Financial Dashboard · FY 25–26
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Chapter 1
WHERE WE WERE
September 2025 – January 2026 · 5 months cumulative. The baseline: high revenue, compressed margins, minimal profit.
S–J baseline
Avg Monthly Revenue
£381,385
£1.91M over 5 months
CoS eating 71.7% of revenue
S–J baseline
Gross Margin %
28.3%
GP £539,274 · avg £107,855/mo
Below 30% target
S–J baseline
Admin as % of Gross Profit
93.9%
£506,493 · avg £101,299/mo
Salaries alone = 39.7% of GP
S–J baseline
Avg Monthly Op Profit
£6,556
1.7% op margin
Level 2 — Bad
CoS / Revenue
71.7%
of every £1 earned
Admin / GP
93.9%
of gross profit consumed
Salaries / GP
39.7%
salary cost vs gross profit
Op Margin
1.7%
operating profit margin
Profit per £1k Revenue
£17
every £1,000 earned
The core problem was simple: admin costs (£101k/month avg) were consuming 93.9% of gross profit. Salaries alone took 39.7% of GP. Revenue was substantial — over £380k/month — but the business was keeping just £17 from every £1,000 it earned. The margin gap needed to close.
Monthly P&L — Sept–Jan (5-month cumulative view)
Revenue by Channel (Sept–Jan total)
Top Admin Cost Lines — Sept to Jan
Cost Structure — Where GP Went
Notable items: Director Pensions (£32,000 · 5 months), Consulting (£33,072), VA Outsourced Projects (£9,640), Depreciation (£4,709) and Insurance (£13,433) were among the largest non-staff admin costs. Salaries £213,881 over 5 months = £42,776/mo.
Context — Before September 2025
The Root Problem

A significant volume of order lines were being fulfilled at below cost price. Revenue looked healthy. Profit was being actively destroyed on every one of those transactions. High throughput, negative economics.

Why It Happened

Without full cost visibility across all SKUs, the business couldn't know which lines were loss-making in real time. Pricing was set without accurate cost data. The result: volume without margin.

Where It Stands Now

The shift to profit-driven pricing is underway. Loss-making lines are being identified and addressed. This is not complete — Chapter 2 shows the current breakdown. It is the single most important operational priority after stock tracking.

Revenue (S–J)
£1.91M
Looked strong
GP Margin (S–J)
28.3%
Below target
Op Profit (S–J avg)
£6,556/mo
94% of GP eaten by admin
Diagnosis
Revenue ≠ Profit
Lines sold below cost

