AUTHOR WAY LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC408117 · ltd · incorporated 2011-09-26
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 Sept 2025
Net worth
£-1.7k
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other publishing activities
Sector: Information & communication
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 72). 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: medium (79/100)

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
3 officers (2 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
31 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £1,685

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
-£2k
↓ 15% YoY
Current Assets
£3k
↓ 6.2% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
-£2k-£658£369£1k£2k£3kSept 2024Sept 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-09-302024-09-30
Total assets£-247£-28
Current assets£3.2k£3.5k
Net assets£-1.7k£-1.5k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-06-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-09-29
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  4. 2024-09-29
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  5. 2024-05-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2024-02-04
    ➖
    MANN, Elaine Ruth resigned
    director
  7. 2023-05-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2022-05-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-03-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2020-04-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2019-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2018-05-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2017-06-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-06-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2015-10-19
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2015-06-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2011-09-26
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As AUTHOR WAY LIMITED
  18. 2011-09-26
    ➕
    MANN, Gerald appointed
    secretary
  19. 2011-09-26
    ➕
    MANN, Gerald appointed
    director
  20. 2011-09-26
    ➕
    MANN, Elaine Ruth appointed
    director

Owner dependency

90/100
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.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 72 — 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 70+: Senior director is approximately 72 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.
  • 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Gerald Mann
Individual · British · DOB 03/1954 · age 72
25–50%
—25-50% shares06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mrs Elaine Ruth Mannceased 04/02/2024· 25-50% shares

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 →

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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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2011-09-26
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC58190 — Other publishing activities

Registered office

464 Clarkston Road
Glasgow
G44 3QE

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-06-30
Last made up to: 2025-09-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-10
Last: 2025-09-26

Officers (2 active · 1 resigned)

MANN, Gerald→
secretary · appointed 2011-09-26
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MANN, Gerald→
director · ~72y · appointed 2011-09-26
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MANN, Elaine Ruth→
director · ~73y · appointed 2011-09-26 · resigned 2024-02-04
Resigned

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

Recent filings (31 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-03-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-06-07
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-29
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2024-09-29
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2024-09-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-05-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-05-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-05-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-03-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-10-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-04-16