas member company scm canada
participation in the gmdp was highly inﬂuential in delivering the beneﬁts from this project 
and yeartodate savings for the customer have amounted to us13m the gmdp also received 
a ‘2003 excellence in practice’ citation from the american society for training  development
crossborder secondments
the secondment and transfer of managers helps tibbett  britten to spread knowledge and 
best practice between operations as well as to develop crossborder networks that remain in
place long after the secondee has returned home phil vaudin is one such manager phil joined
tibbett  britten in 1995 as a transport manager in the uk and progressed rapidly becoming
national operations manager in 2001 he was then offered the opportunity of a secondment as
logistics manager in france
this experience whetted phil’s appetite and in 2003 he agreed to relocate to taiwan as contract
manager responsible for one of the group’s largest customers in the region “this was an
unmissable opportunity for me” said phil “there are the same requirements for innovation and
customer service throughout the world and it is one of tibbett  britten’s strengths that they are
willing and conﬁdent to translate skills into different regions and cultures”
for your beneﬁt
in october 2003 tibbett  britten launched its ambitious ‘for your beneﬁt’ employee beneﬁts
scheme initially offered in the uk only the scheme provides employees with discounts and
preferential rates on a wide range of products and services and has been a huge success 
the home computing element for example surprised many when it attracted an 8 staff takeup
rate within the ﬁrst few months the scheme is now due to be rolledout across the rest of europe
welcomed by staff and their families for your beneﬁt has also attracted positive feedback from
customers who have been impressed by its innovative qualities it has even been nominated for
both the uk employee beneﬁts awards and the uk motivation awards in 2004
tibbett  britten is passionate about developing employees’
knowledge skills and behaviours – for the benefit of colleagues 
and customers alike our strategy is to employ talented inspirational
leaders working cooperatively to establish successful long term
relationships with customers
operating board
mike arrowsmith bsc fcma
group chief executive
martin graham bsc
managing director – 
uk and ireland
mark whiteling mcom hons
group finance director
saad hammad ba mba
managing director – 
europe
bill howie ba fcit filt frsa
managing director – 
fashion
jo robbins 
group hr director
david musgrave fcit filt
managing director – 
middle east and africa
global accounts 20 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
board of directors
edward buchan bsc fca
nonexecutive director
aged 52
appointed to the group board
in 1996 managing director
corporate finance of lcf
rothschild securities formerly
head of transportation industry
group uk – investment
banking westlb panmure
managing director of close
brothers corporate finance
limited and managing director
and head of corporate
finance at hill samuel bank
bill thomson
nonexecutive director
aged 56
appointed to the group board
in june 1998 managing
director of forth tankers plc
formerly chairman forth ports
relay fast and the british ports
federation and a member 
of the scottish advisory 
forum to british telecom
robert wood bsc ccmi
nonexecutive director
aged 55
appointed to the board as 
an independent nonexecutive
director in may 2000 formerly
chairman and chief executive
of henlys group plc chairman
of prevost car inc usa and
canada and vice chairman
chairman elect of home 
farm trust
john harvey cbe ba fcit filt
executive chairman
aged 68
appointed chairman and 
chief executive after leading
the management buyout of
tibbett  britten from unilever
in 1984 a nonexecutive
director of sygen international
plc a director of the institute
of grocery distribution trading
and a trustee of the institute
of grocery distribution a
member of the defra freight
forum chairman of transaid
and visiting professor and
chairman of the cranﬁeld
centre for logistics and
transportation advisory board
mike arrowsmith bsc fcma
group chief executive
aged 50
appointed to the group 
board in may 1999 previously
senior vice president and
finance director of smithkline
beecham plc’s worldwide
consumer healthcare
business and group finance
director of astec bsr plc
appointed chief executive
ofﬁcer in 2001
mark whiteling mcom hons
group finance director
aged 40
appointed to the group board
in october 2001 previously
spent four years at enodis plc
latterly as chief financial
ofﬁcer of the food equipment
division europe and rest of
world smithkline beecham
plc between 1989 and 1997 
in the usa and europe
saad hammad ba mba
managing director – europe
aged 41
appointed to the group 
and operating boards as
managing director – europe 
in february 2003 with
responsibility for activities in
the uk ireland and mainland
europe previously chief
executive of autocascade ltd
an avis europeinchcape plc
jointventure company also
held senior management
positions at minit plc vision
express group thorn emi
boston consulting group 
and procter  gamble tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 21
social environmental and ethical matters
introduction
tibbett  britten recognises that in fulﬁlling its day to day business requirements some of our activities can create an adverse
impact on local communities our business partners our own workforce and the world around us in order to ensure that we
minimise such effects tibbett  britten embraces a culture of corporate social responsibility csr
we believe that this can be managed most effectively by embedding the csr ethos within our existing human resources environmental
and corporate governance policies and procedures in effect csr forms an umbrella covering the three core activities
environmental impact strategy
a recent independent assessment conﬁrmed the success of our efforts in hr and corporate governance it also highlighted 
an opportunity for further development within the environmental sphere
to increase our awareness and therefore the proactive management of our environmental impacts tibbett  britten has decided 
to set business standards via best practice environmental programmes and thus speciﬁcally focus on this initiative
the initial impetus has been within the uk but we will roll the programme out internationally across our four main geographic
business regions information is already being shared between operations in different continents and we have assessed our 
key impacts worldwide 
the regions in which we operate have different needs and it would be inappropriate to impose a single central environmental target
instead we have highlighted areas that are relevant to each region and will establish local initiatives to review impacts quantify them
and then implement best practice programmes 
uk environmental impacts 
within the uk we have identiﬁed three key impacts for which we need to develop best practice programmes energy waste 
and procurement
energy
tibbett  britten as a transport operator consumes large quantities of oilbased fuels we recognise that the use of these fuels 
leads directly to the emission of carbon dioxide oxides of nitrogen and sulphur dioxide to the atmosphere through implementing
enhanced management practices within our transport operations we can reduce our environmental impact and save cost in doing so
our sites use other sources of energy principally electricity to operate refrigeration systems to power machinery and to light our
warehouses while we do make some use of renewable resources such as wind power the majority of our energy comes indirectly
from fossil fuels eg electricity generated from gas oil or coal or directly such as natural gas 
waste
what happens to a product or its packaging after use is something that too often is taken for granted we believe that the old
attitude of sending it to a landﬁll and forgetting about it is not acceptable it is better to recycle and better still to reuse or eliminate
the use of materials much that formerly went to landﬁll can now be economically reprocessed for use again in our commercial
operations cardboard and plastic packaging are the main resources that can be recovered
procurement
when we make procurement decisions the choices we make have environmental consequences whether it is stationery made from
recycled materials ofﬁce furniture made with wood from sustainable sources or equipment with lower emissions it is important that
we make decisions with the appropriate environmental knowledge available
uk environmental programmes 
measuring assessing acting
in order to reduce our environmental footprint we need detailed accurate data on our current impact we have well established 
uk usage ﬁgures for diesel fuel electricity and gas as well as our waste to landﬁll and recycling we have also begun monitoring 
our sitebysite water use
energy
the fuel and energy usage data have been combined with eu and uk government defra approved conversion factors to determine
our emissions proﬁle
emissions total co2
energy source quantity units per unit units emissions kg
diesel fuel 28692135 litres 27000 kg co2 77468764
electricity 47274 kwh 04300 kg co2 20328
gas 971488 therms 55689 kg co2 5410119
total 82899211
table a uk carbon emissions expressed as equivalents of carbon dioxide co2 we are now testing several systems for improving on these ﬁgures we have established a motor focus group to consider all aspects
of commercial vehicle operations a new fuel best practice programme has been implemented within the uk
one key objective of this programme is to improve miles per gallon on a sitebysite basis and therefore reduce our relative energy
consumption clearly our drivers are our biggest assets when tackling fuel economy training our drivers in fuelefﬁcient driving has
several environmental and business beneﬁts it reduces stress on the driver and the risk of accident it reduces vehicle emissions 
and at the same time it saves money through improved fuel consumption and reduced vehicle wear this is further optimised by
using our expertise to match the right type of vehicle to a given business need
in 2004 we intend to develop further our commitments we will establish a central fuel usage database where all uk fuel data will be
analysed this will help us to share best practices throughout the business we will also be running trials on alternative fuels including
biodiesel as we believe that they deserve further evaluation
tibbett  britten will utilise independent energy audit services to establish where consumption can be reduced and create guidelines 
for the effective use of new technology for major usage areas such as lighting
waste
our best practice programme is to optimise how waste is dealt with and to minimise its generation in partnership with our
customers we are continuing to make progress in reducing the amount of waste going to landﬁll we also recycle a wide variety 
of materials including cardboard paper plastics oil and tyres
absolute quantity relative to turnover
tonnes tonnes per £m
waste to landﬁll 6495 104
cardboard recycled 7050 113
plastic recycled 1131 18
table b uk waste streams summary
following our initial successes tibbett  britten is partnering with futur waste to assess not only the direct impact of waste going 
to landﬁll but also the consumption of fuel used in waste transport thus we will be able to target further reductions in fuel costs 
and in emissions
for several years our distribution resources limited drl division has been at the forefront of reusable packaging thus further
reducing waste some of this technology has been successfully exported to north america
case study waste diversion
a study of waste streams at our west thurrock site in essex revealed that we were sending large quantities of material to landﬁll
this practice is damaging to the environment due to habitat destruction and the potential for contamination of air and water it is
also a waste of natural resources
by changing the way in which packaging materials are handled at site and installing specialised baling equipment we were able 
to reduce waste going to landﬁll by over 75 over the ﬁrst half year an average of 215 tonnes of cardboard and 134 tonnes 
of polythene were sent for recycling every month this has also led to ﬁnancial savings for our client 
procurement
our environmental impact is not conﬁned to our own activities for this reason we have begun an assessment programme of our
suppliers in the uk suppliers are required to complete a questionnaire on their environmental management systems ems and life
cycle assessments lca this will be backed up by a programme of supplier audits to conﬁrm that accreditations and processes
are fact not ﬁction while this programme will take time to evolve we can already demonstrate that many of our major suppliers have
excellent environmental proﬁles the key objective is to take into account the full product life cycle in all our purchasing decisions 
international and european impacts
although we have stated that our leading focus is on the uk our environmental programme is international by nature though the
degree of engagement does vary between operating regions in the near future we will develop similar programmes for the other
three geographic regions and will detail this in our next report however in the usa and canada all sites are already given an annual
audit on the implementation of environmental policy operations are then marked on their progress in this area
22 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
social environmental and ethical matters continued tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 23
water
for tibbett  britten water usage and conservation are matters of concern particularly in some of the developing nations in which
we operate all our sites use water to some extent whether it is for personal use cleaning of equipment or use in refrigeration
systems during 2004 we will be investigating this topic further
biodiversity
the variety of living things is often referred to as biodiversity as a user of land we sometimes have the opportunity to make the
grounds of our sites into areas where plants and animals can survive and even thrive while this is not always possible for reasons 
of hygiene it is an area where we have had some success
we have been particularly successful in our promotion of biodiversity within the grounds of our north american business units 
while the immediate surroundings of our operations must be kept clear to avoid the risk of rodent or other pest damage there 
is often the opportunity to encourage wildlife further away from the buildings themselves
case study biodiversity in the usa
we are pleased to report the successful breeding of california burrowing owls for the ﬁfth year in a row in one of our american west
coast sites this small owl has suffered a severe population decline since the 1940’s and this is currently running at a rate of around
8 per year this is believed to be due to a combination of pesticide use and the loss of countryside to housing there are currently
moves to increase the level of protection from “species of special concern” to the endangered list as there is evidence that this
subspecies may go extinct
in 2003 we believe that four pairs of burrowing owls raised young in our grounds this was helped by the support of staff who were
able to plan maintenance and groundskeeping activities so as not to disturb these sensitive birds during the day these rare birds
are easily observed since they often roost at the entrances to their burrows the site in question also has a small reedswamp that 
is home to several species of breeding birds as well as migratory waterfowl and birds of prey
case study der grüne punkt
in germany our recent acquisition of vfw ag gives the group the opportunity to share in the knowledge of one of the leading
companies in reverse logistics their expertise in handling recyclable packaging and goods in a heavily regulated market will be
invaluable as eu regulations such as the waste electrical and electronic equipment weee directive come into full effect across 
more european countries vfw has specialist divisions covering the reuse and recycling of medical and pharmaceutical goods 
