SMK DIGITAL LTD

🌳Matureactive
SC431222 · ltd · incorporated 2012-08-28
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
78/100
Strong
🔔
Follow this company (free)
Email alerts on filings, charges, director changes, gazette notices. No account needed.

Unsubscribe any time from any email. GDPR-respectful.

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch
What this business does
Primary activity: Information technology consultancy activities
Sector: Information & communication
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 65). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. 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
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
42 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.

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 · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31

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 (18 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-04-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-05-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-03-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-05-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-04-28
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  6. 2021-03-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-03-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-02-05
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  9. 2019-07-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-06-28
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  11. 2019-06-27
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  12. 2019-06-27
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  13. 2018-08-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2018-07-12
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  15. 2017-04-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2014-09-01
    ➕
    EARNSHAW, Hilary appointed
    director
  17. 2012-08-28
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As SMK DIGITAL LTD
  18. 2012-08-28
    ➕
    EARNSHAW, Jonathan Penn appointed
    director

Owner dependency

86/100
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 age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 14 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

69/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 65. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 14 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

2 active beneficial owners · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Jonathan Penn Earnshaw
Individual · British · DOB 10/1966 · age 60
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control06/04/2016
Mrs Hilary Earnshaw
Individual · British · DOB 10/1961 · age 65
——sig. influencesignificant influence06/04/2016

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
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
ITP SOLUTIONS LTD.→
SC234188 · est 2002
——£504.9k—23y8359y
KILMUIR AND LOGIE EASTER ACTION AND DEVELOPMENT GROUP→
SC169101 · est 1996
——£1.21M—29y8384y
SCOTTISH MOUNTAINEERING TRUST (PUBLICATIONS) LIMITED→
SC122794 · est 1990
———50036y8368y
STORY AND STAGE LIMITED→
SC130178 · est 1991
———635y8380y
ALBASOFT LIMITED→
SC231024 · est 2002
——£89.5k—24y8266y
CHELTENHAM PUBLICATIONS LTD→
SC325177 · est 2007
——£6.3k—18y8269y
PINNACLE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS LIMITED→
SC158161 · est 1995
——£27.9k—30y8274y
SCOTNET.CO.UK LTD.→
SC212981 · est 2000
————25y8270y
NU COTON LTD→
SC590101 · est 2018 · no financials extracted
————8y——
PATCONIAN PRODUCTIONS LTD→
SC662066 · est 2020 · no financials extracted
————5y——
SABERGRIFF LTD→
SC862555 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
———————
SMAOIN LTD→
SC841818 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
————1y——
Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

7 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
Incorporated2012-08-28
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC62020 — Information technology consultancy activities

Registered office

The Green House
Beechwood Business Park North
Inverness
IV2 3BL
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-02
Last: 2025-07-19

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

EARNSHAW, Hilary→
director · ~65y · appointed 2014-09-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
EARNSHAW, Jonathan Penn→
director · ~60y · appointed 2012-08-28
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (42 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-04-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-05-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-03-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-05-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-13
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-04-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-03-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-08-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-03-24
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2020-02-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-08-05