McBride plc – annual report, photography and presentation 2025
Delivering a compliant, efficient and cleanly branded reporting cycle
“What sets LB apart is their ability to deliver efficiently and dependably, always adding value while minimising the demands on our internal teams. We look forward to continuing to work with them in the future.”
Kate Etchells
Head of Group Planning & Reporting
The challenge:
LB has worked closely with McBride since 2015, building a strong, trusted partnership. For the 2025 reporting cycle, the aim was to continue the steady evolution of McBride’s annual corporate communications, following significant structural changes made the previous year.
The brief was clear and pragmatic: maintain the shorter, reworked pagination, deliver a fully compliant and engaging digital-first report, and clearly communicate a year of stabilisation and improving performance. All of this needed to be achieved with minimal demand on internal teams, as reporting coincided with other business priorities.
Alongside the annual report, the widescreen investor presentation also required simplification and refinement, ensuring it remained aligned with the report and fit for ongoing digital use.
The approach:
Our shared focus was on efficiency, clarity of process and dependable delivery. Building on established foundations, we concentrated on targeted refinement rather than wholesale change.
Early discussions centred on page discipline, identifying opportunities to simplify layouts and improve flow without compromising clarity or compliance. Through design-led efficiencies, we supported a further page count reduction from 184 to 176 pages, based on LB’s recommendations.
We worked closely with the client team to introduce clear, focused case studies that brought the year’s performance to life, highlighting operational stabilisation, strong customer service levels and continued progress across revenue, profitability and net debt reduction. Sustainability reporting was refined through streamlined risk and TCFD disclosures and a redesigned section using traffic-light icons to clearly show progress and priorities. Together, they provided clear, tangible evidence of strategic delivery and responded directly to the FRC’s focus on meaningful outcomes from board and management actions.
LB also commissioned, arranged and hosted an international product photography shoot at our South Coast studio. Working to tight commercial and brand guidelines, we managed the capture of a complex product range. Shot with longevity and versatility in mind, the shots are used across wider business communications and maintain a consistently high visual standard.
The outcome:
The 2025 annual report delivers a clear, compliant and reader-friendly account of the year that feels confident, easy to navigate and focused on what matters most. Design refinements supported a further reduction in page count, while preserving consistency and momentum from previous years.
The updated investor presentation provides a succinct, well-aligned companion to the report, designed for digital use and ongoing engagement with investors.
New product photography has since been adopted across multiple touchpoints, strengthening visual consistency well beyond the reporting cycle.
Together, the annual report and presentation reflect a business moving forward with focus and purpose, supported by a reporting approach that is considered, clean, efficient and future proof.
The feedback:
“LB has been a trusted partner for many years, and their support throughout the 2025 reporting cycle demonstrated the strength and reliability of that relationship. Their understanding of our business, combined with a consistently collaborative approach, meant they were able to guide us through another year, delivering an annual report that was clear, engaging and firmly aligned with our strategic narrative. Their disciplined approach to design and pagination helped us further refine the structure of the report without compromising quality or clarity. The introduction of focused case studies and streamlined sustainability disclosures added real depth and relevance, ensuring our progress was communicated with transparency and impact. Furthermore, LB supported us in redesigning our investor presentation, bringing their expertise and creativity to create a more concise and impactful document that focused on delivering our key strategic messages.
What sets LB apart is their ability to deliver efficiently and dependably, always adding value while minimising the demands on our internal teams. We look forward to continuing to work with them in the future.”
Kate Etchells
Head of Group Planning & Reporting