and packaging batteries consumer electronics textiles and footwear high standards are veriﬁed via rigorous independent dekra
umwelt audits
targeting and improving in 2004
during 2003 we have identiﬁed environmental impacts across a broad spectrum of our business activities we are now measuring
the majority of these areas and have set objectives to achieve in 2004 that when implemented will have a positive effect both
environmentally and commercially
where practical reporting will follow appropriate government standards such as those laid out in defra’s environmental reporting
general guidelines and the global reporting initiative
tibbett  britten group is demonstrating an effective contribution to reducing its business impact on the environment with policies
now in place tibbett  britten has the ingredients to embed environmental best practice in its worldwide operations 
to support this policy our environmental management system ensures that there is a main board director mr s hammad
responsible for these matters and that the risks identiﬁed are appropriately managed mr hammad reports to the board on any
signiﬁcant risks to and opportunities for the group which arise there are local trainers to coordinate the environmental programme
an ethical policy was introduced in 2001 and has since been communicated throughout the group employees are expected to comply
with this policy in all their business dealings report of the directors
for the year ended 31 december 2003
the directors present their annual report together with the audited ﬁnancial statements for the year ended 31 december 2003 
which were approved by the directors on 2 march 2004
results and dividends
the consolidated proﬁt and loss account is set out on page 34 and shows a proﬁt after taxation attributable to shareholders of £97m
the directors recommend a ﬁnal dividend of 171 pence net per ordinary share amounting to £84m payable on 28 may 2004 
to ordinary shareholders who are on the register on 7 may 2004 an interim dividend of 82 pence net per ordinary share was paid 
on 7 november 2003 amounting to £38m which makes a total of 253 pence net per ordinary share for the year
principal activities trading review and future developments
the principal activity of the group is the provision of logistics and supply chain management services and related systems expertise
to the manufacturing and retail industries a review of trading and an indication of future developments are contained in the
chairman’s statement and chief executive’s and ﬁnancial reviews details of overseas activities and turnover generated outside 
the uk are contained in the chief executive’s review and notes 2 and 32 to the ﬁnancial statements
share capital
the company’s issued share capital increased as a result of ordinary shares allotted in respect of share options exercised during 
the year under the group’s share option schemes further details are contained in note 21 to the ﬁnancial statements
changes in directors
mr s hammad was appointed as a director of the company on 3 february 2003 and his appointment was conﬁrmed at the 2003 agm
there have been no further changes to board membership during the year ended 31 december 2003 mr sprague resigned 
as a director of the company on 5 january 2004 and a replacement will be sought during the course of the year
mr w thomson and mr r wood will submit themselves for reelection at the 2004 agm
ordinary shares
substantial shareholdings number 
invesco asset management 5586402 1149
scottish widows investment partnership 3844703 790
threadneedle asset management 3082901 634
mr ja harvey including non beneﬁcial interests 3030800 623
schroder investment management 2996788 616
fidelity 2016146 415
legal  general investment management 1785854 367
employee involvement
the success of the group depends upon the commitment knowledge and involvement of its people the board continues to encourage
accountable and participative management and aims to empower its people and to nurture good relations with staff customers and
the wider community the group gives full and fair consideration to applications from people with disabilities and is a member of the
employer disability forum in the uk tibbett  britten is a nonageist equal opportunity and racially integrated employer
the group places considerable value on the involvement of its employees and has continued to keep them informed on matters
affecting them as employees and on the various factors affecting the performance of the group this is achieved through formal 
and informal meetings and the company magazine ‘smart talk’ employee representatives are consulted regularly on a wide range
of matters affecting their current and future interests
staff are provided with appropriate on and off the job training a modular inhouse management development partnership programme
ensures the development of high quality management standards business units are encouraged to achieve the ‘investors in people’
standard and many have already attained this nationally recognised accreditation in north america the group sponsors the tbg college
which provides training for management together with the opportunity to earn nationally recognised college diplomas in logistics
annual employee surveys are conducted which provides an opportunity for all to provide feedback on the group’s policies practices
and approaches to people management summary results are published in ‘smart talk’ in north america subsidiary companies
have distinctive cultural programmes designed to instil customer focus pride and a local identity
the company has in place a savings related share option scheme for uk tax paying employees to further encourage participation
in the business see also page 19
24 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 25
health safety and welfare
the group aims to achieve as far as is reasonably practicable the highest standards of health safety and welfare mr hammad 
has speciﬁc board responsibility for health and safety and reports to the board on these matters
social environmental and ethical policy
the group’s social environmental and ethical policy is explained on page 21
creditors’ payment policy
the group operates decentralised supplier payment systems its general policy is to ﬁx terms of payment for all suppliers when
agreeing the terms of such business transactions to ensure the supplier is aware of those terms and to abide by the agreed terms 
of payment
the number of days’ purchases represented by the group’s yearend trade creditors was 64 days 2002 – 61 days this reﬂects the
varied nature of arrangements with suppliers in the group’s worldwide operations and the impact of acquisitions organic growth and
the seasonality of business during the year
political and charitable donations
charitable donations for the year amounted to £01m there were no donations for political purposes
annual general meeting
the annual general meeting of the company will be held on 19 may 2004 resolutions are being proposed at the annual general
meeting to give the directors the permitted authorities to repurchase up to 10 of the issued share capital of the company and to
issue authorised but unissued shares previous authorities expire at the forthcoming annual general meeting the directors have no
present intention to issue shares for cash in the company other than pursuant to the tibbett  britten group share option schemes
note 21 to the accounts and the existing executive incentive schemes full details of all resolutions being proposed are contained in
the notice of meeting
post balance sheet events
there have been no material post balance sheet events
auditors
bdo stoy hayward resigned as auditors during the year and pricewaterhousecoopers llp were appointed to ﬁll the casual vacancy
arising in their place the directors will place a resolution before the annual general meeting to reappoint pricewaterhousecoopers llp
as auditors for the ensuing year
by order of the board registered ofﬁce
centennial park
nl smith elstree
secretary hertfordshire wd6 3tl
2 march 2004 united kingdom directors’ remuneration report
introduction
this report has been prepared in accordance with the directors’ remuneration report regulations 2002 the chairman of the
remuneration committee see below will ensure that this report is submitted to shareholders for their approval at the annual general
meeting of the company 
as required by the regulations the company’s auditors will report on all auditable sections of the company report including the
section relating to directors’ remuneration
remuneration committee constitution and external appointments
this part of the remuneration report is unaudited
the reward packages of all of the group’s executive directors are determined by the remuneration committee which complies 
with best practice provisions in its constitution operation and review of remuneration policy
the committee comprises mr wac thomson chairman mr cwer buchan and mr rw wood mr ja harvey and mr mr arrowsmith
attend in order to assist with discussions when requested the group hr director mrs j robbins attends in the capacity of secretary
and the group compensation and beneﬁts manager mr a piper attends to provide general advice as required the committee
meets a minimum of twice a year to discuss both routine and exceptional matters there are no plans to amend the purpose and
function of the committee
during 2003 the remuneration committee and the group hr function obtained access to market data from a number of reputable
sources including hay group and incomes data services during 2003 no signiﬁcant piece of remuneration research involving the
directors was commissioned externally
directors’ service contracts
this part of the remuneration report is unaudited
it is tibbett  britten’s policy to enter into service agreements with executive directors that are of an indeﬁnite term and normally
terminable by either party on 12 months’ notice under preexisting terms all the executive directors including the chairman have
the contractual right to 24 months’ notice of termination in the event of a change of control the board is aware of its responsibilities
under the combined code and consequently has commenced discussions with the executive directors in order to address this issue
in future exceptions to the 12 month notice policy will be made only where there is a clear market imperative for instance when
recruiting in the north american market as part of a housekeeping exercise a review of the content of service agreements has 
been undertaken in early 2004 and revised agreements will be offered to executive directors in due course
in order that restrictive covenants remain enforceable at the time of termination all contracts include the option at the group’s
discretion to make a cash payment in lieu of notice the aim is always to mitigate the company’s liabilities in the event of a director’s
termination executive directors must disclose all interests in other businesses and may not without the prior written consent of the
company enter into any related transaction or commercial arrangement
nonexecutive directors
this part of the remuneration report is unaudited
nonexecutive directors presently have letters of appointment which confer neither the right to ofﬁce nor to compensation upon
termination in early 2004 the renewal of the appointments of both mr cwer buchan and mr rw wood were agreed and their
appointments will expire on 31 may 2004 and 31 may 2006 respectively the appointment of mr wac thomson will expire
on 31 may 2004 new nonexecutive terms include a clause covering six months’ notice of early termination
levels of remuneration comprise a basic salary or fee and are determined by the board which is guided by competitive market 
data from internal and external remuneration advisors in 2003 the policy was revised so that each nonexecutive director is paid 
a basic annual salary or fee of £25000 as well as a supplementary annual payment of £5000 for chairing a board committee
the remuneration of nonexecutive directors is reviewed formally every three years
remuneration policy
this part of the remuneration report is unaudited
the company’s policy on remuneration is to attract retain and incentivise the most capable leaders recognising that they are 
key to the ongoing success of the business it is not envisaged that this policy will change substantially in the near future
consistent with this policy tibbett  britten’s reward package for directors is intended to be competitive and comprise a mix 
of performancerelated and nonperformancerelated remuneration as appropriate which are broadly equally weighted as part 
of the directors’ overall remuneration for ontarget performance
directors’ base salaries are reviewed annually by the remuneration committee which is guided by surveys weighted in part towards
the ftse 250 and in part towards the logistics sector annual bonus and long term incentive schemes deliver potentially signiﬁcant
additional remuneration related to performance
26 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 27
in detail director packages consist of the following
base salary
this is determined by reference to robust surveys by specialist internal and external remuneration advisors and is set subject 
to the evaluation of the role and acceptable individual and group performance at around the market median great care is 
taken to determine appropriate comparable organisations as part of this policy determination
annual performance bonus “stip”
the award of a bonus is dependent on the achievement of group andor regional proﬁt targets plus a minimum of three individual
performance targets focused on key strategic objectives following a review of the rules in 2003 all ukbased executive directors
can now potentially be awarded up to 50 of basic salary 45 previously for the president of the americas the maximum increased
to 70 from 50 in line with north american practice the objective of the review was to ensure the alignment of accountabilities with
potential rewards and to establish even more stretching performance targets for superior rewards any performance bonuses earned
are paid annually in respect of the previous ﬁnancial year
remuneration summary excluding pension contributions and payments in lieu thereof
the following information has been audited by the company’s auditors pricewaterhousecoopers llp
compensation
beneﬁts annual for loss 2003 2002
salary in kind bonus fees of ofﬁce totals totals
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
executive directors
m arrowsmith 330 19 25 – – 374 338
s hammad 217 15 21 – – 253 na
j harvey 230 14 13 – – 257 241
m sprague 228 11 – – see note 7 239 242
m whiteling 200 11 21 – – 232 197
nonexecutive directors
e buchan – – – 30 – 30 22
w thomson – – – 30 – 30 24
r wood – – – 25 – 25 20
notes
1 all remuneration for directors joining and leaving during the year relates to their time as board members
2 all above bonuses are payable in march 2004 in respect of 2003 performance
3 saad hammad was appointed to the board on 30 december 2002 subject to a performance review agreed at appointment his salary was increased from £210000
to £231000 with effect from 1 september 2003
4 mr ja harvey received remuneration for 2003 at a level below that recommended by the remuneration committee having waived part of his salary entitlement
5 mr m sprague’s 2003 salary is converted from us dollars to sterling at 162 to £100 his 2003 car allowance general insured beneﬁts and personal pension
contributions which were provided in canada have been converted at can 228 to £100
6 ukbased directors’ beneﬁts include the provision of private medical insurance an expensed company car or a cash alternative in june 2003 a policy review was
undertaken regarding company cars and the cash alternative which set the latter at £14000 and £11500 per annum respectively for mr m arrowsmith and other
board directors capital values of company cars were set at £50000 and £40000 respectively monks partnership was the primary but not the sole source of 
market data used to support this review supplementary pension cash allowances are also paid to those executive directors affected by the statutory earnings cap 
as set out in the next section
7 post2003 accounts note mr m sprague left the organisation on 2 january 2004 and was paid the equivalent of £383700 in respect of compensation for loss of ofﬁce
