A.P. PUBLICATIONS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
05903279 · ltd · incorporated 2006-08-11
Investment thesis
Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.
Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.
Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Dec 2024
Net worth
£-32.2k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other amusement and recreation activities n.e.c.
Sector: Arts, entertainment & recreation
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 70). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -46% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (76/100)

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 (3 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
53 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £32,195
Cash draining
Cash down 46% YoY
Cash YoY
-46%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£3k
↓ 46% YoY
Net Worth
-£32k
↑ 9.8% YoY
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
-£36k-£28k-£19k-£11k-£3k£5kDec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Total assets£-31.4k£-33.9k
Cash£2.6k£4.9k
Net assets£-32.2k£-35.7k

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 signals 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 (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-09-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-07-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-09-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-07-11
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  6. 2022-07-11
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  7. 2022-07-11
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  8. 2021-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-01-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-09-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-05-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-09-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2015-09-29
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  15. 2015-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2015-09-23
    ➕
    PATTERSON, Carmel Theresa appointed
    director
  17. 2006-08-11
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A.P. PUBLICATIONS LIMITED
  18. 2006-08-11
    ➕
    PATTERSON, Carmel Theresa appointed
    secretary
  19. 2006-08-11
    ➕
    PATTERSON, Steven Michael appointed
    director
  20. 2006-08-11
    ➕
    ACI SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  21. 2006-08-11
    ➖
    ACI SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-secretary
  22. 2006-08-11
    ➕
    ACI DIRECTORS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  23. 2006-08-11
    ➖
    ACI DIRECTORS LIMITED resigned
    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 20 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 70 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

89/100
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 70 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 20 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 20 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 Steven Michael Patterson
Individual · British · DOB 06/1956 · age 70
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control01/07/2016

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 →
🔒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
Incorporated2006-08-11
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC93290 — Other amusement and recreation activities n.e.c.

Registered office

5 Imperial Court
Laporte Way
Luton
Bedfordshire
LU4 8FE

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-25
Last: 2025-08-11

Officers (3 active · 2 resigned)

PATTERSON, Carmel Theresa→
secretary · appointed 2006-08-11
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
PATTERSON, Carmel Theresa→
director · ~70y · appointed 2015-09-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
PATTERSON, Steven Michael→
director · ~70y · appointed 2006-08-11
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ACI SECRETARIES LIMITED→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2006-08-11 · resigned 2006-08-11
Resigned
ACI DIRECTORS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2006-08-11 · resigned 2006-08-11
Resigned

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

Recent filings (53 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-09-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-07-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-11
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-07-11
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-07-11
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-07-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-01-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-01