SCOTS MAGAZINE, LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC012972 · ltd · incorporated 1924-01-14
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other publishing activities
Sector: Information & communication
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 76-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 70/100. Strong seller-intent signal (75/100, director aged 76). 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
9 officers (2 active, 9 linked, 5 with DOB)
81
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
10 connected companies via shared directors
75
Filing history
103 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
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£0Mar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Average employees00

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
2
filings
  • 2 officers
Last 90 days
2
filings
  • 2 officers
Last 180 days
4
filings
  • 2 officers
  • 1 confirmation-statement
  • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (30 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-01
    MCCALL, Peter appointed
    secretary
  2. 2026-04-01
    📄
    appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP03
  3. 2026-04-01
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  4. 2026-03-31
    EVANS, Susannah resigned
    secretary
  5. 2025-11-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  6. 2024-12-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  7. 2023-12-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  8. 2022-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  9. 2022-04-01
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  10. 2022-03-31
    THOMSON, Andrew Francis resigned
    director
  11. 2021-12-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  12. 2020-12-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-12-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  14. 2019-03-11
    📄
    appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP03
  15. 2019-03-11
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  16. 2019-03-05
    DOUGLAS, Irene resigned
    secretary
  17. 2019-03-05
    EVANS, Susannah appointed
    secretary
  18. 2018-10-15
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  19. 2018-05-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  20. 2018-01-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  21. 2017-02-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  22. 2014-05-14
    THOMSON, Lewis Murray resigned
    director
  23. 2006-11-07
    THOMSON, Brian Harold resigned
    director
  24. 2005-11-08
    THOMSON, Christopher Harold William appointed
    director
  25. 2005-11-08
    THOMSON, Lewis Murray appointed
    director
  26. 2002-10-22
    THOMSON, Andrew Francis appointed
    director
  27. 2002-01-17
    THOMSON, Derek Ballance resigned
    director
  28. 1995-10-27
    MCDOUGALL, Allister resigned
    secretary
  29. 1995-10-11
    DOUGLAS, Irene appointed
    secretary
  30. 1924-01-14
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As SCOTS MAGAZINE, LIMITED

Owner dependency

100/100
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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 20 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 76 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

95/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 76 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 20 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • 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.)

Group structure

D C Thomson And Company Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️
D C Thomson And Company Limited
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares
ultimate parent
SCOTS MAGAZINE, LIMITED
This company · SC012972

Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
D C Thomson And Company Limited
Corporate entity
75100%
75-100% shares06/04/2016

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 →

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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

8 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
Incorporated1924-01-14
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC58190 — Other publishing activities

Registered office

22 Meadowside
Dundee
DD1 1LN

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-04
Last: 2025-11-20

Officers (2 active · 7 resigned)

MCCALL, Peter
secretary · appointed 2026-04-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
THOMSON, Christopher Harold William
director · ~76y · appointed 2005-11-08
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DOUGLAS, Irene
secretary · appointed 1995-10-11 · resigned 2019-03-05
Resigned
EVANS, Susannah
secretary · appointed 2019-03-05 · resigned 2026-03-31
Resigned
MCDOUGALL, Allister
secretary · resigned 1995-10-27
Resigned
THOMSON, Andrew Francis
director · ~84y · appointed 2002-10-22 · resigned 2022-03-31
Resigned
THOMSON, Brian Harold
director · ~108y · resigned 2006-11-07
Resigned
THOMSON, Derek Ballance
director · ~104y · resigned 2002-01-17
Resigned
THOMSON, Lewis Murray
director · ~90y · appointed 2005-11-08 · resigned 2014-05-14
Resigned

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

Recent filings (103 total)

appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
officers · AP03
2026-04-01
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2026-04-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-11-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-12-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-12-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-11-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-21
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2022-04-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-12-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-12-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-11-24