ADAMS PUBLISHING LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
07166027 · ltd · incorporated 2010-02-23
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
£-31.4k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Publishing of consumer and business journals and periodicals
Sector: Information & communication
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 77). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
Data confidence
Overall: high (80/100)Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.
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
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
36 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 declaredNegative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £31,376
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
-£31k
↓ 28% YoY
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-03-31 | 2024-03-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £-13.9k | £-9.9k |
| Current assets | — | £150 |
| Net assets | £-31.4k | £-24.6k |
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 confirmation-statement
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand
- 2025-12-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-08-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-04-28📄accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AAMD
- 2023-04-28📄accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AAMD
- 2023-04-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-11-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-12-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-03-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-03-08📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2019-12-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-12-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2017-12-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2016-12-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2016-03-23📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-12-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2010-02-23🏢Company incorporatedAs ADAMS PUBLISHING LIMITED
- 2010-02-23➕ADAMS, Stephen Andrew appointeddirector
- 2010-02-23➕OLDFIELD, Jakki appointeddirector
Owner dependency
100/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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.
- +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "ADAMS" — strong identity link between founder and business.
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 16 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 77 — succession pressure is live.
- +No director turnover: Company is 16 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.
Succession & seller-readiness
89/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 77 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 16 years.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 16 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
cleanNo 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| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Stephen Andrew Adams Individual · British · DOB 09/1955 · age 71 | 50–75% | 50–75% | 50-75% shares · 50-75% voting | 06/04/2016 |
Mrs Jakki Oldfield Individual · British · DOB 11/1949 · age 77 | 50–75% | 50–75% | 50-75% shares · 50-75% voting | 06/04/2016 |
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 →Similar companies
Active · Technology · CO postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACCKNOWLEDGE (UK) LIMITED→ 04999494 · est 2003 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 22y | — | — |
| ACORNS DIGITAL LTD→ 15860017 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ACSTATS LIMITED→ 08202713 · est 2012 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 13y | — | — |
| ADAM DRY IT LIMITED→ 08923836 · est 2014 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| AFFECT INTERACTIVE SPV2 LTD→ 15645345 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| AFFECT INTERACTIVE SPV3 LTD→ 15645483 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| AFRICAN AVIATION SERVICES LIMITED→ 03233008 · est 1996 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 29y | — | — |
| AFTERGLOW MEDIA LTD→ 10512447 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| AGATHIYAR LIMITED→ 08571142 · est 2013 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| AGENTWISE LTD→ 16796459 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| AGES LITERARY PROMOTIONS LTD→ 10950539 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| AGILE GECKO LIMITED→ 07263032 · est 2010 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 15y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2010-02-23
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC58142 — Publishing of consumer and business journals and periodicals
Registered office
26 Aldeburgh Gardens
Highwoods
Colchester
CO4 9XR
England
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-09
Last: 2026-02-23
Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)
ADAMS, Stephen Andrew→
Activedirector · ~71y · appointed 2010-02-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
OLDFIELD, Jakki→
Activedirector · ~77y · appointed 2010-02-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (36 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-12-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-08-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-23
accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AAMD
2023-04-28
accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AAMD
2023-04-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-04-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-11-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-03-15
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-03-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-03