How much does Once Upon a Time Marketing Limited make?

Once Upon a Time Marketing Limited reported revenue of £17.6m and a loss of £11.6m in the year to 30 Apr 2025, according to its accounts filed at Companies House.

How many employees does Once Upon a Time Marketing Limited have?

Once Upon a Time Marketing Limited reported an average of 117 employees in the year to 30 Apr 2025.

Is Once Upon a Time Marketing Limited profitable?

No — Once Upon a Time Marketing Limited reported a loss of £11.6m in the year to 30 Apr 2025.

Company No. 03406501 · Incorporated 22 Jul 1997

Once Upon a Time Marketing Limited

Registered name: ONCE UPON A TIME MARKETING LIMITED

Part of Trinity Debt Holdings Limited group

Once Upon a Time Marketing Limited made £17.6m revenue and a £11.6m loss in the year to 30 Apr 2025.

Once Upon a Time Marketing Limited’s revenue fell 4% to £17.6m in the year to 30 Apr 2025, with a loss of £11.6m and 117 employees. The company is classified under “advertising agencies” and is based in London; we hold 4 years of its filed accounts.

Full P&L filedSection M · Professional, scientific and technical activitiesSIC 73110Advertising agencies

Status: Active
Location: London, 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.

Latest accounts · year to 30 Apr 2025

Key figures

Capital-lightCash flow filed

Revenue

£17.6m

Growth ▼4%

Profit

−£11.6m

Growth ▼895.8%

Profit margin

−66.3%

Gross 60.2%

Employees

117

Change ▲5.4%

Profit / employee

−£99.5k

Revenue/employee £150k

Profitable streak

0yrs

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 to	30 Apr 2022	30 Apr 2023	30 Apr 2024	30 Apr 2025
Disclosure	Full P&L	Full P&L	Full P&L	Full P&L
Profit & loss
Revenue (turnover)	£16.5m	£19.6m	£18.3m	£17.6m
Cost of sales	£7.4m	£7.9m	£7.2m	£7m
Gross profit	£9.1m	£11.8m	£11.1m	£10.6m
Operating profit	£3.6m	£3.5m	£2m	£1.1m
Profit before tax	£3.6m	£3.5m	£2m	−£11.4m
Profit after tax	£3.3m	£2.6m	£1.5m	−£11.6m
Profit (best available)	£3.3m	£2.6m	£1.5m	−£11.6m
Staff costs	£4.3m	£6.2m	£6.8m	£6.9m
Employees (average)	78	102	111	117
Ratios
Profit margin	20.2%	13.5%	8%	−66.3%
Gross margin	55.3%	59.9%	60.5%	60.2%
Revenue per employee	£211k	£192k	£165k	£150k
Profit per employee	£42.7k	£25.9k	£13.2k	−£99.5k
Cash conversion	—	—	0.7%	−19%
Growth (year on year)
Revenue growth	—	▲19.2%	▼6.8%	▼4%
Profit growth	—	▼20.8%	▼44.6%	▼895.8%
Headcount growth	—	▲30.8%	▲8.8%	▲5.4%
Balance sheet — indirect signals, not revenue
Cash at bank	£777k	£1m	£671k	£272k
Net assets	£5.9m	£8.5m	£10m	−£1.6m
Fixed assets	£678k	£654k	£688k	£576k
Current assets	£17.2m	£20.2m	£21.9m	£4.5m
Debtors	£3.1m	£2.7m	£2.4m	£2.7m
Deferred income	£311k	£610k	£1m	£695k
Cash from operations	—	—	£14k	−£208k
Source	Accounts · bulk data Oct 2023	Accounts · bulk data Oct 2023	FullAccounts · bulk data Jan 2025	FullAccounts · bulk data May 2026

Derived from the latest filing

How the business works

Profit margin: −66.3%; Profit ÷ revenue.
Gross margin: 60.2%; Gross profit ÷ revenue. High for software and services.
Revenue per employee: £150k; Revenue ÷ average employees.
Profit per employee: −£99.5k; Profit ÷ average employees.
Cash conversion: −19%; Cash generated from operations ÷ operating profit. Needs a cash-flow statement.
Fixed assets ÷ revenue: 3.3%; Capital intensity. Low = capital-light, cheaper to start.
Deferred income ÷ revenue: 4%; Customers paying upfront (subscriptions, deposits). Approximate when combined with accruals.
Debtors ÷ revenue: 15.6%; 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: ▼116%; Now −£1.6m
Cash at bank: ▼59%; Now £272k
Headcount: ▲5%; Now 117
Deferred income: ▼32%; Now £695k
Fixed assets: ▼16%; Now £576k

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

Trinity Debt Holdings Limitedultimate parent75–100%
Tosca Debt Capital LLP75–100%
Tosca Debt Capital GP II LLP75–100%
Once Upon a Time Creative Limited75–100%
Once Upon a Time Marketing Limitedthis company

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

Sister companies (2)

Once Upon a Time Content LimitedFigures not disclosed
Once Upon a Time Music LimitedFigures not disclosed

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

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Sources

Companies House profile Filing history & original accounts

Latest figures from FullAccounts for the year to 30 Apr 2025 (profit −£11.6m), from the Companies House accounts bulk data published May 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.