US HISTORIC NEWSPAPERS ARCHIVES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC163097 · ltd · incorporated 1996-02-02
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
£208.3k
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 47620
Sector: Wholesale & retail
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 91011Library activities
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 75/100 (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: Discharge stale live charges. 2 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

3 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 29.0y

30/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 29.0 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

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, 2 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
3 charges (3/3 with lender, 3/3 with type)
90
Directors & officers
9 officers (1 active, 9 linked, 7 with DOB)
86
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
92 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
75/100Strong
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
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £208,252

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£208k
~ YoY
Current Assets
£111k
~ YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£42k£83k£125k£167k£208kDec 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£100.0k£106.1k
Current assets£110.6k£110.1k
Net assets£208.3k£206.6k

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 officers
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (40 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-02-09
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  2. 2026-01-30
    ➖
    DRUCE, Philip John resigned
    director
  3. 2025-12-11
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  4. 2025-10-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2025-03-20
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  6. 2024-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2024-01-15
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  8. 2024-01-13
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  9. 2024-01-13
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  10. 2024-01-13
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  11. 2024-01-13
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  12. 2024-01-01
    ➖
    DRUCE, John Michael resigned
    secretary
  13. 2024-01-01
    ➖
    DRUCE, John Michael resigned
    director
  14. 2023-12-31
    ➕
    DRUCE, Patrick William appointed
    director
  15. 2023-12-31
    ➕
    DRUCE, Philip John appointed
    director
  16. 2023-10-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  17. 2022-10-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  18. 2021-11-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  19. 2021-05-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  20. 2019-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  21. 2019-06-13
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  22. 2019-06-13
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  23. 2019-06-13
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  24. 2016-02-08
    ➖
    DRUCE, Robert Anthony resigned
    director
  25. 2016-02-08
    ➖
    GILBERT, Edward resigned
    director
  26. 2016-02-08
    ➖
    HEYDON, Peter Northrup, Dr resigned
    director
  27. 2012-04-20
    ➖
    DRUCE, Patrick William resigned
    director
  28. 2004-09-09
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #2
  29. 2003-11-24
    🔒
    Charge registered #3
    Lender: Bibby Factors Scotland Limited
  30. 2002-04-15
    ➕
    GILBERT, Edward appointed
    director
  31. 2002-03-22
    ➕
    HEYDON, Peter Northrup, Dr appointed
    director
  32. 2002-03-04
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
  33. 2002-01-05
    ➕
    DRUCE, Robert Anthony appointed
    director
  34. 1997-06-17
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
  35. 1996-02-02
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As US HISTORIC NEWSPAPERS ARCHIVES LIMITED
  36. 1996-02-02
    ➕
    DRUCE, John Michael appointed
    secretary
  37. 1996-02-02
    ➕
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  38. 1996-02-02
    ➖
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  39. 1996-02-02
    ➕
    DRUCE, John Michael appointed
    director
  40. 1996-02-02
    ➕
    DRUCE, Patrick William 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

45/100
Moderate signal

Some succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Patrick William Druce
Individual · British · DOB 02/1970 · age 56
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting11/12/2025
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr John Michael Druceceased 06/02/2024· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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SC052082 · est 1972
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——24953y8876y
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SC246487 · est 2003
£87.3k
£65.5k–£109.1k
——1223y8262y
CALMAC DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED→
SC084696 · est 1983
——£3.65M—42y8275y
GRANITE WORKS LIMITED→
SC204911 · est 2000
——£999.8k—26y8258y
HOME & GARDENS LIMITED→
SC281966 · est 2005
——£2.17M—21y8268y
MONAGHAN JEWELLERS LIMITED→
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———170022y8273y
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——£263.4k—24y8276y
R. BARBOUR & SONS. LIMITED→
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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
Incorporated1996-02-02
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC47620 — SIC 47620

Registered office

Baldoon Stores
Wigtown
Newton Stewart
DG8 9AF
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-16
Last: 2026-02-02

Officers (1 active · 8 resigned)

DRUCE, Patrick William→
director · ~56y · appointed 2023-12-31
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DRUCE, John Michael→
secretary · appointed 1996-02-02 · resigned 2024-01-01
Resigned
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1996-02-02 · resigned 1996-02-02
Resigned
DRUCE, John Michael→
director · ~94y · appointed 1996-02-02 · resigned 2024-01-01
Resigned
DRUCE, Patrick William→
director · ~56y · appointed 1996-02-02 · resigned 2012-04-20
Resigned
DRUCE, Philip John→
director · ~66y · appointed 2023-12-31 · resigned 2026-01-30
Resigned
DRUCE, Robert Anthony→
director · ~87y · appointed 2002-01-05 · resigned 2016-02-08
Resigned
GILBERT, Edward→
director · ~104y · appointed 2002-04-15 · resigned 2016-02-08
Resigned
HEYDON, Peter Northrup, Dr→
director · ~86y · appointed 2002-03-22 · resigned 2016-02-08
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

3
Total charges
2
Outstanding
2
Active lenders
Status:Lender:3 of 3 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Bibby Financial Services
Bibby Factors Scotland Limited
Floating charge1 property24/11/2003—
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
Bond & floating charge1 property04/03/200209/09/2004
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
Bond & floating charge1 property17/06/1997—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (92 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-12
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2026-02-09
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2025-12-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-10-01
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-20
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2025-03-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-10-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-11
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-01-15
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2024-01-13
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2024-01-13
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2024-01-13
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2024-01-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-10-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-07