Financial Documents (Edexcel IGCSE Business): Exam Questions

IKEA is a well-known home furniture retailer with stores throughout the world. It was started in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad when he was given some money by his father for doing well at school. He wanted to produce furniture at a price that people could afford to buy.

He realised that transporting furniture to customers was difficult as goods were often damaged. He developed flat packs to avoid damage. A flat pack contained all the materials needed to self-assemble a table, a chair or a bed.

All IKEA stores are run as franchises.

Irsi Chocolatier is a chocolate shop in Brussels, Belgium, founded in 1989 by the Corne family. The business has four directors and three employees and sells a variety of handmade chocolates and jelly fruit sweets from a single shop.

Solva is a small business in Cornwall, UK, that rents surfboards and wetsuits to tourists and local surfers. The business was set up two years ago by Jamie Pascoe, who also offers surf lessons during the summer season. Solva operates from a small unit on the beachfront and has two part-time employees.

Tanba is a family-run restaurant in Barcelona, Spain, specialising in traditional Catalan cuisine. The business was founded fifteen years ago by the Puig family and has twelve employees, including chefs and waiting staff. Tanba is popular with both local residents and tourists visiting the city. The restaurant operates six days a week and sources many of its ingredients from local suppliers.

Kova is a small electronics repair business in Helsinki, Finland, founded three years ago by Mikael Virtanen. The business repairs smartphones, laptops and tablets from a single shop and employs two full-time technicians. Kova has seen growing demand for its services as customers increasingly choose to repair rather than replace their devices. The cost of spare parts has risen recently, putting pressure on profit margins. Mikael is now considering whether to open a second shop in a nearby city and is reviewing the business's financial documents to help him make this decision.

Brisa is a boutique hotel in the Algarve region of Portugal, run by Maria Costa and her family. The hotel has fifteen rooms and has been operating for eight years. It is popular with tourists, particularly during the summer season, and employs six members of staff. Maria recently invested in refurbishing several rooms to attract more guests and has taken out a small bank loan to fund this. Despite strong summer bookings, the hotel operates at low occupancy during the winter months, creating financial pressure throughout the year.

Kemble is a social enterprise based in Copenhagen, Denmark, that produces handcrafted furniture from reclaimed wood. The business was founded eight years ago with the aim of providing meaningful employment for people with disabilities and those who have been long-term unemployed. Kemble employs twelve people, all of whom have previously struggled tofind work. Products are sold through a small showroom and an online store. The business reinvests any surplus it generates back into its workforce and staff training programmes. Over the past year, rising costs of reclaimed timber have put significant pressure on the business, and Kemble has seen its profit fall for the first time since it was founded.

Talsi is a family-owned bakery chain in Riga, Latvia, specialising in traditional Latvian breads and pastries. The business was founded twelve years ago by the Bērziņš family and has grown to operate three shops across the city.

Talsi employs eighteen staff in total. Two of the shops are well established and consistently profitable, but the third, which opened two years ago in a new residential area of Riga, has struggled to attract sufficient customers and has been making a loss. The Bērziņš family is now considering whether to close the underperforming shop and is reviewing the business's financial documents.

Trevi is a small artisan pasta-making business in Rome, Italy, founded eight years ago by Marco Esposito. The business produces fresh pasta and sauces which are sold to local restaurants and from a small shop near the city centre. Trevi employs five members of staff.

Marco took out a bank loan four years ago to purchase pasta-making equipment, and a portion of this loan remains outstanding. Trevi's most recent statement of comprehensive income shows that the business has generated a healthy level of profit this year for the first time since the loan was taken out. Marco must now decide how to use this profit.