TXT In plain English
Company description
PENGUIN BOOKS LIMITED is a UK company whose Companies House status is “Active” and whose registered company type is “Private Limited Company”. Incorporated on 15 October 1965; registered for 60 years; registered office reported in LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM. Its primary declared activity is 58110 · Book publishing. In its latest electronically filed accounts for the period ended 31 December 2024, it reported turnover £247,168,000, profit after tax £45,757,000, net assets £138,519,000, average employees 792.
Among active companies with electronic accounts available to BritDB, it ranks 90 by latest disclosed GBP turnover; this is a dataset comparison, not a credit rating. This BritDB profile also contains linked public records: 1 PSC record, 30 trade marks. This description is assembled from public data, is not a reliability assessment, and should be checked against the cited sources before a legally significant decision.
Web facts are never added from a name match alone. Internet enrichment requires the exact Companies House ID in Wikidata, and ambiguous results are excluded.
01 Company overview
Identity and registration
- Official name
- PENGUIN BOOKS LIMITED
- Company number
- 00861590
- Company type
- Private Limited Company
- Status
- Active
- Country of origin
- United Kingdom
- Dissolution date
- Not supplied
- Accounts category
- FULL
- Mortgage charges
- 0 total · 0 outstanding · 0 satisfied
- Limited partnership members
- 0 general · 0 limited
A registered office is not necessarily a trading location. The address is reproduced from the Companies House bulk record and should be interpreted in that legal context.
02 Filing dates
Accounts and statements
Last accounts made up to
31 December 2024Next accounts due
30 September 2026Last statement made up to
6 April 2026Next statement due
20 April 2027BritDB does not infer overdue status when the source does not state it.
03 Filed financials
Latest electronic accounts
- Turnover
- £247,168,000
- Gross profit
- £138,137,000
- Operating profit
- £39,002,000
- Profit before tax
- £56,511,000
- Profit after tax
- £45,757,000
- Fixed assets
- £11,327,000
- Net assets
- £138,519,000
- Current assets
- £242,809,000
- Current liabilities
- £96,431,000
- Total assets less current liabilities
- £157,705,000
- Cash at bank
- £7,157,000
- Equity
- £138,519,000
Figures are taken from company-filed iXBRL/XBRL. Coverage is limited to electronic filings in the imported Companies House batch. Missing figures do not mean zero, and values have not been audited by BritDB.
04 Workforce reporting
Gender pay gap
- Median bonus gap
- 8.3%
- Mean bonus gap
- 59.5%
- Women receiving bonus
- 89.8%
- Men receiving bonus
- 88.8%
- Women in top quartile
- 70.4%
- Women in upper middle quartile
- 68.8%
- Women in lower middle quartile
- 77.1%
- Women in lower quartile
- 85.3%
Earlier reporting years (8)
- 500 to 99910.7% median hourly gap
- 500 to 99915.0% median hourly gap
- 500 to 99915.1% median hourly gap
- 500 to 99911.9% median hourly gap
- 500 to 99913.5% median hourly gap
- 500 to 99910.6% median hourly gap
- 1000 to 49999.6% median hourly gap
- 1000 to 4999-7.8% median hourly gap
Positive gaps mean men were paid more; negative gaps mean women were paid more. These figures are employer-reported and describe the workforce distribution, not equal pay for the same job. The company link uses the exact Companies House number supplied by the service.
