CHELTENHAM PUBLICATIONS LTD

💤Zombieactive

SC325177 · ltd · incorporated 2007-06-08

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.

Why now

Window steady · low confidence

Steady and stalled — no momentum either way. Needs an approach trigger.

What changed my view

Last 30 days

No material changes in the last 30 days.

Last 90 days

No snapshot from 90 days ago — start tracking from today.

Last 180 days

No snapshot from 180 days ago — start tracking from today.

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Jun 2025

Net worth

£5

book net assets

Opportunity

82/100

Exceptional

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

What this business does

Primary activity: Book publishing

Sector: Information & communication

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

58190Other publishing activities
85510Sports and recreation education

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 69-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 69). 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 18.4y

45/100

under pressure

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

· Oldest live charge is 18.4 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: high (84/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

Company profile

address, 3 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

3 years of iXBRL accounts extracted + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)

Directors & officers

5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

3 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

55 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

82/100Exceptional

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

100

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £5

Net assets shrinking

Down £6,307 YoY

Key financials

3 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£5

↓ 100% YoY

Current Assets

£33k

↑ 4.1% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-06-30	2024-06-30	2023-06-30
Total assets	£5	£6.3k	£12.9k
Current assets	£33.2k	£31.8k	£25.5k
Net assets	£5	£6.3k	£12.9k

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand

2026-06-08
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-03-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-03-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-02-19
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-03-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-08-03
✏️
certificate-change-of-name-company
change-of-name · CERTNM
2022-03-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-03-29
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-03-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-06-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-06-24
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2019-06-24
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2019-03-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-01-09
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2018-03-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-07-19
📄
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2011-03-23
➕
EVANS, George Anthony appointed
secretary
2011-03-23
➖
EDWARDS, Martin Stephens resigned
secretary
2008-01-11
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Capital Home Loans Limited
2007-06-08
🏢
Company incorporated
As CHELTENHAM PUBLICATIONS LTD
2007-06-08
➕
EVANS, Anthony William appointed
director
2007-06-08
➕
EDWARDS, Martin Stephens appointed
secretary
2007-06-08
➕
BRIAN REID LTD. appointed
corporate-secretary
2007-06-08
➖
BRIAN REID LTD. resigned
corporate-secretary
2007-06-08
➕
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. appointed
corporate-director
2007-06-08
➖
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. resigned
corporate-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

+Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 19 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 69 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

88/100

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 69. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 19 years.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 19 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
Anthony William Evans Individual · British · DOB 10/1957 · age 69	75–100%	75–100%	75-100% shares · 75-100% voting	06/04/2016

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

🔒Co-director network graph

Radial SVG graph showing every company connected via shared directors, colour-coded by status.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

Similar companies

Active · Technology · IV postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
ITP SOLUTIONS LTD.→ SC234188 · est 2002	—	—	£504.9k	—	23y	83	59y
KILMUIR AND LOGIE EASTER ACTION AND DEVELOPMENT GROUP→ SC169101 · est 1996	—	—	£1.21M	—	29y	83	84y
SCOTTISH MOUNTAINEERING TRUST (PUBLICATIONS) LIMITED→ SC122794 · est 1990	—	—	—	500	36y	83	68y
STORY AND STAGE LIMITED→ SC130178 · est 1991	—	—	—	6	35y	83	80y
PINNACLE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS LIMITED→ SC158161 · est 1995	—	—	£27.9k	—	31y	82	74y
SCOTNET.CO.UK LTD.→ SC212981 · est 2000	—	—	—	—	25y	82	70y
SOFTWARE SCOTLAND LIMITED→ SC142706 · est 1993	—	—	—	3	33y	82	66y
DP DIGITAL MEDIA LTD→ SC152769 · est 1994	—	—	—	300	31y	81	63y
EBBA CONSULTANTS LIMITED→ SC314282 · est 2007	—	—	£38.5k	—	19y	81	61y
MORAY PROPERTY SEARCHERS LIMITED→ SC180869 · est 1997	—	—	—	100	28y	81	59y
NAIRN CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU LIMITED→ SC173195 · est 1997 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	29y	81	78y
REBOOT (MORAY COMPUTER RECYCLING)→ SC264341 · est 2004	—	—	£40.8k	—	22y	81	73y

Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →

🔒Tailored diligence questions

8 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

Incorporated2007-06-08

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC58110 — Book publishing

Registered office

18 Stafford Street

Tain

IV19 1AZ

Scotland

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-03-31

Last made up to: 2025-06-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-08-15

Last: 2025-08-01

Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)

EVANS, George Anthony→

secretary · appointed 2011-03-23

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

EVANS, Anthony William→

director · ~69y · appointed 2007-06-08

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

EDWARDS, Martin Stephens→

secretary · appointed 2007-06-08 · resigned 2011-03-23

Resigned

BRIAN REID LTD.→

corporate-secretary · appointed 2007-06-08 · resigned 2007-06-08

Resigned

STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD.→

corporate-director · appointed 2007-06-08 · resigned 2007-06-08

Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown

			Type	Properties
	outstanding	Capital Home Loans Capital Home Loans Limited	Deed of charge	1 property	11/01/2008	—

Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (55 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2026-06-08

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-08-20

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2025-03-31

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-08-05

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2024-03-19

change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address

address · AD01

2024-02-19

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2023-08-01

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2023-03-28

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2022-08-03

certificate-change-of-name-company

change-of-name · CERTNM

2022-08-03

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2022-06-08

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2022-03-30

change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address

address · AD01

2022-03-29

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2021-06-08

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2021-03-29