Daunt Books Limited
Registered name: DAUNT BOOKS LIMITED
Daunt Books Limited made £18.8m revenue and £2.1m profit in the year to 31 Dec 2025. read from filing text
Daunt Books Limited’s revenue grew 7% to £18.8m in the year to 31 Dec 2025, with £2.1m profit and 86 employees. The company is classified under “retail sale of books in specialised stores”; we hold 5 years of its filed accounts.
- Status
- Active
- Location
- London
- Age
- 31 yrs · since 1995
- Type
- Private Limited Company
Key figures
Badges are automated estimates derived from the filed figures — not statements of fact about the company.
Financial history
| Year to | 31 Dec 2021 | 31 Dec 2022 | 31 Dec 2023 | 31 Dec 2024 | 31 Dec 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Disclosure | Full P&Lread from filing text | Full P&Lread from filing text | Full P&Lread from filing text | Full P&Lread from filing text | Full P&Lread from filing text |
| Profit & loss | |||||
| Revenue (turnover) | £9m | £13.1m | £15.7m | £17.5m | £18.8m |
| Cost of sales | £4.9m | £7.5m | £8.6m | £9.1m | £9.6m |
| Gross profit | £4.1m | £5.7m | £7.1m | £8.4m | £9.1m |
| Operating profit | £1.4m | £427k | £2.6m | £2.5m | £2.7m |
| Profit before tax | £1.4m | £436k | £2.6m | £2.6m | £2.7m |
| Profit after tax | £1.1m | £265k | £2m | £1.9m | £2.1m |
| Profit (best available) | £1.1m | £265k | £2m | £1.9m | £2.1m |
| Employees (average) | 61 | 81 | 82 | 86 | 86 |
| Ratios | |||||
| Profit margin | 12.2% | 2% | 12.6% | 10.7% | 11% |
| Gross margin | 45.4% | 43.1% | 45.4% | 48.1% | 48.6% |
| Revenue per employee | £148k | £162k | £192k | £204k | £218k |
| Profit per employee | £18k | £3.3k | £24.2k | £21.8k | £24k |
| Growth (year on year) | |||||
| Revenue growth | — | ▲45.5% | ▲19.8% | ▲11.4% | ▲7.1% |
| Profit growth | — | ▼75.9% | ▲649.1% | ▼5.5% | ▲10.2% |
| Headcount growth | — | ▲32.8% | ▲1.2% | ▲4.9% | 0% |
| Balance sheet — indirect signals, not revenue | |||||
| Cash at bank | £701 | £701 | £701 | £701 | £701 |
| Net assets | £2k | £2k | £2k | £2k | £2k |
| Fixed assets | £325k | £325k | £325k | £325k | £325k |
| Source | FullAccounts · bulk data Oct 2023 | FullAccounts · bulk data Oct 2023 | FullAccounts · bulk data Nov 2024 | FullAccounts · bulk data Sep 2025 | FullAccounts · bulk data Sep 2026 |
How the business works
- Profit margin
- 11%
- Profit ÷ revenue.
- Gross margin
- 48.6%
- Gross profit ÷ revenue. High for software and services.
- Revenue per employee
- £218k
- Revenue ÷ average employees.
- Profit per employee
- £24k
- Profit ÷ average employees.
- Cash conversion
- —
- Cash generated from operations ÷ operating profit. Needs a cash-flow statement.
- Fixed assets ÷ revenue
- 1.7%
- Capital intensity. Low = capital-light, cheaper to start.
- Deferred income ÷ revenue
- —
- Customers paying upfront (subscriptions, deposits). Approximate when combined with accruals.
- Debtors ÷ revenue
- —
- Money owed by customers. Low = customers pay quickly.
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
- 0%
- Now £2k
- Cash at bank
- 0%
- Now £701
- Headcount
- 0%
- Now 86
- Deferred income
- —
- Now —
- Fixed assets
- 0%
- Now £325k
Similar profitable businesses
- Travel Buff LimitedRetail sale of books in specialised stores
- Revenue
- £18.8m
- Profit
- £2.1m
- Staff
- 84
- Pbshop.co.uk LimitedFairford · Retail sale of books in specialised stores
- Revenue
- £21m
- Profit
- £705k
- Staff
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- Forbidden Planet LimitedRetail sale of books in specialised stores
- Revenue
- £31.5m
- Profit
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- Topping & Company Booksellers LimitedEly · Retail sale of books in specialised stores
- Revenue
- £9.3m
- Profit
- £1.5m
- Staff
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Sources
Latest figures from FullAccounts for the year to 31 Dec 2025 (profit £2.1m), 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.