SIMPLY CYAN LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC279949 · ltd · incorporated 2005-02-14

Investment thesis

Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.

Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.

Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Feb 2025

Net worth

£-40.2k

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Book publishing

Sector: Information & communication

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

58190Other publishing activities

Investor take

Pass (distressed without resilience)

Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 65). 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, 2 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 (3 active, 4 linked, 2 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

50 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)

Negative net assets

Liabilities exceed assets by £40,170

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

-£40k

↓ 31% YoY

Current Assets

£14k

↓ 22% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)

Metric	2025-02-28	2024-02-29
Total assets	£-38.9k	£-29.0k
Current assets	£13.6k	£17.4k
Net assets	£-40.2k	£-30.6k

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

• 2 confirmation-statement
• 1 persons-with-significant-control

Last 180 days

filings

• 2 confirmation-statement
• 1 persons-with-significant-control
• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand

2026-04-04
📄
replacement-filing-of-confirmation-statement-with-made-up-date
confirmation-statement · RP01CS01
2026-03-16
📄
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2025-11-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-11-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-11-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-11-03
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-11-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-12-10
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-11-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-11-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-11-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-11-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-02-20
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-11-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-03-04
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2005-02-14
🏢
Company incorporated
As SIMPLY CYAN LIMITED
2005-02-14
➕
SMALL, Janice Elizabeth appointed
secretary
2005-02-14
➕
SMALL, Janice Elizabeth appointed
director
2005-02-14
➕
SMALL, John Rankin appointed
director
2005-02-14
➕
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2005-02-14
➖
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary

Owner dependency

91/100

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.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

86/100

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 65. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 21 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 21 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
Janice Elizabeth Small Individual · British · DOB 08/1961 · age 65	75–100%	75–100%	board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control	06/04/2016

1 historic (ceased) PSC

Mr John Rankin Smallceased 12/03/2026· 25-50% voting

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

Similar companies

Active · Technology · EH postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
SEEBYTE LIMITED→ SC194014 · est 1999	£6.84M £4.88M–£8.79M	£10.82M	—	8800	27y	84	61y
CANONGATE BOOKS LIMITED→ SC152259 · est 1994	£6.02M £4.30M–£7.74M	—	—	64	31y	85	65y
EXTRAORDINARY MANAGED SERVICES LIMITED→ SC214448 · est 2001 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	25y	83	58y
INFOGISTICS LIMITED→ SC208321 · est 2000	—	—	—	700	25y	83	60y
INTELLIGENT MOBILE LIMITED→ SC266060 · est 2004	—	—	—	—	22y	83	66y
MICROSYS SOLUTIONS LIMITED→ SC185715 · est 1998	—	—	£140.2k	—	28y	83	59y
NDI TECHNOLOGIES LTD.→ SC173002 · est 1997 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	29y	83	93y
YAMAL PRODUCTIONS LTD.→ SC156613 · est 1995 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	31y	—	—
YELLOW TREE FILMS LTD→ SC863325 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
YOUR AI MORTGAGE MENTOR LTD→ SC847622 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
YPLAN? LIMITED→ SC591532 · est 2018 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	8y	—	—
YUAN YANG LIMITED→ SC373375 · est 2010 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	16y	—	—

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

Incorporated2005-02-14

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC58110 — Book publishing

Registered office

17 Riselaw Road

Edinburgh

EH10 6HR

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-11-30

Last made up to: 2025-02-28

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-02-28

Last: 2026-02-14

Officers (3 active · 1 resigned)

SMALL, Janice Elizabeth→

secretary · appointed 2005-02-14

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

SMALL, Janice Elizabeth→

director · ~65y · appointed 2005-02-14

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

SMALL, John Rankin→

director · ~64y · appointed 2005-02-14

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2005-02-14 · resigned 2005-02-14

Resigned

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

Recent filings (50 total)

replacement-filing-of-confirmation-statement-with-made-up-date

confirmation-statement · RP01CS01

2026-04-04

cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control

persons-with-significant-control · PSC07

2026-03-16