CANONGATE BOOKS LIMITED
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Next accounts due
2026-12-31 (in 7mo)
Last filed for 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement due
2026-08-08 (in 3mo)
Last made up 2025-07-25
Watchouts
Cash
£4M
0% vs 2024
Net assets
£10M
+4.2% vs 2024
Employees
64
-3% vs 2024
Profit before tax
£1M
+94.6% vs 2024
Watchouts
Facts from the Companies House register and the latest accounts — not a rating
-
1 PSC ceased in last 24 months
Significant control changed hands — see the Ownership section.
Net assets
4-year trend · vs Consumer Discretionary median
Accounts
4-year trend · latest reflected 2025-03-31
| Metric | Trend | 2022-03-31 | 2023-03-31 | 2024-03-31 | 2025-03-31 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turnover | — | — | £18,165,718 | £17,921,486 | |
| Operating profit | — | — | £634,499 | £1,164,667 | |
| Profit before tax | — | — | £677,940 | £1,319,606 | |
| Net profit | — | — | £394,277 | £859,783 | |
| Cash | — | — | £4,488,623 | £4,489,038 | |
| Total assets less current liabilities | — | — | £9,634,256 | £10,042,989 | |
| Net assets | — | — | £9,634,256 | £10,042,989 | |
| Equity | — | — | £9,634,256 | £10,042,989 | |
| Average employees | — | — | 66 | 64 | |
| Wages | — | — | £2,806,301 | £3,146,879 | |
| Directors' remuneration | — | — | £852,579 | £745,108 |
Values shown as filed in the company's annual accounts. — indicates the figure wasn't present under that line item in that period. About these numbers
Year-on-year
FY2024 → FY2025 · period ending 2025-03-31 vs 2024-03-31
-
Turnover
-1.3%
£18,165,718 £17,921,486
-
Cash
0%
£4,488,623 £4,489,038
-
Net assets
+4.2%
£9,634,256 £10,042,989
-
Employees
-3%
66 64
-
Operating profit
+83.6%
£634,499 £1,164,667
-
Profit before tax
+94.6%
£677,940 £1,319,606
-
Wages
+12.1%
£2,806,301 £3,146,879
Each % is (latest − prior) ÷ |prior| for the line item as filed. The comparison is only shown when the latest and prior accounts cover broadly equal-length periods — short or long stubs (typical around incorporation or a year-end change) are suppressed rather than misrepresented. Lines a company doesn't report are omitted. About these numbers
Ratios
Computed from the line items above — sparklines read oldest → newest
| Ratio | Trend | 2022-03-31 | 2023-03-31 | 2024-03-31 | 2025-03-31 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating margin | — | — | 3.5% | 6.5% | |
| Net margin | — | — | 2.2% | 4.8% | |
| Return on capital employed | — | — | 6.6% | 11.6% | |
| Current ratio | — | — | 2.33x | 2.82x | |
| Interest cover | — | — | — | 34254.91x |
Margins divide P&L lines by turnover. Gearing is liabilities over total assets. Current ratio is current assets over creditors falling due within one year. Interest cover is operating profit over absolute finance costs. Sector-distribution context coming next.
Name history
Renamed 1 time since incorporation
- CANONGATE BOOKS LIMITED 1994-10-26 → present
- RANDOTTE (NO. 346) LIMITED 1994-08-02 → 1994-10-26
Audit & accounting basis
- Accounting basis
- FRS 102
- Reporting scope
- Standalone (parent only)
- Auditor
- Azets Audit Services
- Audit opinion
- Unqualified (clean)
- Going concern
- Affirmed
“In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the directors' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.”
Significant events
- “We completed a successful move to Harper Collins warehousing and distribution centre in Glasgow in June 2024.”
- “After receiving our B Corp accreditation in May 2024, we continue to pursue with our teams, and across our company processes and supply chains, the sustainability journey we have embarked on.”
