asset management holding company · uk · low complexity
Deep-Dive · Company Intelligence
River and Mercantile Group flipped into negative equity in FY2024, with just £9k cash left on the balance sheet.
Origin
River and Mercantile Group Limited is a UK holding company within the River Global Plc group, formerly operating as an asset management and investment advisory specialist. It now appears to function primarily as a post-disposal holding shell, with minimal trading activity remaining.
At a glance
Timeline
Big year-on-year change
Net assets collapsed 122% — from £29.5m to -£6.4m.
Big year-on-year change
Operating profit collapsed 124% — from £174.6m to -£41.7m.
Big year-on-year change
Profit after tax more than doubled — from £5.9m to £174.6m in a single year (+2836%).
Name changed
Previously incorporated as River And Mercantile Group PLC.
Where our data starts
Earliest analysed accounts: FY2019. 5 years of earlier trading history are not in scope — this report pulls the most recent filed accounts from Companies House.
Name changed
Previously incorporated as River And Mercantile Group Limited.
Company founded
River And Mercantile Group Limited was registered at Companies House on 2000-07-17.
02 · Financials
Scene 01 · Revenue
From £78.1m in FY2019 to £165k in FY2024 — a 100% decline.
FY2019 – FY2024 · Companies House
Scene 02 · Metrics
Financial health
Computed from · cash · net assets · current ratio · debt to equity · total liabilities
Scene 03 · Trends
Eight years of revenue, profit and operating performance side-by-side. Hover any dot for the full year cross-section.
Revenue, profitability and operating growth over time
Scene 05 · Full detail
All metrics across FY2019–FY2024, now fully contextualised by the story above.
| Metric | FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | Δ YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turnover | £78.1m | £70.5m | £9.0m | £5.4m | £452k | £165k | ▼ 63% |
| Cost of sales | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Gross profit | — | — | £9.0m | £5.4m | — | — | — |
| Other operating income | £20k | £42k | £0 | £38k | — | — | — |
| Administrative expenses | -£62.5m | -£61.9m | -£16.0m | -£34.4m | -£4.1m | -£1.2m | ▲ 71% |
| Other operating costs derived | — | — | £13.0m | £203.5m | — | — | — |
| Operating profit | £16.4m | £8.4m | £6.0m | £174.6m | -£41.7m | -£37.0m | ▲ 11% |
| Finance income | £339k | £112k | £71k | £149k | £0 | £1k | — |
| Finance costs | -£1k | -£178k | -£54k | -£34k | -£76k | -£50k | ▲ 34% |
| Profit before tax | £16.8m | £8.3m | £5.9m | £174.9m | -£27.7m | -£37.0m | ▼ 34% |
| Tax | -£3.8m | -£3.0m | £20k | -£278k | £13k | £31k | ▲ 138% |
| Profit after tax | £13.0m | £5.3m | £5.9m | £174.6m | -£27.7m | -£37.0m | ▼ 33% |
| EBITDA (memo) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Metric | FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | Δ YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intangible assets | £30.8m | £26.6m | £600k | £285k | £178k | £71k | ▼ 60% |
| Tangible assets | £606k | £438k | £81k | £7k | £13k | £8k | ▼ 38% |
| Investments | £5.4m | £290k | £59.6m | £62.4m | £34.3m | £0 | ▼ 100% |
| Total fixed assets | £31.4m | £29.6m | £60.8m | £62.9m | £35.6m | £642k | ▼ 98% |
| Stocks | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Debtors | £52.2m | £25.7m | £6.1m | £1.7m | £477k | £57k | ▼ 88% |
| Cash at bank | £24.0m | £24.3m | £12.2m | £6.0m | £873k | £9k | ▼ 99% |
| Total current assets | £82.7m | £51.3m | £18.2m | £7.8m | £1.4m | £66k | ▼ 95% |
| Trade creditors | -£23.8m | -£17.5m | -£357k | -£765k | -£106k | -£177k | ▼ 67% |
| Bank loans (current) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Total current liabilities | £46.7m | £19.3m | £5.3m | £17.3m | £7.5m | £6.9m | ▼ 8% |
| Net current assets | £36.0m | £32.0m | £12.9m | -£9.5m | -£6.1m | -£6.8m | ▼ 12% |
| Total assets less current liabilities | £67.3m | £61.6m | £73.8m | £53.3m | £29.5m | -£6.2m | ▼ 121% |
