Cpi William Clowes Ltd
Registered name: CPI WILLIAM CLOWES LTD
Part of Bidco 3 Limited groupCpi William Clowes Ltd made £7.6m revenue and a £969k loss in the year to 31 Mar 2025. read from filing text
Cpi William Clowes Ltd’s revenue fell 10% to £7.6m in the year to 31 Mar 2025, with a loss of £969k and 54 employees. The company is classified under “printing” and is based in Croydon; we hold 4 years of its filed accounts.
- Status
- Active
- Location
- Croydon, London
- Age
- 29 yrs · since 1997
- Type
- Private Limited Company
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.
Key figures
Badges are automated estimates derived from the filed figures — not statements of fact about the company.
Financial history
| Year to | 31 Mar 2022 | 31 Mar 2023 | 31 Mar 2024 | 31 Mar 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Disclosure | Full P&L | Full P&L | Full P&Lread from filing text | Full P&Lread from filing text |
| Profit & loss | ||||
| Revenue (turnover) | £8.6m | £10.4m | £8.4m | £7.6m |
| Cost of sales | £5.4m | £7.2m | £5.5m | £5.4m |
| Gross profit | £3.1m | £3.2m | £2.9m | £2.2m |
| Operating profit | £172k | −£697k | £7k | −£886k |
| Profit before tax | £120k | −£822k | −£73k | −£969k |
| Profit (best available) | £120k | −£822k | −£73k | −£969k |
| Staff costs | £2.1m | £2.3m | £2.3m | £2.2m |
| Employees (average) | 55 | 58 | 58 | 54 |
| Ratios | ||||
| Profit margin | 1.4% | −7.9% | −0.9% | −12.8% |
| Gross margin | 36.8% | 31% | 34.3% | 29% |
| Revenue per employee | £156k | £179k | £146k | £140k |
| Profit per employee | £2.2k | −£14.2k | −£1.3k | −£17.9k |
| Growth (year on year) | ||||
| Revenue growth | — | ▲21.3% | ▼18.7% | ▼10.3% |
| Profit growth | — | ▼785% | — | — |
| Headcount growth | — | ▲5.5% | 0% | ▼6.9% |
| Balance sheet — indirect signals, not revenue | ||||
| Cash at bank | £1k | £1k | £0 | — |
| Net assets | −£2.9m | −£3.6m | −£3.7m | −£4.6m |
| Debtors | £868k | £728k | £509k | £1m |
| Deferred income | £10k | £7k | £3k | £0 |
| Source | Accounts · bulk data Dec 2023 | Accounts · bulk data Dec 2023 | FullAccounts · bulk data Dec 2024 | FullAccounts · bulk data Nov 2025 |
How the business works
- Profit margin
- −12.8%
- Profit ÷ revenue.
- Gross margin
- 29%
- Gross profit ÷ revenue. High for software and services.
- Revenue per employee
- £140k
- Revenue ÷ average employees.
- Profit per employee
- −£17.9k
- Profit ÷ average employees.
- Cash conversion
- —
- Cash generated from operations ÷ operating profit. Needs a cash-flow statement.
- Fixed assets ÷ revenue
- —
- Capital intensity. Low = capital-light, cheaper to start.
- Deferred income ÷ revenue
- 0%
- Customers paying upfront (subscriptions, deposits). Approximate when combined with accruals.
- Debtors ÷ revenue
- 13.2%
- 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
- —
- Now −£4.6m
- Cash at bank
- —
- Now —
- Headcount
- ▼7%
- Now 54
- Deferred income
- ▼100%
- Now £0
- Fixed assets
- —
- Now —
Deferred income is reported together with accruals in this filing (“accruals and deferred income”), so it is an approximate signal only.
Group structure
Ownership chain
- Bidco 3 Limitedultimate parent75–100%
- Elpis Holdings Limited75–100%
- Elpis Finance Limited75–100%
- Elpis Management Limited75–100%
- Elpis 2022 Limited75–100%
- Cpi Group (UK) Ltd75–100%
- Cpi William Clowes Ltdthis company
Bands show the share of ownership each company holds in the one below it.
Sister companies (2)
- Cpi Antony Rowe LtdRev. £45.4m · Profit −£547k
- Cpi Colour LtdRev. £240k · Profit £212k
From the Persons with Significant Control register (corporate controllers only).
Similar profitable businesses
- Kornit Digital UK LtdLondon · Printing n.e.c.
- Revenue
- £7.9m
- Profit
- £723k
- Staff
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- Denny Bros LimitedSuffolk · Printing n.e.c.
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- Profit
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- Falconer Print and Packaging LimitedElland · Printing n.e.c.
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- Profit
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- Staff
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- Piccadilly Greetings Group LimitedHemel Hempstead · Printing n.e.c.
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- Profit
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- Waddington and Ledger LimitedWest Yorkshire · Printing n.e.c.
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- £6.2m
- Profit
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- R & J P International LimitedLoughton · Printing n.e.c.
- Revenue
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- Profit
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- Staff
- 52
Sources
Latest figures from FullAccounts for the year to 31 Mar 2025 (profit −£969k), from the Companies House accounts bulk data published Nov 2025. 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.