WATERSTONES BOOKSELLERS LIMITED

Active
Company number 00610095Private limited companyIncorporated 1958

Key figures

£95,219,000+35.3%
Net assets 2024/25
+35.3%
Average annual growth 2023/24–2024/25
025 m50 m75 m100 m2023/242024/25

† WATERSTONES BOOKSELLERS LIMITED filed these accounts on paper, so Companies House publishes them only as a scanned image. The figures for the years marked † were read automatically from the scan and kept only where the statements add up (for example net assets equal total equity), but a reading error is still possible — check the original accounts at Companies House.

Ratios

2024/25

Sector comparison

SIC 47610

Where the company stands among the 2,083 active companies whose first SIC code is 47610 (Retail sale of books in specialised stores).

Turnover£528,397,000
Higher than 98% · median £71,056 among 61 that publish turnover
Net assets£95,219,000
Higher than 99% · median £3,657
Total assets£380,372,000
Higher than 99% · median £31,727
Cash£53,927,000
Higher than 99% · median £14,417
Employees3,703
Higher than 99% · median 1
Company age68.2 years
Older than 99% · median 4.1 years
Largest in this sector by net assets
  1. TG JONES HIGH STREET LIMITED£101.8m
  2. WATERSTONES BOOKSELLERS LIMITED£95.2m
  3. BIBLIU LIMITED£21.8m
  4. PRICE CUT BOOKS LTD£13.1m
  5. MAGGS BROS., LIMITED£12.9m
  6. PCS BOOKS LIMITED£9.6m
  7. DRAGON 2000 LIMITED£9.4m
  8. TRAVEL BUFF LIMITED£8.7m
  9. SALTS ESTATES LIMITED£7.5m
  10. TOPPING & COMPANY BOOKSELLERS LIMITED£6m

Positions are approximate. Figures come from each company's latest accounts; money and employee figures are compared only with companies that filed accounts in pounds for a period ending in the last two and a half years and are not dormant, so those groups are smaller than 2,083. The line on each bar marks the median.

Summary: WATERSTONES BOOKSELLERS LIMITED

What kind of company is it?

WATERSTONES BOOKSELLERS LIMITED is a private limited company registered with Companies House under company number 00610095. It was incorporated on 22 Aug 1958. Its status is active. The registered office is in London (W1J). Its nature of business (SIC 2007) is retail sale of books in specialised stores (47610).

How is the company doing financially?

The latest accounts in the database are for 2024/25 (period ending 3 May 2025); the company files full accounts. Turnover was £528,397,000. Profit for the year was £29,824,000. Net assets were £95,219,000, up 35.3% on the previous year. Cash at bank and in hand was £53,927,000. Total assets were £380,372,000 and total liabilities £285,153,000. The company had an average of 3,703 employees. Figures are available for 2 financial years (2023/24–2024/25).

How does it compare with similar companies?

Compared with 2,083 active companies whose first SIC code is 47610: By turnover it ranks higher than 98% of the 61 that publish turnover (median £71,056). By net assets it ranks higher than 99% of them (median £3,657). By total assets it ranks higher than 99% of them (median £31,727). By cash it ranks higher than 99% of them (median £14,417). By number of employees it ranks higher than 99% of them (median 1). It is older than 99% of them (median age 4.1 years).

Does it supply the public sector?

The company is named as a supplier in 15 public contract award notices from 9 public sector buyers since 2016. Contracts awarded to it alone have a combined published value of £2.4m. Its most frequent buyer is Ministry of Justice (4 contracts). 11 of the awards are shared with other suppliers, typically framework agreements.

What do public registers and reports show?

HMRC lists it as an importer of goods, mainly paper and paperboard, printed matter, furniture and lighting. HMRC lists it as an exporter of goods, mainly printed matter, toys, games and sports goods, paper and paperboard. In its latest payment practices report it took an average of 68 days to pay suppliers, and 8% of invoices were not paid within agreed terms. Its gender pay gap report for 2025/26 shows median hourly pay for women 5.1% lower than for men. It has modern slavery statements on the government registry for 4 years.