| Bank loans (non-current) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Long-term liabilities | £2.5m | £3.3m | £0 | £45k | £31k | £220k | ▲ 610% |
| Provisions | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Net assets | £64.9m | £58.3m | £73.8m | £53.3m | £29.5m | -£6.4m | ▼ 122% |
| Total equity | £64.9m | £58.3m | £73.8m | £53.3m | £29.5m | -£6.4m | ▼ 122% |
| Metric | FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | Δ YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net cash from operating activities | £14.9m | £10.0m | -£5.8m | -£10.6m | £422k | -£311k | ▼ 174% |
| Net cash used in investing activities | £273k | £3.6m | £12.7m | £203.6m | -£16k | £1k | ▲ 106% |
| Net cash used in financing activities | -£15.2m | -£13.4m | -£8.7m | -£199.1m | -£5.6m | -£554k | ▲ 90% |
| Net increase / (decrease) in cash | £6k | £261k | -£1.7m | -£6.1m | -£5.2m | -£864k | ▲ 83% |
| Cash at end of year | £24.0m | £24.3m | £12.2m | £6.0m | £873k | £9k | ▼ 99% |
Scene 04 · Waterfall
How each cost layer eats into the top-line on the way down to profit after tax. Cascade chart coming in the next release — for now the table below shows the same flow.
FY2024 audited accounts · cascade view
03 · Risk
Working capital + cash
Four numbers that tell you how stretched the balance sheet is today. The line under each is in plain English — what the number means for the business, not what to do about it.
Principal risks
The principal risk and uncertainty affecting the Company is the risk of withdrawal of support from the group to continue providing services.
Screening status
Moore Kingston Smith LLP on going concern
"We draw attention to Note 1 of the financial statements which explains that the Directors intend to liquidate the Company and therefore do not consider it to be appropriate to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements. Accordingly, the financial statements have been prepared on a basis other than that of a going concern as described in Note 1. Our opinion…"
Notes to the accounts
Dividends Paid · £5,000,000 · FY2023
Intercompany Transfer Of Shareholding In River Global Holdings Limited, Subsequently Fully Impaired · £35,383,000 · FY2024
Capital Contribution · £1,113,000 · FY2024
Dividends Received · £14,000,000 · FY2023
Intercompany Balances (Creditor) · £6,154,000 · FY2024
Management Recharges (Income) · £165,000 · FY2024
Governance & subsequent events
River Global PLC, registered at 30 Coleman Street, London, EC2R 5AL (England and Wales)
A new lease agreement was entered into just before Christmas 2024 for the London-based premises, involving surrendering one floor and consolidating to a single floor. The lease was signed by River Global Holdings Limited rather than River and Mercantile Group Limited, resulting in disposal of the right-of-use asset and lease liability in the new financial year.
Ultimate parent undertaking AssetCo PLC was renamed River Global PLC.
The application to strike off the Company has been lodged and is likely to complete before 30 September 2025.
Compliance signals
23 directors have resigned against only 2 currently active, a ratio that may indicate underlying governance instability or structural reorganisation.
Severity · medium
One person with significant control is a corporate entity, adding a layer of opacity to the beneficial ownership chain.
Severity · low
River Global Plc holds over 75% control, reducing independent governance oversight within the company.
Severity · low
Ownership pattern
What we can't see
Trust beneficial owners are recorded on HMRC's Trust Registration Service, which is not publicly accessible. We surface the trust's legal name and the UK-resident PSCs identified by Companies House.
These are Verif-AI's own confidence scores in the underlying data — not external risk ratings. Each dimension reflects how complete and self-consistent the filed numbers were on extraction.
