BOOKS NOIR LTD.

💤Zombieactive
SC233425 · ltd · incorporated 2002-06-28
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 Sept 2024
Net worth
£8.4k
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 63-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 63). 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

1 live charge · oldest 20.8y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 20.8 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (76/100)

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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 1 with DOB)
74
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
62 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 · FRS 105 (micro)
Positive net assets
Net assets £8,430

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£8k
↑ 7.9% YoY
Current Assets
£59k
↑ 41% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£12k£24k£35k£47k£59kSept 2023Sept 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2024-09-302023-09-30
Total assets£11.3k£13.2k
Current assets£58.8k£41.7k
Net assets£8.4k£7.8k

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 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
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-07-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-06-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-06-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-07-19
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  5. 2022-07-19
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  6. 2022-07-19
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  7. 2022-06-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-06-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-09-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-06-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-06-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-07-19
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  13. 2017-06-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-06-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-06-28
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2015-07-23
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2005-07-21
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
  18. 2002-11-14
    ➕
    MCROBERT, William appointed
    secretary
  19. 2002-07-01
    ➕
    SMITH, Robin appointed
    director
  20. 2002-06-28
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As BOOKS NOIR LTD.
  21. 2002-06-28
    ➕
    PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 2002-06-28
    ➖
    PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD. resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 2002-06-28
    ➕
    PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  24. 2002-06-28
    ➖
    PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD. resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  25. 2002-06-28
    ➕
    PETER TRAINER COMPANY SERVICES LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  26. 2002-06-28
    ➖
    PETER TRAINER COMPANY SERVICES LTD. resigned
    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 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 63 — approaching natural succession window.

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 63. 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 24 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 24 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%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Robin Smith
Individual · British · DOB 09/1963 · age 63
75–100%
—75-100% shares · firm interest01/10/2016

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
Incorporated2002-06-28
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC58110 — Book publishing

Registered office

27 Lauriston Street
Edinburgh
EH3 9DQ

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-06-30
Last made up to: 2024-09-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-22
Last: 2025-07-08

Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)

MCROBERT, William→
secretary · appointed 2002-11-14
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SMITH, Robin→
director · ~63y · appointed 2002-07-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD.→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2002-06-28 · resigned 2002-06-28
Resigned
PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD.→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2002-06-28 · resigned 2002-06-28
Resigned
PETER TRAINER COMPANY SERVICES LTD.→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2002-06-28 · resigned 2002-06-28
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Virgin Money
Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
Floating charge1 property21/07/2005—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (62 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-07-15
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-06-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-06-26
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-28
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-07-19
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-07-19
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-07-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-06-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-06-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-09-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-07-15