Who runs and controls the company?

2 persons with significant control are registered. 1 of 30 registered charges are outstanding.

When are its next filings due?

The next accounts are due by 31 Jan 2027. The next confirmation statement is due by 9 Sep 2027.

Filed accounts2023/24–2024/25
2023/24 †2024/25 †
Turnover—528,397,000
Profit for the year—29,824,000
Cash at bank and in hand72,227,00053,927,000
Total assets390,457,000380,372,000
Total liabilities320,062,000285,153,000
Net assets / total equity70,395,00095,219,000
Average number of employees3,6413,703

A dash (—) means no accounts were filed for that year or the item is not in the accounts; 0 is a zero stated in the accounts. Small companies usually file only a balance sheet, so the profit and loss account is often missing.

Public contracts

15 contracts

WATERSTONES BOOKSELLERS LIMITED is named as a supplier in 15 public contract award notices from 9 public sector buyers since 2016. The 4 contracts awarded to it alone with a published value add up to £2.4m. 11 awards are shared with other suppliers and not counted in that total.

Contracts per year
Main buyers9
Ministry of Justice
4 contracts · £1.6m
ESPO
3 contracts
the Education Authority
2 contracts
UNIVERSITY OF DERBY
1 contract · £800k
ROTHERHAM DONCASTER AND SOUTH HUMBER NHS FOUNDATION TRUST
1 contract · £15.6k
Contracts
  1. Procurement of Book VouchersROTHERHAM DONCASTER AND SOUTH HUMBER NHS FOUNDATION TRUST · £15,600
  2. Books, e-books and associated services‡Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium (SUPC) · shared by 6 suppliers, up to £40,000,000 in total
  3. Legal Publications Print & eBook 25-26 Call Offs‡Ministry of Justice · £1,546,109
  4. 376E_24 Digital Library Content and Print BooksESPO · shared by 3 suppliers, up to £2,400,000 in total · 2 lots
  5. Legal Publications Print & eBook 24-25 Call OffsMinistry of Justice · shared by 6 suppliers, up to £8,924,746 in total · 2 lots
Show 10 more
  1. Legal Publications SubscriptionsMinistry of Justice · £72,831
  2. Study Resource CardUNIVERSITY OF DERBY · £800,000
  3. Legal Publications Print & eBook Call Offs 2023/24Ministry of Justice · shared by 7 suppliers, up to £5,050,000 in total
  4. Supply & Delivery of Library Books and Textbooks‡Scotland Excel · shared by 8 suppliers, up to £9,240,000 in total · 11 lots
  5. EDR-20-005 Text Books, Pupil Workbooks, Assessment Resources & Music Materials‡the Education Authority · shared by 14 suppliers, up to £25,243,302 in total · 2 lots
  6. TEXT BOOKS, PUPIL WORKBOOKS, ASSESSMENT RESOURCES AND MUSIC MATERIALS‡Education Authority NI · shared by 14 suppliers, up to £20,101,148 in total · 2 lots
  7. EDR-20-005 Text Books, Pupil Workbooks, Assessment Resources & Music Materials‡the Education Authority · shared by 18 suppliers, up to £40,202,296 in total
  8. 376E_20 eBooks, eAudiobooks and Print Books‡ESPO · shared by 8 suppliers, up to £12,000,000 in total
  9. 376E_16 Books, E-Books and Related Materials‡Espo · shared by 11 suppliers, up to £4,000,000 in total
  10. NICE Electronic and Print Framework‡National Institute For Health And Care Excellence · shared by 16 suppliers

From contract award notices on Contracts Finder (since 2016) and Find a Tender (since 2021), published by the Cabinet Office under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Values are as published by the buyer and usually cover the whole contract term; the total leaves out awards shared between several suppliers, where the published figure is a ceiling for all of them, placeholder values and single figures of £1 billion or more. Notices marked ‡ do not state a company number and were linked by an exact match on the registered name. Contracts below the publication thresholds and those of devolved buyers that publish elsewhere are not included.