04 · Market
Industry classification
Financial & insurance services
Companies House records the SIC2007 classification for this entity under 1 code: 66300.
Sector context · thin
This filing doesn't carry segment reporting, concentration analysis, or a stated-priorities block — typical for small / micro-entity filings where the disclosure threshold is lower. The SIC classification above is the load-bearing market signal.
05 · People
Every named director was cross-checked against the full UK Companies House appointments dataset (27.8 million records). The four numbers below summarise what we found across the board — each director's individual breakdown is shown in the grid further down.
Each director, individually
| Role | Director | Career boards | Concurrent | Prior-failure rate | Joined | Other UK boards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director · active |
MR Gary Robert Marshall
British · Scotland
|
13 | 13 busy | 0.0% | 2005-09-30 | |
|
MR Gary Robert Marshall 6 other UK boards they sit onClick + Deep Dive to add a company to your basket. Bundle pricing: 1 = £9.99 · 2 = £15.99 · 3 = £20.99 · then +£4 each. River Global PLC No. 04966347 RGI Fund Management Limited No. SC125817 Ocean Dial Asset Management Limited No. 05583807 River Global Holdings Limited No. 08814749 River Global Services Limited No. 10062241 Devon Equity Management Limited No. 11939535 |
||||||
| Director · active |
MR Gordon Brough
British · England
|
1 | — | — | 2025-06-30 | — |
Co-director network
People who share at least one other UK directorship with someone on this board. Sorted by overlap count. Click any shared boards chip to reveal the companies they overlap on.
Shared-board names aren't surfaced for this report yet — they live in the underlying network appointments but haven't been promoted to parse_meta. Email support and we'll add them on request.
Persons with significant control
Corporate hierarchy
Subsidiaries pulled from Companies House cross-references — entities River And Mercantile Group Limited directly controls.
Historical board
Every officer who has left the company, newest-resignation first. Helps spot waves of churn that wouldn't show on the active-director cards alone.
06 · AI Investigation
AI forensic pass across 100 Companies House filings. 20 page-cited signals from three specialist agents, 3 cross-signal correlations, and 4 verification questions for management — every claim traces back to a filing reference.
AI Analyst commentary
Narrator-written context blocks — what an analyst would read in 90 seconds and walk away with the picture.
Fixed assets collapsed from £35.6m to £642k in FY2024 — near-total write-off of remaining investments. With £9k cash, £57k debtors, and £6.9m of current liabilities, the balance sheet has effectively nothing left; negative equity of -£6.4m confirms liabilities now exceed all assets.
15 current directors registered at Companies House, including one corporate secretary (Mazars Company Secretaries Limited). Gary Marshall sits across four group entities — decisions here are likely made at River Global Plc level.
River Global Plc controls 75–100% of shares and votes — no independent ownership. This entity has no standalone financial identity; it is a wholly-controlled subsidiary with negative equity.
Case files · Chapter dossier
Each chapter resolves one signal cluster. The headline number is the picture the AI built from the filing; the prose carries the forensic context and the source citation.
Net assets did not just fall — they crossed zero.
The company moved from a positive net asset position to negative equity in one financial year. That crossover is typically the result of accumulated losses exceeding the equity base, and the operating loss line — deep in the red for both FY2023 and FY2024 — shows exactly where the pressure came from. Profit after tax worsened by 33% year-on-year.
Source · Balance Sheet FY2023–FY2024; P&L FY2023–FY2024.
Turnover dropped from £452,000 to £165,000 — a business barely generating income.
This is already a holding-company-scale revenue figure; at £165k for the full year it covers almost nothing. The operating loss of £37m against that turnover signals the company is not earning its way — it is being sustained by the group structure above it. Whether intercompany arrangements underpin that is not visible in the brief.
Source · P&L FY2023–FY2024.
Fixed assets fell 98% and cash hit near-zero simultaneously.
Fixed assets dropped from £35.65m to £642k — consistent with disposals or write-downs, though the mechanism is not disclosed in the brief. What remains is a balance sheet with almost no liquidity. Current liabilities of £6.9m sit against current assets of £66k. The Verif-AI distress cluster has two of three signals firing: negative equity and cash runway under three months.
