ARCHIBALD PHOTOGRAPHY LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC326303 · ltd · incorporated 2007-06-25

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 May 2025

Net worth

£8.6k

book net assets

Opportunity

75/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: Other specialist photography

Sector: Professional, scientific & technical

Investor take

Pursue

Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: strategic trade sale (63/100).

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

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

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

41 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

75/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Some acquirability indicators.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £8,551

Net assets shrinking

Down £364 YoY

Cash YoY

-30%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£14k

↓ 30% YoY

Net Worth

£9k

↓ 4.1% YoY

Current Assets

£16k

↓ 21% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-05-31	2024-05-31
Total assets	£8.6k	£8.9k
Current assets	£15.9k	£20.2k
Cash	£14.2k	£20.2k
Debtors	£1.8k	—
Net assets	£8.6k	£8.9k

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

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand

2026-02-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-02-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-02-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-02-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-01-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-01-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-11-07
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-02-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-01-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-06-28
📄
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2017-01-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-07-15
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2016-02-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-06-30
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-01-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-06-30
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2007-06-25
🏢
Company incorporated
As ARCHIBALD PHOTOGRAPHY LIMITED
2007-06-25
➕
MARSHALL, Donna Claire appointed
secretary
2007-06-25
➕
ARCHIBALD, Mark appointed
director
2007-06-25
➕
MARSHALL, Donna Claire appointed
director

Owner dependency

83/100

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 "ARCHIBALD" — strong identity link between founder and business.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 19 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

59/100

Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS

secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
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
Mr Mark Archibald Individual · British · DOB 11/1970 · age 56	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.

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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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated2007-06-25

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC74202 — Other specialist photography

Registered office

3 Caledonian Avenue

Crawford

ML12 6TX

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-02-28

Last made up to: 2025-05-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-07-08

Last: 2025-06-24

Officers (3 active · 0 resigned)

MARSHALL, Donna Claire→

secretary · appointed 2007-06-25

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

ARCHIBALD, Mark→

director · ~56y · appointed 2007-06-25

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MARSHALL, Donna Claire→

director · ~54y · appointed 2007-06-25

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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