Key points:
- Great Bear Distribution reported a pre-tax loss of £13.2 million for 2025, compared with a £15.3 million profit in 2024.
- Operating profit fell from £41.0 million to £12.3 million, while revenue grew to more than £525 million.
- The company points to higher personnel, property and energy costs, lost business and vacant warehouse space.
- Costs of closing several low-density sites also weighed on the result.
- The average number of employees fell from 4,310 to 4,196.
Revenue up, profit down
The annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2025 were filed at Companies House on 8 October 2026. They show a business that is selling more but earning much less:
- revenue: more than £525 million (2024: £513.4 million),
- operating profit: £12.3 million (2024: £41.0 million),
- result before tax: a loss of £13.2 million (2024: a profit of £15.3 million),
- net assets: £101.0 million (2024: £112.7 million),
- average number of employees: 4,196 (2024: 4,310).
The directors say revenue growth came from new business wins and better use of existing warehouse capacity. This was partly offset by the loss of certain contracts, lower volumes on existing activities and the impact of site closures.
Costs rose faster than revenue
The main reason for the slump was a significant increase in the company’s cost base. According to the strategic report, inflation hit key cost categories, including personnel, property and energy. Higher rent and property costs hurt margins, partly because of underutilised warehouse space.
Great Bear also lost contribution from contracts that ended and from vacant space. On top of that, it paid for the rationalisation of its warehouse network, which included closing a number of low-density sites.
Net finance costs stayed broadly the same, so the drop in operating profit pushed the company into a pre-tax loss. No dividends were paid in 2025 or 2024.
Several large new contracts were signed on extended payment terms. As a result, the average time to collect trade receivables rose from 52 to 74 days, and the company’s liability under the group’s cash pooling arrangement increased from £1.8 million to £50.9 million.
Part of the Müller group
Great Bear provides transport and warehousing services to UK businesses. It belongs to Culina Group, which in turn is part of Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller, the international dairy, deli and services group.
The directors describe the company as well funded and financially robust. Culina Group’s forecasts run to December 2027, and the group says it has enough contracted facilities from third parties and from within the Müller group.
The company’s key strategic priorities are managing central costs and overheads, maintaining warehouse utilisation and improving efficiency in its transport network. Among the main risks, the directors list cost inflation, interest rates and the difficulty of recruiting drivers and warehouse staff in the UK labour market.
The company is also moving its fleet towards lower-emission fuels. It uses Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO), which it says cuts emissions by about 90%, and is working with truck manufacturers to trial battery-electric and bio-LNG HGVs.
A tough market for warehousing
Great Bear’s results show how hard it is to run large warehouse networks profitably when rents, wages and energy costs keep rising. At the same time, Britain is running short of new warehouses, with speculative building at its lowest level in almost ten years.
Rising costs are also putting pressure on smaller players. As trans.info has reported, insolvencies can put even healthy logistics companies at risk.
