INSTITUTE OF LOCAL TELEVISION

💤Zombieactive

SC186051 · private-limited-guarant-nsc-limited-exemption · incorporated 1998-05-22

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 Mar 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Other publishing activities

Sector: Information & communication

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

60200Television programming and broadcasting activities
90030Artistic creation

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 76-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 76). 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: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

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, 3 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

5 officers (1 active, 5 linked, 3 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

1 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

64 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

—

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
Average employees	1	100

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand

2025-12-07
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-12-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-12-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-12
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-10-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-03-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-12-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-12-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-05-01
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2017-12-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-12-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-06-02
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-no-member-list
annual-return · AR01
2016-02-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-02-10
📄
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2015-06-01
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-no-member-list
annual-return · AR01
2015-01-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2008-12-01
➖
GRAY, Stephen Mckinley resigned
secretary
2006-05-01
➕
GRAY, Stephen Mckinley appointed
secretary
2006-05-01
➖
RUSHTON, David, Dr resigned
secretary
2005-05-28
➖
MACPHERSON, Robin David Cameron resigned
director
2001-12-08
➖
DUFFUS, John resigned
director
1998-05-22
🏢
Company incorporated
As INSTITUTE OF LOCAL TELEVISION
1998-05-22
➕
RUSHTON, David, Dr appointed
director
1998-05-22
➕
RUSHTON, David, Dr appointed
secretary
1998-05-22
➕
DUFFUS, John appointed
director
1998-05-22
➕
MACPHERSON, Robin David Cameron appointed
director

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 28 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 76 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

100/100

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 76 years old. Natural succession window is now.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 28 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 28 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

1 active beneficial owner

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Dr David Rushton Individual · British · DOB 04/1950 · age 76	—	—	sig. influencesignificant influence	30/06/2016

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 · DG postcode area

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CARERS CENTRES PROJECT FOR DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY→ SC166447 · est 1996 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	29y	81	88y
DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY CITIZENS ADVICE SERVICE→ SC179254 · est 1997 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	28y	81	92y
E-ARCHITECT LIMITED→ SC355526 · est 2009	—	—	—	200	17y	81	58y
MONACT LIMITED→ SC330480 · est 2007	—	—	—	200	18y	81	64y
POCKET MOUNTAINS LIMITED→ SC230391 · est 2002	—	—	—	400	24y	81	58y
A. R. L. SOFTWARE LIMITED→ SC307894 · est 2006	—	—	—	100	19y	80	61y
ALPHAMAX SYSTEMS LIMITED→ SC313680 · est 2006	—	—	—	0	19y	80	66y
BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA SERVICES LIMITED→ SC154602 · est 1994	—	—	£1.52M	—	31y	80	68y
CALVERLEY DALGETTY LIMITED→ SC338928 · est 2008	—	—	—	200	18y	80	62y
COOPLAND CONSULTANCY LTD.→ SC264061 · est 2004	—	—	£30.9k	—	22y	80	60y
DARTH IT LIMITED→ SC370641 · est 2010	—	—	£269.1k	—	16y	80	58y
GRANT IT CONSULTANTS LIMITED→ SC287344 · est 2005	—	—	£12.9k	—	20y	80	62y

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

Typeprivate-limited-guarant-nsc-limited-exemption

Incorporated1998-05-22

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC58190 — Other publishing activities

Registered office

Merz

Queens Road

Sanquhar

DG4 6DH

Scotland

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-12-31

Last made up to: 2025-03-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-05-15

Last: 2025-05-01

Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)

RUSHTON, David, Dr→

director · ~76y · appointed 1998-05-22

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

GRAY, Stephen Mckinley→

secretary · appointed 2006-05-01 · resigned 2008-12-01

Resigned

RUSHTON, David, Dr→

secretary · appointed 1998-05-22 · resigned 2006-05-01

Resigned

DUFFUS, John→

director · ~92y · appointed 1998-05-22 · resigned 2001-12-08

Resigned

MACPHERSON, Robin David Cameron→

director · ~67y · appointed 1998-05-22 · resigned 2005-05-28

Resigned

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