CROSS HOUSE BOOKS LTD
💤Zombieactive
SC436377 · ltd · incorporated 2012-11-07
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
£-10.0k
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Book publishing
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. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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 (81/100)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
2 officers (1 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
8 connected companies via shared directors
69
Filing history
28 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 declaredNegative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £10,012
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
-£10k
↓ 8.5% YoY
Current Assets
£338
↓ 2.3% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2024-11-30 | 2023-11-30 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £-9.5k | £-8.7k |
| Current assets | £338 | £346 |
| Net assets | £-10.0k | £-9.2k |
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 (19 events)Click to expand
- 2025-08-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-08-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-08-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-08-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-08-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-07-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-08-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-11-20📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2018-11-20📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2018-11-18➖IBOJIE, Joseph, Dr resigneddirector
- 2018-08-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-10-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2016-10-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-12-07📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-06-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2014-12-02📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2012-11-07🏢Company incorporatedAs CROSS HOUSE BOOKS LTD
- 2012-11-07➕IBOJIE, Cynthia Oyinlola appointeddirector
- 2012-11-07➕IBOJIE, Joseph, Dr appointeddirector
Owner dependency
83/100
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.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 59 — approaching natural succession window.
Succession & seller-readiness
68/100
Strong succession signalMultiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.
SIGNALS
- secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 59. Early succession window.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 13 years.
- 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
1 active beneficial owner| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mrs Cynthia Oyinlola Ibojie Individual · British · DOB 05/1967 · age 59 | 25–50% | 25–50% | board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control | 07/11/2016 |
1 historic (ceased) PSC
- Dr Joseph Ibojieceased 18/06/2018· 25-50% shares · board control
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 · AB postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| COMPUTECH DESIGNS LIMITED→ SC228285 · est 2002 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 24y | — | — |
| CURED CLICK LTD→ SC787307 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| CYBER DP TECH LTD→ SC847948 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| CYBER NEWS GLOBAL LIMITED→ SC769669 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| CYBERVISION TECH LTD→ SC661107 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| D18 DIGITAL LIMITED→ SC858521 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| DALWEARY LTD→ SC572571 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| DATA FOR KNOWLEDGE LIMITED→ SC738444 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| DATA UNDERSTOOD LTD→ SC595936 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| DATASPORE LTD→ SC867643 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| DAWA INNOVATION LTD→ SC775933 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| DAX GROUP HOLDINGS LTD→ SC811148 · est 2024 · 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
Incorporated2012-11-07
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC58110 — Book publishing
Registered office
Life Centre
Caroline Place
Aberdeen
AB25 2TH
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-08-31
Last made up to: 2024-11-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-21
Last: 2025-11-07
Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)
IBOJIE, Cynthia Oyinlola→
Activedirector · ~59y · appointed 2012-11-07
View their other companies + combined net worth →
IBOJIE, Joseph, Dr→
Resigneddirector · ~72y · appointed 2012-11-07 · resigned 2018-11-18
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (28 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-08-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-08-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-08-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-08-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-08-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-11-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-07-21
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-11-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-08-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2018-11-20