STORY MILL FILMS LTD

💤Zombieactive

SC216284 · ltd · incorporated 2001-03-01

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: Video production activities

Sector: Information & communication

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 62-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 62). 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 (75/100)

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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

57 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 · FRS 102

Metric	2025-03-31	2024-03-31

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand

2025-12-05
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-11-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-12-07
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-11-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-12-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-06-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2019-12-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2018-12-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2017-12-04
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2016-12-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2016-03-06
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-12-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2015-03-16
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-12-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-03-17
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2001-03-18
➕
NIVEN, Charles Ian appointed
secretary
2001-03-18
➕
NIVEN, Andrew Bruce Alan appointed
director
2001-03-06
➖
FORM 10 SECRETARIES FD LTD resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2001-03-06
➖
FORM 10 DIRECTORS FD LTD resigned
corporate-nominee-director
2001-03-01
🏢
Company incorporated
As STORY MILL FILMS LTD
2001-03-01
➕
FORM 10 SECRETARIES FD LTD appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2001-03-01
➕
FORM 10 DIRECTORS FD LTD appointed
corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

93/100

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 25 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 62 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

85/100

Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS

secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 62. Early succession window.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 25 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 25 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 · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Andrew Bruce Alan Niven Individual · British · DOB 08/1964 · age 62	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	06/04/2016

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

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TRIPLE H MEDIA LIMITED→ SC397297 · est 2011 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	15y	—	—
TV SQUARED LIMITED→ SC421072 · est 2012 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	14y	—	—
TWEED TYNE TECHNOLOGIES LTD→ SC874131 · est 2026 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
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UTROPOLIS LTD→ SC754576 · est 2023 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
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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

Incorporated2001-03-01

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC59112 — Video production activities

Registered office

6 Keith Marischal Steading

Humbie

East Lothian

EH36 5PA

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-12-31

Last made up to: 2025-03-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-03-15

Last: 2026-03-01

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

NIVEN, Charles Ian→

secretary · appointed 2001-03-18

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

NIVEN, Andrew Bruce Alan→

director · ~62y · appointed 2001-03-18

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

FORM 10 SECRETARIES FD LTD→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2001-03-01 · resigned 2001-03-06

Resigned

FORM 10 DIRECTORS FD LTD→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2001-03-01 · resigned 2001-03-06

Resigned

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