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Publishing Companies in Derby: 30 Active Firms (2026)
Publishing companies in Derby produce and distribute books, magazines and business media for print and digital audiences across the city region.
Buying centres tend to sit around editorial planning, circulation, advertising sales, rights management and design workflows, rather than a single enterprise procurement desk. The customer base is split between consumer readers, professional audiences, education buyers and niche-interest communities, with revenue coming through subscriptions, advertising, direct sales and trade distribution. Commercial engagements are usually modest and repeat-led: small advertising packages, production services, rights permissions and subscription operations matter more than large implementation projects or multi-year platform buying.
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Derby has 30 actively trading publishing companies in this list, making the local cohort a small, specialist slice of the UK publishing economy rather than a scale-company cluster. Reported employment totals 76 people, which points to lean editorial, design, sales and circulation teams. The formation profile is relatively recent, with 11 firms incorporated since 2022, so a noticeable share of the market is still at an early commercial stage.
UK book and magazine publishing does not have a single licensing regulator comparable with financial services or utilities. Legal deposit is the clearest statutory anchor: GOV.UK guidance requires UK-published printed works to be deposited with the national legal deposit library, with other legal deposit libraries able to request copies, and the Legal Deposit Libraries Regulations extend the regime to non-print works. For Derby publishers, compliance is less about authorisation to trade and more about publication processes, rights administration and archiving discipline. Sector representation sits with the Publishers Association and the Professional Publishers Association.
The cohort appears tilted towards small, specialist operators rather than scale publishers, so resilience is likely to depend on defensible audience niches and repeatable circulation habits. Print is unlikely to disappear as a workflow consideration, but digital editions, paid access and sponsored professional content tend to carry more of the incremental testing. Scarcity of larger turnover businesses suggests limited local acquisition capacity, while recent formation activity points to a market still renewing at the edges. Rights management, list ownership and low-cost production discipline are likely to separate more durable operators from short-run publishing projects.
30
Active firms
2026
11
Incorporated since 2022
Derby publishers
0
Over £5M turnover
No firms in this band
Key facts
36% of the cohort was incorporated since 2022 (11 firms), so a sizeable share is in its first few filing cycles.
GOV.UK guidance treats legal deposit as a statutory duty for printed UK works, while the Legal Deposit Libraries (Non-Print Works) Regulations 2013 extend the regime to non-print publications.
The Professional Publishers Association says UK consumer magazine and business media generated £3.74 billion of GVA in 2019, directly supported 55,000 jobs and represented 35% of UK publishing.
The same trade-body context puts net export inflow at an estimated £518.9M, with 73 million magazines sold in export markets.
The Federation of European Publishers reported €24.9 billion of European book-market turnover in 2024, with print books accounting for 82.9% and audiobooks 4.2%.
Top Derby Publishing companies
C&C Magazines Limited
Trajectory
5y · 2021–NowFinancial sub-scores
Computed from 5 filingsPublishes and distributes free monthly community magazines featuring local news, events, group listings and advertising. Provides advert design, editorial features and leaflet distribution services…
Sells to local businesses, tradespeople and startups seeking print advertising or leaflet distribution to households and businesses in Derby suburbs including Oakwood, Spondon and Chaddesden.
Financial Health
StableStable · -1% CAGR over 4y
Location
FIVE LEAVES LIMITED
Trajectory
5y · 2021–NowFinancial sub-scores
Computed from 5 filingsFinancial Health
StableStable · -71% CAGR over 4y
Location
Baizdon Ltd
Trajectory
3y · 2023–NowFinancial sub-scores
Computed from 3 filingsFinancial Health
DistressedDistressed · 0% CAGR over 2y
Location
Ickonic Media Group Limited
Trajectory
5y · 2020–NowFinancial sub-scores
Computed from 5 filingsOperates an online media platform that streams documentary-style films and series on alternative and controversial topics. Also sells books, audiobooks, merchandise and event tickets through an…
Serves individual consumers interested in David Icke, alternative media and content on subjects described as censored elsewhere, including fans buying related books, merchandise and event tickets…
Financial Health
StrongStrong · Hiring · 26% CAGR over 4y
Location
UNIFIED SCHOLARS AND PUBLISHERS UK LTD.
Trajectory
2y · 2024–NowFinancial sub-scores
Computed from 2 filingsFinancial Health
DistressedDistressed
Location
Entrepreneurs Black Book Ltd
Trajectory
4y · 2021–NowFinancial sub-scores
Computed from 4 filingsFinancial Health
DistressedDistressed · 0% CAGR over 3y
Location
Creative Media Magazines Limited
Trajectory
5y · 2022–NowFinancial sub-scores
Computed from 5 filingsPublishes bespoke magazines for venues, exhibitions, and events, including parenting, hobby, and collector publications. Produces print magazines distributed at play centres, trade shows, and fairs,…
Serves B2B event and venue operators, including play centres, trade/consumer shows and exhibitions, plus advertisers seeking family, angling and toy-collector audiences reached through those venues…
Financial Health
HealthyHealthy · -6% CAGR over 4y
Location
BELLATORES PUBLISHING LTD
Trajectory
3y · 2023–NowFinancial sub-scores
Computed from 3 filingsFinancial Health
HealthyHealthy · 0% CAGR over 2y
Location
BLACK HILL BOOKS LTD
Trajectory
4y · 2022–NowFinancial sub-scores
Computed from 4 filingsPublishes and republishes genre fiction including horror, fantasy, children’s adventure and historical romance, with a primary focus on editions of works by author Guy N. Smith, releasing curated…
Sells to consumers who read genre fiction, especially fans of Guy N. Smith and readers of horror, fantasy, children’s adventure and historical romance, including long-time fans and new readers.