05 Supplier payments
Payment practices and performance
- Reporting period
- 1 January 2025 – 30 June 2025
- Filed
- 13 October 2025
- Shortest standard term
- 30 days
- Longest standard term
- 120 days
- E-invoicing offered
- No
- Supply-chain finance
- Not offered
- Payment codes
- No
- Construction retentions
- No qualifying construction contracts
Complete reported payment fields
- Policy regime
- Regime-2
- Financial period started
- 1 January 2025
- Qualifying contracts
- Yes
- Payments made
- Yes
- Invoice value paid within 30 days
- £25,192,294
- Invoice value paid in 31–60 days
- £2,413,209
- Invoice value paid after 60 days
- £4,219,743
- Invoice value paid outside agreed terms
- £13,866,021
- Invoices paid in 31–60 days
- 5.0%
- Invoices unpaid due to dispute
- 1.0%
- Maximum contractual payment period
- 120 days
- Supplier-list charging policy
- No
- Supplier-list charges made
- No
Reported terms and dispute process
- Standard payment terms
30 days from invoice date
- Dispute resolution process
Disputes raised on a case by case basis resolved via email or telephone
Earlier payment reports (6 shown)
- 15.0 average days to pay6.0% outside terms
- 39.0 average days to pay48.0% outside terms
- 31.0 average days to pay48.0% outside terms
- 31.0 average days to pay43.0% outside terms
- Average time not suppliedLate-payment rate not supplied
- 30.0 average days to pay30.0% outside terms
This is a company-submitted statutory disclosure, not a credit rating. BritDB preserves the reporting period and links the report only through the Companies House number supplied by the official service. Percentages describe payments made during that period and may change in later reports.
06 Global legal identity
Legal Entity Identifier
PENGUIN BOOKS LIMITED
LEI 5299004NU7DNRT9M4K21 · jurisdiction GB
- Legal form
- H0PO
- Entity category
- GENERAL
- Entity created
- 4 October 1965
- Initial LEI registration
- 17 January 2014
- LEI last updated
- 12 January 2026
- Next renewal
- 17 January 2027
- Managing LOU
- 5299000J2N45DDNE4Y28
- Legal address
- One Embassy Gardens, 8 Viaduct Gardens, London, GB-LND, SW11 7BW, GB
- Headquarters address
- One Embassy Gardens, 8 Viaduct Gardens, London, GB-LND, SW11 7BW, GB
GLEIF Level 2 relationships
IS DIRECTLY CONSOLIDATED BY
From LEI 5299004NU7DNRT9M4K21 to LEI 5299001BUUGXAREGE533
- Initial registration
- 13 January 2021
- Last updated
- 12 January 2026
- Next renewal
- 17 January 2027
- Validation sources
- FULLY_CORROBORATED
- Validation documents
- ACCOUNTS_FILING
- Relationship periods
- Start: 2024-01-01T00:00:00+01:00; End: 2024-12-31T00:00:00+01:00; Type: ACCOUNTING_PERIOD; Start: 2017-12-06T00:00:00+01:00; Type: RELATIONSHIP_PERIOD; Start: 2025-03-20T00:00:00+01:00; Type: DOCUMENT_FILING_PERIOD
- Validation reference
- Not supplied
IS ULTIMATELY CONSOLIDATED BY
From LEI 5299004NU7DNRT9M4K21 to LEI 5299001BUUGXAREGE533
- Initial registration
- 22 December 2017
- Last updated
- 12 January 2026
- Next renewal
- 17 January 2027
- Validation sources
- FULLY_CORROBORATED
- Validation documents
- ACCOUNTS_FILING
- Relationship periods
- Start: 2024-01-01T00:00:00+01:00; End: 2024-12-31T00:00:00+01:00; Type: ACCOUNTING_PERIOD; Start: 2017-12-06T00:00:00+01:00; Type: RELATIONSHIP_PERIOD; Start: 2025-03-20T00:00:00+01:00; Type: DOCUMENT_FILING_PERIOD
- Validation reference
- Not supplied
LEI data provides global legal identity and source-reported relationships, not a credit or regulatory approval. BritDB links Level 1 identities only through GLEIF’s Companies House registration-authority identifier and exact company number; Level 2 parent and fund relationships and reporting exceptions are reproduced as supplied by GLEIF.
