MCLAREN CROSSWORDS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC248950 · ltd · incorporated 2003-05-07

Investment thesis

Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.

Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.

Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.

Opportunity decay

hardening · 12-months

Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.

· Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Mar 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch

What this business does

Primary activity: Other publishing activities

Sector: Information & communication

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 73-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 73). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: strategic trade sale (73/100).

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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

6 officers (3 active, 6 linked, 2 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

55 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

2025-11-03
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-09-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-10-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-10-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-11-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-08-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-10-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-11-07
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-10-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-11-08
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-06-21
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2016-06-21
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-08-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-05-12
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-09-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-05-13
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2003-05-07
🏢
Company incorporated
As MCLAREN CROSSWORDS LIMITED
2003-05-07
➕
MCLAREN, Gwyneth Isabelle appointed
secretary
2003-05-07
➕
MCLAREN, Gwyneth Isabelle appointed
director
2003-05-07
➕
MCLAREN, James appointed
director
2003-05-07
➕
PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD. appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2003-05-07
➖
PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD. resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2003-05-07
➕
PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD. appointed
corporate-nominee-director
2003-05-07
➖
PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD. resigned
corporate-nominee-director
2003-05-07
➕
PETER TRAINER CORPORATE SERVICES LTD. appointed
corporate-nominee-director
2003-05-07
➖
PETER TRAINER CORPORATE SERVICES LTD. resigned
corporate-nominee-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

+Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
+Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "MCLAREN" — strong identity link between founder and business.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 73 — succession pressure is live.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

96/100

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 73 years old. Natural succession window is now.
secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 23 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 23 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

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr James Mclaren Individual · British · DOB 12/1954 · age 72	25–50%	25–50%	25-50% shares · 25-50% voting	06/04/2016
Mrs Gwyneth Isabelle Mclaren Individual · British · DOB 07/1953 · age 73	25–50%	25–50%	25-50% shares · 25-50% voting	06/04/2016

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

Incorporated2003-05-07

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC58190 — Other publishing activities

Registered office

Willow Tree House

Castle Gardens

Kinfauns

By Perth

PH2 7JZ

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-12-31

Last made up to: 2025-03-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-05-21

Last: 2025-05-07

Officers (3 active · 3 resigned)

MCLAREN, Gwyneth Isabelle→

secretary · appointed 2003-05-07

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MCLAREN, Gwyneth Isabelle→

director · ~73y · appointed 2003-05-07

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MCLAREN, James→

director · ~72y · appointed 2003-05-07

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD.→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2003-05-07 · resigned 2003-05-07

Resigned

PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD.→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2003-05-07 · resigned 2003-05-07

Resigned

PETER TRAINER CORPORATE SERVICES LTD.→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2003-05-07 · resigned 2003-05-07

Resigned

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