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Company No. 00453161 · Incorporated 26 Apr 1948

The Book Service Limited

Registered name: THE BOOK SERVICE LIMITED

Part of Bertelsmann UK Limited group

The Book Service Limited made £32.5m revenue and £464k profit in the year to 31 Dec 2025.

The Book Service Limited’s revenue fell 24% to £32.5m in the year to 31 Dec 2025, with £464k profit and 0 employees. The company is classified under “operation of warehousing and storage facilities for land transport activities”; we hold 4 years of its filed accounts.

Full P&L filedSection H · Transportation and storageSIC 52103Operation of warehousing and storage facilities for land transport activities
Status
Active
Location
London
Age
78 yrs · since 1948
Type
Private Limited Company

Pass-through vehicle. This looks like a holding, staffing or umbrella company. Its revenue and profit may largely pass through to or from other entities, so the figures may not reflect a standalone operating business. It is excluded from our opportunity lists.

Part of a group. The filing indicates this company sits within a group structure, so its results may depend on intra-group trading and it may be hard to replicate independently.

Latest accounts · year to 31 Dec 2025

Key figures

Small teamBoring industry
Revenue
£32.5m
Growth ▼23.8%
Profit
£464k
Growth ▼85.1%
Profit margin
1.4%
Gross 46.7%
Employees
0
Change —
Profit / employee
—
 
Profitable streak
2yrs
Consecutive profitable years in our data

Badges are automated estimates derived from the filed figures — not statements of fact about the company.

4 filed years

Financial history

Multi-year financials, oldest to newest
Year to31 Dec 202231 Dec 202331 Dec 202431 Dec 2025
DisclosureFull P&LFull P&LFull P&LFull P&L
Profit & loss
Revenue (turnover)£46.2m£46.5m£42.6m£32.5m
Cost of sales£24.1m£22.3m£20.8m£17.3m
Gross profit£22.1m£24.2m£21.9m£15.1m
Operating profit−£2.1m−£6.5m−£3.8m−£6.2m
Profit before tax−£1.1m−£1.2m£4.2m£826k
Profit after tax−£805k−£1m£3.1m£464k
Profit (best available)−£805k−£1m£3.1m£464k
Staff costs£16.7m£17.9m£18.1m£15m
Employees (average)54152500
Ratios
Profit margin−1.7%−2.2%7.3%1.4%
Gross margin47.8%52%51.3%46.7%
Revenue per employee£85.4k£88.5k——
Profit per employee−£1.5k−£1.9k——
Growth (year on year)
Revenue growth—▲0.6%▼8.3%▼23.8%
Profit growth———▼85.1%
Headcount growth—▼3%▼100%—
Balance sheet — indirect signals, not revenue
Cash at bank£128k£6.6m£745k£110k
Net assets−£21.4m−£22.5m−£19.3m−£18.9m
Fixed assets£5.9m£8.2m£9.4m£8.8m
Current assets£410m£407m£412m£408m
Debtors£164m£149m£125m£105m
Deferred income£6.5m£4.6m£2.7m£2m
SourceFullAccounts · bulk data Sep 2024FullAccounts · bulk data Sep 2024FullAccounts · bulk data Sep 2025FullAccounts · bulk data Sep 2026
Derived from the latest filing

How the business works

Profit margin
1.4%
Profit ÷ revenue.
Gross margin
46.7%
Gross profit ÷ revenue. High for software and services.
Revenue per employee
—
Revenue ÷ average employees.
Profit per employee
—
Profit ÷ average employees.
Cash conversion
—
Cash generated from operations ÷ operating profit. Needs a cash-flow statement.
Fixed assets ÷ revenue
27.1%
Capital intensity. Low = capital-light, cheaper to start.
Deferred income ÷ revenue
6.2%
Customers paying upfront (subscriptions, deposits). Approximate when combined with accruals.
Debtors ÷ revenue
323.4%
Money owed by customers. Low = customers pay quickly.
Indirect — not revenue

Balance-sheet signals

Year-on-year changes in filed balance-sheet items. They can hint at momentum (or investment) but are not revenue or profit and must not be read as such.

Net assets
—
Now −£18.9m
Cash at bank
▼85%
Now £110k
Headcount
—
Now 0
Deferred income
▼25%
Now £2m
Fixed assets
▼6%
Now £8.8m

Deferred income is reported together with accruals in this filing (“accruals and deferred income”), so it is an approximate signal only.

Corporate ownership

Group structure

Ownership chain

  1. Bertelsmann UK Limitedultimate parent75–100%
  2. Penguin Random House Limited75–100%
  3. The Random House Group Limited75–100%
  4. The Book Service Limitedthis company

Bands show the share of ownership each company holds in the one below it.

Sister companies (39)

From the Persons with Significant Control register (corporate controllers only).

Same industry, similar size

Similar profitable businesses

Industry benchmarks →

Sources

Companies House profile Filing history & original accounts

Latest figures from FullAccounts for the year to 31 Dec 2025 (profit £464k), from the Companies House accounts bulk data published Sep 2026. Spotted an error? Request a correction.

Contains public sector information from Companies House licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Data from Companies House, © Crown copyright. View the licence.