TM UK trade marks
Exact owner-name matches
PENGUIN
Owner Penguin Books Limited · classes 9,16,35,41,45
- Filed / designated
- 17 March 2016
- Valid until / renewal due
- 17 March 2026
Figurative mark
Owner Penguin Books Limited · classes 9,16,35,41
- Filed / designated
- 16 September 2008
- Valid until / renewal due
- 16 September 2018
Figurative mark
Owner Penguin Books Limited · classes 9,16,35,41
- Filed / designated
- 16 September 2008
- Valid until / renewal due
- 16 September 2018
PUFFIN
Owner Penguin Books Limited · classes 9,16,35,41
- Filed / designated
- 16 September 2008
- Valid until / renewal due
- 16 September 2018
PENGUIN
Owner Penguin Books Limited · classes 9,16,35,41
- Filed / designated
- 16 September 2008
- Valid until / renewal due
- 16 September 2018
Figurative mark
Owner Penguin Books Limited · classes 9,16,41
- Filed / designated
- 9 September 2008
- Valid until / renewal due
- 9 September 2018
PARTICULAR BOOKS
Owner Penguin Books Limited · classes 9,16,41
- Filed / designated
- 9 September 2008
- Valid until / renewal due
- 9 September 2018
SPINEBREAKERS
Owner Penguin Books Limited · classes 9,16,38,41,42
- Filed / designated
- 8 July 2008
- Valid until / renewal due
- 8 July 2018
Figurative mark
Owner Penguin Books Limited · classes 16
- Filed / designated
- 2 November 2007
- Valid until / renewal due
- 2 November 2027
Figurative mark
Owner Penguin Books Limited · classes 16
- Filed / designated
- 20 October 1999
- Valid until / renewal due
- 20 October 2019
PEARS
Owner Penguin Books Limited · classes 9,16
- Filed / designated
- 22 January 1999
- Valid until / renewal due
- 22 January 2019
Figurative mark
Owner Penguin Books Limited · classes 9
- Filed / designated
- 13 June 1994
- Valid until / renewal due
- 13 June 2021
Figurative mark
Owner Penguin Books Limited · classes 9
- Filed / designated
- 15 March 1993
- Valid until / renewal due
- 15 March 2020
PUFFIN
Owner Penguin Books Limited · classes 28
- Filed / designated
- 5 January 1990
- Valid until / renewal due
- 5 January 2027
ARKANA
Owner Penguin Books Limited · classes 16
- Filed / designated
- 27 September 1988
- Valid until / renewal due
- 27 September 2025
ALLEN LANE
Owner Penguin Books Limited · classes 16
- Filed / designated
- 24 January 1983
- Valid until / renewal due
- 24 January 2024
PENGUIN
Owner Penguin Books Limited · classes 16
- Filed / designated
- 20 April 1982
- Valid until / renewal due
- 20 April 2023
Figurative mark
Owner Penguin Books Limited · classes 16
- Filed / designated
- 20 April 1982
- Valid until / renewal due
- 20 April 2023
PENGUIN
Owner Penguin Books Limited · classes 28
- Filed / designated
- 20 April 1982
- Valid until / renewal due
- 20 April 2023
Figurative mark
Owner Penguin Books Limited · classes 28
- Filed / designated
- 20 April 1982
- Valid until / renewal due
- 20 April 2023
PENGUIN
Owner Penguin Books Limited · classes 9
- Filed / designated
- 15 January 1981
- Valid until / renewal due
- 15 January 2022
PELICAN
Owner Penguin Books Limited · classes 9
- Filed / designated
- 15 January 1981
- Valid until / renewal due
- 15 January 2022
PUFFIN
Owner Penguin Books Limited · classes 9
- Filed / designated
- 15 January 1981
- Valid until / renewal due
- 15 January 2022
Figurative mark
Owner Penguin Books Limited · classes 16
- Filed / designated
- 15 February 1977
- Valid until / renewal due
- 15 February 2028
Figurative mark
Owner Penguin Books Limited · classes 16
- Filed / designated
- 3 January 1967
- Valid until / renewal due
- 3 January 2022
Figurative mark
Owner Penguin Books Limited · classes 16
- Filed / designated
- 21 June 1966
- Valid until / renewal due
- 21 June 2021
Pelican
Owner Penguin Books Limited · classes 16
- Filed / designated
- 5 November 1956
- Valid until / renewal due
- 5 November 2025
Figurative mark
Owner Penguin Books Limited · classes 16
- Filed / designated
- 7 October 1953
- Valid until / renewal due
- 7 October 2022
PUFFIN.
Owner Penguin Books Limited · classes 16
- Filed / designated
- 28 May 1946
- Valid until / renewal due
- 28 May 2025
PENGUIN
Owner Penguin Books Limited · classes 16
- Filed / designated
- 3 August 1939
- Valid until / renewal due
- 3 August 2022
This is an exact normalised company-name match, not a registrar-confirmed ownership link. Another legal entity can have the same or a very similar name. UKIPO data is a historical 2018 snapshot; verify the owner and current status before relying on it.
