JJO plc posts record annual results

Strategic advice from accountants and business advisors Beever and Struthers helped kitchen, bedroom and bathroom manufacturer J & J Ormerod (JJO) plc to achieve the strongest annual financial results in its 140-year history.

Over the past two financial years, Beever and Struthers has helped JJO to save a total of £68,000 by advising it on maximising the use of Research and Development (R&D) tax credits to claim tax relief on its R&D spending.

For example, the firm with offices in Manchester, Blackburn and London, made JJO aware of its ability to claim for R&D tax relief on costs incurred by the creation of new software to streamline the journey of a customer order from receipt to delivery by replacing a paper-based, outdated and inefficient credit control and logistics process with a paperless IT system.

The new IT system allowed JJO credit staff to handle more orders and introduced a more effective use of the firm’s delivery vehicles - ultimately, increasing operational efficiency, cutting costs and minimising bad debts.

The success of such claims by Beever and Struthers allowed JJO to improve its working capital and culminated in the Bacup, Lancashire-based business founded in 1876 reporting a six per cent increase in turnover to £43.6m and a 21 per cent rise in gross profit to almost £13m in the year ended February 2016.

These record-breaking results translated into a strengthened balance sheet with cash reserves near doubled to £3m and a 32 per cent hike in net current assets to almost £8.5m.

Iain Round, partner at Beever and Struthers, heads the firm’s specialist team providing audit and company tax services for JJO.

He said: “The delivery of our tailored services and in particular, expert advice on maximising the benefits to the bottom line of being able to claim tax relief on R&D tax spend, is reflected in these record breaking results from JJO and we congratulate the business on its historic achievement.

"An increasing breadth and depth of talent at Beever and Struthers is allowing us to fulfil our ambition of achieving better for all of our valued clients."

Stephen Greenhalgh, joint managing director of JJO, said: “The advice given by Beever and Struthers allowed us to get on with running our business, whilst they did the heavy lifting at the audit and ensured we received the allowances the company was entitled too.

“Our success is based on constant reinvestment in all aspects the business, whether that may be infrastructure, state-of-the-art equipment, systems or our people. Clearly the Government intends that such investment in the future is rewarded.” Since being founded in 1876, JJO has grown into a major supplier of kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms with 360 staff at 1.1m sq ft premises at Colonial House in Bacup.