BLUE GUIDES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
05038574 · ltd · incorporated 2004-02-09
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Book publishing
Sector: Information & communication
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 65). 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: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

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
7 officers (2 active, 7 linked, 1 with DOB)
73
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 4 total, 4 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
78 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£0Dec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Average employees00

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
3
filings
  • • 2 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 address
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (29 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-11
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  2. 2025-09-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2025-05-09
    📄
    appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP03
  4. 2025-05-09
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  5. 2025-05-01
    ➕
    GRACE, Peter appointed
    secretary
  6. 2025-05-01
    ➖
    DUDGEON, Mark Nicholas resigned
    secretary
  7. 2024-09-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2023-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2023-09-22
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  10. 2023-09-22
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  11. 2023-09-22
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  12. 2023-09-22
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  13. 2023-09-22
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  14. 2022-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2021-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2021-01-12
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  17. 2020-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  18. 2019-10-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  19. 2013-10-21
    ➕
    DUDGEON, Mark Nicholas appointed
    secretary
  20. 2013-10-21
    ➖
    GRACE, Peter Michael Vincent resigned
    secretary
  21. 2004-06-11
    ➕
    GRACE, Peter Michael Vincent appointed
    secretary
  22. 2004-06-11
    ➖
    BEVAN ASHFORD resigned
    corporate-secretary
  23. 2004-02-09
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As BLUE GUIDES LIMITED
  24. 2004-02-09
    ➕
    HOWELLS, Thomas appointed
    director
  25. 2004-02-09
    ➕
    BEVAN ASHFORD appointed
    corporate-secretary
  26. 2004-02-09
    ➕
    LONDON LAW SECRETARIAL LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  27. 2004-02-09
    ➖
    LONDON LAW SECRETARIAL LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  28. 2004-02-09
    ➕
    LONDON LAW SERVICES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  29. 2004-02-09
    ➖
    LONDON LAW SERVICES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

100/100
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 22 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

85/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 65. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 22 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Thomas Brinley Howells
Individual · British · DOB 03/1961 · age 65
50–75%
50–75%board control50-75% shares · 50-75% voting · board control31/03/2023
Mrs Annabel Brindley Howells
Individual · British · DOB 06/1965 · age 61
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting31/03/2023
2 historic (ceased) PSCs
  • Mr Thomas Brinley Howellsceased 31/03/2023· 50-75% shares · 50-75% voting · board control
  • Mr Paul Greatbatchceased 31/03/2023· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting

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

8 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
Incorporated2004-02-09
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC58110 — Book publishing

Registered office

Unit C
Corporation Street
Taunton
Somerset
TA1 4AW
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-25
Last: 2026-02-11

Officers (2 active · 5 resigned)

GRACE, Peter→
secretary · appointed 2025-05-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HOWELLS, Thomas→
director · ~65y · appointed 2004-02-09
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DUDGEON, Mark Nicholas→
secretary · appointed 2013-10-21 · resigned 2025-05-01
Resigned
GRACE, Peter Michael Vincent→
secretary · appointed 2004-06-11 · resigned 2013-10-21
Resigned
BEVAN ASHFORD→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2004-02-09 · resigned 2004-06-11
Resigned
LONDON LAW SECRETARIAL LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2004-02-09 · resigned 2004-02-09
Resigned
LONDON LAW SERVICES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2004-02-09 · resigned 2004-02-09
Resigned

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

Recent filings (78 total)

change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2026-03-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-09-24
appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
officers · AP03
2025-05-09
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2025-05-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-09-26
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-09-28
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2023-09-22
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2023-09-22
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-09-22
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2023-09-22
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2023-09-22