CRE8IVE SIGNS & GRAPHICS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC546135 · ltd · incorporated 2016-09-23
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 2024
Net worth
£12.4k
book net assets
Opportunity
71/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Advertising agencies
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 71/100 (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 (58/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (70/100)

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
1 year of iXBRL accounts extracted (no YoY comparison) + narrative notes parsed
50
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 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
28 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
71/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
50
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 declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £12,390

Key financials

1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£12k
Current Assets
£26k
Current Liabilities
—

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-09-29
Total assets£52.1k
Current assets£26.1k
Net assets£12.4k

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
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-07-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-06-26
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  3. 2025-06-10
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  4. 2024-11-20
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  5. 2024-11-19
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  6. 2024-06-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2024-03-12
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  8. 2023-06-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2022-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-02-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2021-02-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2021-02-08
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-current-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  13. 2020-08-24
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
    accounts · AA01
  14. 2020-08-24
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-current-extended
    accounts · AA01
  15. 2020-08-17
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  16. 2019-06-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  17. 2018-06-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  18. 2016-09-23
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As CRE8IVE SIGNS & GRAPHICS LIMITED
  19. 2016-09-23
    ➕
    MCCARROLL, David appointed
    director

Owner dependency

80/100
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.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 10 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

45/100
Moderate signal

Some succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

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 · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr David Mccarroll
Individual · British · DOB 05/1986 · age 40
75–100%
75–100%board controlsig. influence75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control · significant influence23/09/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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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 →
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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
Incorporated2016-09-23
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC73110 — Advertising agencies

Registered office

2 Macdowall Street
Office 2
Paisley
PA3 2NB
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-06-29
Last made up to: 2024-09-29
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-14
Last: 2025-08-31

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

MCCARROLL, David→
director · ~40y · appointed 2016-09-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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
2025-09-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-07-08
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2025-06-26
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-06-10
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2024-11-20
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2024-11-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-06-25
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-03-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-06-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-02-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-02-18