THE RANDOM HOUSE GROUP LIMITED
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Cash
£193k
-1.5% lowest in 4 filed years
Net assets
£111m
+1.4% vs 2024
Employees
1,939
+20% highest in 4 filed years
Profit before tax
£28m
-10.5% lowest in 4 filed years
Net assets
4-year trend · vs Consumer Discretionary median
Accounts
4-year trend · Δ = latest vs prior filed period · latest reflected 2025-12-31
| Metric | Trend | 2022-12-31 | 2023-12-31 | 2024-12-31 | 2025-12-31 | Δ vs prior |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turnover | £231,644,201 | £262,304,038 | £255,133,870 | £274,803,594 | +7.7% | |
| Operating profit | £39,244,203 | £33,861,015 | £37,668,550 | £35,928,958 | -4.6% | |
| Profit before tax | £38,942,242 | £29,249,949 | £31,558,869 | £28,254,255 | -10.5% | |
| Net profit | £31,935,603 | £20,490,142 | £22,625,559 | £19,432,651 | -14.1% | |
| Cash | £956,286 | £877,423 | £196,339 | £193,451 | -1.5% | |
| Total assets less current liabilities | £243,922,837 | £200,422,598 | £229,198,123 | £222,891,008 | -2.8% | |
| Net assets | £158,059,690 | £106,216,874 | £109,851,570 | £111,358,471 | +1.4% | |
| Equity | £158,059,690 | £106,216,874 | £109,851,570 | £111,358,471 | +1.4% | |
| Average employees | 1,523 | 1,576 | 1,616 | 1,939 | +20% | |
| Wages | £72,446,761 | £80,340,269 | £79,383,545 | £107,667,593 | +35.6% | |
| Directors' remuneration | — | £904,930 | £1,166,546 | £1,125,292 | -3.5% | |
| Directors' pension contributions | — | £83,095 | £22,977 | £20,675 | -10% | |
| Highest paid director | — | £513,496 | £610,924 | £581,508 | -4.8% |
Values shown as filed in the company's annual accounts. — indicates the figure wasn't present under that line item in that period. The Δ column is the change from the prior filed period as a percentage of |prior|; lines a company doesn't report show —. About these numbers
Ratios
Computed from the line items above — sparklines read oldest → newest
| Ratio | Trend | 2022-12-31 | 2023-12-31 | 2024-12-31 | 2025-12-31 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating margin | 16.9% | 12.9% | 14.8% | 13.1% | |
| Net margin | 13.8% | 7.8% | 8.9% | 7.1% | |
| Return on capital employed | 16.1% | 16.9% | 16.4% | 16.1% | |
| Gearing (liabilities / total assets) | 63.5% | 78.2% | 80.1% | 81.8% | |
| Current ratio | — | 1.38x | 1.31x | 1.29x | |
| Interest cover | 28.58x | 7.51x | 3.46x | 2.52x |
Margins divide P&L lines by turnover. Gearing is liabilities over total assets. Current ratio is current assets over creditors falling due within one year. Interest cover is operating profit over absolute finance costs. Sector-distribution context coming next.
Name history
Renamed 5 times since incorporation
- THE RANDOM HOUSE GROUP LIMITED 1999-07-02 → present
- RANDOM HOUSE UK LIMITED 1992-05-27 → 1999-07-02
- THE RANDOM CENTURY GROUP LIMITED 1989-11-06 → 1992-05-27
- RANDOM HOUSE U.K. LTD. 1988-02-01 → 1989-11-06
- CHATTO, VIRAGO, BODLEY HEAD & JONATHAN CAPE LTD. 1985-01-01 → 1988-02-01
- CHATTO, BODLEY HEAD & JONATHAN CAPE LIMITED 1969-05-12 → 1985-01-01
Audit & accounting basis
- Accounting basis
- FRS 101
- Reporting scope
- Standalone (parent only)
- Auditor
- Grant Thornton UK LLP
- Audit opinion
- Unqualified (clean)
- Going concern
- Affirmed
“the directors have a reasonable expectation that the Company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future, being a period of no less than twelve months from the date of approval of these financial statements. Accordingly, they continue to adopt the going concern basis”
Group structure
- THE RANDOM HOUSE GROUP LIMITED · parent
- Arrow Books Limited 100%
- Bantam Books Limited 100%
- The Book Service Limited 100%
- Transworld Publishers Limited 100%
Significant events
- “On the 5th of January 2026, Flaname 8 Ltd, the group undertaking who grants the Company a licence to occupy the office space known as Embassy Gardens ("EG"), agreed a deed of variation for their existing leases of Floors 0 – 7 at EG. The deed saw the term of the lease extend to November 2034.”