directors’ pension beneﬁts and payments in lieu thereof
this part of the remuneration report is audited by the company’s auditors
the uk executive directors were eligible in 2003 to participate in the company’s ﬁnal salary pension scheme which is governed by 
an independent trust the member contribution rate is currently 6 of pensionable pay in excess of the state lower earnings limit
the retirement age for directors under the pension scheme is 60 and they can achieve the maximum pension of two thirds of their
salary at retirement age after 20 years’ membership except where limited presently by the statutory earnings cap modest early
retirement reduction factors apply to pensions payable after 20 years’ service on retirement from age 55 substantial protection is
provided in the event of serious illhealth on death before retirement a capital sum equal to four times salary is payable on death
before or in retirement a spouse’s pension of two thirds of the member’s pension is payable in all circumstances children’s
allowances are also payable postretirement pension increases are guaranteed in line with inﬂation up to 5 per annum the trustee’s general practice has been
to award annual increases reﬂecting inﬂation in full
during 2004 the company will undertake the required review of the directors’ contractual pension beneﬁts in light of the government’s
plans to amend the pensions taxation regime
transfer transfer increase
pension value of value of in cash member’s
company accrued accrued accrued accrued accrued equivalent contribution
service to beneﬁt at beneﬁt at during beneﬁts at beneﬁts at during during
age at 31 dec 2003 31 dec 2002 31 dec 2003 2003 31 dec 2002 31 dec 2003 2003 2003
name 31 dec 2003 years £000s £000s £000s £000s £000s £000s £000s
m arrowsmith 50 5 12 15 3 126 180 54 6
s hammad 41 1 – 33 – 22 225
j harvey 68 46 149 149 – 2125 2256 131 –
m sprague 57 11 33 33 – 473 529 56 –
m whiteling 402473 24 50 26 6
actuary’s notes
1 accrued beneﬁt entitlement at 31 december 2002 includes an inﬂation adjustment to 31 december 2003 hence the ﬁgures are higher than those shown last year
2 the actuarial basis for calculating the increase in the transfer value during 2003 under the listing requirements differs from that speciﬁed under the directors’
remuneration report regulations which is the basis for calculating the transfer values shown the listing requirements basis also makes a deduction for price
inﬂation and member’s contributions during the year
3 members of the scheme have the option to pay additional voluntary contributions avcs to secure additional beneﬁts which are not included above
4 mr ja harvey agreed to defer drawing his pension entitlement beyond his expected retirement age his pension shown is that which would be paid annually on
immediate retirement and reﬂects that his entitlement at expected retirement age is increased to reﬂect such late payment no pension contribution has been paid 
by the company on mr ja harvey’s behalf since 1996 for the other directors the pension entitlement shown is that which would be paid annually on retirement 
at the expected retirement age 60 based on service to 31 december 2003
in line with market expectations for executive directors subject to the statutory earnings cap the following taxable salary supplements 
have been paid to the directors to fund additional pension beneﬁts the amounts relate to salary above the cap these payments are 
in addition to the emoluments shown in the remuneration summary on page 27
percentage of payments in lieu of
salary above cap pension beneﬁt
2003 2002 2003 2002
  £ £
m arrowsmith 32 32 73920 63000
s hammad 25 25 29500 –
m whiteling 25 25 25250 21000
long term incentive plans “ltip”
this part of the remuneration report is audited by the company’s auditors
the group operates long term incentive plans for executive directors and senior managers in the uk americas and increasingly 
for its overseas country managers which link additional remuneration to the creation of exceptional value for shareholders over the
medium term participants in the uk receive a provisional grant of ordinary shares in the company equivalent to between 15 
and 100 of basic salary each year which is held in trust for three years executive directors receive shares conditionally each 
year equivalent to 100 of their annual basic salary
the company’s performance for the uk scheme is measured over rolling three year cycles in terms of total shareholder return tsr
relative to the ftse mid250 which the remuneration committee considers represents the most appropriate peer group of the company
the size of the award made when the plan vests will vary between nil for below median performance and 100 for performance in the
upper quintile eg position 50 or better out of 250 companies under the rules presently in place for performance at the median
40 of the conditional awards are allowed to vest an additional performance criterion also applies that the group’s earnings per
share eps performance should exceed the rise in the retail price index plus 2 per annum over the period whilst the remuneration
committee considers this to be on balance a sufﬁciently stretching set of targets to reward exceptional performance only the rules
may be revised during 2004 to ensure the performancereward balance is more in line with best practice for the 20002003 cycle tsr
performance led to 40 minimum vesting awards for eligible ukbased management although these awards were waived conditionally
by messrs harvey and arrowsmith the independent trustee operated by hill samuel based in jersey will use its discretion to vest
these shares in due course
directors’ remuneration report continued
28 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 29
shares were awarded conditionally in 2003 to eligible directors and are set out below alongside a summary of other shares held 
in trust in respect of all other current cycles
date of price actual awards dividend
conditional award pence date of vesting conditional share awards 40 of conditional awards shares earned
april 2000 700 april 2003 m arrowsmith 15514 vesting shares 6205 waived conditionally 840
j harvey 24184 vesting shares 9673 waived conditionally 1309
may 2001 739 may 2004 m arrowsmith 15345
j harvey 23951
may 2002 782 may 2005 m arrowsmith 37595
j harvey 27391
m whiteling 23017
april 2003 382 april 2006 m arrowsmith 86387
s hammad 54974
j harvey 60209
m whiteling 52356
under the rules of a cashbased ltip which has been in place for mr m sprague and other senior managers in the americas a provisional
award equivalent to 65 of basic salary was made to mr m sprague in 2001 2002 and 2003 subject to performance maximum awards
are possible of up to 120 of basic annual salary at the end of each three year cycle for mr m sprague although these awards have
subsequently lapsed with his departure from the group stretching annual and compound proﬁt growth targets in the range of 2025 
of proﬁts achieved in base years had been established at the commencement of each three year cycle vesting was permitted equal to
20 of the projected total award for the cycle to reward the achievement of the growth target in any one year mr m sprague was not
entitled to an award in respect of the 200103 cycle as neither the compound nor any individual annual proﬁt growth target was achieved
during this cycle for mr m sprague previous provisional awards are shown in tabular form below
 of salary salary at time of conditional maximum if proﬁt annual and
date of conditionally conditional awards awards growth targets compound proﬁt
conditional award awarded £000 equivalent £000 equivalent achieved growth targets awards
january 2001 65 189 123 227 20 nil
january 2002 65 220 143 264 20 lapsed
january 2003 65 228 148 274 20 lapsed
the above ltip will be subject to an effectiveness review in 2004
ltip grant 2000 – tsr growth of tibbett  britten vs median five year cumulative tsr performance of tibbett  britten
of the comparator group over the performance period vs the ftse 250
the above graphs are not audited
tibbett  britten group plc 
–
ftse 250 
–
source datastream tibbett  britten group plc 
–
median 
–
source datastream
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
130
apr ’00 apr ’01 apr ’02 apr ’03
0
50
100
150
200
250
dec ’98 dec ’99 dec ’00 dec ’01 dec ’02 dec ’03
normalised tsr
normalised tsr directors’ remuneration report continued
30 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
share option schemes
this part of the remuneration report is audited by the company’s auditors
market price at
at 1 jan exercised date of exercise at 31 dec exercise price
exercise period 2003 during the year pence 2003 pence
m sprague 14 apr 1997 – 14 apr 2004 esos 5000 – – 5000 8080
13 oct 1997 – 13 oct 2004 esos 20000 – – 20000 7030
30 oct 1998 – 30 oct 2005 esos 4000 – – 4000 4350
29000 – – 29000 –
m whiteling 3 oct 2007 – 3 apr 2008 saye 719 – – 719 4170
under the tibbett  britten group savings related saye and executive share option esos schemes options have been granted
to directors over ordinary shares of ﬁve pence each subject to the company achieving eps performance in excess of rpi plus 
2 in each of the three years prior to exercise the executive share options are normally exercisable only after the expiry of three
years from the date of the grant and will lapse if not exercised before ten years from the date of the grant no executive share
options were issued or lapsed during 2003 saye options are normally exercisable after the expiry of three or ﬁve years from the 
date of the grant and will lapse if not exercised within six months after they become exercisable 
under the rules of the esos mr m sprague will be entitled to exercise his options in the six months following his departure from 
the group on 2 january 2004
the midmarket price of shares at 31 december 2003 was 4045 pence 2002 – 3825 pence and the range during 2003 was 
3550 pence to 5625 pence 
in order to strengthen the alignment of senior executive rewards to overall group performance the company will undertake a policy
review in 2004 with a view to potentially granting new tranches of share options subject to the review it is anticipated that it will be
possible to extend eligibility beyond the group executive directors to other grades of senior management both in the uk and overseas
directors’ share interests in tibbett  britten
this part of the remuneration report is unaudited
ordinary shares of 5 pence each at 31 december
beneﬁcial nonbeneﬁcial beneﬁcial nonbeneﬁcial
2003 2003 2002 2002
m arrowsmith 52523 – 47523 –
s hammad –– ––
j harvey 2393855 636945 2343855 636945
m sprague 20793 – 20793 –
m whiteling 5600 – 2600 –
e buchan 1500 – 500 –
w thomson 10000 – 10000 –
r wood 1500 – 1500 –
beneﬁcial interests in the table above show shares held by directors either directly or through a nominee or by their spouse as at 
31 december 2003 the executive directors based in the uk are deemed to have had a further interest in 195421 ordinary shares
held by the tibbett  britten group employee trust 166556 ordinary shares at 2 march 2004 there were no changes in any of the
directors’ interests in shares shown above between 31 december 2003 and 2 march 2004 none of the directors had any material
interest in any signiﬁcant contract relating to the business of the company or its subsidiary undertakings during the year
approval
this report was approved by the board of directors on 2 march 2004 and signed on its behalf by
mr wac thomson
chairman of the remuneration committee
2 march 2004 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 31
corporate governance
corporate governance
the tibbett  britten board is committed to business integrity and professionalism in all its activities as part of this commitment 
the board supports the highest standards of corporate governance contained in the combined code on corporate governance
which is appended to the listing rules of the financial services authority and the development of best practice
throughout the year ended 31 december 2003 the company has been in compliance with the code provisions set out in the
combined code on corporate governance save for the provisions relating to certain directors’ service contracts as detailed in 
the directors’ remuneration report the company is committed to maintaining a balance of executive and nonexecutive directors 
further commentary relating to internal controls can be found on page 33
the board and board committees
the board comprises the chairman chief executive three other executive directors and three nonexecutive directors their details
appear on pages 19 and 20 the roles of chairman and chief executive are separate and clearly deﬁned executive directors have
responsibility for making and implementing operational decisions and running the group’s businesses the nonexecutive directors
add to the skills and experience of the executive directors contributing to the formulation of policy and decisionmaking through 
their knowledge and experience of other businesses and sectors
the board meets at least eight times a year all directors have been present at all board meetings of the company throughout 
the year
the board has sought to ensure that directors are properly briefed on issues arising at board meetings by establishing procedures
for distributing board papers one week in advance of meetings considering the adequacy of the information provided before making
decisions deferring decisions when directors have concerns about the information available to them the board has a formal
schedule of matters reserved to it and the continued timelines and quality of information is kept under review all directors have
access to the advice of the secretary and independent professional advice is available to directors in appropriate circumstances 
at the company’s expense
no nonexecutive director has been on the board for more than nine years and none of them has any signiﬁcant business or other
relationship with the group all of them are considered to be independent edward buchan is the recognised senior nonexecutive
director on the board
the board considers that it has shown its commitment to leading and controlling the company by disseminating throughout the
group the group’s current strategy both the executive and nonexecutive directors make regular visits to the group’s businesses
and meet with senior management to facilitate their understanding of the group directors are also offered appropriate training
especially if they have not previously been appointed to the board of a listed company
board committees
speciﬁc responsibilities have been delegated to the board committees in accordance with terms of reference approved by the board
the three principal board committees are
audit committee remuneration committee nominations committee
edward buchan bill thomson john harvey
bill thomson edward buchan edward buchan
robert wood robert wood robert wood
bill thomson 
the audit committee meets at least four times a year with the group’s senior management the internal audit team and the external
auditors to review inter alia the group’s annual and interim ﬁnancial statements internal audit and compliance reports and the
effectiveness of the group’s systems of risk assessment and internal control periodically it also approves and reviews the
appointment and retirement of the external auditors as well as their relationship with the group
the remuneration committee meets at least twice a year its role is described further in the section on remuneration
the nominations committee is chaired by the group chairman except when the committee is considering the succession of the
group chairman in which case the chairman of the audit committee also chairs the nominations committee the committee’s 
other members are all nonexecutive directors the committee considers and makes recommendations to the board on all new
board appointments corporate governance continued
32 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
pension schemes
there are several pension arrangements within the group the principal uk scheme is the tibbett  britten pension scheme 
the corporate trustee of the tibbett  britten pension scheme is tibbett  britten pension trust limited the board of which
