VS Series
Chester Zoo v Yorkshire Wildlife Park
The conservation charity against the private wildlife park
Chester Zoo leads on turnover, growth and net assets; Yorkshire Wildlife Park on pre-tax profit and profit margin. Chester Zoo is the biggest by turnover at £71m, against £24m at Yorkshire Wildlife Park. Yorkshire Wildlife Park keeps more of every £100 it takes, £19.42 as pre-tax profit.
The year ends are up to 13 months apart, so this compares each company's most recent filing rather than the same twelve months. Chester Zoo files group accounts that include subsidiaries; Yorkshire Wildlife Park files for a single company, which flatters the group on size.
Accounts compared: Chester Zoo to Dec 2025 · Yorkshire Wildlife Park to Nov 2024
Who they are
Chester Zoo
North of England Zoological Society (The) · 00287902The North of England Zoological Society is the conservation charity that runs Chester Zoo.In brief: zoo charity · conservation breeding · tickets and membershipsFull profile →Yorkshire Wildlife Park
Wild Life Group Limited · 06531168Wild Life Group runs Yorkshire Wildlife Park, a wildlife park and resort near Doncaster that opened in 2009.In brief: wildlife park resort · South Yorkshire · admissions and hotel staysFull profile →The Numbers
The leader on each measure is marked. Movements are against each company's own prior year. Pre-tax profit is filed except where marked (est.).
Category winners
Biggest by turnover
Chester Zoo
£71m
Most pre-tax profit
Yorkshire Wildlife Park
£5m (est.)
Highest profit margin
Yorkshire Wildlife Park
19.4%
Fastest-growing turnover
Chester Zoo
+11.7%
Biggest employer
Chester Zoo
684 staff
Highest pay per head
Chester Zoo
£44,000
Most turnover per head
Chester Zoo
£103,000
Largest net assets
Chester Zoo
£65m
Most cash
Chester Zoo
£5m
The Takeaway
- Yorkshire Wildlife Park converts the most of its turnover. Of every £100, £19.42 reaches pre-tax profit, against a loss of £0.99 at Chester Zoo.
- Chester Zoo is the largest on the top line, £71m of turnover, 3.0x Yorkshire Wildlife Park's £24m.
- Chester Zoo is growing fastest, turnover +11.7% on its own prior year.
- Chester Zoo is the biggest employer with 684 people; Chester Zoo pays the most per head, an average staff cost of about £44,000.
- Chester Zoo has the largest balance sheet, net assets of £65m.
Who keeps the most of every £100 of sales?
Yorkshire Wildlife Park keeps the most: £19.42 of every £100 of turnover becomes pre-tax profit. Chester Zoo does worst, losing £0.99.
Yorkshire Wildlife Park files small accounts with no profit and loss account, so its profit is a Spark estimate from the balance sheet and marked (est.). The rest are filed figures.
The chart splits each company's turnover into £100: what goes on people, on interest and on everything else, and what is left as profit.
Out of every £100 of turnover
Each column is £100 of that company's own turnover, so companies of any size compare on one scale; the figures are pounds out of each £100, not millions. Companies run from the best margin to the worst. Payroll is staff costs, financing is interest paid, other running costs are everything else, and profit is pre-tax profit, filed or estimated as marked in the table. A loss is not an extra cost: it is the part of the costs that runs past the £100 line, marked with a red bracket. Hover over any segment for its figure.
Who is the biggest, and does the comparison hold?
By turnover the order is Chester Zoo (£71m), Yorkshire Wildlife Park (£24m).
By headcount, Chester Zoo leads with 684 employees.
The comparison holds with the dates stated plainly: Chester Zoo to Dec 2025, Yorkshire Wildlife Park to Nov 2024. The bases differ: group accounts include the businesses a company owns, single-company accounts do not.
Turnover on the latest filing
Who is growing fastest?
Chester Zoo grew fastest, turnover +11.7% on its own prior year, ahead of Yorkshire Wildlife Park (+9.2%).
Turnover change on each company's own prior year
Who employs the most, who pays the most, and who brings in the most per head?
Chester Zoo employs the most, 684 people, against 382 at Yorkshire Wildlife Park.
Chester Zoo has the highest average staff cost, about £44,000 a head; Yorkshire Wildlife Park the lowest, about £22,000.
Chester Zoo brings in the most turnover per employee, about £103,000, against £62,000 at Yorkshire Wildlife Park. It says as much about the business model as the workforce: a marketplace or a wholesaler needs far fewer people per pound than a restaurant or a gym.
Who owns each one?
Ownership as recorded on the Companies House register of people with significant control, in the bands the register uses.
No controller recorded
The register shows no person with significant control. 2 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns Chester Zoo →
Wild Life Group Limited · 06531168Held by Bgf Gp Limited
A company recorded as a person with significant control. 3 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns Yorkshire Wildlife Park →
What does the full ledger show?
| Measure | Chester Zoo | Yorkshire Wildlife Park |
|---|---|---|
| Registered name | NORTH OF ENGLAND ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY (THE) | WILD LIFE GROUP LIMITED |
| Company number | 00287902 | 06531168 |
| Incorporated | 1934 | 2008 |
| Accounts filed | 21 September 2026 | 29 November 2025 |
| Turnover, prior year | £63m | £22m |
| Pre-tax profit, prior year | £2m | n/d |
| Staff costs | £30m | £8m |
| Payroll share of turnover | 42.9% | 35.1% |
| Employees, prior year | 664 | 381 |
| Dividends paid | n/d | n/d |
| Charges outstanding | 2 | 3 |
A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d; a zero in a filing is treated as not disclosed. Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, above that to the nearest million.
Chester Zoo v Yorkshire Wildlife Park: common questions
Who is the biggest of Chester Zoo or Yorkshire Wildlife Park?
Chester Zoo, with turnover of £71m in the year to December 2025.
Which makes the most profit?
Yorkshire Wildlife Park: £5m pre-tax (a Spark estimate) in the year to November 2024.
Which employs the most people?
Chester Zoo, with 684 employees in its latest accounts.
Chester Zoo or Yorkshire Wildlife Park: which is bigger?
Chester Zoo, with turnover of £71m against £24m at Yorkshire Wildlife Park on their latest filings. On margin, Yorkshire Wildlife Park keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit. The full head to head is in the VS Series. Read the VS page →
Where do these figures come from?
Each company's latest accounts filed at Companies House. Each links to its full Spark Intel profile, which names the filing it comes from.
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