Chapter 2
WHERE WE ARE
February – May 2026 · Monthly actuals and a seasonal context. Mar–May is the strongest quarter — read individual months in that light.
Feb–May
Avg Monthly Revenue
£422,914
was £381,385 (S–J avg)
↑ +10.9% per month
Feb–May
Gross Margin %
40.5%
was 28.3% (S–J avg)
↑ +12.2 percentage points
Feb–May
Admin as % of Gross Profit
48.9%
was 93.9% — nearly all of GP
↓ -45.0pp · Salaries now 21.8% of GP
Feb–May
Avg Monthly Op Profit
£87,502
was £6,556 (S–J avg)
↑ +£80,945 / month · 20.7% margin
⚠ Data Quality — Stock Tracking at ~60% Stock unit costs are currently only tracked for approximately 60% of SKUs. This means COGS in these reports may be understated — and GP margins may be overstated relative to the true position. As tracking improves by ~5% per month toward 100%, COGS will increase and GP margins will adjust downward. All margin figures should be treated as directional, not definitive, until full stock cost integration is complete. This is a known priority.
S–J AVG
Rev £381k/mo
£6,556
1.7% op margin
L2 BAD
FEB
Rev £311,826
£8,429
2.7% margin
L2 BAD
MAR
Rev £429,917
£63,804
14.8% margin
L4 AVERAGE
APR
Rev £544,752
£146,801
26.9% margin
L5 GOOD
MAY ★
Rev £405,161
£130,972
32.3% margin
L6 GREAT
Operating Profit Trajectory — Full Year View ★ = projected
Gross Margin % vs Operating Margin %
Revenue by Channel — Feb to May
GP Margin Expansion — Why Profit Is Growing
Seasonal Context — Reading the Monthly Figures
Baseline Period
Sept – Jan
£6,556/mo avg
£32,781 over 5 months
Level 2 — Baseline
Transition Month
February
£3,695/mo (norm.)
Still thin — but turning
Level 2 — Transitional
Peak Quarter ★
Mar – Apr – May
£113,859/mo avg
£341,577 over 3 months
Level 6 — Peak Quarter
Expected Strong Quarter
Jun – Jul – Aug
TBD — 2nd strongest
Below peak quarter — tracking
Level 5 — Forecast
CoS / Revenue
71.7%
59.5%
↓ -12.2pp
GP Margin
28.3%
40.5%
↑ +12.2pp
Admin / GP ★
93.9%
48.9%
↓ -45.0pp — the headline
Op Margin
1.7%
20.7%
↑ +19.0pp
How to read the monthly figures: March, April and May are the peak trading quarter. The relevant figure is the quarterly average of £113,859/month. Revenue drives this; COGS should broadly track revenue; admin costs stay anchored. The aim is to raise the floor across all quarters — the percentages above are what to track month by month.
What's most likely driving the GP margin improvement: Revenue increased substantially (particularly eBay) while COGS did not grow proportionally — suggesting the business sold more from existing stock rather than buying proportionally more. Admin costs stayed broadly anchored. Important caveat: stock tracking is currently at ~60%. As tracking improves, COGS will increase and margins will adjust. The direction is positive, but the exact margin figure is not yet reliable.
Monthly P&L Summary — Feb to May 2026
Line Feb 2026 Mar 2026 Apr 2026 May 2026 ★ 4-Mo Total
TURNOVER
Amazon Sales£81,819£144,231£145,766£123,939★£495,755
eBay Sales£166,460£213,082£333,922£237,821★£951,285
Trade Counter£57,350£65,770£59,023£37,827£219,970
Rental / Launderette£6,146£6,729£6,041£5,151£24,067
Other / Interest£50£105£345£500
Total Revenue£311,826£429,917£544,752£405,161★£1,691,656
COST OF SALES
Platform Fees (Amazon + eBay)£61,867£85,242£71,073£72,727★£290,909
Cost of Goods Sold£124,726£133,833£156,367£96,744£511,670
Postage & Freight£41,612£58,452£67,438£36,813£204,315
Total Cost of Sales£228,206£277,527£294,878£206,285★£1,006,896
GROSS PROFIT£83,620 (26.8%)£152,390 (35.4%)£249,874 (45.9%)£198,876★ (49.1%)£684,760
ADMIN COSTS
Salaries£36,105£37,272£38,577£37,318★£149,272
Rent£5,000£10,000£5,000£5,000£25,000
Advertising & Marketing£7,101£14,598£8,479£10,060★£40,238
Consulting£5,433£4,223£4,223£2,123£16,002
Pensions (all)£1,837£2,971£7,610£1,869£14,287
Rates£5,067£4,648£5,059£14,774
Employers NI£3,985£4,133£4,047£4,055★£16,220
Other Admin£10,663£15,390£30,489£2,420£58,962
Total Admin£75,191£88,587£103,073£67,904★£334,755
OPERATING PROFIT £8,429 (2.7%) £63,804 (14.8%) £146,801 (26.9%) £130,972★ (32.3%) £350,006

Normalised vs Reported Operating Profit

Adjusting for timing differences and one-off charges to show underlying performance

