ABOUT PUBLISHING LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
04344194 · ltd · incorporated 2001-12-21
Investment thesis
Zombie company — trading but stalled; unlikely mover.
Why interesting: Quiet, steady; could be a succession or carve-out candidate with the right conversation.
Why risky: No growth signal; thin margin for error on price.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Publishing of consumer and business journals and periodicals
Sector: Information & communication
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Broaden director team. Sole director creates succession risk and reduces buyer comfort. Appoint a second director or strong #2. Most likely exit: strategic trade sale (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (75/100)

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
5 officers (1 active, 5 linked, 1 with DOB)
74
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
69 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
75/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
60
Some acquirability indicators.
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£0Mar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets—£0
Net assets—£0

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-12-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-12-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-12-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-12-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-12-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-02-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2018-12-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-01-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2017-01-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  11. 2016-10-25
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  12. 2016-10-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-09-09
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  14. 2016-08-16
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  15. 2016-03-01
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  16. 2011-10-01
    ➖
    HUXFORD, Tim resigned
    secretary
  17. 2003-03-31
    ➖
    PEN TO PAPER MARKETING SERVICES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-director
  18. 2001-12-21
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ABOUT PUBLISHING LIMITED
  19. 2001-12-21
    ➕
    WALKER, Joseph Michael appointed
    director
  20. 2001-12-21
    ➕
    HUXFORD, Tim appointed
    secretary
  21. 2001-12-21
    ➕
    QA REGISTRARS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 2001-12-21
    ➖
    QA REGISTRARS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 2001-12-21
    ➕
    PEN TO PAPER MARKETING SERVICES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-director
  24. 2001-12-21
    ➕
    QA NOMINEES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  25. 2001-12-21
    ➖
    QA NOMINEES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

85/100
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
  • +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

75/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 24 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 24 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Joseph Michael Walker
Individual · British · DOB 11/1971 · age 55
——sig. influencesignificant influence01/05/2016

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

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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 →
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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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2001-12-21
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC58142 — Publishing of consumer and business journals and periodicals

Registered office

29 Barnfield Road
Harpenden
AL5 5TH
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-07
Last: 2025-10-24

Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)

WALKER, Joseph Michael→
director · ~55y · appointed 2001-12-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HUXFORD, Tim→
secretary · appointed 2001-12-21 · resigned 2011-10-01
Resigned
QA REGISTRARS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2001-12-21 · resigned 2001-12-21
Resigned
PEN TO PAPER MARKETING SERVICES LIMITED→
corporate-director · appointed 2001-12-21 · resigned 2003-03-31
Resigned
QA NOMINEES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2001-12-21 · resigned 2001-12-21
Resigned

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

Recent filings (69 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-12-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-12-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-12-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-12-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-11-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-02-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-12-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-12-31