currently comprises three appointees of tibbett  britten group plc and ﬁve other members four of whom are nominated by the
employee members of the schemes the chairman of the board is sidney gould who retired as vice chairman of tibbett  britten
group plc in 1994 members of the scheme receive an annual statement of their accrued beneﬁts the assets of the pension
schemes are held separately from those of the group and are independently managed by professional fund management companies
relations with shareholders
tibbett  britten encourages shareholders to attend the annual general meeting which provides an opportunity for shareholders 
to ask questions of the board including the chairmen of the audit remuneration and nominations committees the notice of the
annual general meeting and all related papers are sent to shareholders at least 20 working days before the meeting
the group also makes full use of the internet in its external communications and has a detailed and regularly updated website 
at wwwtibbettbrittencom this is linked to a number of daughter sites some in local languages
the directors seek to build on a mutual understanding of objectives between the group and its institutional shareholders by making
an annual strategic presentation to institutional investors meeting shareholders to discuss long term issues and obtain feedback
communicating regularly throughout the year and issuing trading updates directors’ responsibility for ﬁnancial 
reporting and internal control
tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 33
financial statements
company law requires the directors to prepare ﬁnancial statements for each ﬁnancial year that give a true and fair view of the 
state of affairs of the company and the group and of the proﬁt or loss of the group for that period
in preparing those ﬁnancial statements the directors are required to
• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently
• make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent
• state where applicable accounting standards have been followed subject to any material departures disclosed and explained 
in the ﬁnancial statements and
• prepare the ﬁnancial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the group will continue 
in business
internal control
the board has overall responsibility for maintaining a system of internal control and manages risk across the group through risk
management policies and procedures the use of control selfassessment process and the group audit department the risk
management processes are designed to ensure that sound business practices a culture of risk management and internal controls
are embedded within the operation the riskbased internal control processes including control selfassessment are in place to help
identify evaluate and manage signiﬁcant risks and to assess the effectiveness of the related internal control system
in accordance with the combined code the directors review all the group controls including operations risk management and
compliance as well as internal and ﬁnancial control on an annual basis there are clearly deﬁned levels of responsibility and authority
and appropriate reporting requirements throughout the group the organisation structure includes the audit committee appointed 
by the board which together with the group audit department and the group finance director has assessed the effectiveness of 
the internal control environment within the group the audit committee meets regularly and comprises independent nonexecutive
directors with responsibility to oversee the entire audit process and to review management’s reports on internal ﬁnancial control
ﬁnancial reporting and risk management
group standards and guidelines and the control selfassessment process provide a control framework with which the operating divisions
comply while maintaining a system of control and procedures appropriate to their own business environment there is a comprehensive
medium term planning and budgeting process leading to approval by the board of annual group budgets one three and ﬁve year plans
are prepared and risks and sensitivities analysed undermanaged risks are identiﬁed and remedial action taken consideration of these
plans then forms part of the annual review by the board directors of the systems in place for assessing and managing major risks which
may materially affect the business monthly results prepared by the operating divisions are reported against the budget and the previous
year and remedial action is agreed upon as appropriate these systems were in place for 2003 and through the audit committee the
board has reviewed the group’s system of internal controls for the period covered by the annual report and accounts
the group audit department has the responsibility for monitoring risk management and internal control processes the department
assesses business risk processes procedures and the system of control within operating divisions and agrees with management
their plans to improve control processes to minimise risk the department reports quarterly on the progress made by the operating
divisions to the audit committee and annually to the board
the audit committee has unrestricted access to both the internal and external auditors it meets with the external auditors at least
once each year the independence and objectivity of the external auditors is considered periodically together with the scope and
results of the audit and its cost effectiveness
in respect of nonaudit work the audit committee ensures that the independence and objectivity of the auditor is maintained taking
into account the relevance of the skills and experience of the auditor for any given task and the fee levels a formal policy in respect
of nonaudit work setting the terms of engagement of the auditor is applied
following each audit committee meeting the chairman of the committee reports to the board and minutes of such meetings are
circulated to all members of the board
this environment can only provide reasonable and not absolute assurance against material misstatement or loss and is designed 
to manage rather than eliminate the risk of failure to achieve business objectives
external auditors
during 2003 the audit committee undertook a review of the group’s external auditors after considering submissions from four 
major ﬁrms pricewaterhousecoopers llp were selected to be the group’s auditors
going concern
the directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the ﬁnancial
position of the company and the group and to enable them to ensure that the ﬁnancial statements comply with the companies act
1985 they are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the company and the group and hence for taking reasonable steps
for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities consolidated proﬁt and loss account
year ended 31 december 2003
34 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
restated
before goodwill goodwill
before goodwill goodwill amortisation and amortisation and restated
amortisation amortisation total exceptional items exceptional items total
2003 2003 2003 2002 2002 2002
£m £m £m £m £m £m
turnover note 2
continuing operations 16335 – 16335 15169 – 15169 
less share of jointventures’ turnover 796 – 796 441 – 441 
15539 – 15539 14728 – 14728 
operating proﬁt notes 3 and 6
continuing operations 224 32 192 312 89 223 
share of jointventures and associates 35 03 32 41 01 40 
259 35 224 353 90 263 
proﬁt on sale of property note 6
share of jointventures and associates 22 –
loss on salewritedown of investments note 6 11 71 
net interest payable note 7
group 65 63 
share of jointventures and associates – 04 
other ﬁnance expenseincome 15 08 
80 59 
proﬁt on ordinary activities before taxation 155 133 
taxation on proﬁt on ordinary activities note 8 57 107 
proﬁt on ordinary activities after taxation 98 26 
equity minority interests 01 – 
proﬁt for the ﬁnancial year 97 26 
dividends note 9 122 123 
transferred from reserves note 24 25 97 
earnings per share pence note 10
basic 202 54 
adjusted 291 387 
diluted 201 54 
adjusted earnings per share is calculated using proﬁt after tax adjusted for goodwill amortisation loss on salewritedown of investments 
and related tax consolidated balance sheet
at 31 december 2003
tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 35
restated
group group
note 2003 2002
fixed assets
goodwill 11 546 468 
tangible assets 12 1696 1742 
investments
investment in jointventures
share of gross assets 244 222
share of gross liabilities 184 180
60 42
other investments 45 43
13 105 85 
2347 2295 
current assets
stocks 14 35 44 
debtors – amounts falling due within one year 15 2172 1929
– amounts falling due after more than one year 15 179 187
2351 2116 
investments 13 26 90 
cash 16 488 448 
2900 2698 
creditors
amounts falling due within one year 17 3242 2861 
net current liabilities 342 163 
total assets less current liabilities 2005 2132
creditors
amounts falling due after more than one year 18 859 889 
provisions for liabilities and charges 20 194 198 
net assets excluding pension liability 952 1045 
pension liability 29 726 721 
net assets including pension liability 226 324 
capital and reserves
called up share capital 21 24 24 
share premium account 22 70 70 
revaluation reserve 24 18 134 
other reserves 24 69 69 
proﬁt and loss account 24 38 27 
equity shareholders’ funds 219 324 
minority interests 07 – 
capital employed 226 324  company balance sheet
at 31 december 2003
36 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
2003 2002
note £m £m
fixed assets
investments 13 773 775 
current assets
debtors 15 2439 2440 
cash 16 73 – 
2512 2440 
creditors
amounts falling due within one year 17 1578 1462 
net current assets 934 978 
total assets less current liabilities 1707 1753 
creditors
amounts falling due after more than one year 18 596 690 
1111 1063 
capital and reserves
called up share capital 21 24 24 
share premium account 22 70 70 
revaluation reserve 24 24 24 
other reserves 24 798 798 
proﬁt and loss account 24 195 147 
equity shareholders’ funds 1111 1063 
these ﬁnancial statements were approved by the board on 2 march 2004
ja harvey ma whiteling
chairman financial director consolidated statement of total recognised 
gains and losses
for the year ended 31 december 2003
tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 37
2003 2002
£m £m
proﬁtloss for the year
group 51 04
joint ventures and associates 46 30
proﬁt for the year 97 26
exchange variances offset through reserves 38 106
actuarial loss relating to the pension scheme 60 552
uk deferred tax attributable to actuarial loss 18 167
total recognised gains and losses relating to year 17 465
prior year adjustments 11 404
total gains and losses recognised since last annual report and ﬁnancial statements 06 869
note of historical cost proﬁt and losses
for the year ended 31 december 2003
2003 2002
£m £m
reported proﬁt on ordinary activities before taxation 155 133 
difference between historical cost depreciation charge and the actual depreciation charge for the year
calculated on the revalued amount 01 –
realisation of revaluation reserve 16 –
historical cost proﬁt on ordinary activities before taxation 172 133 
historical cost loss for the year retained after taxation minority interests and dividends 08 97  consolidated cash ﬂow statement
year ended 31 december 2003
38 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
year end year end
2003 2002
note £m £m
net cash inﬂow from operating activities a 523 746
dividends from jointventures 44 27
returns on investment and servicing of ﬁnance b 73 71
taxation 87 63
capital expenditure and ﬁnancial investment c 05 146
acquisitions d 90 423
equity dividends paid 125 120
cash inﬂowoutﬂow before use of liquid resources and ﬁnancing 197 50
management of liquid resources 02 03
financing – issue of shares e – 16
– decreaseincrease in debt and lease ﬁnancing e 109 37
increase in cash 90 06
reconciliation of movement in net debt
year ended 31 december 2003
year end year end
2003 2002
note £m £m
increase in cash in the year 90 06 
cash inﬂow from movement in liquid resources 02 03 
cash outﬂowinﬂow from movement in debt and lease ﬁnancing 109 37 
change in net debt resulting from cash ﬂows 197 34 
net ﬁnance leases 23 52 
liquid resources acquired with subsidiary 26 – 
loans and ﬁnance leases acquired with subsidiary 43 27 
exchangetranslation difference 07 18 
movement in net debt in the year 164 131 
net debt at beginning of year 672 541 
net debt at end of year f 508 672  notes to the consolidated cash ﬂow statement
tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 39
2003 2002
£m £m
a net cash ﬂow from operating activities
group operating proﬁt 192 223 
exceptional goodwill writedown – 60 
depreciation and amortisation 339 322 
proﬁt on sale of ﬁxed assets 09 28 
decrease in stocks 09 01 
increasedecrease in debtors 120 134 
increase in creditors and provisions 217 55 
adjustment for pension funding 67 05 
exchange adjustments 38 26 
net cash inﬂow from operating activities 523 746 
b returns on investment and servicing of ﬁnance
interest received 39 27 
interest paid 101 85 
interest element of ﬁnance lease repayments 11 13 
net cash outﬂows for returns on investment and servicing of ﬁnance 73 71 
c capital expenditure and ﬁnancial investments
purchase of tangible ﬁxed assets 330 322 
sale of tangible ﬁxed assets 256 176 
sale of current asset investment 79 – 
net cash inﬂowoutﬂow from capital expenditure and ﬁnancial investment 05 146 
d acquisitions and disposals
purchase of subsidiary undertakings 103 381 
net cash acquired with subsidiary 34 09 
additional cost relating to previous acquisition 02 – 
investment in jointventures and associates 23 33 
disposal of jointventures and associates 04 – 
net cash outﬂows from acquisitions and disposals 90 423  notes to the consolidated cash ﬂow statement continued
40 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
2003 2002
£m £m
e financing
issue of ordinary share capital – 16 
decreaseincrease in short term borrowings 15 59 
increasedecrease in long term borrowings 86 134 
capital element of ﬁnance lease rental payments 38 38 
net cash outﬂowinﬂow from ﬁnancing 109 53 
at 1 january other non exchange at 31 december
2003 cash ﬂow acquisitions cash changes movement 2003
£m £m £m £m £m £m
f analysis of net debt
cash at bank and in hand 436 18 – – 23 477
overdrafts 161 72 – – 07 96 
275 90 – – 16 381
debt due after one year 690 86 26 – 04 634
debt due within one year 127 15 17 – 02 161 
finance leases 142 38 – 23 04 131 
liquid resources 12 02 26 – 01 37
total net debt 672 197 17 23 07 508
liquid resources represents short term deposits bonds and securities at banks and ﬁnancial institutions notes to the ﬁnancial statements
for the year ended 31 december 2003
tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 41
1 accounting policies
the ﬁnancial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention as modiﬁed by the revaluation of certain assets and are in accordance
with applicable accounting standards the following principal accounting policies have been applied
changes to accounting policies the group has adopted uitf 38 “accounting for esop schemes” during the year this has led to the restatement 
of the 2002 balance sheet reducing net assets by £11m and reﬂecting the offset of own shares held against reserves there was no impact on
reported proﬁts there have been no other changes to the accounting policies of the group in the year
in addition the 2002 balance sheet has been restated for the reclassiﬁcation of the insurance provision from creditors falling due within one year into
provisions for liabilities and charges and the proﬁt and loss account presentation has been revised for the writedown of the investment in autologic
consolidation the consolidated accounts incorporate the accounts of tibbett  britten group plc and all subsidiary undertakings made up to 
31 december 2003 associated undertakings are accounted for by the equity method and jointventures by the gross equity method the results 
of subsidiary jointventure and associate undertakings are included for their respective periods of ownership by the group
goodwill goodwill representing the excess of the fair value of the consideration for purchase of subsidiary undertakings over the fair value of net