Source · Balance Sheet FY2023–FY2024; Verif-AI TrustScore distress signals.
River Global Plc holds between 75% and 100% of shares and votes.
The company changed its name from River and Mercantile Group Plc to River and Mercantile Group Limited in July 2022, coinciding with a resolutions filing — consistent with a conversion from public to private status. The ultimate beneficial ownership above River Global Plc is not disclosed in the brief.
Source · PSC register; Name history; Filing signals (2022-07-01 RESOLUTIONS).
Both current directors were appointed within the last eighteen months.
Gordon Brough joined on 30 June 2025 and Gary Robert Marshall on 30 April 2024. No directors from before April 2024 remain on the register. A complete board turnover in a company simultaneously reporting negative equity and near-zero cash is a fact the filing places on record.
Source · Directors register; appointment dates.
Cross-signal intelligence
Pairs of facts from different chapters that — taken together — tell a story neither half does alone. This is where investigation outperforms summary.
The 98% collapse in fixed assets in [chapter 3] likely accounts for a large share of the £36m equity swing shown in [chapter 1], suggesting disposals or impairments rather than trading losses alone drove the crossover into negative territory.
The near-complete board replacement visible in [chapter 5] coincides precisely with the financial year in which the company tipped into negative equity [chapter 1] — the filing does not explain whether the changes preceded or followed the deterioration.
Revenue of £165k in [chapter 2] against current liabilities of £6.9m in [chapter 3] implies the entity cannot service its short-term obligations from trading income — the group relationship with River Global Plc in [chapter 4] is the only visible support mechanism.
Deep signals
Specifics most readers would miss — surfaced by the AI for the analyst who wants to know.
Consistent with a large impairment or write-off of subsidiary investments — the losses are almost certainly non-cash accounting entries rather than cash leaving the business. The economic cash loss is likely far smaller, but the filing does not disclose a cash flow statement to confirm this.
A profit many times larger than revenue, paired with falling net assets, is consistent with a large disposal gain — likely the sale of the asset management business to a third party. The subsequent fall in net assets suggests the proceeds were distributed upward to River Global Plc or to shareholders rather than retained in this entity.
Consistent with a group structure where key directors sit across multiple entities. Decisions affecting this company — including financial support or wind-down — are likely made at River Global Plc level rather than independently by this entity's board.
Forensic investigation · 20 signals
Segmental revenue · capital structure · strategic KPIs. Each agent cites the exact filing page for every claim, with an AI confidence score derived from cross-citation strength.
Segmental Analysis
Revenue fell from £452k in 2023 to £165k in 2024, a drop of £287k or 63%. The prior year included £55k from a transitional services agreement (TSA) that has now ended, plus management charges fell from £397k to £165k.
p.11, p.18 · 2 more from this specialist
Strategic KPIs
Directors intend to liquidate River and Mercantile Group Limited within 12 months of signing accounts on 23 September 2025. Financial statements prepared on a non-going concern basis.
p.4, p.15 · 6 more from this specialist
Capital Structure & Borrowings
Net assets are -£6,388,000 at 30 September 2024, meaning liabilities exceed assets by £6.4m.
p.4 · 9 more from this specialist
Revenue fell from £452k in 2023 to £165k in 2024, a drop of £287k or 63%. The prior year included £55k from a transitional services agreement (TSA) that has now ended, plus management charges fell from £397k to £165k.
Why it matters: The company is losing nearly two-thirds of its income, which signals it is winding down fast — consistent with the directors' plan to close the company.
p.11, p.18 critical conf 97%
All £165k revenue comes from management recharges to River Global Investors LLP, a related party within the same group. There are no external customers.
Why it matters: The company relies entirely on one internal customer for all its income, so if the group stops needing these services the company earns nothing — which is exactly what is happening as it is being wound up.
p.18, p.31 critical conf 95%
The company reports a single revenue line: management services £165k (2024) vs £452k (2023). No geographic or business segment breakdown is provided. The directors explicitly state segmental KPI analysis is not necessary.
