Historic Newspapers Limited
Registered name: HISTORIC NEWSPAPERS LIMITED
Part of Bertelsmann UK Limited groupHistoric Newspapers Limited made £8.1m revenue and £117k profit in the year to 31 Dec 2025.
Historic Newspapers Limited’s revenue was £8.1m in the year to 31 Dec 2025, with £117k profit and 25 employees. The company is classified under “retail sale via mail order houses or via internet” and is based in London; we hold 5 years of its filed accounts.
- Status
- Active
- Location
- London, London
- Age
- 22 yrs · since 2004
- 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 May 2024 | 31 May 2025 | 31 Dec 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Disclosure | No P&L | No P&L | No P&L | Full P&L | Full P&L |
| Profit & loss | |||||
| Revenue (turnover) | — | — | — | £5.7m | £8.1m |
| Cost of sales | — | — | — | £1.7m | £2.2m |
| Gross profit | — | — | — | £4.1m | £5.9m |
| Operating profit | — | — | — | £259k | £246k |
| Profit before tax | — | — | — | £210k | £215k |
| Profit after tax | — | — | — | £210k | £117k |
| Profit (best available) | — | — | — | £210k | £117k |
| Staff costs | — | — | — | £1m | £887k |
| Employees (average) | 9 | 10 | 27 | 26 | 25 |
| Ratios | |||||
| Profit margin | — | — | — | 3.6% | 1.4% |
| Gross margin | — | — | — | 70.9% | 72.9% |
| Revenue per employee | — | — | — | £221k | £325k |
| Profit per employee | — | — | — | £8.1k | £4.7k |
| Growth (year on year) | |||||
| Headcount growth | — | ▲11.1% | — | — | — |
| Balance sheet — indirect signals, not revenue | |||||
| Cash at bank | £84.9k | £226k | £393k | £414k | £848k |
| Net assets | £1.5m | £1.4m | £397k | £763k | £719k |
| Fixed assets | £29.2k | £33.2k | £269k | £587k | £1.6m |
| Current assets | £1.6m | £1.5m | £1.4m | £1.4m | £3.9m |
| Debtors | £43.9k | £34.7k | £27.5k | £97.4k | £35.1k |
| Deferred income | £9.5k | £60.4k | £13.3k | £0 | £1.2m |
| Source | FullAccounts · bulk data Feb 2024 | FullAccounts · bulk data Feb 2024 | FullAccounts · bulk data Nov 2025 | FullAccounts · bulk data Nov 2025 | FullAccounts · bulk data Jul 2026 |
How the business works
- Profit margin
- 1.4%
- Profit ÷ revenue.
- Gross margin
- 72.9%
- Gross profit ÷ revenue. High for software and services.
- Revenue per employee
- £325k
- Revenue ÷ average employees.
- Profit per employee
- £4.7k
- Profit ÷ average employees.
- Cash conversion
- —
- Cash generated from operations ÷ operating profit. Needs a cash-flow statement.
- Fixed assets ÷ revenue
- 19.7%
- Capital intensity. Low = capital-light, cheaper to start.
- Deferred income ÷ revenue
- 14.2%
- Customers paying upfront (subscriptions, deposits). Approximate when combined with accruals.
- Debtors ÷ revenue
- 0.4%
- 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 £719k
- Cash at bank
- —
- Now £848k
- Headcount
- —
- Now 25
- Deferred income
- —
- Now £1.2m
- Fixed assets
- —
- Now £1.6m
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
- Bertelsmann UK Limitedultimate parent75–100%
- Penguin Random House Limited75–100%
- Yeti Bidco Limited75–100%
- Lostmy.name Ltd75–100%
- Historic Newspapers Limitedthis company
Bands show the share of ownership each company holds in the one below it.
Sister companies (1)
- Wonderbly Productions LtdFigures not disclosed
From the Persons with Significant Control register (corporate controllers only).
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Sources
Latest figures from FullAccounts for the year to 31 Dec 2025 (profit £117k), from the Companies House accounts bulk data published Jul 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.