Richard Preston & Son Limited
Registered name: RICHARD PRESTON & SON LIMITED
Part of Potto Group Limited groupRichard Preston & Son Limited made £15.4m revenue and £12.1k profit in the year to 31 Dec 2025.
Richard Preston & Son Limited’s revenue fell 1% to £15.4m in the year to 31 Dec 2025, with £12.1k profit and 141 employees. The company is classified under “freight transport by road” and is based in North Yorkshire; we hold 4 years of its filed accounts.
- Status
- Active
- Location
- North Yorkshire, North East
- Age
- 56 yrs · since 1969
- Type
- Private Limited Company
Part of a group. The filing indicates this company sits within a group structure, so its results may depend on intra-group trading and it may be hard to replicate independently.
Key figures
Badges are automated estimates derived from the filed figures — not statements of fact about the company.
Financial history
| Year to | 31 Dec 2022 | 31 Dec 2023 | 31 Dec 2024 | 31 Dec 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Disclosure | Full P&L | Full P&L | Full P&L | Full P&L |
| Profit & loss | ||||
| Revenue (turnover) | £17.5m | £16.6m | £15.6m | £15.4m |
| Cost of sales | £14.3m | £14.3m | £14.3m | £13.8m |
| Gross profit | £3.2m | £2.2m | £1.3m | £1.6m |
| Operating profit | £2m | £931k | £45.7k | £174k |
| Profit before tax | £1.9m | £809k | −£148k | £19.1k |
| Profit after tax | £1.6m | £618k | −£110k | £12.1k |
| Profit (best available) | £1.6m | £618k | −£110k | £12.1k |
| Staff costs | £5.3m | £5.9m | £5.9m | £6.2m |
| Employees (average) | 143 | 149 | 142 | 141 |
| Ratios | ||||
| Profit margin | 9.3% | 3.7% | −0.7% | 0.1% |
| Gross margin | 18.2% | 13.6% | 8.4% | 10.2% |
| Revenue per employee | £122k | £111k | £110k | £109k |
| Profit per employee | £11.4k | £4.1k | −£777 | £86 |
| Growth (year on year) | ||||
| Revenue growth | — | ▼5.1% | ▼5.9% | ▼1.4% |
| Profit growth | — | ▼62.1% | ▼117.9% | — |
| Headcount growth | — | ▲4.2% | ▼4.7% | ▼0.7% |
| Balance sheet — indirect signals, not revenue | ||||
| Cash at bank | £1.5m | £1.1m | £1.1m | £1m |
| Net assets | £7.8m | £8.4m | £7.4m | £7.4m |
| Fixed assets | £9.3m | £11.9m | £10.6m | £10.6m |
| Current assets | £4.8m | £3.9m | £4.1m | £4m |
| Debtors | £2.9m | £2.5m | £2.6m | £2.5m |
| Deferred income | £480k | £418k | £441k | £443k |
| Source | Accounts · bulk data Aug 2024 | Accounts · bulk data Aug 2024 | FullAccounts · bulk data Sep 2025 | FullAccounts · bulk data Aug 2026 |
How the business works
- Profit margin
- 0.1%
- Profit ÷ revenue.
- Gross margin
- 10.2%
- Gross profit ÷ revenue. High for software and services.
- Revenue per employee
- £109k
- Revenue ÷ average employees.
- Profit per employee
- £86
- Profit ÷ average employees.
- Cash conversion
- —
- Cash generated from operations ÷ operating profit. Needs a cash-flow statement.
- Fixed assets ÷ revenue
- 69%
- Capital intensity. Low = capital-light, cheaper to start.
- Deferred income ÷ revenue
- 2.9%
- Customers paying upfront (subscriptions, deposits). Approximate when combined with accruals.
- Debtors ÷ revenue
- 16.2%
- Money owed by customers. Low = customers pay quickly.
Balance-sheet signals
Year-on-year changes in filed balance-sheet items. They can hint at momentum (or investment) but are not revenue or profit and must not be read as such.
- Net assets
- ▲0%
- Now £7.4m
- Cash at bank
- ▼8%
- Now £1m
- Headcount
- ▼1%
- Now 141
- Deferred income
- ▲0%
- Now £443k
- Fixed assets
- ▲0%
- Now £10.6m
Deferred income is reported together with accruals in this filing (“accruals and deferred income”), so it is an approximate signal only.
Group structure
Ownership chain
- Potto Group Limitedultimate parent75–100%
- Richard Preston & Son Limitedthis company
Bands show the share of ownership each company holds in the one below it.
Subsidiaries (3)
- C.W. Tinkler & Co. LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Freeman, Volkers & Stuart LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Teesside Steel Distribution LimitedFigures not disclosed
From the Persons with Significant Control register (corporate controllers only).
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Sources
Latest figures from FullAccounts for the year to 31 Dec 2025 (profit £12.1k), from the Companies House accounts bulk data published Aug 2026. Spotted an error? Request a correction.
Contains public sector information from Companies House licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Data from Companies House, © Crown copyright. View the licence.