SMITH BRANDS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC292727 · ltd · incorporated 2005-11-04
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 Dec 2024
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
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 61-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 61). 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
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
6 officers (3 active, 6 linked, 4 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
64 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
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
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Dec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Average employees2200

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-11-07
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  2. 2025-11-07
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  3. 2025-09-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-09-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-08-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-09-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-09-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-10-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-11-11
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  10. 2019-09-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-09-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-09-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-10-03
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  14. 2016-08-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2015-10-27
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2007-09-10
    ➖
    PETERS, David Bernard resigned
    director
  17. 2007-03-12
    ➕
    PETERS, David Bernard appointed
    director
  18. 2006-12-05
    ➕
    SMITH, Angela appointed
    secretary
  19. 2006-12-05
    ➖
    BRADLEY, Iain Paterson resigned
    secretary
  20. 2006-02-08
    ➕
    SMITH, Angela appointed
    director
  21. 2006-01-09
    ➖
    SMITH, Angela resigned
    director
  22. 2005-12-08
    ➕
    SMITH, Derek Murray appointed
    director
  23. 2005-11-04
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As SMITH BRANDS LIMITED
  24. 2005-11-04
    ➕
    BRADLEY, Iain Paterson appointed
    secretary
  25. 2005-11-04
    ➕
    SMITH, Angela appointed
    director

Owner dependency

99/100
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 "SMITH" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 20 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 61 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

76/100
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 61. Early succession window.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 20 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mrs Angela Smith
Individual · British · DOB 05/1965 · age 61
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting01/11/2025
Mr Derek Murray Smith
Individual · British · DOB 12/1968 · age 58
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting01/07/2016

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

6 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
Incorporated2005-11-04
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC58190 — Other publishing activities

Registered office

19 Gaffney Gardens
Haddington
EH41 3DJ
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-08
Last: 2025-10-25

Officers (3 active · 3 resigned)

SMITH, Angela→
secretary · appointed 2006-12-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SMITH, Angela→
director · ~61y · appointed 2006-02-08
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SMITH, Derek Murray→
director · ~58y · appointed 2005-12-08
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BRADLEY, Iain Paterson→
secretary · appointed 2005-11-04 · resigned 2006-12-05
Resigned
PETERS, David Bernard→
director · ~55y · appointed 2007-03-12 · resigned 2007-09-10
Resigned
SMITH, Angela→
director · ~61y · appointed 2005-11-04 · resigned 2006-01-09
Resigned

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

Recent filings (64 total)

change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-11-07
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2025-11-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-09-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-08-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-10-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-10-26
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2019-11-11