ESK VALLEY KNITWEAR CO.LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC059934 · ltd · incorporated 1976-04-30

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.

Why now

Window steady · low confidence

Steady and stalled — no momentum either way. Needs an approach trigger.

What changed my view

Last 30 days

No material changes in the last 30 days.

Last 90 days

No snapshot from 90 days ago — start tracking from today.

Last 180 days

No snapshot from 180 days ago — start tracking from today.

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Apr 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

82/100

Exceptional

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch

What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 14390

Sector: Manufacturing

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

41100Development of building projects

Investor take

Pursue

Strong opportunity: active trading company with exceptional profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 58). 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).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 16.9y

45/100

under pressure

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

· Oldest live charge is 16.9 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: high (80/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

Company profile

address, 2 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)

Directors & officers

7 officers (2 active, 7 linked, 5 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

2 active PSC(s) of 4 total, 4 with control declared

Director network

3 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

105 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

82/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

100

Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

—

Current Assets

—

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102

Metric	2025-04-30	2024-04-30
Average employees	25	2300

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 signals 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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (27 events)Click to expand

2026-01-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-01-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-17
📄
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2024-09-17
📄
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2024-03-28
➖
GEDDES, Andrew resigned
director
2024-03-28
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2024-01-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-01-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-01-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-04-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-01-15
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2019-10-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-09-24
📄
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2019-09-24
🔓
Charge satisfied #1
2018-11-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-11-10
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-01-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-07-17
➕
GEDDES, Andrew appointed
director
2014-06-30
➖
KING, Eric William resigned
director
2009-06-16
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Bank of Scotland PLC
1997-04-01
➕
KING, Eric William appointed
director
1996-01-23
➕
MORRIS, Kim appointed
secretary
1996-01-23
➕
MAXWELL, Stuart Ashcroft appointed
director
1996-01-23
➖
MAXWELL, Daisy resigned
secretary
1996-01-23
➖
MAXWELL, Daisy resigned
director
1996-01-23
➖
MAXWELL, Ian resigned
director
1976-04-30
🏢
Company incorporated
As ESK VALLEY KNITWEAR CO.LIMITED

Owner dependency

93/100

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 30 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 58 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

85/100

Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS

secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 58. Early succession window.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 30 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 50 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
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

Frizington Properties Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️

Frizington Properties Limited

Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares · board control

ultimate parent

⬇

ESK VALLEY KNITWEAR CO.LIMITED

This company · SC059934

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

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Frizington Properties Limited Corporate entity	75–100%	75–100%	board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control	06/04/2016
Mr Stuart Ashcroft Maxwell Individual · British · DOB 07/1968 · age 58	—	—	sig. influencesignificant influence	06/04/2016

2 historic (ceased) PSCs

Mrs Daisy Maxwellceased 26/08/2023· significant influence
Mr Ian Maxwellceased 26/08/2023· significant influence

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 →

Similar companies

Active · Manufacturing · DG postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
EWART ENGINEERING LIMITED→ SC049122 · est 1971	£1.94M £1.51M–£2.37M	£8.54M	—	7900	54y	87	62y
H & I ENGINEERING LIMITED→ SC053292 · est 1973	—	—	—	2900	52y	83	81y
HODDAM CONTRACTING COMPANY LIMITED→ SC033012 · est 1958	—	—	—	48	68y	83	60y
JAMES GORDON LIMITED→ SC293893 · est 2005	—	—	£7.20M	—	20y	83	76y
A & G KING TIMBER LIMITED→ SC198132 · est 1999	—	—	£7.80M	—	26y	82	84y
CASTLE TECHNOLOGIES (STRANRAER) LIMITED→ SC377099 · est 2010	—	—	—	12	16y	82	58y
DAVID REID LIMITED→ SC292994 · est 2005	—	—	£11.1k	—	20y	82	67y
EUROPEAN FOREST MACHINERY LIMITED→ SC206862 · est 2000	—	—	—	0	26y	82	68y
J D ENGINEERING (SCOTLAND) LIMITED→ SC204802 · est 2000	—	—	—	1900	26y	82	72y
JAMES KINGAN AND SONS LIMITED→ SC024140 · est 1946	—	—	£3.88M	—	79y	82	66y
MATHER DAIRY UTENSILS COMPANY LIMITED→ SC317396 · est 2007	—	—	£2.61M	—	19y	82	69y
PLASTIC TECHNOLOGY SERVICES LIMITED→ SC133850 · est 1991	—	—	—	4000	34y	82	71y

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

Incorporated1976-04-30

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC14390 — SIC 14390

Registered office

26 High Street

Annan

DG12 6AJ

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-01-31

Last made up to: 2025-04-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-09-08

Last: 2025-08-25

Officers (2 active · 5 resigned)

MORRIS, Kim→

secretary · appointed 1996-01-23

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MAXWELL, Stuart Ashcroft→

director · ~58y · appointed 1996-01-23

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MAXWELL, Daisy→

secretary · resigned 1996-01-23

Resigned

GEDDES, Andrew→

director · ~68y · appointed 2015-07-17 · resigned 2024-03-28

Resigned

KING, Eric William→

director · ~70y · appointed 1997-04-01 · resigned 2014-06-30

Resigned

MAXWELL, Daisy→

director · ~85y · resigned 1996-01-23

Resigned

MAXWELL, Ian→

director · ~83y · resigned 1996-01-23

Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown

			Type	Properties
	satisfied	Lloyds Banking Group Bank of Scotland PLC	Bond & floating charge	1 property	16/06/2009	24/09/2019

Recent filings (105 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2026-01-28

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-09-17

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2025-01-27

cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control

persons-with-significant-control · PSC07

2024-09-17

cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control

persons-with-significant-control · PSC07

2024-09-17

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-09-03

termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date

officers · TM01

2024-03-28

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2024-01-31

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2023-09-26

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2023-01-24

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2022-09-05

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2022-01-27

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2021-08-25

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2021-04-23

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2020-09-07