STRAIGHTLINE CREATIVE LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
SC467182 · ltd · incorporated 2014-01-13
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 Jan 2025
Net worth
£7.8k
book net assets
Opportunity
74/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Other information service activities n.e.c.
Sector: Information & communication
Investor take
PursueStrong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.
Opportunity 74/100 (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: strategic trade sale (65/100).
Data confidence
Overall: medium (78/100)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 (1 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
34 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
74/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
55
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £7,781
Net assets shrinking
Down £1,691 YoY
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
£8k
↓ 18% YoY
Current Assets
£9k
↓ 8.9% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-01-31 | 2024-01-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £7.8k | £9.5k |
| Current assets | £8.8k | £9.7k |
| Net assets | £7.8k | £9.5k |
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
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand
- 2025-10-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2025-09-12📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2025-09-12📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2025-09-12📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2024-10-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-11-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-10-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-10-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-01-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-10-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-10-12📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2019-10-12📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2018-10-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-05-06➖MCLAREN, Carla resigneddirector
- 2018-05-06📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2018-02-22📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2018-01-04➕MCLAREN, Carla appointeddirector
- 2018-01-04📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2014-01-13🏢Company incorporatedAs STRAIGHTLINE CREATIVE LIMITED
- 2014-01-13➕MCLAREN, Mark appointeddirector
Owner dependency
75/100
High — earn-out structure requiredMaterial founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.
FACTORS
- +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
Succession & seller-readiness
58/100
Strong succession signalMultiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.
SIGNALS
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 12 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 · dominant holder ≥75%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Mark Mclaren Individual · British · DOB 07/1974 · age 52 | 75–100% | — | 75-100% shares | 13/01/2017 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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| VB IT SERVICES LIMITED→ SC377431 · est 2010 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 15y | — | — |
| VERSFELD PROJECT DELIVERY LIMITED→ SC875759 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| VIADOMO LTD→ SC858308 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
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| VIHAN LTD→ SC682558 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| VIRTUALLY PRO LTD→ SC611145 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
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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
Incorporated2014-01-13
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC63990 — Other information service activities n.e.c.
Registered office
5 South Charlotte Street
Edinburgh
EH2 4AN
Scotland
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-10-31
Last made up to: 2025-01-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-01-27
Last: 2026-01-13
Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)
MCLAREN, Mark→
Activedirector · ~52y · appointed 2014-01-13
View their other companies + combined net worth →
MCLAREN, Carla→
Resigneddirector · ~53y · appointed 2018-01-04 · resigned 2018-05-06
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (34 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-10-29
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-09-12
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-09-12
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-09-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-10-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-11-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-10-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-10-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-01-31