AO: who owns it, who runs it and what the accounts show
Ao World PLC is owned by its shareholders: as a listed company it has no single person with significant control on the register. In the year to March 2026 it reported turnover of £1,267m.
- In the year to March 2026, AO had turnover of £1,267m, up 11.3% on the year before.
- It made a pre-tax profit of £51m, keeping £3.99 of every £100 of sales.
- It employed an average of 2,892 people, with staff costs of £147m.
- Ao World PLC is listed on the stock market, so it is owned by its shareholders.
- These figures are from Ao World PLC's group accounts for the year to March 2026, filed at Companies House on 2 October 2026.
- Registered name
- AO WORLD PLC
- Company number
- 05525751
- Status
- Active
- Incorporated
- 2 August 2005
- Registered office area
- Bolton
- Industry code on the register
- 70100: Activities of head offices; management consultancy activities
- Accounts
- Group accounts, covering the companies it owns
- Accounts type
- Full group accounts
- Latest accounts
- Year to March 2026, filed 2 October 2026
What does AO do?
AO is an online retailer selling household electrical appliances such as washing machines, fridges, cookers and televisions, mainly through its website AO.com. It makes money from product sales, delivery and installation charges, and extended warranty plans, using its own delivery fleet. It also collects and recycles old appliances. The business was founded in Bolton in 1994 as Appliances Online and is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
In brief: online electricals retailer · own delivery and installation · appliance recycling · listed
Source: Spark Intel editorial, checked 24 September 2026. Official website: ao.com.
Who owns AO?
Ao World PLC, company number 05525751, has no person with significant control on the register. That is normal for a company whose shares trade on a regulated market: ownership sits with the shareholders who hold the shares at any given time.
The full ownership record is on the Companies House register. Control is given in the bands the register uses, not as exact shareholdings.
Who runs AO?
The Companies House register lists 8 current officers for Ao World PLC.
All 8 current officers
| Officer | Appointed |
|---|---|
| John Charles Roberts | 2 August 2005 |
| Julie Angela Louise Finnemore | 18 July 2014 |
| Jonathan Mark Stephen Higgins | 1 August 2015 |
| Geoffrey Ian Cooper | 1 July 2016 |
| Shaun McCabe | 24 July 2018 |
| Peter Paul Pritchard | 1 October 2022 |
| Sarah Louise Venning | 1 November 2022 |
| Sophie Alice Tomkins | 1 September 2025 |
Every current officer, with appointment dates, is on the Companies House register.
What did AO file?
Ao World PLC reported turnover of £1,267m in the year to March 2026. That was up 11.3% on £1,138m the year before.
It reported 2,892 employees. The year before it reported 3,140.
It filed a pre-tax profit of £51m for the year, against a pre-tax profit of £21m the year before.
Staff costs came to £147m. That is an average of £51,000 a head. It ended the year with £81m at the bank and net assets of £176m.
| Measure | Mar 2026 | Mar 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Turnover | £1,267m | £1,138m |
| Pre-tax profit | £51m (filed) | £21m (filed) |
| Employees | 2,892 | 3,140 |
| Staff costs | £147m | £133m |
| Average staff cost per head | £51,000 | £42,000 |
| Bank and cash | £81m | £27m |
| Net assets | £176m | £145m |
| Interest paid | £6m | |
| Interest received | £7m | |
| Directors' pay | £1.7m |
Read the accounts to March 2026 (PDF, Companies House) · every accounts filing
What do these figures mean? Turnover vs profit · Profit per £100 · Cash vs profit · Net assets · Group accounts
Are there any charges against AO?
Ao World PLC has registered 6 charges at Companies House, and all of them have since been satisfied. A charge is security a lender takes over a company's assets; one is satisfied when the lending behind it is repaid or released.
Each charge, with its holder and dates, is on the Companies House register.
AO files as Ao World PLC, with turnover of £1,267m in its latest filed year.
Questions about AO
What does AO do?
AO is an online retailer selling household electrical appliances such as washing machines, fridges, cookers and televisions, mainly through its website AO.com. It makes money from product sales, delivery and installation charges, and extended warranty plans, using its own delivery fleet. It also collects and recycles old appliances. The business was founded in Bolton in 1994 as Appliances Online and is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Who owns AO?
Ao World PLC is owned by its shareholders. As a listed company it is exempt from the register of people with significant control, so no single owner appears at Companies House.
How much does AO make?
Ao World PLC reported turnover of £1,267m in the year to March 2026. It filed a pre-tax profit of £51m.
How many people work at AO?
Ao World PLC reported 2,892 employees in the year to March 2026.
Who runs AO?
The Companies House register lists 8 current officers for Ao World PLC. The full list, with appointment dates, is on the Companies House register.
- Figures come from Ao World PLC's filings at Companies House, company number 05525751, for the period shown at the top of the page.
- These are group accounts: they include the companies it owns.
- Pre-tax profit is the figure the company filed, for both years.
- A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d. A zero in the filing is treated as not disclosed, never as nil.
- Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, from £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, from £2m to the nearest million.
- Ownership is shown in the control bands the register of people with significant control uses, not as exact shareholdings.
- Officers' names and appointment dates come from the Companies House register. Job titles come from the company's own website. The description of what the company does comes from its website, or is marked Spark Intel editorial where it is written from stable, checked facts, with the date either way.
Spark Intel, “AO: who owns it, who runs it and what the accounts show”, updated 6 November 2026. https://www.spark-intel.co.uk/companies/ao/. Figures from Companies House filings for AO WORLD PLC (05525751).
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