ARBUTHNOT HOLDINGS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC076985 · ltd · incorporated 1981-12-14
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
68/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Temporary employment agency activities
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 68/100 (strong), bankability 70/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 72). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Resolve: Confirmation statement overdue. Annual confirmation statement not filed on time. Required statutory filing — overdue is a strong discipline signal. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (53/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 43.4y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 43.4 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (1 active, 4 linked, 2 with DOB)
80
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
109 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
68/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
60
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
59
Some moderate concerns — review 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
£0£0£0£0£0£0Dec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31

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 officers
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • 1 officers
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • 1 officers
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-02
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  2. 2026-03-20
    LESLIE, Candida Mary Arbuthnot resigned
    director
  3. 2025-10-10
    FRASER, Rupert James resigned
    secretary
  4. 2025-10-10
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  5. 2025-09-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  6. 2024-09-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  7. 2023-09-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  8. 2022-10-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-11-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-04-13
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  11. 2021-04-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2021-04-06
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  13. 2020-04-22
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  14. 2019-11-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2018-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2017-11-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  17. 2016-09-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  18. 2016-02-22
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  19. 2015-12-31
    FRASER, Rupert James appointed
    secretary
  20. 2015-12-31
    R & R URQUHART resigned
    corporate-secretary
  21. 1990-01-01
    R & R URQUHART appointed
    corporate-secretary
  22. 1982-11-17
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
  23. 1981-12-14
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ARBUTHNOT HOLDINGS 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 72 — 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 72 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 44 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.

Red flags

1 high · 1 med ·
Confirmation statement overdue
high

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

Evidence: Next due: 2026-01-14

2 director resignations in last 12 months
medium

Multiple recent departures can indicate governance disagreement, succession event, or preparation for sale/stress.

Evidence: FRASER, Rupert James resigned 2025-10-10; LESLIE, Candida Mary Arbuthnot resigned 2026-03-20

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Sebastian Anthony Arbuthnot Leslie
Individual · British · DOB 03/1954 · age 72
75100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting06/04/2016

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

9 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
Incorporated1981-12-14
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC78200 — Temporary employment agency activities

Registered office

22 Learmonth Terrace
Flat 1
Edinburgh
EH4 1PG
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-01-14OVERDUE
Last: 2024-12-31

Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)

LESLIE, Sebastian Anthony Arbuthnot
director · ~72y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FRASER, Rupert James
secretary · appointed 2015-12-31 · resigned 2025-10-10
Resigned
R & R URQUHART
corporate-secretary · appointed 1990-01-01 · resigned 2015-12-31
Resigned
LESLIE, Candida Mary Arbuthnot
director · ~60y · resigned 2026-03-20
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
Virgin Money
Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
Floating charge1 property17/11/1982
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (109 total)

termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2026-04-02
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2025-10-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-09-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-09-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-09-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-10-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-11-09
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2021-04-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-04-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-12
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2021-04-06