Feb 2026 — Adjustments
L&P (credit → normalize)-£4,158
Travel National (spread)-£500
Subscriptions-£76
Rent
Reported OP£8,429
Normalised OP£3,695
Mar 2026 — Adjustments
Rent (double month)-£5,000
Travel National (spread)-£500
L&P (normalize)-£425
Subscriptions+£22
Reported OP£63,804
Normalised OP£57,901
Apr 2026 — Adjustments
L&P (spike → normalize)+£8,920
Travel (annual → spread)+£5,500
Subscriptions (annual)+£3,482
Rent
Reported OP£146,801
Normalised OP£164,703
May 2026 ★ — Adjustments
L&P (credit → normalize)-£4,337
Travel National (spread)-£500
Subscriptions-£720
Rent
Reported OP ★£130,972
Normalised OP ★£125,416
Rent
March shows £10k vs normal £5k. Payment timing — one adjacent month will show £0. Normalized to £5k/month throughout. No impact on annual total.
Light & Power
Swings from -£3,559 to +£9,698 across four months. Billing timing. 4-month total = £3,113. Normalized to £778/month. No impact on period total.
Subscriptions
April shows £4,982 vs ~£1,500 normal. Annual renewal paid upfront. Normalized to £1,500/month. Going forward: ~£300–400/month lower.
Travel — National
April shows £6,000 (annual directors' mileage). Normalized to £500/month. Recommendation: accrue monthly to avoid distorting future months.
Operating Profit — Reported vs Normalised
April's underlying performance is stronger than reported. After normalising out the L&P spike (£9,698), annual subscription (£4,982), and directors' mileage charge (£6,000), April's true operating profit was £164,703 — not £146,801. One-off timing charges understated April by £17,902.
February is weaker on a normalised basis. The -£3,379 L&P credit inflated February's reported profit. Underlying performance was £3,695. The recovery in March and April is real margin improvement, not accounting noise.
Normalised YTD Position
Sept–Jan (reported)£32,781
Feb–May (normalised)£351,715
Normalised YTD£384,496
vs Reported YTD£382,787
Order Line Intelligence
Profitability Segmentation — Current Snapshot
POR % = Profit ÷ GMV inc VAT
4,472 order lines · Live data
Order lines bucketed by profit-on-revenue %. The distribution below shows where the business is today — and what the priority list looks like.
⚠ UNKNOWN
468
10.3% of lines
no cost data
LOSS
607
13.4% of lines
-£1,923.28
BREAKEVEN
53
1.2% of lines
£2.15
POOR
709
15.6% of lines
£711.09
AVERAGE
780
17.2% of lines
£2,923.06
GOOD
380
8.4% of lines
£1,982.47
GREAT
357
7.9% of lines
£2,513.04
AMAZING
1,118
24.7% of lines
£16,161.82
Problem Lines — Priority Action
1,128
25.2% of all lines · Unknown + Loss + Breakeven
Unknown (no data)468 lines
Selling at a loss607 lines
Breakeven53 lines
The AMAZING Engine
72.2% of profit
from 24.7% of lines — 1,118 order lines
AMAZING lines average £14.46 profit per line. GOOD lines average £5.22. LOSS lines average -£3.17 per line. The opportunity is in migration — moving lines up the scale and eliminating the drag.
The Opportunity Stack
Resolve 468 UNKNOWN lines Cost visibility
Convert 607 LOSS lines +£1,923 floor
Lift 709 POOR to AVERAGE +£1,950 uplift
Replicate AMAZING pattern Scale engine
Line Count Distribution by POR Category
Profit Contribution by Category

