LUATH PRESS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC077014 · ltd · incorporated 1981-12-17
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 Jan 2025
Net worth
£23.8k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Book publishing
Sector: Information & communication
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 68-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 68). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · oldest 34.5y

45/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 34.5 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

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
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
8 officers (2 active, 8 linked, 5 with DOB)
83
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
100 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
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
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £23,839

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£24k
~ YoY
Current Assets
£120k
↑ 3.4% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£24k£48k£72k£96k£120kJan 2024Jan 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-01-312024-01-31
Total assets£126.0k£120.2k
Current assets£120.2k£116.2k
Net assets£23.8k£23.8k

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
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (29 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-10-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-10-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-11-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-07-08
    📄
    mortgage-charge-whole-release-with-charge-number
    mortgage · MR05
  7. 2020-05-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-11-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-11-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2017-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-09-05
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  12. 2017-09-05
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  13. 2016-10-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-06-03
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-11-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2015-08-06
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2006-01-24
    ➕
    MACDOUGALL, Audrey Mary appointed
    secretary
  18. 2006-01-24
    ➖
    NAIRN, Aitken resigned
    secretary
  19. 1997-06-19
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  20. 1997-01-31
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  21. 1997-01-13
    ➕
    MACDOUGALL, Gavin Hamish appointed
    director
  22. 1997-01-13
    ➖
    ATKINSON, Irene Ada resigned
    secretary
  23. 1997-01-13
    ➕
    NAIRN, Aitken appointed
    secretary
  24. 1997-01-13
    ➖
    ATKINSON, Irene Ada resigned
    director
  25. 1997-01-13
    ➖
    ATKINSON, Thomas Wilfred resigned
    director
  26. 1997-01-07
    ➖
    ATKINSON, Deirdre resigned
    director
  27. 1997-01-07
    ➖
    ATKINSON, Fiona resigned
    director
  28. 1991-11-11
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  29. 1981-12-17
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As LUATH PRESS LIMITED

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 29 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 68 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

95/100
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 68. 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 29 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 44 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 Gavin Hamish Macdougall
Individual · United Kingdom · DOB 09/1958 · age 68
25–50%
—25-50% shares06/04/2016
Ms Audrey Mary Macdougall
Individual · Irish · DOB 08/1965 · age 61
25–50%
—25-50% shares06/04/2016

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

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
Incorporated1981-12-17
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC58110 — Book publishing

Registered office

543/2 Castlehill
Edinburgh
EH1 2ND

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-10-31
Last made up to: 2025-01-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-14
Last: 2025-05-31

Officers (2 active · 6 resigned)

MACDOUGALL, Audrey Mary→
secretary · appointed 2006-01-24
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MACDOUGALL, Gavin Hamish→
director · ~68y · appointed 1997-01-13
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ATKINSON, Irene Ada→
secretary · resigned 1997-01-13
Resigned
NAIRN, Aitken→
secretary · appointed 1997-01-13 · resigned 2006-01-24
Resigned
ATKINSON, Deirdre→
director · ~65y · resigned 1997-01-07
Resigned
ATKINSON, Fiona→
director · ~63y · resigned 1997-01-07
Resigned
ATKINSON, Irene Ada→
director · ~104y · resigned 1997-01-13
Resigned
ATKINSON, Thomas Wilfred→
director · ~104y · resigned 1997-01-13
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
Bond & floating charge1 property19/06/1997—
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
Bond & floating charge1 property11/11/199131/01/1997
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (100 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-10-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-10-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-10-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-10-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-11-29
mortgage-charge-whole-release-with-charge-number
mortgage · MR05
2021-07-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-06-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-05-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-11-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-06-04