Why it matters: There is no way to see which part of the business is growing or shrinking because everything is reported as one number.
p.11, p.18 low conf 95%
Directors intend to liquidate River and Mercantile Group Limited within 12 months of signing accounts on 23 September 2025. Financial statements prepared on a non-going concern basis.
Why it matters: This company is a shell being closed down, so there are no trading KPIs like AUM or fee margins — anyone dealing with it needs to know it will cease to exist very soon.
p.4, p.15 critical conf 100%
Revenue fell from £452,000 in year ended 30 Sept 2023 to £165,000 in year ended 30 Sept 2024, a drop of £287,000 (63%).
Why it matters: The company is almost entirely inactive — it earned just £165k from management recharges to group companies, confirming it has no real commercial business left.
p.11, p.18 critical conf 100%
Loss after tax was £37,014,000 for year ended 30 Sept 2024, up from £27,732,000 in 2023 — a rise of £9.3 million.
Why it matters: The loss was driven by writing off a £35.4 million intercompany balance that will never be repaid, not by trading losses — this is a one-off winding-down cost rather than a sign of a struggling business.
p.5, p.11, p.23 critical conf 100%
Net liabilities were £6,388,000 at 30 Sept 2024, compared with net assets of £29,513,000 at 30 Sept 2023.
Why it matters: The company has negative net worth, meaning its debts exceed its assets — creditors should be aware they may not be fully paid without group support.
p.4, p.12 critical conf 100%
Cash and cash equivalents dropped from £873,000 at 30 Sept 2023 to £9,000 at 30 Sept 2024.
Why it matters: The company has almost no cash left, so it cannot pay bills without support from its parent group — this is a real risk for suppliers or counterparties.
p.12, p.20 critical conf 100%
Total expenses fell from £4,550,000 in 2023 to £1,765,000 in 2024 — a drop of £2.8 million (61%). Admin expenses alone fell from £4,101,000 to £1,173,000.
Why it matters: Cost cutting reflects the company shedding contracts and staff as it prepares to close, not a sign of improved efficiency in a going business.
p.11, p.18 useful conf 95%
None of the standard asset management KPIs — AUM, net inflows/outflows, average fee margin, or investment performance versus benchmark — appear anywhere in the financial statements.
Why it matters: This company transferred all its investments in subsidiaries to River Global PLC in May 2024 and is now an empty holding shell, so there are no asset management metrics to assess.
p.4, p.23 low conf 100%
Net assets are -£6,388,000 at 30 September 2024, meaning liabilities exceed assets by £6.4m.
Why it matters: A company with negative net assets owes more than it owns — suppliers and creditors may not get paid in full if it closes.
p.4 critical conf 95%
The company is not considered a going concern. Directors intend to wind it up within 12 months of signing the accounts.
Why it matters: If a company is being wound up, anyone who does business with it or is owed money by it faces a real risk of not being paid.
p.1 critical conf 99%
Operating loss is -£36,995,000 and finance costs are £50,000, giving interest cover of approximately -740x (negative, meaning no profit to cover interest).
Why it matters: A company needs profit to pay its interest bills — this company has a huge loss instead, so it cannot cover its costs from operations.
p.4 critical conf 95%
The intercompany payable to River Global PLC, created by a transfer of shareholding, has been fully impaired (written off) in the current year.
Why it matters: Writing off a large intercompany debt signals the group has decided this company has no value to recover — consistent with the wind-up plan.
p.1 critical conf 97%
Cash at 30 September 2024 is just £9,000, down from £873,000 a year earlier — a fall of £864,000.
Why it matters: With almost no cash left and a wind-up planned, the company has very little money to pay outstanding bills or redundancy costs.
p.1 critical conf 98%
Total IFRS 16 lease liabilities at 30 September 2024 are £655,000: £435,000 due within 12 months (current) and £220,000 due after 12 months (non-current).
