H.TEMPEST LIMITED
Company number 00374510 · Monitor this company
Executive summary
H.Tempest Limited is an 83-year-old family-owned photography business in outstanding structural health: debt-free, holding £17.9m of net current assets and £27.2m of net assets, with liquidity most companies would envy. However, it swung to a £185k loss in FY2025 on flat £32.8m turnover, and its return on £27m of equity is negligible — the diagnosis is a fortress balance sheet powering a weak profit engine. The prognosis is stable with minimal insolvency risk, but margin repair, capital efficiency, and succession tidying are the prescriptions needed to convert financial endurance into financial vitality.
Shareholders' funds
£27,426,130
Balance sheet as at 2024-12-31
What it does
The principal activity of the Group during the financial year continued to be that of providing portrait and group photography services internationally.
The company's own description, from its latest filed accounts.
Overview
- Company type
- Private Limited Company
- Incorporated
- 1942-06-16
- Employees
- 604 (2025 accounts · was 572 in 2024)
- Registered office
- The Colour Laboratory, Lelant, St. Ives, Cornwall, TR26 3HU
- Postcode
- TR26 3HU
- Capital
- 472,489 GBP
- Accounts category
- Group
- Charges
- 0 outstanding
Accounts
- Last made up to
- 2025-12-31
- Next due by
- 2027-09-30
- Financial year end
- 31 December
Confirmation statement
- Last statement dated
- 2026-06-30
- Next due by
- 2027-07-14
Nature of business (SIC)
- 74201 Portrait photographic activities
Officers 8 current · 13 resigned
Group structure 6 subsidiaries
-
REBEL MOMENTS LIMITED Dissolved
From persons-with-significant-control filings on the public register.
Public contracts won 1
£413,000 total awarded value where published.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 (Contracts Finder).
Patents 2
Patent publications naming * H TEMPEST LIMITED as applicant.
Patent data from the European Patent Office (Open Patent Services).
Gender pay gap
1%
Women's median hourly pay above men's, 2026/27 · around the middle of the pack for parity
Contact details
- Website
- http://www.htempest.co.uk
Previous registered addresses 2
| Address | Changed on |
|---|---|
| 3 PELHAM COURT, PELHAM ROAD, SHERWOOD RISE, NOTTINGHAM, NG5 1AP | 2011-09-05 |
| MARLBOROUGH HOUSE, 1A CRANMER STREET, NOTTINGHAM | 1988-04-12 |
Among its peers
Top 1%
by shareholders' funds, of 481 similar companies in TR — measured against the wider sector
The largest employer among its local peers (604 staff).
The oldest of its local peers, trading since 1942.
Property in England & Wales 5 titles
- Freehold
- 3
- Leasehold
- 2
- Most recent registration
- 2019-03-13
- Where
- Cornwall (5)
| Title number | County | Tenure | Registered | Price paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL142 | Cornwall | Freehold | 2019-03-13 | — |
| CL46 | Cornwall | Freehold | 2019-03-05 | — |
| CL317625 | Cornwall | Leasehold | 2015-09-16 | — |
| CL317626 | Cornwall | Leasehold | 2015-09-16 | — |
| CL11436 | Cornwall | Freehold | 1993-10-19 | — |
For addresses and the authoritative register entry, use HM Land Registry's official search (£3 per title).
Information produced by HM Land Registry. © Crown copyright 2026. Dataset as at 2026-08.