A5 MAGAZINES LTD.

🌳Matureactive
06847396 · ltd · incorporated 2009-03-16
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
—
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Turnover
—
year to Jul 2025
Net worth
£15.3k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Publishing of directories and mailing lists
Sector: Information & communication
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 72-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 72). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -35% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (79/100)

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
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 4 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
44 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
Positive net assets
Net assets £15,273
Cash YoY
-35%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£6k
↓ 35% YoY
Net Worth
£15k
↑ 2048% YoY
Current Assets
£44k
↑ 25% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£9k£18k£26k£35k£44kJul 2024Jul 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-07-312024-07-31
Total assets£15.3k£5.2k
Current assets£44.1k£35.2k
Cash£6.1k£9.4k
Debtors£38.0k£25.8k
Net assets£15.3k£711

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
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-04-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-04-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-03-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-04-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-10-16
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  8. 2020-09-19
    ➖
    BOWERS, Martin George resigned
    director
  9. 2020-04-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2020-03-31
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  11. 2020-03-30
    ➕
    BOWERS, Martin George appointed
    director
  12. 2019-04-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-04-25
    📄
    capital-allotment-shares
    capital · SH01
  14. 2018-04-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-04-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2017-03-23
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  17. 2017-03-10
    ➖
    WALKER, Dennis John, Mr. resigned
    director
  18. 2016-05-01
    ➕
    WALKER, Dennis John, Mr. appointed
    director
  19. 2012-03-16
    ➕
    BOWERS, Anne Elizabeth appointed
    director
  20. 2009-03-16
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A5 MAGAZINES LTD.
  21. 2009-03-16
    ➕
    BOWERS, Alan Geoffrey, Mr. appointed
    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 17 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 72 — 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 72 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 17 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 17 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr. Alan Geoffrey Bowers
Individual · British · DOB 10/1954 · age 72
25–50%
25–50%board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control06/04/2016
Mrs Anne Elizabeth Bowers
Individual · British · DOB 04/1965 · age 61
25–50%
25–50%board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control06/04/2016

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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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
Incorporated2009-03-16
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC58120 — Publishing of directories and mailing lists

Registered office

17 Millcroft Way
Handsacre
Rugeley
Staffordshire
WS15 4TE

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-04-30
Last made up to: 2025-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-05-09
Last: 2026-04-25

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

BOWERS, Alan Geoffrey, Mr.→
director · ~72y · appointed 2009-03-16
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BOWERS, Anne Elizabeth→
director · ~61y · appointed 2012-03-16
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BOWERS, Martin George→
director · ~26y · appointed 2020-03-30 · resigned 2020-09-19
Resigned
WALKER, Dennis John, Mr.→
director · ~99y · appointed 2016-05-01 · resigned 2017-03-10
Resigned

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

Recent filings (44 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-04-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-04-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-04-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-03-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-04-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-26
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-04-30
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2020-10-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-04-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-04-21