WOBURN ENTERPRISES LIMITED
Company number 00966094 · Monitor this company
Executive summary
Woburn Enterprises Limited operates as a resilient, asset-heavy holding vehicle for the Woburn Abbey heritage estate, but its underlying operating partnership experienced a severe 66% contraction in profits during 2025, highlighting acute vulnerability to weather volatility and the UK cost-of-living downturn. The company maintains a fortress balance sheet with £26.3M in equity and zero external liabilities, yet its reliance on discretionary day-visitor spend (rather than membership models) leaves it competitively exposed against charities and large-scale leisure operators. Long-term prospects remain structurally sound given the unique aristocratic estate brand, but immediate trading performance is under significant cyclical pressure.
Shareholders' funds
£14,745,818
Balance sheet as at 2025-12-31
What it does
The principal activity of the company in the year continued to be the operation of leisure attractions in partnership with the Trustees of the Bedford Estates 1971 Principal Settlement Chattels Fund and the Trustees of the Bedford Estates 1987 Settlement.
The company's own description, from its latest filed accounts.
Overview
- Company type
- Private Limited Company
- Incorporated
- 1969-11-12
- Employees
- 0 (2025 accounts)
- Registered office
- The Bedford Office, Woburn, Milton Keynes, Bedfordshire, MK17 9PQ
- Postcode
- MK17 9PQ
- Capital
- 89,495 GBP
- Accounts category
- Total Exemption Full
Accounts
- Last made up to
- 2025-12-31
- Next due by
- 2027-09-30
- Financial year end
- 31 December
Confirmation statement
- Last statement dated
- 2026-09-12
- Next due by
- 2027-09-26
Nature of business (SIC)
- 47990 Other retail sale not in stores, stalls or markets
Officers 6 current · 18 resigned
Group structure 1 subsidiary
Controlled by BEDFORD ESTATES 1987 SETTLEMENT NO.2 LTD — since 2024-09-30
Controlled by BEDFORD ESTATES 1987 SETTLEMENT NO.1 LTD — since 2024-09-30
From persons-with-significant-control filings on the public register.
Data protection registration
Registered with the ICO as a data protection fee payer — ZA307399 (Tier 2), registered since 2018.
Information Commissioner's Office register of fee payers, licensed under the Open Government Licence.
Political donations 1
£5,000 in registered political donations since 2013.
-
Conservative and Unionist Party
Source: the Electoral Commission's register of donations — this company's full record, Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contact details
- Website
- woburn.co.uk
Explore the Woburn attractions, including 22 rooms at Woburn Abbey, over 28 acres of Humphrey Repton inspired gardens, and 3,000 acres of deer park.
Previous company names
| Name | Date changed |
|---|---|
| WOBURN ESTATE (HOLDINGS) LIMITED | 1997-01-03 |
| WOBURN SAFARI PARK LIMITED | 1996-11-01 |
| WOBURN WILD ANIMAL KINGDOM LIMITED | 1993-10-15 |
Previous registered addresses 2
| Address | Changed on |
|---|---|
| WOBURN WILD ANIMAL KINGDOM LTD, WOBURN PARK WOBURN, BEDFORDSHIRE, MK17 9QN | 1996-11-06 |
| FAIRFIELD HOUSE,, 7 FAIRFIELD AVENUE,, STAINES,, MIDDX TW18 4AQ | 1992-09-16 |
Among its peers
Top 1%
by shareholders' funds, of 228 similar companies in MK
2nd oldest of its local peers, trading since 1969.
No.2 of the largest other retail sale not in stores, stalls or markets companies in Milton Keynes →
Competitors Milton Keynes
This company ranks 2 among other retail sale not in stores, stalls or markets in Milton Keynes.
Property in England & Wales 4 titles
- Leasehold
- 4
- Most recent registration
- 2023-02-02
- Where
- Central Bedfordshire (3), Milton Keynes (1)
| Title number | County | Tenure | Registered | Price paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BD351360 | Central Bedfordshire | Leasehold | 2023-02-02 | — |
| BD291302 | Central Bedfordshire | Leasehold | 2013-12-05 | — |
| BM280886 | Milton Keynes | Leasehold | 2003-04-29 | — |
| BD199414 | Central Bedfordshire | Leasehold | 2003-04-28 | — |
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.