THE CURWEN PRESS LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
SC389696 · ltd · incorporated 2010-11-30
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.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Nov 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Other publishing activities
Sector: Information & communication
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 76-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 76). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Broaden director team. Sole director creates succession risk and reduces buyer comfort. Appoint a second director or strong #2. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
Data confidence
Overall: high (80/100)Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.
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
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
4 connected companies via shared directors
57
Filing history
32 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 accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2024-11-30 | 2023-11-30 |
|---|
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
Recent activity
Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand
- 2025-06-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2024-07-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2023-07-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2022-07-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2021-08-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2020-10-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2019-07-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2018-08-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2017-07-28📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2017-07-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2016-08-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2015-12-02📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-06-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2014-12-02📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2014-08-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2010-11-30🏢Company incorporatedAs THE CURWEN PRESS LIMITED
- 2010-11-30➕HAMILTON, Alexander appointeddirector
Owner dependency
100/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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 15 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 76 — succession pressure is live.
- +No director turnover: Company is 15 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.
Succession & seller-readiness
98/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 76 years old. Natural succession window is now.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 15 years.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 15 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
cleanNo 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 · dominant holder ≥75%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Alexander Hamilton Individual · British · DOB 05/1950 · age 76 | 75–100% | — | 75-100% shares | 17/02/2017 |
Mr Alexander Hamilton Individual · British · DOB 05/1950 · age 76 | 75–100% | — | 75-100% shares | 30/11/2016 |
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 · 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
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
Incorporated2010-11-30
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC58190 — Other publishing activities
Registered office
29/4 Alva Street
Edinburgh
Midlothian
EH2 4PS
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-08-31
Last made up to: 2024-11-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-12
Last: 2025-11-28
Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)
HAMILTON, Alexander→
Activedirector · ~76y · appointed 2010-11-30
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (32 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-06-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-07-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-07-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-07-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-08-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-12-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-10-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-12-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2019-07-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2018-11-28