READERS SHOP LTD
🌿Early-stageactive
SC777230 · ltd · incorporated 2023-07-28
Investment thesis
Growth-phase business — story-led; valuation sensitive to momentum.
Why interesting: Trading is scaling; acquirers paying for trajectory get disproportionate leverage.
Why risky: Price often leads fundamentals; dependency on founder often high.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Jul 2025
Net worth
£3.1k
book net assets
Opportunity
71/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet
Sector: Wholesale & retail
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
- 73110Advertising agencies
Investor take
PursueStrong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and acceptable with review structure.
Opportunity 71/100 (strong), bankability 70/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).
Data confidence
Overall: medium (76/100)Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.
Company profile
address, 2 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
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
7 filings
60
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
60
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
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 £3,060
Net assets shrinking
Down £2,082 YoY
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
£3k
↓ 40% YoY
Current Assets
£2k
↓ 88% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-07-31 | 2024-07-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £3.1k | £5.1k |
| Current assets | £1.6k | £13.3k |
| Net assets | £3.1k | £5.1k |
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
Recent activity
Last 30 days
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Last 90 days
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (8 events)Click to expand
- 2026-04-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2025-04-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-08-17📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2023-08-17📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2023-07-28🏢Company incorporatedAs READERS SHOP LTD
- 2023-07-28➕ALLEN, James appointeddirector
- 2023-07-28➕HUTCHINGS, Sophie appointeddirector
- 2023-07-28📄incorporation-companyincorporation · NEWINC
Owner dependency
63/100
High — earn-out structure requiredMaterial founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.
FACTORS
- +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
- +Young company: Only 2.8 years old — management layer unlikely to be developed.
Succession & seller-readiness
36/100
Weak signalLimited succession signal. Not a near-term off-market candidate.
SIGNALS
- secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
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
2 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr James Allen Individual · British · DOB 11/1993 · age 33 | 25–50% | 25–50% | board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control | 28/07/2023 |
Miss Sophie Hutchings Individual · British · DOB 07/1993 · age 33 | 25–50% | 25–50% | board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control | 28/07/2023 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Retail · G postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SALES TODAY LIMITED→ SC444908 · est 2013 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 13y | — | — |
| SALRAM LIMITED→ SC121294 · est 1989 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 36y | — | — |
| SAM INTER LTD→ SC855560 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| SAMINATHAN RETAILERS LIMITED→ SC635990 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| SAMY HEALTH LTD→ SC782622 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| SANYA CHAITAN LTD→ SC545888 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| SAQIB ALI RAZA LTD→ SC834366 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| SARACEN HARDWARE LTD→ SC740010 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| SASHA SUBS LIMITED→ SC555727 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| SAVERS PS LIMITED→ SC523925 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 10y | — | — |
| SAVINGHUB LTD→ SC668474 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| SAVVY COMMERCE LTD→ SC882433 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
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
Incorporated2023-07-28
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC47910 — Retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet
Registered office
48 West George Street
2nd Floor
Glasgow
G2 1BP
United Kingdom
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-04-30
Last made up to: 2025-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-10
Last: 2025-07-27
Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)
ALLEN, James→
Activedirector · ~33y · appointed 2023-07-28
View their other companies + combined net worth →
HUTCHINGS, Sophie→
Activedirector · ~33y · appointed 2023-07-28
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (7 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-04-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-10
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-08-17
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-08-17
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC
2023-07-28