ANDREW HUGHES CHEMISTS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC205281 · ltd · incorporated 2000-03-21
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 May 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Dispensing chemist in specialised stores
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 63-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (80/100, director aged 63). 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

2 live charges · oldest 24.3y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 24.3 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, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
7 officers (1 active, 7 linked, 3 with DOB)
79
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
5 connected companies via shared directors
60
Filing history
71 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
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
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£0May 2024May 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2025-05-312024-05-31

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 90 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (33 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-02-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-02-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-02-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-04-03
    ➖
    DAVIDSON, Graeme Niven resigned
    secretary
  5. 2023-04-03
    ➖
    DAVIDSON, Graeme Niven resigned
    director
  6. 2023-04-03
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  7. 2023-04-03
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  8. 2023-02-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2022-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-04-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-02-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-02-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-02-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-02-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-05-05
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2016-02-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2015-04-13
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  18. 2005-09-02
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #2
  19. 2005-09-02
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  20. 2005-06-01
    ➕
    MCANERNEY, Edward Raymond appointed
    director
  21. 2005-06-01
    ➕
    DAVIDSON, Graeme Niven appointed
    secretary
  22. 2005-06-01
    ➖
    HUGHES, Sheila resigned
    secretary
  23. 2005-06-01
    ➕
    DAVIDSON, Graeme Niven appointed
    director
  24. 2005-06-01
    ➖
    HUGHES, Andrew resigned
    director
  25. 2001-12-19
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
  26. 2001-12-19
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
  27. 2000-03-21
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ANDREW HUGHES CHEMISTS LIMITED
  28. 2000-03-21
    ➕
    HUGHES, Sheila appointed
    secretary
  29. 2000-03-21
    ➕
    BRIAN REID LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  30. 2000-03-21
    ➖
    BRIAN REID LTD. resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  31. 2000-03-21
    ➕
    HUGHES, Andrew appointed
    director
  32. 2000-03-21
    ➕
    STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  33. 2000-03-21
    ➖
    STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

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 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 63 — approaching natural succession window.

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 63+: Senior director is approximately 63. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 21 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 26 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

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

🏛️
Goldie Limited
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares
ultimate parent
⬇
ANDREW HUGHES CHEMISTS LIMITED
This company · SC205281

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
Goldie Limited
Corporate entity
75–100%
—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

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
Incorporated2000-03-21
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC47730 — Dispensing chemist in specialised stores

Registered office

Woodburn
Brisbane Glen Road
Largs
Ayrshire
KA30 8SL

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-04
Last: 2026-03-21

Officers (1 active · 6 resigned)

MCANERNEY, Edward Raymond→
director · ~63y · appointed 2005-06-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DAVIDSON, Graeme Niven→
secretary · appointed 2005-06-01 · resigned 2023-04-03
Resigned
HUGHES, Sheila→
secretary · appointed 2000-03-21 · resigned 2005-06-01
Resigned
BRIAN REID LTD.→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2000-03-21 · resigned 2000-03-21
Resigned
DAVIDSON, Graeme Niven→
director · ~67y · appointed 2005-06-01 · resigned 2023-04-03
Resigned
HUGHES, Andrew→
director · ~81y · appointed 2000-03-21 · resigned 2005-06-01
Resigned
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD.→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2000-03-21 · resigned 2000-03-21
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
Assignation of goodwill in business1 property19/12/200102/09/2005
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
Bond & floating charge1 property19/12/200102/09/2005

Recent filings (71 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-02-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-02-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-02-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-27
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2023-04-03
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2023-04-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-02-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-02-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-04-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-05-12