WORLD MEDIA (UK) LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
04269998 · ltd · incorporated 2001-08-14
Investment thesis
Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.
Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.
Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.
Opportunity decay
hardening · 12-months
Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.
  • · Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Aug 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: News agency activities
Sector: Information & communication
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 81-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 81). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: strategic trade sale (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (78/100)

Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.

Company profile
address, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
7 officers (3 active, 7 linked, 3 with DOB)
79
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
62 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Aug 2023Aug 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-08-312023-08-31
Average employees100100

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

🔒Filing-note intelligence

1 signal detected in this company's narrative notes — going-concern language, audit opinion, contingent liabilities, related-party transactions.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (27 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-07-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-05-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-05-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-05-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-05-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-05-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-05-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2018-05-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2017-05-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  10. 2016-04-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  11. 2015-08-20
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  12. 2015-05-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2014-09-24
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2014-06-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2013-09-13
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2008-07-10
    ➕
    DARWISH, Leila appointed
    secretary
  17. 2008-07-10
    ➖
    DARWISH, Olga Victoria resigned
    secretary
  18. 2008-01-15
    ➖
    DARWISH, Olga Victoria resigned
    director
  19. 2001-11-06
    ➕
    DARWISH, Adel appointed
    director
  20. 2001-11-06
    ➕
    DARWISH, Leila appointed
    director
  21. 2001-11-06
    ➕
    DARWISH, Olga Victoria appointed
    secretary
  22. 2001-11-06
    ➖
    PF & S (SECRETARIES) LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 2001-11-06
    ➕
    DARWISH, Olga Victoria appointed
    director
  24. 2001-11-06
    ➖
    PF & S (DIRECTORS) LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  25. 2001-08-14
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As WORLD MEDIA (UK) LIMITED
  26. 2001-08-14
    ➕
    PF & S (SECRETARIES) LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  27. 2001-08-14
    ➕
    PF & S (DIRECTORS) LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

91/100
Critical — business is the founder

The business appears inseparable from the founder. Acquisition without a serious earn-out or meaningful transition period would likely destroy value.

FACTORS
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 81 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

96/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 81 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 24 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 25 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
  • supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.

Red flags

clean
No red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Adel Darwish
Individual · British · DOB 02/1945 · age 81
75–100%
—75-100% shares01/08/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

🔒Co-director network graph

Radial SVG graph showing every company connected via shared directors, colour-coded by status.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

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1234 MD LIMITED→
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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

7 specific questions generated from this company's actual signals — liquidity, leverage, director age, charge count, red flags, age-of-company.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →
🔒Advanced scoring suite

Exit-route ranking, improvement thesis, quiet-distress detector, covenant-pressure proxy, extraction monitor, approaching triggers, ownership drift, local cluster, value trap, debt capacity, archetype classification — 48+ scoring modules.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2001-08-14
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC63910 — News agency activities

Registered office

75 Maygrove Road
West Hampstead
London
NW6 2EG

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-05-31
Last made up to: 2024-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-28
Last: 2025-08-14

Officers (3 active · 4 resigned)

DARWISH, Leila→
secretary · appointed 2008-07-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DARWISH, Adel→
director · ~81y · appointed 2001-11-06
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DARWISH, Leila→
director · ~47y · appointed 2001-11-06
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DARWISH, Olga Victoria→
secretary · appointed 2001-11-06 · resigned 2008-07-10
Resigned
PF & S (SECRETARIES) LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2001-08-14 · resigned 2001-11-06
Resigned
DARWISH, Olga Victoria→
director · ~56y · appointed 2001-11-06 · resigned 2008-01-15
Resigned
PF & S (DIRECTORS) LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2001-08-14 · resigned 2001-11-06
Resigned

Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.

Recent filings (62 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-07-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-05-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-05-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-05-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-08-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-05-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-08-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-05-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2018-08-16