Registered number:
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
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UNITEDLEX LIMITED
COMPANY INFORMATION
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UNITEDLEX LIMITED
CONTENTS
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UNITEDLEX LIMITED
GROUP STRATEGIC REPORT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
The Directors presents the Strageic Report for the year ended 31st December 2022.
The Group's principal activity is the provision of consultancy services to the legal sector via corporate clients and legal firms both within the United Kingdom and across Europe. Turnover for the Group was in line with expectation, finishing at £30.5m from £32.5m in the prior year. 2022 produced an operating loss of £1.1m (2021: operating profit of £1.0m. The main reason for the operating loss is the lower revenue from Litigation and increased administrative expenses from severance costs due to restructuring.
The Group's contract review revenue remains stable despite the restructure. The Group operates in a niche market and the board anticipates steady future growth due to the minimal number of competitors in the market. The company offers a different approach through digital transformation that the parent company, UnitedLex Corporation, continues to invest in. The Group benefits from the parent company's global presence, as well as the ever developing technology.
The Group's success is dependent on the continued investment into technology and pricing by the parent company, UnitedLex Corporation. The Group will continue to focus its efforts on achieving maximum growth in existing market segments, leveraging its technology of digitisation thus serving clients promptly and efficiently.
The Group's risks are managed through policies, procedures and internal controls. Policies are subject to Board approval, reviewed by management and internal audits.
The following financial key performance indicators are monitored:
Revenue: £30.5m (2021 : £32.5m) Gross profit: £15.3m (2021: £18.4m) (includes exchange rate impact) Profit after tax: loss of £1.2m (2021: profit of £0.9m)
The Group measures customer satisfaction by way of customer retention. New client acquisition success is also measured to ensure that the Group is able to continue to grow while continuing to service existing clients.
In 2023 a key customer decided to take their business in-house due to a change in strategy in their operational model. This may have a significant impact on results going forward, however management have set in place plans to utilise any resulting spare capacity by acquiring new business from new customers.
This report was approved by the board and signed on its behalf.
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UNITEDLEX LIMITED
DIRECTORS' REPORT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
The directors present their report and the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2022.
The directors who served during the year were:
The directors are responsible for preparing the Group Strategic Report, the Directors' Report and the consolidated financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.
Company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the directors have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice), including Financial Reporting Standard 102 ‘The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland'. Under company law the directors must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they 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 these financial statements, the directors are required to:
∙select suitable accounting policies for the Group's financial statements and then apply them consistently;
∙make judgments and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
∙prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Group will continue in business.
The directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the Company's transactions and 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 2006. 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.
The loss for the year, after taxation, amounted to £1,213,578 (2021 - profit £930,060).
Further details of the Company's future strategy can be found in the Strategic Report.
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UNITEDLEX LIMITED
DIRECTORS' REPORT (CONTINUED)
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
The auditors, James Cowper Kreston Audit, will be proposed for reappointment in accordance with section 485 of the Companies Act 2006.
This report was approved by the board and signed on its behalf.
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UNITEDLEX LIMITED
INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF UNITEDLEX LIMITED
We have audited the financial statements of UnitedLex Limited (the 'parent Company') and its subsidiaries (the 'Group') for the year ended 31 December 2022, which comprise the Group Statement of Comprehensive Income, the Group and Company Balance Sheets, the Group Statement of Cash Flows, the Group and Company Statement of Changes in Equity and the related notes, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 ‘The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditors' responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the Group in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the United Kingdom, including the Financial Reporting Council's Ethical Standard and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the directors' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.
Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the Group's or the parent Company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the directors with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.
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UNITEDLEX LIMITED
INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF UNITEDLEX LIMITED (CONTINUED)
The other information comprises the information included in the Annual Report other than the financial statements and our Auditors' Report thereon. The directors are responsible for the other information contained within the Annual Report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.
We have nothing to report in this regard.
In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:
∙the information given in the Group Strategic Report and the Directors' Report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
∙the Group Strategic Report and the Directors' Report have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the Group and the parent Company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Group Strategic Report or the Directors' Report.
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free
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UNITEDLEX LIMITED
INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF UNITEDLEX LIMITED (CONTINUED)
from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an Auditors' Report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these Group financial statements.
Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance.
The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation. The specific procedures for this engagement that we designed and performed to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud, were as follows:
∙Enquiry of management and those charged with governance around actual and potential litigation and claims;
∙Enquiry of management and those charged with governance to identify any material instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations;
∙Reviewing financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations;
∙Performing audit work to address the risk of irregularities due to management override of controls, including testing of journal entries and other adjustments for appropriateness, evaluating the business rationale of significant transactions outside the normal course of business and reviewing accounting estimates for
evidence of bias.
A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council's website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our Auditors' Report.
This report is made solely to the Company's members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Company's members those matters we are required to state to them in an Auditors' Report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Company and the Company's members, as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
for and on behalf of
Chartered Accountants and Stautory Auditor
2 Communications Road
Greenham Business Park
Greenham
Berkshire
RG19 6AB
Date:
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UNITEDLEX LIMITED
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
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UNITEDLEX LIMITED
REGISTERED NUMBER: 07887653
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET
AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2022
The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the board and were signed on its behalf by:
The notes on pages 14 to 28 form part of these financial statements.