Auditor, going-concern and subsidiary information is drawn from the narrative of the latest annual accounts. About these numbers
People
5 active · 26 resigned
| Name | Role | Appointed | Born | Nationality |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MARTIN, Sinead Mary | Secretary | 2016-06-30 | — | — |
| GARDINER, Mark William | Director | 2000-07-03 | Apr 1961 | British |
| MALAVIYA, Nihar | Director | 2023-01-01 | Nov 1974 | Indian,American |
| WADDINGTON, Robert Angus | Director | 2017-01-31 | Apr 1970 | British |
| WELDON, Thomas Daryl | Director | 2013-07-01 | Aug 1963 | British |
Show 26 resigned officers
| Name | Role | Appointed | Resigned |
|---|---|---|---|
| GARDINER, Mark William | Secretary | 2000-07-03 | 2011-08-04 |
| MCCONNELL, Anthony Sudlow | Secretary | 1993-07-09 | 2000-07-03 |
| PEACOCK, Helena Caroline | Secretary | 2014-10-20 | 2016-06-30 |
| ROBERTSON, Antony Brian | Secretary | — | 1993-07-09 |
| SMITH, Roger Ling | Secretary | 2011-08-04 | 2014-10-20 |
| BARTY-KING, Mark Baxter | Director | 1999-06-21 | 2003-06-30 |
| BOWRON, Peter David | Director | 2008-10-31 | 2009-01-17 |
| CALLIL, Carmen Therese | Director | — | 1994-03-21 |
| CRANE, Edmund David | Director | — | 1992-12-31 |
| DAVIES, Brian John | Director | 2009-07-03 | 2015-09-30 |
| DOHLE, Markus Franz-Joseph | Director | 2008-05-31 | 2022-12-31 |
| GODWIN, David John | Director | — | 1993-06-18 |
| HEMPSTEAD, Barry William | Director | 1999-06-21 | 2002-08-09 |
| HUDSON, Ian Michael | Director | 1997-08-01 | 2008-10-31 |
| JANSON-SMITH, Peter Patrick | Director | 1999-06-21 | 2005-09-27 |
| KING, Simon | Director | — | 1999-04-05 |
| MASTER, Simon Harcourt | Director | — | 2011-09-13 |
| MCCONNELL, Anthony Sudlow | Director | 1992-12-07 | 1999-04-05 |
| MOTTRAM, John Michael | Director | — | 1994-01-14 |
| OLSON, Peter | Director | 1998-07-01 | 2008-05-31 |
| REBUCK, Gail Ruth, Baroness | Director | — | 2013-07-01 |
| ROBERTSON, Antony Brian | Director | — | 1993-07-09 |
| SNYMAN, Pieter Gert Wessel | Director | — | 1997-07-24 |
| SYMONS, Michael John | Director | 2015-12-09 | 2017-01-31 |
| THORPE, Amelia | Director | — | 1999-04-05 |
| VITALE, Alberto | Director | — | 2002-09-30 |
Ownership
Persons with significant control
| Name | Kind | Nature of control | Notified | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penguin Random House Limited | Corporate entity | Shares 75–100%, Voting 75–100%, Appoints directors | 2016-04-06 | Active |
Filing timeline
Last 20 of 241 total filings
| Date | Type | Category | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-15 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full | |
| 2026-02-16 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2025-09-18 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full | |
| 2025-01-21 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2024-11-25 | ANNOTATION | miscellaneous | Legacy | |
| 2024-10-30 | AD01 | address | Change registered office address company with date old address new address | |
| 2024-09-23 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full | |
| 2024-01-23 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2023-09-26 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full | |
| 2023-01-24 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2023-01-05 | AP01 | officers | Appoint person director company with name date | |
| 2023-01-03 | TM01 | officers | Termination director company with name termination date | |
| 2022-10-04 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full | |
| 2022-01-26 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2021-12-20 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full | |
| 2021-02-10 | AUD | auditors | Auditors resignation company | |
| 2021-01-22 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2020-11-12 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full | |
| 2020-01-21 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2019-09-26 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full |
Public-record activity
Raw counts from Companies House — last 12–24 months
- Filings
- 2
- Capital events
- 0
- Officers appointed
- 0
- Officers resigned
- 0
last 12 months
last 24 months
last 12 months
last 12 months
Direct counts from the register. No score, no rating — see the Filing timeline for the underlying events.