AARDMAN ANIMATIONS LIMITED
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Next accounts due
2026-09-30 (in 4mo)
Last filed for 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement due
2027-01-14 (in 8mo)
Last made up 2025-12-31
Watchouts
None on the register
Cash
£4M
-22.9% vs 2023
Net assets
£8M
-34.5% vs 2023
Employees
297
+12.5% vs 2023
Profit before tax
-£4M
-212.7% vs 2023
Name history
Renamed 2 times since incorporation
- AARDMAN ANIMATIONS LIMITED 1987-06-12 → present
- AARDS CO. LIMITED(THE) 1986-11-17 → 1987-06-12
- OFFSHELM LIMITED 1986-08-29 → 1986-11-17
Net assets
2-year trend · vs Consumer Discretionary median
Accounts
2-year trend · latest reflected 2024-12-31
| Metric | Trend | 2023-12-31 | 2024-12-31 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turnover | £23,778,226 | £18,787,266 | |
| Operating profit | -£2,408,902 | -£4,970,268 | |
| Profit before tax | -£1,322,864 | -£4,136,359 | |
| Net profit | -£1,458,181 | -£4,262,990 | |
| Cash | £5,224,622 | £4,029,919 | |
| Total assets less current liabilities | £12,351,410 | £8,088,420 | |
| Net assets | £12,351,410 | £8,088,420 | |
| Equity | £12,351,410 | £8,088,420 | |
| Average employees | 264 | 297 | |
| Wages | £12,439,784 | £14,566,920 |
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
Ratios
Computed from the line items above — sparklines read oldest → newest
| Ratio | Trend | 2023-12-31 | 2024-12-31 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating margin | -10.1% | -26.5% | |
| Net margin | -6.1% | -22.7% | |
| Return on capital employed | -19.5% | -61.4% | |
| Gearing (liabilities / total assets) | 46.7% | 59.7% | |
| Current ratio | 1.97x | 1.56x |
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.
Audit & accounting basis
- Accounting basis
- FRS 102
- Reporting scope
- Standalone (parent only)
- Auditor
- S&W Audit
- 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. Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.”
Group structure
- AARDMAN ANIMATIONS LIMITED · parent
- Morph Limited 100%
- Aardman Creature Comforts USA Limited 100%
- Aardman USA Inc 100%
- Aardman Mossy Bottom Limited 100%
- Aardman Free Range Limited 100%
- Working At Gnome Limited 100%
- Aardman Beastly Bites Limited 100%
- Aardman Sugarloaf Limited 100%
Significant events
- “On 4 April 2025, the company signed six agreements to enter into an operating lease for the use of a property. Two of the leases have a term of 10 years, with the remaining leases having a term of 5 years. The total annual lease commitment across all six contracts is £814,072. The total lease commitments due on the property over the length of the leases are £6,496,798.”
Auditor, going-concern and subsidiary information is drawn from the narrative of the latest annual accounts. About these numbers
People
7 active · 9 resigned
| Name | Role | Appointed | Born | Nationality |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BEARD, Helen Mary | Director | 2026-01-12 | Oct 1974 | British |
| CAVE, Joanna Louise | Director | 2024-01-01 | Jan 1976 | British |
| CLARKE, Sean Michael | Director | 2018-11-05 | Jun 1967 | British |
| COX, Sarah | Director | 2018-11-05 | Aug 1966 | British |
| HARDIE, Emma Natasha | Director | 2024-04-15 | Dec 1985 | British |
| PARK, Nicholas Wulstan | Director | 1994-07-20 | Dec 1958 | British |
| SHELLEY, Carla Denise | Director | 2018-11-05 | Aug 1964 | British |
Show 9 resigned officers
| Name | Role | Appointed | Resigned |
|---|---|---|---|
| PESTER, David Peter | Secretary | 1994-07-20 | 1999-02-11 |
| SPROXTON, David Alan | Secretary | 1999-02-11 | 2019-12-30 |
| SPROXTON, David Alan | Secretary | — | 1994-07-31 |
| EFERGAN, Daniel | Director | 2020-03-01 | 2025-04-30 |
| LOCK, Kerry Anthony | Director | 2018-11-05 | 2024-02-15 |
| LORD, Peter Duncan Fraser | Director | — | 2024-01-01 |
| NEWPORT, Paula Gail | Director | 2018-11-05 | 2025-12-31 |
| SPROXTON, David Alan | Director | — | 2019-12-17 |
| WRIGHT, Heather Anne | Director | 2018-11-05 | 2020-04-06 |
Ownership
Persons with significant control
| Name | Kind | Nature of control | Notified | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mr Nicholas Wulstan Park | Individual | Significant influence | 2016-04-06 | Ceased 2018-11-05 |
| Mr Peter Duncan Fraser Lord | Individual | Significant influence | 2016-04-06 | Ceased 2018-11-05 |
| Mr David Alan Sproxton | Individual | Significant influence | 2016-04-06 | Ceased 2018-11-05 |
| Aardman Holdings Limited | Corporate entity | Shares 75–100%, Voting 75–100%, Appoints directors | 2016-04-06 | Active |
Filing timeline
Last 20 of 150 total filings
| Date | Type | Category | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-03-27 | CH01 | officers | Change person director company with change date | |
| 2026-03-13 | MR01 | mortgage | Mortgage create with deed with charge number charge creation date | |
| 2026-03-13 | MR01 | mortgage | Mortgage create with deed with charge number charge creation date | |
| 2026-01-12 | AP01 | officers | Appoint person director company with name date | |
| 2026-01-10 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2026-01-02 | TM01 | officers | Termination director company with name termination date | |
| 2025-10-23 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full | |
| 2025-05-01 | TM01 | officers | Termination director company with name termination date | |
| 2025-01-10 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2024-10-10 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full | |
| 2024-04-18 | AP01 | officers | Appoint person director company with name date | |
| 2024-02-21 | TM01 | officers | Termination director company with name termination date | |
| 2024-02-07 | MR01 | mortgage | Mortgage create with deed with charge number charge creation date | |
| 2024-01-14 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full | |
| 2024-01-12 | TM01 | officers | Termination director company with name termination date | |
| 2024-01-04 | AP01 | officers | Appoint person director company with name date | |
| 2024-01-04 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2023-10-17 | MR04 | mortgage | Mortgage satisfy charge full | |
| 2023-01-10 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2023-01-08 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type full |
Public-record activity
Raw counts from Companies House — last 12–24 months
- Filings
- 8
- Capital events
- 0
- Officers appointed
- 1
- 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.
Year-on-year
FY2023 → FY2024 · period ending 2024-12-31 vs 2023-12-31
-
Turnover
-21%
£23,778,226 £18,787,266
-
Cash
-22.9%
£5,224,622 £4,029,919
-
Net assets
-34.5%
£12,351,410 £8,088,420
-
Employees
+12.5%
264 297
-
Operating profit
-106.3%
-£2,408,902 -£4,970,268
-
Profit before tax
-212.7%
-£1,322,864 -£4,136,359
-
Wages
+17.1%
£12,439,784 £14,566,920
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