assets acquired and other purchased goodwill is capitalised in the year of acquisition it is amortised through the proﬁt and loss account over the
directors’ estimate of its useful life which is between ﬁve and 20 years as permitted by frs 10 goodwill arising on acquisitions prior to 1 january 1998
has not been reinstated to intangible ﬁxed assets from reserves provision is made for impairment as appropriate
turnover turnover represents the net invoiced value of goods and services sold outside the group exclusive of value added and sales taxes
fixed assets and depreciation fixed assets are stated at cost or valuation net of depreciation and any provision for impairment depreciation is
provided to writeoff the cost or valuation less estimated residual values of all tangible ﬁxed assets except freehold land over their expected useful
lives certain ﬁxed assets are depreciated in line with the residual values provided under contractual arrangements with customers depreciation is
generally calculated on a straight line basis on the original cost or valuation of the assets at the following rates
freehold buildings 26
2
3 pa motor vehicles 633
1
3 pa
leasehold land and buildings over the length of the lease plant and ﬁttings 733
1
3 pa
investments fixed asset investments are held at cost unless in the opinion of the directors there has been an impairment in which case an appropriate
adjustment is made current asset investments are stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value
foreign currency assets and liabilities of overseas subsidiary undertakings jointventures and associates together with foreign currency funding to
hedge those investments are translated into sterling at the rates of exchange ruling at the balance sheet date the effect of variances in exchange
rates between the beginning and the end of the ﬁnancial year on the net investment in subsidiary undertakings jointventures and associates
together with related foreign currency borrowings is dealt with through reserves the results of overseas subsidiary undertakings jointventures and
associates are translated into sterling using monthly average exchange rates for the ﬁnancial year and variances compared with exchange rates at the
balance sheet date are dealt with through reserves all other monetary assets and liabilities expressed in foreign currencies are translated into sterling
at the rates of exchange ruling at the balance sheet date resulting exchange gains and losses are taken to the proﬁt and loss account
taxation deferred taxation is recognised in respect of all timing differences that have originated but not reversed at the balance sheet date where
transactions or events that result in an obligation to pay more tax in the future or a right to pay less tax in the future have occurred at the balance
sheet date timing differences are differences between the group’s taxable proﬁts and its results as stated in the ﬁnancial statements that arise from
the inclusion of gains and losses in tax assessments in periods different from those in which they are recognised in the ﬁnancial statements
a net deferred tax asset is regarded as recoverable and therefore recognised only when on the basis of all available evidence it can be regarded 
as more likely than not that there will be suitable taxable proﬁts from which the future reversal of the underlying timing differences can be deducted
deferred tax is not recognised when ﬁxed assets are revalued unless by the balance sheet date there is a binding agreement to sell the revalued
assets and the gain or loss expected to arise on sale has been recognised in the ﬁnancial statements neither is deferred tax recognised when ﬁxed
assets are sold and it is more likely than not that the taxable gain will be rolled over being charged to tax only if and when the replacement assets 
are sold deferred tax is recognised in respect of the retained earnings of overseas subsidiaries and associates only to the extent that at the balance
sheet date dividends have been accrued as receivable or a binding agreement to distribute past earnings in future has been entered into by the
subsidiary or associate deferred tax is measured at the average tax rates that are expected to apply in the periods in which the timing differences 
are expected to reverse based on tax rates and laws that have been enacted or substantively enacted by the balance sheet date deferred tax is
measured on a nondiscounted basis
leased assets plant equipment and vehicles which are leased but provide the group with substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership 
are capitalised at the original cost of the lease and depreciated over their expected useful lives lease payments are split between capital and interest
using the actuarial method interest payments are charged to the proﬁt and loss account and capital payments reduce the amount payable to the
lessor payment in respect of operating leases are charged to the proﬁt and loss account in the period to which they relate notes to the ﬁnancial statements continued
42 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
1 accounting policies continued
revaluation of properties and ﬁxed asset investments the group has taken advantage of the transitional provisions of frs 15 ‘tangible ﬁxed
assets’ and retained the book amounts of certain freehold properties which were revalued prior to the implementation of that standard the properties
were last revalued at 31 december 1995 and the valuations have not subsequently been updated
contract accounting costs and revenues relating to contracts with customers are matched on an accruals basis over the contract lives
pension costs for deﬁned beneﬁt schemes the amounts charged to operating proﬁt are the current service costs and gains and losses on settlements
and curtailments they are included as part of staff costs past service costs are recognised immediately in the proﬁt and loss account if the beneﬁts
have vested if the beneﬁts have not vested immediately the costs are recognised over the period until vesting occurs the interest cost and the
expected return on assets are shown as a net amount of other ﬁnance costs or credits within net interest payable actuarial gains and losses are
recognised immediately in the statement of total recognised gains and losses
deﬁned beneﬁt schemes are funded with the assets of the scheme held separately from those of the group in separate trustee administered funds
pension scheme assets are measured at fair value and liabilities are measured on an actuarial basis using the projected unit method and discounted
at a rate equivalent to the current rate of return on a high quality corporate bond of equivalent currency and term to the scheme liabilities the
actuarial valuations are obtained at least triennially and are updated at each balance sheet date the resulting deﬁned beneﬁt asset or liability net 
of related deferred tax is presented separately after other net assets on the face of the balance sheet
for deﬁned contribution schemes the amount charged to the proﬁt and loss account in respect of pension costs and other postretirement beneﬁts 
is the contributions payable in the year differences between contributions payable in the year and contributions actually paid are shown as either
accruals or prepayments in the balance sheet
financial instruments in relation to the disclosures made in note 19 short term debtors and creditors are not treated as ﬁnancial assets or liabilities
the group does not trade in derivative ﬁnancial instruments
employee share schemes the cost of awards to employees under the long term incentive plan is recognised over the periods to which the employees’
performance relates no cost is recognised in respect of saye schemes that are offered on similar terms to all or substantially all employees
contingencies in the normal course of business the group enters into litigation and dispute resolution proceedings in contracts the group legal
department controls the appointment of external legal advisers to assess risks advise and act on the group’s behalf this advice forms the basis 
of any provisions and disclosures made in the accounts
insurance the group maintains insurance policies with aggregate excesses below which claims are borne by the group full provision is made 
on a discounted basis for the estimated costs of claims or losses arising from past events falling inside the limits of these policies based on advice
from the group’s insurance advisors tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 43
2 segmental information
uk and mainland rest of the
americas ireland europe world total
2003 continuing operations £m £m £m £m £m
turnover including share of jointventures 5966 6248 2831 1290 16335
operating proﬁt before goodwill amortisation 04 174 54 27 259
goodwill amortisation 16 01 15 03 35
operating proﬁt 12 173 39 24 224
share of jointventures’ and associates’ proﬁt – 20 01 13 32
group operating proﬁt 12 153 40 11 192
net operating assets 255 241 881 172 1549
2002 continuing operations
turnover including share of jointventures 6053 6125 2253 738 15169 
operating proﬁt before goodwill amortisation and exceptional items 159 141 40 13 353 
goodwill amortisation 16 03 10 01 30 
exceptional items 60 – – – 60 
operating proﬁt 83 138 30 12 263 
share of jointventures’ and associates’ proﬁt – 38 01 01 40 
group operating proﬁt 83 100 29 11 223 
net operating assets – restated 247 644 779 137 1807
excluded from operating assets are net debt corporation tax debtors and creditors dividends deferred tax pension liabilities current asset
investments and accrued interest on loans together totalling a net liability of £1323m 2002 – £1483m
3 operating expenses
2003 2002
£m £m
operating proﬁt is after chargingcrediting
other external charges 5484 4660 
staff costs note 4 7963 7802 
depreciation
owned assets 282 269 
leased assets 25 24 
goodwill amortisation 32 30 
goodwill impairment – 60 
proﬁt on disposal of ﬁxed assets 09 28
hire of plant and machinery
operating lease rentals 507 450 
other rentals 322 401 
other operating lease rentals including land and buildings 741 837 
share of proﬁts of jointventures and associate undertakings 32 40 
15315 14465 notes to the ﬁnancial statements continued
44 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
3 operating expenses continued
2003 2002
auditors’ remuneration in respect of services provided to the group was as follows £m £m
audit services
statutory audit 07 09 
further assurance services 01 – 
tax services
compliance services – 03 
other services not covered above 07 – 
15 12 
further assurance services principally comprise transaction support services in connection with the acquisition of vfw ag in germany other 
services principally comprise procurement services outsourced by tibbett  britten to pricewaterhousecoopers llp in june 2003 the division 
of pricewaterhousecoopers llp providing these services to tibbett  britten was sold to exult inc who continued to provide the services from 
july 2003 onwards as a result the fees above for other services are for the period january to june 2003
the audit committee has established a policy concerning the provision of nonaudit services by the auditors and all of the services provided 
in the year were engaged in accordance with this policy
audit remuneration in respect of the company was £01m 2002 – £01m 2002 ﬁgures relate to bdo stoy hayward 2003 ﬁgures relate 
to pricewaterhousecoopers llp
4 staff costs including directors
2003 2002
£m £m
wages and salaries 6515 6476 
social security costs 1074 974 
pension costs
– deﬁned beneﬁt 43 68 
– deﬁned contribution 188 178 
other staff costs 143 106 
7963 7802 
2003 2002
average monthly number of employees including directors number number
transport and distribution 34723 38593  tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 45
5 directors’ emoluments
2003 2002
£m £m
salaries 12 14 
beneﬁtsother 02 02
bonuses 01 – 
fees as directors 01 01 
16 17
further details of directors’ emoluments are shown in the directors’ remuneration report on pages 25 to 30 together with details of share options
granted to directors and directors’ interests at 31 december 2003 aggregate gain on share options £nil 2002 – £nil
6 exceptional items
2003 2002
£m £m
operating items
exceptional writedown – goodwill impairment in argentina – 60 
nonoperating items
share of jointventures proﬁt on sale 22 –
loss on salewritedown of investments 11 71
loss on sale of £11m relates to sale of shares in autologic holdings plc received in 2001 as part of the consideration for the sale of the 
axial business
tax impact of the share of jointventures proﬁt on sale and loss on sale of investment was a charge of £07m and a credit of £03m respectively
7 net interest payable
2003 2002
£m £m
short term bank deposit interest 21 27
interest on loans repayable wholly or in part after ﬁve years 24 27 
interest payable on bank loans overdrafts and other loans repayable within ﬁve years 51 52 
finance leases 11 11 
net ﬁnance cost in group companies excluding pension scheme 65 63 
net return of pension scheme note 29 15 08 
net ﬁnance cost in group companies 80 55 
share of associates’ net ﬁnance costs – 04 
80 59  notes to the ﬁnancial statements continued
46 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
8 tax on proﬁt on ordinary activities
2003 2002
£m £m
united kingdom
uk corporation tax at 30 2002 – 30 31 45  
adjustment in respect of prior period 07 22 
share of jointventures and associates 06 08
30 31 
foreign tax
corporation taxes 25 69 
adjustment in respect of prior period 05 08 
share of jointventures and associates 02 02 
total current tax 62 110 
deferred tax
origination and reversal of timing differences 05 03 
representing
united kingdom 23 –
foreign tax 18 03 
total deferred tax note 20 05 03 
total tax on proﬁt on ordinary activities 57 107 
the difference between the total current tax shown above and the amount calculated by applying the standard rate of uk corporation tax to the 
proﬁt before tax is as follows
2003 2002
£m £m
proﬁt on ordinary activities before tax 155 133 
tax on group proﬁt on ordinary activities at standard uk corporate rate of 30 2002 – 30 47 40 
effects of
expenses not deductible for tax purposes – 44 
capital allowances in excess of depreciation 24 10
short term timing differences 54 30
overseas tax losses 34 09
high tax rates on overseas earnings 13 11 
adjustments to tax charge in respect of previous periods 02 14 
total current tax charge 62 110 
the tax charge in future periods may be affected by
the group earns a signiﬁcant proportion of its proﬁts overseas the group’s overseas tax rates are generally higher than those in the uk
no provision has been made for deferred taxation on gains recognised on the revaluation of properties as there is currently no intention to sell those
properties the amount of deferred tax that has not been provided on revalued ﬁxed assets is £37m 2002 – £40m
the group provides for deferred tax assets if it is more likely than not that they will reverse in the future some of the group’s overseas operations
have generated tax losses in the past the future utilisation of these is uncertain the group has therefore not recognised a deferred tax asset of
£55m 2002 – £23m in respect of tax losses of overseas companies tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 47
9 dividends
2003 2002
£m £m
interim paid of 82 pence net per ordinary share 2002 – 79 pence 38 38 
final proposed of 171 pence net per ordinary share 2002 – 174 pence 84 85 
122 123 
10 earnings per share
2003 2002
pence pence
per share per share
basic 202 54 
adjusted 291 387 
diluted 201 54 
number number
average number of ordinary shares in issue during the year weighted on a time basis
basic 48533403 48342850 
diluted 48666758 48824943 
the difference between the average number of shares in issue on a basic and diluted basis reﬂects those shares which would be issued at nil
consideration under the company’s share option schemes no material dilution applies to 2003
the proﬁt attributable to shareholders used in calculating basic and diluted earnings per share was as follows
2003 2002
£m £m
proﬁt on ordinary activities after tax 98 26 
goodwill amortisation 35 90 
loss on salewritedown of investments 11 71 
related tax 03 – 
adjusted proﬁt after tax 141 187 
11 goodwill
