J DILNOT-SMITH LIMITED
Company number 04703533 · Monitor this company
This analysis was written by an AI from the company's public filings. It may contain errors or omissions and is not financial or professional advice.
1. Industry Classification
J Dilnot-Smith Limited is registered under SIC code 96030 – Funeral and related activities, placing it in the personal services segment of the UK economy. This sector covers traditional funeral directing, embalming, arrangement of cremations and burials, and associated bereavement services.
Key structural characteristics of the industry:
- Atomistic and trust-based: Most firms are small, family-owned and locally focused, with reputation often spanning generations.
- Capital-intensive at the local level: Funeral directing requires owned or leased premises, chapels of rest, hearse and cortege vehicles, and refrigeration/embalming facilities.
- Sticky demand: Funeral volumes are driven primarily by mortality rates rather than discretionary consumer spending, giving the sector defensive qualities.
- Increasing regulatory overlay: The sector is now subject to the CMA’s Funerals Market Investigation Order and, for pre-paid funeral plans, FCA regulation.
2. Relative Performance
The filed accounts for the year ended 30 April 2025 are unaudited, filleted small-company accounts, so no profit-and-loss information is publicly available. Performance benchmarking must therefore be balance-sheet based.
| Metric | 2025 | 2024 | Movement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net assets | £1,102,275 | £1,140,057 | -£37,782 |
| Tangible fixed assets | £2,014,344 | £2,106,853 | -£92,509 |
| Net current assets | £49,446 | £76,732 | -£27,286 |
| Cash at bank | £93,471 | £36,245 | +£57,226 |
| Creditors due after one year | £924,888 | £994,187 | -£69,299 |
Relative to typical independent funeral businesses, J Dilnot-Smith Limited sits above the micro-entity tier: its £2.0m tangible asset base and £1.1m net assets reflect a property-owning, long-established operator rather than a marginal sole-trader-style business. The company’s net assets have grown from £655,246 in 2016 to £1,102,275 in 2025, a compound growth rate of roughly 6% per annum, although they have softened from the 2022 peak of £1,336,279.
More concerning is the capital structure. The balance sheet carries £924,888 of long-term creditors and only £93,