William Purves (Funeral Directors) Limited
Registered name: WILLIAM PURVES (FUNERAL DIRECTORS) LIMITED
Part of William Purves (Funeral Directors) Holdings Limited groupWilliam Purves (Funeral Directors) Limited made £16.1m revenue and £1m profit in the year to 30 Sep 2025. read from filing text
William Purves (Funeral Directors) Limited’s revenue grew 6% to £16.1m in the year to 30 Sep 2025, with £1m profit and 116 employees. The company is classified under “funeral and related activities” and is based in Edinburgh; we hold 2 years of its filed accounts.
- Status
- Active
- Location
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Age
- 50 yrs · since 1976
- 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 | 30 Sep 2024 | 30 Sep 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Disclosure | Full P&Lread from filing text | Full P&Lread from filing text |
| Profit & loss | ||
| Revenue (turnover) | £15.2m | £16.1m |
| Cost of sales | £5.7m | £6m |
| Gross profit | £9.6m | £10.2m |
| Operating profit | £1.5m | £1.5m |
| Profit before tax | £1m | £1.3m |
| Profit after tax | £833k | £1m |
| Profit (best available) | £833k | £1m |
| Staff costs | £4.7m | £4.9m |
| Employees (average) | 107 | 116 |
| Ratios | ||
| Profit margin | 5.5% | 6.4% |
| Gross margin | 62.9% | 63% |
| Revenue per employee | £142k | £139k |
| Profit per employee | £7.8k | £8.9k |
| Cash conversion | — | −135.5% |
| Growth (year on year) | ||
| Revenue growth | — | ▲5.7% |
| Profit growth | — | ▲23.4% |
| Headcount growth | — | ▲8.4% |
| Balance sheet — indirect signals, not revenue | ||
| Cash at bank | £709k | £718k |
| Net assets | £313k | £771k |
| Fixed assets | £3.2m | £3m |
| Current assets | £4.7m | £4.8m |
| Debtors | £460k | £389k |
| Deferred income | £480k | £456k |
| Cash from operations | — | −£2.1m |
| Source | FullAccounts · bulk data Jan 2026 | FullAccounts · bulk data Jan 2026 |
How the business works
- Profit margin
- 6.4%
- Profit ÷ revenue.
- Gross margin
- 63%
- Gross profit ÷ revenue. High for software and services.
- Revenue per employee
- £139k
- Revenue ÷ average employees.
- Profit per employee
- £8.9k
- Profit ÷ average employees.
- Cash conversion
- −135.5%
- Cash generated from operations ÷ operating profit. Needs a cash-flow statement.
- Fixed assets ÷ revenue
- 18.6%
- Capital intensity. Low = capital-light, cheaper to start.
- Deferred income ÷ revenue
- 2.8%
- Customers paying upfront (subscriptions, deposits). Approximate when combined with accruals.
- Debtors ÷ revenue
- 2.4%
- 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
- ▲146%
- Now £771k
- Cash at bank
- ▲1%
- Now £718k
- Headcount
- ▲8%
- Now 116
- Deferred income
- ▼5%
- Now £456k
- Fixed assets
- ▼8%
- Now £3m
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
- William Purves (Funeral Directors) Holdings Limitedultimate parent75–100%
- William Purves (Funeral Directors) Limitedthis company
Bands show the share of ownership each company holds in the one below it.
From the Persons with Significant Control register (corporate controllers only).
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Sources
Latest figures from FullAccounts for the year to 30 Sep 2025 (profit £1m), from the Companies House accounts bulk data published Jan 2026. Spotted an error? Request a correction.
Updated from Companies House on 23 Oct 2026
Contains public sector information from Companies House licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Data from Companies House, © Crown copyright. View the licence.