cost amortisation
cost £m £m
at 1 january 2003 530 62
subsidiaries acquired – vfw ag note 25a 143 –
adjustment to goodwill on acquisitions in prior years 04 –
amortisation – 32
exchange differences 30 01
at 31 december 2003 639 93
net book value at 31 december 2003 546
net book value at 31 december 2002 468
goodwill on acquisition of subsidiaries is being amortised over a period of up to 20 years
goodwill on purchase of unincorporated businesses is being amortised over a period of ﬁve years notes to the ﬁnancial statements continued
48 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
12 tangible assets
land and buildings
long short motor plant
freehold leasehold leasehold vehicles and ﬁttings total
group £m £m £m £m £m £m
cost or valuation
at 1 january 2003 642 58 404 331 1961 3396 
acquisition of subsidiary undertakings 71 – – 02 05 78
additions 20 – 15 40 284 359
reclassiﬁcations – 58 55 – 03 –
disposals 75 – 46 44 472 637
exchange adjustments 39 – 11 11 34 95
at 31 december 2003 697 – 439 340 1815 3291
depreciation
at 1 january 2003 83 29 145 225 1172 1654
charge for the year 19 – 29 33 226 307
reclassiﬁcations – 29 29 – – –
disposals 06 – 25 39 330 400
exchange adjustments 04 – 05 09 16 34
at 31 december 2003 100 – 183 228 1084 1595 
net book value
at 31 december 2003 597 – 256 112 731 1696
at 31 december 2002 559 29 259 106 789 1742 
the net book value of tangible ﬁxed assets includes an amount of £134m 2002 – £139m in respect of assets held under ﬁnance leases
depreciation includes £25m 2002 – £24m charged on assets held under ﬁnance leases
short
freehold leasehold
£m £m
land and buildings are stated at
cost 674 439
valuation 23 –
697 439
on an historical cost basis
cost 709 –
less accumulated depreciation 94 –
net book value 615 –
certain of the group’s freehold and long leasehold land and buildings were revalued on 31 december 1995 by a qualiﬁed chartered surveyor on an
existing use open market value basis following the adoption of the transitional rules of frs 15 tangible fixed assets no further revaluations have
been made tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 49
13 investments
restated at 31
at 1 january movements december
2003 during year 2003
group at cost and net book value £m £m £m
investment in jointventures
unlisted shares at cost 29 18 47
share of results 03 10 13
share of revaluation surplus 10 10 –
42 18 60
investments in associated undertakings
unlisted shares at cost 45 – 45
share of results 02 – 02
exchange movements 04 02 02 
43 02 45
owned shares and unlisted investments – restated –– –
43 02 45
total ﬁxed asset investments 85 20 105
current asset investments listed and marketable securities 90 64 26
the group’s share of jointventures’ turnover is shown on the face of the consolidated proﬁt and loss account
the goodwill on investments in jointventures is £07m 2002 – £10m amortisation of £03m 2002 – £01m has been charged to the proﬁt and
loss account in the year goodwill of £48m arose on the acquisition of unique logistics hong kong by unique logistics international ltd an existing
jointventure
2003 2002
parent £m £m
investments in subsidiary undertakings at cost and net book value
shares at cost 742 741 
revaluation reserve 31 31 
773 772 
investments in associated undertakings – 03 
773 775 
2003 2002
related party transactions £m £m
group’s trading during the year with its jointventures and associates
turnover invoiced to jointventures and associated undertakings in the normal course of trade 169 148 
other operating charges payable to jointventures and associated undertakings in the normal course of trade 12 04  notes to the ﬁnancial statements continued
50 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
14 stocks
2003 2002
group £m £m
fuel and consumables 26 20 
goods for resale 09 24 
35 44 
the difference between historical cost and replacement cost of stocks is not considered to be material
15 debtors
group parent
2003 2002 2003 2002
£m £m £m £m
trade debtors 1725 1544 – – 
amounts owed by subsidiary undertakings – – 2354 2377 
amounts owed by jointventures and associated undertakings 05 53 15 14 
corporation tax 60 18 69 45 
other debtors 253 238 – 02 
prepayments and accrued income 308 263 01 02 
2351 2116 2439 2440 
included within trade and other debtors is an amount of £179m 2002 – £187m due after more than one year of which £149m 2002 – £133m 
is directly recoverable from clients under contractual arrangements
all other amounts fall due for payment within one year
16 cash
group parent
2003 2002 2003 2002
£m £m £m £m
cash at bank and in hand 488 448 73 – 
cash at bank and in hand includes amounts of £31m which were not readily available for transfer 2002 – £122m these funds are held in escrow 
in relation to the dimalsa acquisition made in 2002 see note 25 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 51
17 creditors amounts falling due within one year
group parent
restated
2003 2002 2003 2002
£m £m £m £m
bank loans note 19 161 127 – – 
bank overdrafts note 19 96 161 382 41 
trade creditors 1562 1302 – – 
amounts owed to subsidiary undertakings – – 1093 1273 
amounts owed to jointventures and associated undertakings – 35 – 35 
corporation tax 36 24 – 03 
other taxation and social security costs 328 294 – – 
other creditors 545 435 18 29 
accruals and deferred income 393 315 – – 
dividends proposed 85 87 85 87 
obligations under ﬁnance leases 36 81 – – 
3242 2861 1578 1462 
18 creditors amounts falling due after more than one year
group parent
2003 2002 2003 2002
£m £m £m £m
bank and other loans note 19 634 690 596 690 
other creditors 117 120 – – 
accruals and deferred income 13 18 – – 
obligations under ﬁnance leases note 19 95 61 – – 
859 889 596 690 
all amounts are payable within ﬁve years other than as disclosed in note 19 notes to the ﬁnancial statements continued
52 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
19 financial risk management
the group’s approach to ﬁnancial risk is described in the ﬁnancial review on pages 16 to 18
short term debtors and creditors have been excluded from all the following disclosures other than currency risk disclosure
2003 2002
a borrowings £m £m
bank loans 301 323 
overdrafts 96 161 
us75m 832 senior notes 494 494 
finance leases 131 142 
gross borrowings 1022 1120 
less cash and deposits 488 448 
less current asset investments 26 – 
net borrowings 508 672 
2003 2002
self self
finance insurance finance insurance
debt leases provision total debt leases provision total
£m £m £m £m £m £m £m £m
analysis by maturity
falling due within one year 258 36 83 377 288 81 76 445
between one and two years 55 28 49 132 – 26 45 71
between two and ﬁve years 72 52 25 149 196 26 23 245
after ﬁve years 506 15 16 537 494 09 14 517
891 131 173 1195 978 142 158 1278
bank loans and overdrafts amounting to £57m 2002 – £41m are secured on certain of the group’s assets obligations under ﬁnance leases are
secured on the assets to which they relate
certain of the bank loans are drawn under revolving facilities by which the company has the right to repay balances at each interest renewal date
which vary from one month to one year
interest on ﬁnance leases is payable at rates ﬁxed at inception bank loans of £07m 2002 – £11m are subject to a ﬁxed interest rate of 40 
2002 – between 40 and 58 all other bank loans are subject to interest at variable rates carrying a margin of between 025 and 15 over 
base rate or libor 2002 – 025 and 125 the us senior notes are ﬁxed at a rate of 832 but have been swapped into ﬂoating rate sterling
libor plus a margin of 11
the self insurance provision is considered to be a ﬂoating rate ﬁnancial liability as the discount rate applied is adjusted to market values on a half
yearly basis
2003 2002
fixed rate ﬁnancial fixed rate ﬁnancial
liabilities liabilities
at ﬁxed at ﬂoating
weighted average
at ﬁxed at ﬂoating
weighted average b interest rate risk –
gross borrowings before
rates rates total rates period rates rates total rates period
interest rate swaps £m £m £m  years £m £m £m  years
sterling 07 565 572 70 21 03 577 580 70 39 
euro 64 531 595 81 28 81 331 412 82 24 
south african rand  01 47 48 120 06 02 113 115 120 13 
other currencies 65 250 315 125 26 67 155 222 123 07 
137 1393 1530 153 1176 1329
currency swaps note c – 508 508 – 209 209
gross borrowings 137 885 1022 153 967 1120  tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 53
19 financial risk management continued
the group has the following ﬁnancial instruments in place which alter the proﬁle of its borrowings by increasing levels of ﬁxed rate debt
2003 2002
amount fixed rate amount fixed rate
£m  maturity £m  maturity
sterling – interest rate swap 50 50 2006 50 50 2006
sterling – amortising interest rate swap 36 89 2005 44 89 2005
euro – interest rate swap 42 38 2006 38 38 2006
euro – interest rate swap 28 42 2006 25 42 2006
euro – interest rate swap 42 38 2008 –––
mexican peso interest rate swap 38 68 2005 –––
the fair values and book values of ﬁnancial liabilities are not materially different with the following exceptions
2003 2002
proﬁtloss proﬁtloss
£m £m
euro denominated ﬁxed rate debt 05 06 
interest rate swaps 07 07 
us75m currency from ﬁxed rate dollars to ﬂoating rate sterling 77 82 
2003 2002
at ﬂoating interest at ﬂoating interest
rates free total rates free total
c cash and deposits £m £m £m £m £m £m
sterling 354 – 354 210 – 210 
euro 180 63 243 09 55 64 
us dollar 154 – 154 159 – 159 
canadian dollar 137 – 137 109 – 109 
other currencies 77 31 108 – 115 115 
902 94 996 487 170 657 
currency swaps 508 – 508 209 – 209 
394 94 488 278 170 448 
the group has a number of commercial arrangements with its clients under which it receives operating income which is linked to interest rates these
together with the ﬁnancial instruments listed above create a hedge which reduces the group’s exposure to movements in interest rates a 1 change
in all ﬂoating rates would have negligible impact 2002 – negligible on group proﬁt before tax
the group has entered into currency swaps which maintain the underlying currency proﬁle of debt as reﬂected in the above tables whilst reducing
gross borrowings and cash positions
2003 2002
d undrawn committed borrowing facilities £m £m
expiring in one year or less – – 
expiring in more than one year but not more than two years 278 100 
expiring in more than two years 395 754 
673 854  notes to the ﬁnancial statements continued
54 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
19 financial risk management continued
e currency exposure
the main impact of movements in exchange rates on the group’s results arises from the translation of the results of overseas subsidiaries into
sterling the group is principally exposed to north american currencies the euro and the south african rand the group has hedged between 
30 and 50 of expected earnings for 2004 by selling forward such currencies – the value of these forward contracts at 31 december 2003 
was £04m a 5 movement in sterling against all unhedged currencies would have an impact of 3 2002 – 4 on the group’s proﬁt before tax
f financial instruments held for trading purposes
the group does not trade in ﬁnancial instruments
20 provisions for liabilities and charges
restated restated
self insurance deferred tax total
£m £m £m
at 1 january 2003 158 40 198 
chargedcredited to proﬁt and loss account 56 05 51
deferred tax on pension contributions taken to pension deﬁcit – 14 14 
utilisation 41 – 41 
at 31 december 2003 173 21 194
the group maintains insurance policies with aggregate excesses below which claims are borne by the group full provision is made on a discounted
basis for the estimated costs of claims or losses arising from past events falling inside the limits of these policies based on advice from the group’s
insurance advisors
group amount
provided not provided
2003 2002 2003 2002
a deferred taxation – at current rates on all timing differences £m £m £m £m
accelerated capital allowances 51 106 – – 
overseas losses 38 34 55 23 
short term timing differences 08 32 – – 
21 40 55 23 
deferred tax has not been accounted for in respect of future remittances of accumulated reserves of overseas subsidiaries as at the balance sheet
date as this will have no impact on the uk tax liability due to double taxation relief tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 55
21 called up share capital
group and parent
2003 2003 2002 2002
number £m number £m
ordinary shares of 5 pence each
a authorised 64000000 3264000000 32 
b allocated called up and fully paid
at 1 january 48634833 2448274230 24 
issued during the year 3022 – 360603 – 
at 31 december 48637855 2448634833 24 
date options number option price
c outstanding options under share option schemes at 31 december 2003 granted of shares range
tibbett  britten group savings related share option scheme i 3 october 2002 1230364 4170p
tibbett  britten group executive share option scheme ii 14 april 1994 4670p
to 30 october 1995 165000 to 8080p
i these options are normally exercisable after the expiry of three to ﬁve years from the date of the grant and will lapse if not exercised within six
months after they become exercisable
ii these options are normally exercisable only after the expiry of three years from the date of grant and will lapse if not exercised before the expiry 
of ten years from the date of the grant
22 share premium account
group and parent
2003 2002
£m £m
at 1 january 70 54 
premium on ordinary shares issued in the year on exercise of options – 16 
at 31 december 70 70  notes to the ﬁnancial statements continued
56 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
23 reconciliation of movement in group shareholders’ funds
2003 2002
£m £m
at 1 january as previously stated 335 907 
uitf 38 adjustment 11 09 
at 1 january as restated 324 898 
proﬁt for the ﬁnancial year 97 26 
exchange loss 38 106 
dividends 122 123 
transferred from reserves 63 203 
new share capital subscribed – 16 
shares purchased by esop trust – 02
actuarial losses 60 552 
deferred tax 18 167 
at 31 december 219 324 
24 other reserves
restated
merger special revaluation proﬁt and
reserve reserve reserve loss account
a group £m £m £m £m
at 1 january as previously stated 41 28 134 38 
uitf 38 adjustment – – – 11 
at 1 january 2003 as restated 41 28 134 27 
loss for the year – – – 25
other recognised gains and losses – – – 42
transfer of amount equivalent to additional depreciation on revalued assets – – 01 01
realisation of revaluation reserve on disposal – – 16 16
adjustment relating to prior periods – – 99 99
exchange variances – – – 38
at 31 december 2003 41 28 18 38
b parent
at 1 january 2003 530 268 24 147 
exchange variances on overseas denominated loans – – – 14
proﬁt for the year ––– 62
at 31 december 2003 530 268 24 195
no proﬁt and loss account has been produced for the parent company as permitted by section 230 companies act 1985 the group proﬁt for 
the year includes a proﬁt after tax of £184m 2002 – £89m before dividends paid and payable of £122m 2002 – £123m which is dealt with 
in the ﬁnancial statements of the parent company
the special reserve is nondistributable tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 57
24 other reserves continued
2003 2002
c impact of frs 17 accounting on the group proﬁt and loss reserve £m £m
group proﬁt and loss reserve excluding pension liability 764 748 
amounts relating to deﬁned beneﬁt pension scheme liability net of related deferred tax 726 721 
group proﬁt and loss reserve 38 27 
25 goodwill
a principal acquisitions
on 8 october 2003 the group acquired 91 of the issued share capital of vfw ag for a provisional cash consideration of £211m
the following tables sets out the provisional book values of the identiﬁable assets and liabilities acquired and their fair value to the group
accounting elimination of provisional
policy preacquisition fair value
book value alignment goodwill to group
£m £m £m £m
fixed assets
intangible 02 – 02 –
tangible 78 – – 78
current assets
investments 26 – – 26
debtors 56 – – 56
cash 34 – – 34
total assets 196 – 02 194
creditors
bank loans and overdrafts 43 – – 43
trade creditors 18 – – 18
other creditors and accruals 63 08 – 55
provisions
taxation – 03 – 03
total liabilities 124 05 – 119
minority interest 07
net assets 72 05 02 68
net assets 68 
cash consideration – 2003 103 
cash consideration – future years part contingent 108 