Auditor, going-concern and subsidiary information is drawn from the narrative of the latest annual accounts. About these numbers
People
8 active · 20 resigned
| Name | Role | Appointed | Born | Nationality |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GIBB, Kathleen | Secretary | 2014-07-14 | — | — |
| BICKMORE, Francis Giles | Director | 2017-12-14 | May 1975 | British |
| BYNG, James Edmund | Director | 1994-10-06 | Jun 1969 | British |
| FRY, Jennifer Izumi | Director | 2017-12-14 | Apr 1982 | British |
| GIBB, Kathleen Lorna | Director | 2014-10-29 | Mar 1961 | British |
| GORHAM, Caroline Susan | Director | 2002-01-01 | Dec 1965 | British |
| OLLARD, Anna Marie Leontia | Director | 2023-03-01 | Oct 1977 | British |
| OLUSOGA, David Adetayo | Director | 2023-03-01 | Jan 1970 | British,Nigerian |
Show 20 resigned officers
| Name | Role | Appointed | Resigned |
|---|---|---|---|
| MCAINSH, Sheila Alexander | Secretary | 1994-10-18 | 2009-04-29 |
| MEIKLEJOHN, Iain Maury Campbell | Nominee Secretary | 1994-08-01 | 1994-10-18 |
| ANDERSON, Kathleen Elizabeth | Director | 2003-07-24 | 2010-09-30 |
| ANDREW, Hugh | Director | 1994-10-06 | 2001-11-28 |
| BLAND, Francis Christopher Buchan, Sir | Director | 2002-12-18 | 2017-01-28 |
| BLAND, Jennifer Mary, Lady | Director | 2017-12-14 | 2021-11-11 |
| COLLINGRIDGE, Polly Alexandra | Director | 2008-11-01 | 2012-06-27 |
| DAVIES, Nicholas | Director | 2008-09-01 | 2012-12-31 |
| GRAHAM, David | Director | 2000-04-12 | 2006-07-31 |
| MCVEIGH, Charles Senff | Director | 2020-02-26 | 2022-07-29 |
| MCVEIGH, Charles | Director | 2003-01-27 | 2019-12-19 |
| MEIKLEJOHN, Iain Maury Campbell | Nominee Director | 1994-08-01 | 1994-10-12 |
| MOIR, Judith Joyce | Director | 2001-01-01 | 2003-08-05 |
| MOIR, Neville | Director | 1997-01-01 | 2000-08-19 |
| SEROTA, Anya | Director | 2006-11-01 | 2012-04-30 |
| SHANKS, Ronald Stewart Cuthbertson | Director | 1995-03-03 | 2003-08-28 |
| TASTARD, Susannah Jane | Director | 2012-01-01 | 2014-04-30 |
| TODD, Jennifer Jane | Director | 2006-06-01 | 2017-07-13 |
| WILL, James Robert | Nominee Director | 1994-08-01 | 1994-10-18 |
| YOUNG, David John | Director | 2016-10-10 | 2025-11-06 |
Ownership
Persons with significant control
| Name | Kind | Nature of control | Notified | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mr James Edmund Byng | Individual | Shares 25–50%, Voting 25–50% | 2025-04-02 | Active |
| Lady Jennifer Mary Bland | Individual | Shares 25–50% | 2018-05-10 | Ceased 2025-04-02 |
| The Executors Of The Estate Of Sir Christopher Buchan Bland | Individual | ownership-of-shares-25-to-50-percent-as-trust, voting-rights-25-to-50-percent-as-trust | 2016-04-06 | Ceased 2018-05-01 |
| Mr Charles Mcveigh | Individual | Shares 25–50%, Voting 25–50%, Significant influence | 2016-04-06 | Ceased 2017-09-15 |
Filing timeline
Last 20 of 184 total filings
Material constitutional events — rename, articles re-file, resolution
- 2025-07-29 MA Memorandum articles
- 2025-07-28 RESOLUTIONS Resolution
- 2023-10-24 CC04 Statement of companys objects
- 2023-10-24 MA Memorandum articles
- 2023-10-24 RESOLUTIONS Resolution
| Date | Type | Category | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-04-07 | MR05 | mortgage | Mortgage charge part both with charge number | |
| 2026-04-01 | SH03 | capital | Capital return purchase own shares | |
| 2026-03-24 | MR04 | mortgage | Mortgage satisfy charge full | |
| 2026-02-26 | SH06 | capital | Capital cancellation shares | |
| 2026-02-25 | PSC04 | persons-with-significant-control | Change to a person with significant control | |
| 2025-11-14 | TM01 | officers | Termination director company with name termination date | |
| 2025-10-10 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full | |
| 2025-07-31 | CH01 | officers | Change person director company with change date | |
| 2025-07-29 | MA | incorporation | Memorandum articles | |
| 2025-07-29 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with updates | |
| 2025-07-28 | RESOLUTIONS | resolution | Resolution | |
| 2025-04-09 | CH01 | officers | Change person director company with change date | |
| 2025-04-09 | PSC01 | persons-with-significant-control | Notification of a person with significant control | |
| 2025-04-09 | PSC07 | persons-with-significant-control | Cessation of a person with significant control | |
| 2024-11-08 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full | |
| 2024-07-25 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with updates | |
| 2023-11-03 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full | |
| 2023-10-24 | CC04 | change-of-constitution | Statement of companys objects | |
| 2023-10-24 | MA | incorporation | Memorandum articles | |
| 2023-10-24 | RESOLUTIONS | resolution | Resolution |
Public-record activity
Raw counts from Companies House — last 12–24 months
- Filings
- 11
- Capital events
- 2
- Officers appointed
- 0
- Officers resigned
- 1
last 12 months
last 24 months
last 12 months
last 12 months
Direct counts from the register. No score, no rating — see the Filing timeline for the underlying events.