Chapter 3
WHERE WE'RE GOING
FY 25-26 target: £500k+ operating profit. FY 26-27 target: £1M. Based on a seasonal business — forecasting with honest ranges, not peak extrapolation.
Target
Annual Revenue (FY26-27)
~£4.6M
Current run rate ~£5.1M annualised
↑ Already exceeding
Target
GP Margin Target
≥ 45%
Current avg 40.5% (stock tracking gap)
⚠ Indicative — tracking incomplete
Target
Admin Cost Ceiling
< £90k/mo
Current avg £83,689/mo
✓ Within target — hold the line
Target
FY 25-26 Op Profit Target
£500k+
YTD £382,787 · 76.6% complete
↑ On track · £117k needed in 3 months
FY 25-26 Progress to £500,000 Target
September 2025 – August 2026 · 9 months completed (May projected) · 3 months remaining
£382,787 — 76.6%
£0Sep 2025
£32,781Jan 2026
£382,787May 2026 ★
£500,000Target
Aug 2026Year End
✓ Achieved (Sept–May)
£382,787
9 months · Includes May projection
⟶ Needed (Jun–Aug)
£117,213
£39,071/month · 28% of Apr run rate
★ Forecast Range (Jun–Aug)
£536k–£571k
Conservative to moderate — 2nd strongest quarter expected
The £500k target looks achievable — with honest caveats. With £382,787 through May, the business needs £117,213 across June, July and August — an average of £39,071/month. June–August is expected to be the second strongest quarter, well above that threshold. The risk is if trading conditions revert toward the Sept–Jan baseline, not if they sustain peak-quarter levels. A conservative scenario still delivers a full-year result above £500k.
Don't anchor to April's number. £146,801 in April is the best month on record and a peak-quarter result. The right forward metric is the quarterly average trend — is the average improving quarter on quarter? If Jun–Aug averages £60–70k/month, that is a strong and healthy second quarter, not a failure. The goal is a rising floor, not repeating April every month.
Full Year Monthly Forecast (FY 25-26)
FY 26-27 · Path to £1M
FY 26-27 · The Road to £1,000,000
September 2026 – August 2027 · 12 months · Average monthly requirement: £83,333
Monthly Target
£83,333
Per month needed
Peak Qtr Avg (Mar–May)
£113,859
3-month average — the relevant benchmark
Revenue Needed (3 scenarios)
45% GP
£4.62M
40% GP
£5.20M
35% GP
£5.94M
Key Requirement
Raise floor
Lift the weaker quarters — not just sustain the peak
The £1M target is achievable at current performance levels. April's £545k revenue and 45.9% GP margin — if sustained — would deliver ~£1.76M operating profit on an annualised basis. The real risk is not capability but consistency: can the business hold margins, manage cost inflation, and grow revenue through the traditionally slower summer months and into the next year?
The Six Levers
How We Get to £1M
01
GROSS MARGIN — PLAN FOR THREE SCENARIOS
Margin improved from 28.3% to 40.5% (Feb–May avg). Rather than targeting one fixed %, plan the business across three realistic scenarios. Revenue needed to hit £1M operating profit (assuming £90k/mo admin = £1.08M/year fixed costs):
Optimistic — 45% GP
£4.62M
£385k/month revenue needed
Apr was £545k — achievable in peak quarters
Base Case — 40% GP
£5.20M
£433k/month revenue needed
Realistic as stock tracking improves COGS accuracy
Conservative — 35% GP
£5.94M
£495k/month revenue needed
Plan for this — if margins compress, revenue must scale
⚠ All margin figures subject to revision once stock tracking reaches 100%. Current 40.5% avg is directional. Plan the base case at 40%, stress-test at 35%.
02
GROW eBay TO £350K+ CONSISTENTLY
eBay hit £333,922 in April — up from £166k in February. That's the single channel doing the heaviest lifting. Consistent £300k+ months on eBay, across your account structure (Fortress, Express, Urgency, Scope, Lab), is the core revenue engine. The account mix strategy is the key variable.
eBay Apr £333,922 vs Feb £166,460 — the gap explains most of the profit swing
03
AMAZON — TARGET £175K/MONTH
Current 3-month average: £123,939/month. With ~80,000 listings there is clear headroom. A realistic near-term target is £175,000/month — a 41% increase — delivering £2.1M/year from Amazon alone. This doesn't require matching eBay; it requires consistent execution on listings, pricing, and account management across the account structure.
£123,939/mo current → £175,000/mo target → +£51k/mo · £2.1M/yr annualised
04
CONTROL ADMIN COST GROWTH
Admin costs rose from £101k/mo (S-J avg) to £103k (Apr) — broadly flat, which is good. The key risk is that as revenue grows, there is pressure to add headcount and services. Every £10k/month of unnecessary admin costs the business £120k/year. Salaries are the largest line and need to be tied to output growth.
Admin as % of GP: Sept–Jan 94% → April 41.2% — this ratio must stay below 50%
05
TRADE COUNTER — FIX THE ECONOMICS FIRST
At 27.5% margin and ~£200k/year to run, the Trade Counter is currently generating a net contribution of approximately -£2,000/year — barely breaking even. The break-even point is £727k revenue at current margins. To generate £100k net contribution requires either £1.09M revenue (at 27.5%) or £857k revenue (if margins improve to 35%). Growing revenue to £750k changes almost nothing at 27.5%. The lever here is margin improvement, not just volume.
Today (27.5%)
-£2k/yr
£720k rev
35% margin
£857k
to generate £100k net
27.5% margin
£1.09M
to generate £100k net
Priority: improve TC margin before chasing TC volume. At 27.5%, more revenue barely moves profit.
06
REDUCE SEASONAL RISK
The business generated only £6,556/month profit Sept–Jan, then jumped dramatically Feb–Apr. Whether this is seasonal, structural, or a one-off transformation matters enormously. Understanding what changed in February — and whether that is repeatable each year — is critical for FY 26-27 planning.
Sept–Jan avg: £6,556/mo · Peak quarter avg: £113,859/mo · Target: lift the floor to £40–60k/mo in weaker quarters
OPEN QUESTIONS — FOR DISCUSSION

Stock Tracking (Priority 1)

  • → Currently ~60% of units tracked. +5%/month target. When do we reach 100%?
  • → What happens to reported GP margins when full COGS visibility is in? Are we prepared for that adjustment?
  • → Is the COGS understatement concentrated in specific channels or product types?

Raising the Floor (Priority 2)

  • → What does a strong Sept–Jan period look like — and what would it take to get there?
  • → Is the revenue dip in those months structural (seasonal demand) or operational (capacity, purchasing, listings)?
  • → Admin costs stayed at ~£101k/month Sept–Jan despite low revenue. Which of those costs are fixed vs variable?

Open Items & Actions

Priorities, accountability, and discussion log — updated as decisions are made

Open
In Progress
Ongoing
Resolved