provisional goodwill note 11 143
£31m is currently held in escrow pending ﬁnalisation of the purchase price of dimalsa the directors do not consider that this amount will be payable
it is included within cash restricted funds note 16
proﬁt after tax for vfw ag was £26m in the year to 31 december 2002 and a proﬁt of £12m was generated in the period from 1 january 2003 
to 8 october 2003 notes to the ﬁnancial statements continued
58 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
25 goodwill continued
book value 
b cumulative goodwill set off against reserves £m
cumulative goodwill set off at 1 january 2003 413 
cumulative goodwill set off at 31 december 2003 413
all acquisitions have been accounted for using the acquisition method of accounting no adjustments between book value and fair value were required
26 post balance sheet events
there have been no material post balance sheet events
27 capital commitments
group
2003 2002
£m £m
contracted but not provided in the accounts 67 70 
28 lease commitments
the group is committed to making the following payments in respect of noncancellable leases during the next year
land and buildings other
2003 2002 2003 2002
lease expiry date £m £m £m £m
within one year 71 43 111 46 
between two and ﬁve years 265 271 326 311 
after ﬁve years 378 384 55 63 
714 698 492 420 
certain of the group’s lease commitments are directly recoverable from clients under contractual arrangements tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 59
29 pension commitments
there are numerous pension arrangements within the group both deﬁned beneﬁt and deﬁned contribution arrangements
a full actuarial valuation of the major uk deﬁned beneﬁt scheme was carried out at 5 april 2002 by a qualiﬁed independent actuary from 1 january 2003
the employer contribution rates range from 713 to 2272 of pensionable salaries in respect of the members of this scheme depending on their
category of membership
assumptions
the major assumptions used by the actuary to value the scheme’s liabilities were
 per annum  per annum  per annum  per annum
31 december 31 december 31 december 31 december
2003 2002 2001 2000
rate of increase of salaries 35 33 40 40 
rate of increase of pensions in payment 24 22 25 25 
rate of increase in deferred pensions 25 23 25 25 
discount rate 54 56 58 60 
inﬂation adjustment 25 23 25 25 
the expected rate of return for the scheme assets were
equities and property 85 89 79 70 
bonds 52 50 54 54 
cash and other receivables 38 40 40 40 
the scheme’s assets are
value at value at
31 december 31 december
2003 2002
£m £m
equities and property 1880 1450 
bonds 820 640 
cash and other receivables 175 180 
2875 2270 
balance sheet deﬁcit
at at at at
31 december 31 december 31 december 31 december
2003 2002 2001 2000
£m £m £m £m
total market value of assets 2875 2270 2680 3000 
actuarial value of liability 3912 3299 3160 3000 
deﬁcit in the scheme 1037 1029 480 – 
related deferred tax asset 311 308 144 – 
net pension deﬁcit 726 721 336 –  notes to the ﬁnancial statements continued
60 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
29 pension commitments continued
proﬁt and loss charge
2003 2002
a amount charged to operating proﬁt £m £m
current service cost 55 68 
curtailments 12 – 
total operating charge 43 68 
2003 2002
b amount chargedcredited to other income £m £m
expected return on pension scheme assets 171 194 
interest on pension scheme liabilities 186 186 
net return 15 08 
history of experience gains and losses
2003 2002 2001 2003 2002 2001
  £m £m £m
actual return less expected return on assets 12 28 19 311 685 557
experience gains and losses on the liabilities† – –7 02 10 197
changes in assumptions† 10 4 4 373 143 120
actuarial loss recognised† 2 17 8 60 552 480
percentage of scheme assets
†percentage of present value of scheme liabilities
movement in deﬁcit during the year
2003 2002
£m £m
deﬁcit at 1 january 1029 480 
movement in year
current service cost 55 68 
contributions 110 63 
curtailments 12 – 
other ﬁnance expenseincome 15 08 
actuarial loss 60 552 
deﬁcit at 31 december 1037 1029  tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 61
30 contingent liabilities
parent
2003 2002
guarantees given in respect of £m £m
bank and documentary credits advanced to subsidiary undertakings 137 124 
operating lease payments of subsidiary undertakings due in 2004 436 386 
the parent has guaranteed the performance of certain limited contract obligations entered into by subsidiary undertakings guarantees for operating
lease payments relate principally to arrangements underwritten by clients borrowings of joint venture companies guaranteed by subsidiaries
amounted to £20m 2002 – £nil
31 exchange rates
average rate closing rate
2003 2002 2003 2002
euro 145 159 142 153 
us dollar 162 151 178 161 
canadian dollar 228 237 231 254 
south african rand 1135 1555 1192 1381 
these are the principal exchange rates used in the ﬁnancial statements local currency equivalent of £1 notes to the ﬁnancial statements continued
62 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
32 principal operating companies
country of country of
incorporation registered name incorporation registered name
subsidiary undertakings
argentina tibbett  britten argentina sa mexico distribuidora malsa sa do cv
austria tibbett  britten austria gmbh morocco transcare fashion sarl
austria tkl tiefkuhllogistik gmbh netherlands tibbett  britten group bv
canada tibbett  britten group canada inc netherlands tibbett  britten international holdings bv
canada axis logistics inc poland tibbett  britten poland sp zoo
canada connect logistics services inc portugal tibbett  britten transportes e servicos lda
canada matrix logistics services limited puerto rico dimalsa logistics corporation
canada scm supply chain management inc singapore tibbett  britten asia pte limited
canada storcare supply chain management inc singapore tibbett  britten singapore pte limited
canada summit logistics inc slovakia tibbett  britten slovakia sro
canada western distribution centres alberta inc south africa tibbett  britten africa pty limited
china tibbett  britten hong kong limited spain tibbett  britten iberia sl
czech republic tibbett  britten cz as taiwan tibbett  britten taiwan limited
england international supply chain limited usa tibbett  britten north america inc
england tibbett  britten limited usa compass logistics inc
france tca sa usa elite logistics inc
france tibbett  britten france sa usa galaxy logistics inc
germany tibbett  britten deutschland logistik gmbh usa llano logistics inc
germany vfw ag usa matrix logistics inc
hungary tibbett  britten hungaria kft usa southstar logistics inc
ireland neptune freight limited usa venture logistics inc
ireland tibbett  britten group ireland limited
kenya tibbett  britten kenya limited
the group owns 100 of the equity capital of all the companies shown except for vfw ag where the group holds 91
ordinary shares are held in each company except in north american companies where common shares are held
shares held directly by tibbett  britten group plc
joint ventures 50 owned with equivalent voting rights unless stated
bvi hutchison tibbett  britten limited
england joint retail logistics limited
england unique logistics international limited freight forwarding
malaysia tibbett  britten kontena nasional sdn bhd
saudi arabia olayan tibbett  britten logistics limited
singapore psc tibbett  britten logistics pte ltd
thailand davids distribution thailand limited 38
turkey tibbett  britten yurtici lojistik
uae al futtaim tibbett  britten
associated undertakings
dubai transcare gulf logistics dubai llc 50
all companies are involved in the principal activity of the group unless otherwise shown
all the companies operate in their country of incorporation or registration except for hutchison tibbett  britten limited which operates in china tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 63
report of the independent auditors
for the year ended 31 december 2003
independent auditors’ report to the members of tibbett  britten group plc
we have audited the ﬁnancial statements which comprise the proﬁt and loss account the balance sheet the cash ﬂow statement
the statement of total recognised gains and losses the note of historical cost proﬁts and losses and the related notes we have also
audited the disclosures required by part 3 of schedule 7a to the companies act 1985 contained in the directors’ remuneration
report “the auditable part”
respective responsibilities of directors and auditors
the directors’ responsibilities for preparing the annual report and the ﬁnancial statements in accordance with applicable united
kingdom law and accounting standards are set out in the statement of directors’ responsibilities the directors are also responsible
for preparing the directors’ remuneration report
our responsibility is to audit the ﬁnancial statements and the auditable part of the directors’ remuneration report in accordance with
relevant legal and regulatory requirements and united kingdom auditing standards issued by the auditing practices board this
report including the opinion has been prepared for and only for the company’s members as a body in accordance with section 235
of the companies act 1985 and for no other purpose we do not in giving this opinion accept or assume responsibility for any other
purpose or to any other person to whom this report is shown or into whose hands it may come save where expressly agreed by our
prior consent in writing
we report to you our opinion as to whether the ﬁnancial statements give a true and fair view and whether the ﬁnancial statements
and the auditable part of the directors’ remuneration report have been properly prepared in accordance with the companies act
1985 we also report to you if in our opinion the directors’ report is not consistent with the ﬁnancial statements if the company 
has not kept proper accounting records if we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit 
or if information speciﬁed by law regarding directors’ remuneration and transactions is not disclosed
we read the other information contained in the annual report and consider the implications for our report if we become aware of any
apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the ﬁnancial statements the other information comprises only the directors’
report the unaudited part of the directors’ remuneration report the chairman’s statement the chief executive’s review the ﬁnancial
review and the corporate governance statement 
we review whether the corporate governance statement reﬂects the company’s compliance with the seven provisions of the
combined code issued in june 1998 speciﬁed for our review by the listing rules of the financial services authority and we report
if it does not we are not required to consider whether the board’s statements on internal control cover all risks and controls or to
form an opinion on the effectiveness of the group’s corporate governance procedures or its risk and control procedures 
basis of audit opinion
we conducted our audit in accordance with auditing standards issued by the auditing practices board an audit includes
examination on a test basis of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in the ﬁnancial statements and the auditable part
of the directors’ remuneration report it also includes an assessment of the signiﬁcant estimates and judgements made by the
directors in the preparation of the ﬁnancial statements and of whether the accounting policies are appropriate to the company’s
circumstances consistently applied and adequately disclosed
we planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all the information and explanations which we considered necessary in order to
provide us with sufﬁcient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the ﬁnancial statements and the auditable part of the directors’
remuneration report are free from material misstatement whether caused by fraud or other irregularity or error in forming our opinion
we also evaluated the overall adequacy of the presentation of information in the ﬁnancial statements
opinion
in our opinion
• the ﬁnancial statements give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company and the group at 31 december 2003 
and of the proﬁt and cash ﬂows of the group for the year then ended
• the ﬁnancial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with the companies act 1985 and
• those parts of the directors’ remuneration report required by part 3 of schedule 7a to the companies act 1985 have been
properly prepared in accordance with the companies act 1985
pricewaterhousecoopers llp
chartered accountants and registered auditors
st albans
2 march 2004 64 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
financial record
restated
2003 2002 2001 2000 1999
proﬁt and loss account £m £m £m £m £m
turnover 16335 15169 14698 15072 13119 
proﬁtloss on ordinary activities 155 133 74 334 313 
taxation 57 107 99 120 107 
proﬁtloss on ordinary activities after taxation 98 26 173 214 206 
minority 01 – – – – 
dividends 122 123 118 112 101 
retained lossproﬁt for the year 25 97 291 102 105 
balance sheet
fixed assets 2347 2295 2049 2505 2314 
net current liabilities 342 163 35 348 259 
creditors due after one year 859 889 710 885 897 
provisions for liabilities and charges 920 919 397 60 67 
net assets 226 324 907 1212 1091 
financed by
called up share capital 24 24 24 24 24 
reserves 157 273 257 255 246 
proﬁt and loss account 38 27 626 930 818 
shareholders’ funds 219 324 907 1209 1088 
minority interests 07 – – 03 03 
226 324 907 1212 1091 
shares in issue at 31 december m 486 486 483 481 479 
average shares in issue m 485 483 480 479 479 
2003 2002 2001 2000 1999
statistics per ordinary share pence pence pence pence pence
shareholders’ funds per share excluding pension liability 2002 2202 2592 2514 2271 
basic earnings per share 202 54 360 447 431 
net dividends per share 253 253 244 232 215 
the above numbers have been extracted from the published accounts no restatements other than those made in subsequent
accounts have been included this schedule is unaudited tibbett  britten is a ukbased international group of
companies providing physical distribution and logistical
support services for major retailers and manufacturers 
it focuses on the consumer sector and has established 
a strong presence in the food and beverage fashion 
and consumer nonfood markets
the group’s objective is to develop partnerships with its customers and consolidate 
its position as an international leader in contract logistics and supply chain management
through the translation of experience and transfer of customer franchise across territorial
and sector boundaries
contents
1 overview
2 chairman’s statement
4 tibbett  britten at a glance
5 chief executive’s review
10 increasing product availability
12 improving customer service
14 reducing costs
16 financial review
19 our people
20 board of directors 
21 social environmental and 
ethical matters
24 report of the directors
26 directors’ remuneration report
31 corporate governance
33 directors’ responsibility for ﬁnancial
reporting and internal control
34 consolidated proﬁt and 
loss account
35 consolidated balance sheet
36 company balance sheet
37 consolidated statement of total
recognised gains and losses
37 note of historical cost proﬁt 
and losses
38 consolidated cash ﬂow statement
38 reconciliation of movement 
in net debt
39 notes to the consolidated cash
ﬂow statement
41 notes to the ﬁnancial statements
63 report of the independent auditors
64 financial record
ibc directors secretary and advisors
shareholder information and
ﬁnancial calendar
directors secretary and advisors
chairman
j a harvey cbe ba fcit filt
chief executive
m r arrowsmith bsc fcma
directors
s hammad ba mba
m a whiteling mcom
nonexecutive directors
c w e r buchan bsc fca
w a c thomson
r w wood bsc ccmi
secretary
n l smith llb
registered ofﬁce
centennial park
elstree
hertfordshire wd6 3tl
united kingdom
tel 020 8327 2000
fax 020 8327 2199
registered number
1838882 england
auditors
pricewaterhousecoopers llp
10 bricket road
st albans
herts al1 3jx
solicitors
denton wilde sapte
1 fleet place
london ec4m 7ws
registrar and transfer ofﬁce
lloyds tsb registrars
the causeway worthing
west sussex bn99 6da
tel 0870 6003970
principal clearing bankers
lloyds tsb bank plc
