ABBEY PUBLISHING LTD

💤Zombieactive
08395671 · ltd · incorporated 2013-02-08
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 Feb 2025
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
74/100
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 74/100 (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 (78/100)

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
2 officers (1 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
31 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
74/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
55
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£0Feb 2024Feb 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-02-282024-02-29
Average employees1000

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

3 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
1
filing
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-11-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-02-16
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  5. 2023-02-16
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  6. 2022-11-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-11-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-11-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-11-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-06-06
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  13. 2017-02-09
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  14. 2017-02-01
    DAVINER, Sarah resigned
    director
  15. 2016-11-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2016-02-15
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2013-02-08
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ABBEY PUBLISHING LTD
  18. 2013-02-08
    SCRIVENS, James appointed
    director
  19. 2013-02-08
    DAVINER, Sarah appointed
    director

Owner dependency

75/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

58/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 13 years.
  • 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 James Richard Scrivens
Individual · British · DOB 07/1987 · age 39
75100%
75-100% shares17/08/2016

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
Incorporated2013-02-08
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC58142 — Publishing of consumer and business journals and periodicals

Registered office

19 Browning Close
Rushden
NN10 0YW
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-11-30
Last made up to: 2025-02-28
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-22
Last: 2026-02-08

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

SCRIVENS, James
director · ~39y · appointed 2013-02-08
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DAVINER, Sarah
director · ~50y · appointed 2013-02-08 · resigned 2017-02-01
Resigned

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

Recent filings (31 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-11-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-11-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-11-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-16
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-02-16
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-02-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-11-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-11-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-02-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-11-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-02-10