DORMANT BCL LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC028977 · ltd · incorporated 1952-06-17
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
not disclosed
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
61/100
Worth a look
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 4521
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed admin-neglect survivor — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 61/100 (worth a look), bankability 50/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 74). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: File overdue accounts. Clears statutory overdue flag — immediate bankability uplift for refinance conversations. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (53/100). Current lenders should be on monthly review.

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 40.5y

45/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 40.5 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: low (46/100)

Sparse data coverage. Treat AI-generated outputs as preliminary. Manual diligence essential.

Company profile
address, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
No iXBRL financials extracted
0
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
6 officers (2 active, 6 linked, 3 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
No PSCs filed (unusual — worth investigating)
35
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
41 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
61/100Worth a look
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Mixed signal. Worth opening the full target workup before deciding to pursue.

Business quality
45
Concerning — overdue filings or status flags present.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
49
Multiple red flags — proceed with caution.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

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 (34 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-07-07
    📄
    court-order
    miscellaneous · OC-DV
  2. 2023-10-03
    📄
    gazette-dissolved-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ2
  3. 2023-07-18
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  4. 2020-06-01
    📄
    court-order
    miscellaneous · OC-DV
  5. 2018-02-06
    📄
    gazette-dissolved-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ2
  6. 2017-11-21
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  7. 2015-06-09
    📄
    court-order
    miscellaneous · OC-DV
  8. 1995-07-07
    📄
    gazette-dissolved-compulsary
    gazette · GAZ2
  9. 1995-03-17
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsary
    gazette · GAZ1
  10. 1994-11-03
    📄
    legacy
    annual-return · 363s
  11. 1994-09-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 1994-02-23
    📄
    legacy
    officers · 288
  13. 1994-02-23
    📄
    legacy
    officers · 288
  14. 1994-02-10
    AIKEN, Peter David appointed
    secretary
  15. 1994-02-10
    JOHNSTONE, Roy Thomas resigned
    secretary
  16. 1993-10-21
    📄
    legacy
    annual-return · 363s
  17. 1993-09-20
    ✏️
    certificate-change-of-name-company
    change-of-name · CERTNM
  18. 1993-09-08
    📍
    legacy
    address · 287
  19. 1993-09-07
    📄
    legacy
    officers · 288
  20. 1993-09-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-full
    accounts · AA
  21. 1993-09-01
    JOHNSTON, Caroline resigned
    director
  22. 1992-10-21
    📄
    legacy
    annual-return · 363s
  23. 1992-07-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-full
    accounts · AA
  24. 1991-10-16
    📄
    legacy
    annual-return · 363
  25. 1991-09-10
    📄
    legacy
    officers · 288
  26. 1991-09-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-full
    accounts · AA
  27. 1991-08-29
    BOLAND, Margaret resigned
    director
  28. 1991-08-29
    JOHNSTON, Caroline appointed
    director
  29. 1990-10-25
    📄
    legacy
    annual-return · 363
  30. 1990-10-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-full
    accounts · AA
  31. 1989-03-15
    JOHNSTONE, Roy Thomas appointed
    secretary
  32. 1989-02-15
    CALDER, James Moray resigned
    secretary
  33. 1985-10-29
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
  34. 1952-06-17
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As DORMANT BCL LIMITED

Owner dependency

90/100
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.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 74 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

85/100
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 74 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 74 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.

Red flags

2 high ·
Accounts overdue
high

Statutory accounts have not been filed by their due date. Can indicate admin breakdown, cash preservation, or deliberate delay.

Evidence: Next due: 1995-10-31

Confirmation statement overdue
high

Annual confirmation statement not filed on time. Required statutory filing — overdue is a strong discipline signal.

Evidence: Next due: 2016-10-16

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

11 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.

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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
Incorporated1952-06-17
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC4521 — SIC 4521

Registered office

12 Bruntsfield Crescent
Edinburgh
EH10 4HA

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 1995-10-31OVERDUE
Last made up to: 1993-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2016-10-16OVERDUE
Last:

Officers (2 active · 4 resigned)

AIKEN, Peter David
secretary · appointed 1994-02-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BOLAND, David
director · ~74y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CALDER, James Moray
secretary · resigned 1989-02-15
Resigned
JOHNSTONE, Roy Thomas
secretary · appointed 1989-03-15 · resigned 1994-02-10
Resigned
BOLAND, Margaret
director · ~98y · resigned 1991-08-29
Resigned
JOHNSTON, Caroline
director · ~72y · appointed 1991-08-29 · resigned 1993-09-01
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
Letter of offset1 property29/10/1985
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (41 total)

court-order
miscellaneous · OC-DV
2025-07-07
gazette-dissolved-compulsory
gazette · GAZ2
2023-10-03
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2023-07-18
court-order
miscellaneous · OC-DV
2020-06-01
gazette-dissolved-compulsory
gazette · GAZ2
2018-02-06
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2017-11-21
court-order
miscellaneous · OC-DV
2015-06-09
gazette-dissolved-compulsary
gazette · GAZ2
1995-07-07
gazette-notice-compulsary
gazette · GAZ1
1995-03-17
legacy
annual-return · 363s
1994-11-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
1994-09-20
legacy
officers · 288
1994-02-23
legacy
officers · 288
1994-02-23
legacy
annual-return · 363s
1993-10-21
certificate-change-of-name-company
change-of-name · CERTNM
1993-09-20