Why it matters: Even in a wind-up, the company still owes £655,000 in lease commitments which landlords will likely seek to recover.
p.3 important conf 98%
No dividends were paid in the year ended 30 September 2024. In the prior year, £5,000,000 was paid (£4,000,000 first interim and £1,000,000 second interim).
Why it matters: Dividends have stopped completely, which matches the company's collapse in financial position and planned wind-up.
p.6 important conf 99%
The company has unrecognised tax losses of £6,713,121, representing a potential deferred tax asset of £1,678,280 that has not been booked.
Why it matters: These tax losses cannot be used because the company is being wound up — so this is not a real asset that creditors can rely on.
p.4 useful conf 90%
85,825,257 ordinary shares at £0.003 each, giving share capital of £257,476. No new shares issued or bought back in the year.
Why it matters: With negative net assets, these shares have no value in practice — the share capital figure is misleading on its own.
p.5 useful conf 99%
There is no mention of bank loans or revolving credit facilities. The only financial liabilities are IFRS 16 lease liabilities (£655,000) and the now-impaired intercompany balance.
Why it matters: The company has no external bank debt, but this is not reassuring given negative net assets and imminent wind-up.
p.3 useful conf 85%
Specialist deep panels · Structured price capture
Below the prose findings, each agent publishes a structured numeric metrics block. Segmental revenue, named KPIs with YoY %, and capital-structure metrics — direct from the source filings.
Segmental analysis
Top-segment revenue concentration: 100.0% · Segment totals reconcile to the group P&L
Strategic KPIs
Capital structure
Management questions · Open inquiry
Generated by the AI from the disclosure gaps it detected. Hover or tap each card to surface the underlying evidence that triggered the question.
Verification gaps
High-trust analysis names its own blind spots. These are metrics the AI looked for and couldn't find — anything material to the verdict needs management or independent verification.
No liquidation asset valuation or creditor waterfall has been disclosed, so the actual recovery rate for unsecured creditors cannot be assessed from these accounts alone.
07 · Documents
Filing pattern + upcoming windows
Due at Companies House by 2026-06-30 for the period ending 2025-09-30.
Annual confirmation due by 2026-09-18 (made up to 2026-09-04).
Final chapter — The verdict
High Risk
The trading business left years ago; what remains is a legal shell with £9k in the bank and £6.9m of bills — the parent group is the only reason the lights are still on.
Why this score
Raw score was 43 — capped at 28.
Score capped due to massive year-on-year collapse in net assets (≥50% reduction). | Score capped due to severe year-on-year revenue contraction (≥25% drop). | Distress cluster: 2 of 3 signals firing (negative equity=True, cash runway <3mo=True, filing overdue=False). Score capped at 28.
FY2024 audited accounts
Signal Radar
Decisive findings
The hard-hit facts that drove the score. Full breakdown — chapters, between-the-lines, all specialist findings — sits on AI Insights.
Net liabilities were £6,388,000 at 30 Sept 2024, compared with net assets of £29,513,000 at 30 Sept 2023.
Why it matters: The company has negative net worth, meaning its debts exceed its assets — creditors should be aware they may not be fully paid without group support.
p.4, p.12
Cash and cash equivalents dropped from £873,000 at 30 Sept 2023 to £9,000 at 30 Sept 2024.
Why it matters: The company has almost no cash left, so it cannot pay bills without support from its parent group — this is a real risk for suppliers or counterparties.
p.12, p.20
The company is not considered a going concern. Directors intend to wind it up within 12 months of signing the accounts.
Why it matters: If a company is being wound up, anyone who does business with it or is owed money by it faces a real risk of not being paid.
p.1
09 · Verification
What we read
Who we cross-checked
Screening status
Steps we ran
Each step in detail
Limits and caveats
No sector-cohort comparison was generated for this filing — the benchmarking pipeline either skipped this SIC code or this report predates that block.
1 Deep Dive £9.99 · 2 for £15.99 · 3 for £20.99 · then +£4 each. Subscriptions get every Deep Dive cheaper.
Continue to checkout → Review full basket