Statutory reporting

Payment practices4 Nov 2025 – 2 May 2026
Average time taken to pay invoices
68 days
Invoices not paid within agreed terms
8%
Standard payment terms
0–90 days
Member of a payment code
No
  • Within 30 days 24%
  • 31 to 60 days 10%
  • After 60 days 66%
Earlier periods (7)
Period ending
Days to pay
Within 30 days
Late
3 Nov 2025
69
22%
9%
3 May 2025
69
18%
11%
26 Oct 2024
69
19%
10%
27 Apr 2024
73
17%
14%
28 Oct 2023
76
11%
13%
29 Apr 2023
77
6%
12%
29 Oct 2022
75
17%
14%

View the latest report on GOV.UK

Gender pay gap2025/26
Median hourly pay
women 5.1% lower
Mean hourly pay
women 16% lower
Median bonus pay
women 20% lower
Employer size
1000 to 4999 employees
Lower pay quarter75.4% womenLower middle69.1% womenUpper middle63.6% womenUpper pay quarter46.2% women
Earlier years (7)
Year
Median hourly pay
Mean hourly pay
2024/25
women 10.5% lower
women 16% lower
2023/24
women 9% lower
women 15.5% lower
2022/23
women 7% lower
women 14.3% lower
2021/22
women 11.8% lower
women 6.7% lower
2020/21
women 7.3% lower
women 13.3% lower
2018/19
women 4.7% lower
women 11.7% lower
2017/18
women 4.5% lower
women 13.9% lower

A positive gap means women's average hourly pay is lower than men's across the whole employer; it is not a comparison of pay for the same work. View on the Gender pay gap service

Modern slavery statements4
2026
Statement · summary on GOV.UK
2025
Statement · summary on GOV.UK
2024
Statement · summary on GOV.UK
Earlier years (1)
2023
Statement · summary on GOV.UK

Figures the company reported itself to the government's Check payment practices service, Gender pay gap service and Modern slavery statement registry (Open Government Licence v3.0). Only large companies and employers with 250 or more staff have to report, so most companies have nothing here.

Registers and licences

International trade‡

Listed by HMRC as an importer of goods in 12 of the last 12 months on record, most recently August 2026. Main goods: paper and paperboard, printed matter, furniture and lighting, toys, games and sports goods and miscellaneous manufactures.

Listed by HMRC as an exporter of goods in 12 of the last 12 months on record, most recently August 2026. Main goods: printed matter, toys, games and sports goods, paper and paperboard, leather goods and bags and art and antiques.

From HMRC's monthly lists of importers and exporters. Traders can ask to be left off the lists, so absence does not mean a company does not trade.

Sources: Charity Commission for England and Wales, Care Quality Commission, Home Office and HM Revenue & Customs, under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Entries marked ‡ come from lists that do not state a company number and were linked by an exact match on the registered name.

History

8 events
  1. Financial year 2024/25 endedAccounts: turnover £528.4m, net assets £95.2m, 3,703 employees
  2. Financial year 2023/24 endedAccounts: net assets £70.4m, 3,641 employees
  3. Book Retail Bidco Limited registered as a person with significant control
  4. Mr Paul Elliot Singer registered as a person with significant control
  5. Waterstones Holdings Limited ceased to be a person with significant control
  6. Waterstones Holdings Limited registered as a person with significant control
  7. Name changed to WATERSTONES BOOKSELLERS LIMITEDPreviously WATERSTONE'S BOOKSELLERS LIMITED
  8. Company incorporatedPrivate limited company

Dates as recorded at Companies House: incorporation, name changes, officer appointments and resignations, current and former persons with significant control, and the end of each financial year with figures in the database.