Financial Health
StrongStrong · 0% CAGR over 2y
Location
EPOCH COMICS LTD
Trajectory
3y · 2024–NowFinancial sub-scores
Computed from 3 filingsFinancial Health
WeakWeak · 0% CAGR over 2y
Location
BUMBLEGREEN STUDIO LIMITED
Trajectory
5y · 2021–NowFinancial sub-scores
Computed from 5 filingsFinancial Health
HealthyHealthy · 0% CAGR over 4y
Location
PEOPLE OF PRINT LTD
Trajectory
5y · 2021–NowFinancial sub-scores
Computed from 5 filingsFinancial Health
HealthyHealthy · 0% CAGR over 4y
Location
Burton Crown Ltd
Trajectory
5y · 2020–NowFinancial sub-scores
Computed from 5 filingsFinancial Health
WeakWeak · 0% CAGR over 4y
Location
DOXAPUBLISHINGS LIMITED
Trajectory
1y · 2024–NowFinancial Health
Insufficient historyInsufficient history
Location
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How Derby Publishing companies work and how to sell to them
What they do
Many Derby publishers earn revenue from a blend of reader payments, advertiser-funded inventory, rights income and service work. A single title or list may combine print editions, digital subscriptions, email newsletters, sponsored articles, event guides, book sales and permissions licensing. Pricing is usually transactional or recurring at a modest level: annual subscriptions, per-issue sales, advertisement rate cards, production fees, royalties and one-off design or editorial commissions. The operating model is part media owner, part production house. Editorial assets are created once, then repackaged across formats and channels, while cash flow still depends on timely print buying, renewals, advertiser bookings and distributor settlement.
Who they sell to
Their buyers are fragmented. Consumer-facing publishers sell direct to readers and through retail or trade channels, while professional and education publishers sell to marketing teams, subject specialists, librarians, training managers and procurement staff. Advertising-led titles usually speak to local or sector advertisers, where the budget holder may be an owner-manager, marketing manager or agency planner. Typical sales cycles are short for one-off advertising and copy sales, but longer where institutional subscriptions, educational resources or multi-title packages need budget approval. Self-serve web sales and direct email remain common, with personal selling still important where audience access or editorial credibility needs explaining.
What they buy
Most publishing firms tend to spend on tools and services that reduce manual handling between editorial, production, sales and fulfilment. Common categories include content management systems, subscription billing, CRM, email distribution, payment processing, audience analytics, ad booking, rights and royalty management, accounting, cyber security and cloud storage. They also buy print procurement, design, illustration, copy-editing, proofreading, indexing, distribution, mailing, legal advice and freelance editorial capacity. Smaller teams often prefer systems that replace spreadsheets without forcing a full operating change, especially where the same people handle list management, renewals, contributor payments and advertiser reporting.
Why and how to sell to them
Buying intent often appears when a publisher launches a title, moves a title behind paid access, changes print frequency, hires a commercial lead, takes on more contributors or starts selling to schools, employers or professional bodies. Pain points are usually practical: subscription churn, late advert copy, poor renewal visibility, rights clearance, royalty calculations, print cost exposure and audience reporting for sponsors. Sellers should lead with evidence that their category saves staff time, protects list value or makes revenue easier to forecast. The more credible pitches tend to reference publishing workflows directly, not generic small-business productivity claims.
How this list is built
Data sources
This list is built from UK Companies House filings, XBRL accounts data, and semantic analysis of each company's public website. Revenue and headcount figures come from the most recent filed accounts; where the company has not filed, values are estimated using a model trained on filed history and peer benchmarks and are labelled as estimates.
Classification
Rather than relying solely on SIC codes, Firmbase classifies each company semantically: the company's website is crawled, an AI model reads what the company actually sells, and the company is placed into the relevant industry and subsectors. SIC codes are used as one signal but not the only one. This means a company that registered under a generic SIC code but pivoted into (for example) fintech is correctly identified as fintech, not as its original SIC category.
Freshness
The underlying company data is refreshed from Companies House continuously; filings appear in the list within days of submission. The curated list ordering is regenerated when the underlying data moves meaningfully (company count changes by more than 5%, a new company enters the top-ranked segment, or the filed-revenue numbers for the top firms change). You can see the last-updated timestamp near the top of the page.
Also in Derby
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Frequently asked questions
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