city ofﬁce
1115 monument street
london ec3v 9ja
stockbrokers
dresdner kleinwort
wasserstein
20 fenchurch street
london ec3p 3db
merchant bankers
dresdner kleinwort
wasserstein
20 fenchurch street
london ec3p 3db
shareholder information and ﬁnancial calendar
shareholder enquiries
if you have any queries about the administration of shareholdings such as change of address transfer of ownership dividend mandate
forms or dividend payment please contact the registrar at the address given above the best way to ensure that dividends are
received as quickly as possible is to instruct the registrar to pay them directly into your bank account tax vouchers are then posted
to you separately see the registrar’s website wwwshareviewcouk for further details
share price information
the middle market price of a tibbett  britten group plc share on 31 december 2003 was 4045 pence during the year the 
share price ﬂuctuated between 3350 pence and 5625 pence the company’s share price is available from the group’s website
wwwtibbettbrittencom with a 15 minute delay and from the london stock exchange website wwwpriceslondonstockexchangecom
with a similar delay prices are also published in most newspapers and on ceefax and teletext in the uk
financial calendar
annual general meeting 19 may 2004 proposed 2003 ﬁnal dividend payment date 28 may 2004
exdividend date for 2003 ﬁnal dividend 5 may 2004 announcement of 2004 interim results september 2004
record date for 2003 ﬁnal dividend payment date 7 may 2004 proposed 2004 interim dividend payment date november 2004
analysis of shareholdings as at 31 december 2003
range nos of holders  of holders nos of shares  of shares
1 to 1000 1614 7239 527261 108
1001 to 5000 352 1578 767866 158
5001 to 10000 65 291 478631 098
10001 to 50000 97 435 2540291 522
50001 to 100000 34 152 2696346 554
100001 and over 68 305 41627460 8560
totals 2230 10000 48637855 10000
number of individuals – 1681 7538 representing 3625846 shares 745
number of institutions – 549 2462 representing 45012009 shares 9255
this document has been printed on paper manufactured from 50 tcf pulps from plantation forests and 50 recycled and deinked ﬁbres from pre and post consumer
waste no chlorine has been used in the deinking process
designed and produced by linnett webb jenkins printed by empress litho ltd wwwtibbettbrittencom
annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
wwwtibbettbrittencom
integral to the supply chain
tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003


Summary:
 chief executive’s review
tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 5
our primary focus is on the continued development of our two core markets of europe and north
america whilst building critical mass in china in many countries within these markets we have
achieved leading positions in our chosen sectors of clothing grocery and mass consumer
merchandise we have continued to extend our activities and competencies across the supply
chain including offshore support mainly from asia and eastern europe in the context of extending
our capabilities across the supply chain we acquired vfw ag a fourth party reverse logistics provider
in germany which is now integrated into the group and performing ahead of our business plan
americas
although turnover for the americas at £5966m was ahead of last year by 2 at constant exchange
rates the division had a disappointing and unsatisfactory year we have taken action to improve
ﬁnancial performance this has included substantial management changes restructuring the
business reducing overhead closing the latin american ofﬁce in miami and the realignment of 
our business development activities these actions will enable the business to exploit more effectively
opportunities in an expanding market overall the restructuring of the americas’ business is expected
to result in a 2004 ﬁrst half exceptional charge of approximately £20m
the north american market continues to grow and new contracts were started for kimberlyclark
procter  gamble smuckers and payless shoes we also extended our business with walmart
following the introduction of the sam’s club store format in canada in the second half of the year
we were awarded a contract to design and operate a major distribution centre for a leading canadian
supermarket chain projected to become operational in early 2005 in december following a change
in senior management jc penney advised their contractors that during 2004 they would be 
taking back inhouse all their major third party operations including the two sites we currently
operate on their behalf
north american operating proﬁt before goodwill amortisation was £28m this result was impacted 
by the previously announced exceptional events in the ﬁrst half of 2003 these were the full
provision for the £31m outstanding from a former customer that has ﬁled for chapter 11 protection
and the £35m writeoff associated with the decision by safeway inc to exercise the onetime
option to take the operation in north california inhouse operating proﬁt was also impacted 
by a weaker us dollar that reduced earnings by £05m compared to last year
during 2003 we continued to make good progress towards achieving
our strategic objectives particularly in our european and international
divisions however the americas performance was unsatisfactory
the issues underlying this have now been addressed and we expect 
to see a substantial rebound in performance during 2004 
mike arrowsmith
chief executive 6 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
in mexico although turnover of £452m was up by 39 at constant exchange rates an operating loss
before goodwill amortisation of £25m was recorded the loss was mainly due to difﬁculties associated
with the consolidation under the direction of the north american management of seven sites around
mexico city into a single purposebuilt facility the transfers were not well executed resulting in
signiﬁcant cost overruns and customer penalty payments by the end of 2003 these operations
had been stabilised and are now on track to deliver the beneﬁts originally envisaged there have
been considerable management changes the overhead cost base has been reduced and investment
made in new business development infrastructure the deployment of transport planning software
has recommenced and will further reduce cost and increase service efﬁciencies during the year
substantial new warehousing contracts commenced with procter  gamble and rubbermaid 
europe
in 2003 we made signiﬁcant headway in europe the restructuring of the uk business has been
completed with a single uniﬁed support structure now serving both the consumer products and
fashion teams under the leadership of saad hammad who joined the group in february 2003 
the integration of the uk and mainland european operations is progressing this is both cost
effective and facilitates our capability to share best practice across frontiers and business operations
increasingly multinational customers are managing their activities on a coordinated regional and
most frequently a paneuropean basis accordingly we have reorganised our business development
teams to create a central resource to support strategic customer partnerships and our own
national initiatives
total turnover of our european operations at £9079m was up by 6 at constant exchange rates
there was strong progress in the uk with the ﬁrst half loss of the ms textiles and general
merchandise contract being offset by the new business wins with homebase and boots which
commenced in the second half of the year in mainland europe we achieved substantial topline
growth however increased pricing pressures and operational challenges in france in the ﬁrst 
half lowered operating margins 
in the uk and ireland turnover at £6248m and operating proﬁt before goodwill amortisation at
£174m were 2 and 23 higher than last year respectively the continuing interest in outsourcing
has been evidenced by a signiﬁcant number of contract wins and renewals within all our key
customer segments we reinforced our signiﬁcant involvement with retailers by commencing new
reverse logistics
as pressure grows to recycle
products and materials both to
cut costs and to conserve non
renewable resources reverse
logistics is becoming increasingly
important already in europe the
focus is shifting from disposal 
to recovery partly driven by 
new legislation – such as the 
eu restriction of hazardous
substances and the waste
electrical and electronic
equipment weee directives
adopted in february 2003
tibbett  britten’s 2003
acquisition of leading german
based reverse logistics specialist
vfw reﬂects the group’s resolve 
to be in the forefront of this ﬁeld
vfw is a market leader in reverse
logistics to the retail pharmacy
sector and is also one of two
market leaders in germany in 
the management of returnable
deposit drinks containers over
time the group plans to translate
this expertise into other product
and geographic markets chief executive’s review continued
contracts with bq the big food group boots homebase marks  spencer sainsbury and
tesco among manufacturers we won new business with o
2
and secured contract renewals 
with danone gillette and unilever within fashion we secured new business with arcadia 
ben sherman fred perry lvmh next sainsbury tesco and tk maxx 
operating proﬁt beneﬁted from lower overhead costs and the 2002 closure of the underperforming
multiuser fashion network however as reported at the interim stage this performance has been
ﬂattered by the ms textiles and general merchandise termination payment we have recently 
won additional business with ms for the offshore consolidation and import management of 
wines which extends our exclusive uk storage contract 
mainland europe experienced encouraging growth in a difﬁcult economic environment at constant
exchange rates turnover increased by 15 to £2831m with doubledigit growth in all major
markets operating proﬁt before goodwill amortisation of £54m was up by 13 at constant
exchange rates reported results beneﬁted from an £08m exchange beneﬁt from a stronger 
euro and the german acquisition vfw in october 
thailand tieup
the group’s acquisition of a
substantial equity stake in davids
distribution thailand during 2002
is enabling it to offer integrated
services along the singapore
malaysiathailand geographical
axis it is now also sharing in
fulﬁlling a major logistics contract
with hypermarket retailer big c –
part of established customer 
the casino group of france
davids distribution’s giant new
wang noi distribution centre
operates 24x7 and is already
capable of handling up to
100000 cases of merchandise 
a day for big c the ﬁrst phase 
of the 103000 sq m 11m sq ft
centre shown here is handling the
warehousing and distribution of a
wide range of fresh and ambient
goods to 34 big c supercenter
stores all over thailand
always in fashion
today tibbett  britten group 
is an international fullservice
logistics provider with a threefold
focus on the fashion food and
beverage and nonfood consumer
goods sectors but it is the ﬁrst 
of these – clothing and textiles
logistics – that provides a common
thread running through the
group’s history
tesco the uk’s largest retailer 
is progressively growing its
fashion and nonfood businesses
and turned to the sector leader 
in 2003 to provide a dedicated
central warehousing and
distribution service for all its
boxed clothing lines in the uk –
some 30m cases a year 
the operation is based at our
recently completed 22400 sq m
240000 sq ft highbay fastway
distribution centre in the english
midlands shown left chief executive’s review continued
8 tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003
vfw our fourth party packaging return business performed ahead of plan and has continued 
to increase its customer base in late 2003 its nationwide system for the return of oneway drinks
containers was launched and has already been accepted by spar rewe and other major retailers
the contract logistics operations particularly for healthcare and medical gases continue to
expand with distribution into austria and other central european countries 
new business activities continue at a satisfactory level through both national initiatives and support
from the paneuropean development team during the year major new contracts included castorama
and ssl in france carrefour and corteﬁel in spain levi strauss in benelux and henkel johnson
 johnson kelly’s merkur rewe and tesco in central and eastern europe in germany the new
bingen warehouse for walmart was successfully commissioned in march and our operations
continued to deliver high levels of service 
in may the enlargement of the european union will prove to be a catalyst for accelerated change
we are beneﬁting from our established presence in central europe with the migration of production
and sourcing and the development of transnational retailing
during the year we strengthened our country management teams with new appointments in france
as well as central and eastern europe
international
our established businesses in asia the middle east and africa continue to develop rapidly with 
a clear mandate for proﬁtable growth and increased return on investment turnover increased by
47 to £1290m and operating proﬁt before goodwill amortisation was up by 35 at £27m at
constant exchange rates our presence in these markets supports our core international customer
base and is a signiﬁcant part of our strategy to develop long term partnerships with key customers
in china our jointventure with hutchison whampoa continues to expand in response to a rapidly
consolidating domestic retail sector prior to the wta driven deregulation of the market in early
2005 this proposed change has increased outsourcing opportunities with both local and
international supermarket chains our addedvalue managed transport operations also continue 
to expand offering nationwide delivery to over 350 cities following a slow start to the year caused
by the uncertainty following the outbreak of the sars virus the second half saw an increased
tempo of new business opportunities new contracts have been won with abbott laboratories
auchan bacardi bq heysong paciﬁc dairy procter  gamble stanley tools and wu mei
china promise
through our jointventure with
hutchison whampoa – hutchison
tibbett  britten htb – the
group has been building critical
mass in china for six years as a
result we are now well positioned
to beneﬁt from the changes in both
global sourcing and the domestic
chinese market likely to result
from trade deregulation in 2005
htb is already preparing for this
increased activity and opened a
new purposebuilt shareduser
distribution centre in shanghai
right during 2003 one of the
largest in the region it is already
serving a number of multinational
and domestic companies providing
them with world class levels 
of service quality in the middle east a jointventure agreement was signed with the al futtaim group in dubai 
this jv is providing supply chain management services in the region to al futtaim’s prestigious
franchise portfolio – including ikea marks  spencer and toys r us in the retail sector and
toyota honda chryslerjeep volvo sanyo toshiba and national panasonic in the automotive
and electronics sectors in saudi arabia our jointventure with the olayan group had a difﬁcult
trading year due to the conﬂict in iraq however in the second half year there were signs 
of improvement and we expect growth to return to this market in 2004
in south africa the new multiuser distribution centre at gauteng was successfully commissioned
and is progressively moving towards full operational throughput 
mike arrowsmith chief executive
scale and resilience
the group’s threedimensional
growth strategy is to focus on 
the consumer market sector –
which has scale and resilience 
to develop in selected geographies
and to pursue longterm
international partnerships with
substantive customers
one such company is procter 
 gamble following the group’s
progressive takeon of pg
logistics operations in the usa
argentina and china we set 
up three new pg distribution
centres in mexico during 200203
and now handle 55 of the total
volumes produced by procter 
gamble mexico this 66900 sq m
720000 sq ft facility in mexico
city left is the largest pg site 
in latin america
tibbett  britten group plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2003 9