07 Ownership and control
People with significant control
Penguin Random House Limited
- Owns 75% or more of shares
- Controls 75% or more of voting rights
- Can appoint or remove directors
- Country registered
- England
- Legal authority
- Companies Act
- Legal form
- Limited Company
- Place registered
- Companies House
- Registration number
- 734421
- Notified
- 6 April 2016
PSC records are company-filed public-register information. When the exact same displayed individual name occurs at multiple companies, BritDB offers a non-indexed cross-reference page. It is a name match only, not proof that the records describe the same person. Service addresses and partial dates of birth are deliberately omitted.
08 Charity register
Charity Commission links
No exact company-number link in this snapshot
The Charity Commission extract did not explicitly associate this Companies House number with a charity. BritDB does not use a name-only match to fill the gap.
This company-level check covers the Charity Commission for England and Wales. Links are accepted only when the official extract supplies this exact company registration number. Scottish charities now have separate OSCR profiles, but OSCR’s bulk fields do not provide a Companies House number, so BritDB does not infer a company link.
09 Northern Ireland charity register
CCNI exact company links
No unambiguous company-number link found
The CCNI source number did not resolve uniquely to this Companies House record. BritDB did not use a name or address match.
CCNI publishes company numbers without a jurisdiction prefix. BritDB links only when the plausible padded UK and NI candidates resolve to exactly one Companies House company.
10 Sanctions screening
UK Sanctions List
No exact business-registration-number link found
The imported UK Sanctions List did not supply this Companies House number as a UK-linked business identifier. BritDB did not attempt a name-only match.
No exact link is not sanctions clearance. UK restrictions can apply through ownership or control even where an entity is not separately named. Always use the current official list and obtain appropriate advice for a legally significant decision.
11 Public procurement
Find a Tender links
No exact GB-COH link in this snapshot
Find a Tender did not explicitly identify this Companies House number in a procurement party. BritDB did not attempt a name-only match.
These links use only the GB-COH identifier supplied in the procurement record. A company may have other public-sector work that is absent, older, below publication thresholds or published without a Companies House identifier.
12 Environmental register
Environment Agency waste registrations
No exact company-number registration linked
The licensed Environment Agency subset did not contain this exact Companies House number. BritDB did not attempt a name-only match.
This is a privacy-reduced, exact-company subset. The full official register also includes sole traders and applicants without a matching Companies House number. Check the current Environment Agency register before relying on registration status.
13 Nature of business
Standard Industrial Classification
14 Connected public record
Checks beyond the company register
Charity Commission
0 exact company-number links.
Northern Ireland charities
0 unambiguous company-number links.
Public contracts
0 procurement processes linked by exact GB-COH identifier.
Waste register
0 exact company-number registrations.
Corporate notices
The Gazette is not yet connected.
UK Sanctions List
No exact business-registration-number link in this report.
A checked source with no exact link is not a clean bill of health. Unchecked sources remain unknown, while sanctions may also apply through ownership or control of a listed person or entity.
15 Record timeline
Dates in the bulk record
- Confirmation statement
Latest confirmation statement made up to this date
- Accounts
Latest accounts made up to this date
- Incorporation
Company incorporated
16 Provenance
Sources for this profile
Identity, address, status, dates, SIC, previous names and mortgage totals.
Company-filed electronic accounts and extracted headline financial facts.
Annual employer reports linked by the exact source-supplied Companies House number.
Statutory supplier-payment reports linked by the exact source-supplied Companies House number.
Global legal identities linked through Companies House registration authority RA000585.
Current and ceased significant-control records joined by exact company number.
Daily England and Wales extract matched only by the official company registration number.
Daily CCNI export with company links only where the source number resolves unambiguously.
Complete FCDO list checked by exact UK-linked business registration number.
Procurement parties checked only through exact GB-COH identifiers.
Licensed subset linked only by exact Companies House number.
Financial regulation and licences.
Companies House, Charity Commission, OSCR and UK Sanctions List information is public-register data. BritDB reproduces and organises it with source-specific limits; official external links are kept on the dedicated source pages.