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UNITEDLEX LIMITED
REGISTERED NUMBER: 07887653
COMPANY BALANCE SHEET
AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2022
The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the board and were signed on its behalf by:
The notes on pages 14 to 28 form part of these financial statements.
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UNITEDLEX LIMITED
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021
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UNITEDLEX LIMITED
COMPANY STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
COMPANY STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021
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UNITEDLEX LIMITED
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
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UNITEDLEX LIMITED
CONSOLIDATED ANALYSIS OF NET DEBT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
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UNITEDLEX LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
Unitedlex Limited is a private company limited by share capital and incorporated in England and Wales.
The address of its registered office and principal place of business is 42 New Broad Street, 4th Floor, London, England, EC2M 1JD.
2.Accounting policies
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention unless otherwise specified within these accounting policies and in accordance with Financial Reporting Standard 102, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and the Republic of Ireland and the Companies Act 2006.
The Company has taken advantage of the exemption allowed under section 408 of the Companies Act 2006 and has not presented its own Statement of Comprehensive Income in these financial statements.
The following principal accounting policies have been applied:
The consolidated financial statements present the results of the Company and its own subsidiaries ("the Group") as if they form a single entity. Intercompany transactions and balances between group companies are therefore eliminated in full.
The consolidated financial statements incorporate the results of business combinations using the purchase method. In the Balance Sheet, the acquiree's identifiable assets, liabilities and contingent liabilities are initially recognised at their fair values at the acquisition date. The results of acquired operations are included in the Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income from the date on which control is obtained. They are deconsolidated from the date control ceases. In accordance with the transitional exemption available in FRS 102, the Group has chosen not to retrospectively apply the standard to business combinations that occurred before the date of transition to FRS 102, being 01 January 2017.
The Group made a loss for the year of £1,213,578 (2021: profit of £930,060) and at the year end had net liabilities of £1,153,148 (2021: net assets of £60,430). Cash held at the year end totalled £604,435 (2021: £1,155,947). The Directors have considered these factors and believe that the Group has sufficient working capital to meet these costs as they fall due, as well as having the support of the group. As a result the accounts have been prepared under the going concern basis.
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UNITEDLEX LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
2.Accounting policies (continued)
Functional and presentation currency
Transactions and balances
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UNITEDLEX LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
2.Accounting policies (continued)
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UNITEDLEX LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
2.Accounting policies (continued)
Goodwill
Other intangible assets
All intangible assets are considered to have a finite useful life. If a reliable estimate of the useful life cannot be made, the useful life shall not exceed ten years.
Depreciation is charged so as to allocate the cost of assets less their residual value over their estimated useful lives, using the straight-line method.
Depreciation is provided on the following basis:
The assets' residual values, useful lives and depreciation methods are reviewed, and adjusted prospectively if appropriate, or if there is an indication of a significant change since the last reporting date.
Gains and losses on disposals are determined by comparing the proceeds with the carrying amount and are recognised in profit or loss.
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UNITEDLEX LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
2.Accounting policies (continued)
Tangible fixed assets are depreciated over their useful lives taking into account residual values, where appropriate. The actual lives of the assets and residual values may vary depending on a number of factors. Bad debt provisions Management makes provisions for bad and doubtful debts based on the best estimate of future recovery. Taxation The company establishes provisions based on reasonable estimates, for possible consequences of audits by the tax authorities. The amount of such provisions is based on various factors, such as experience with previous tax submissions. Management estimation is required to determine the amount of deferred tax assets that can be recognised, based upon likely timing and level of future taxable profits together with an assessment of the effect of future tax planning strategies. Operating lease commitments The Company has entered into commercial lease contracts and as a lessee it obtains use of property, plant and equipment. The classification of such leases as operating or finance lease requires the Company to determine, based on an evaluation of the terms and conditions of the arrangements, whether it retains or acquires the significant risks and rewards of ownership of these assets and accordingly whether the lease requires an asset and liability to be recognised in the Balance Sheet.
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UNITEDLEX LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
Analysis of turnover by country of destination:
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UNITEDLEX LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
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UNITEDLEX LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
The main rate of corporation tax will increase to 25% from 1 April 2023.
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UNITEDLEX LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
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UNITEDLEX LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
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UNITEDLEX LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
11.Tangible fixed assets (continued)
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UNITEDLEX LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
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UNITEDLEX LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
Subsidiary undertakings (continued)
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UNITEDLEX LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
The Company opertes a defined contributions pension scheme. The assets of the scheme are held seperately from those of the Company in an independently administered fund. The pension cost charge reporesents contributions payable by the Company to the fund and amounted to £742,576 (2021: £860,466).
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UNITEDLEX LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
The ultimate controlling party is
The parent of the smallest group for which group accounts including UnitedLex Limited are drawn up is The parent of the largest group for which group accounts including UnitedLex Limited are drawn up is
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