Aardman cuts annual loss to £1.1m but remains in the red
Aardman narrowed its annual loss to £1.1m in 2025 but failed to return to profit as it had hoped. The Bristol-based, employee-owned animation studio said production delays, weaker income in some areas and a challenging market for children’s content weighed on its results.
Revenue rose 8% to £20.4m, while the loss fell from £4.1m the previous year. Staff numbers dropped from 297 to 230, and a strategic review in early 2026 led to several redundancies. Aardman cited inflation and generative AI as challenges, while saying the technology should support rather than replace human creativity. Its recent successes include the Bafta-winning *Vengeance Most Fowl*; new projects include a third *Shaun the Sheep* film.
- Aardman’s 2025 loss narrowed to £1.1m.
- Revenue rose 8% to £20.4m.
- Staff cuts and production delays weighed on the studio.
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Aardman is an animation studio based in Bristol, best known for creating Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep. It is employee-owned, meaning its staff have a stake in the company.
The studio makes films and television programmes, and earns money from production work and related rights. Its finances can be affected by how long projects take, demand for children’s content and the cost of making productions.
Aardman’s results matter to its staff and to the future of its projects. The wider animation industry is also adapting to rising costs and generative AI, which can create images and other material using computer systems.
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Originally published by The Guardian as “Wallace & Gromit maker Aardman falls short of return to profit”.