DALRY 183 LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC224473 · ltd · incorporated 2001-10-23
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 Oct 2024
Net worth
£13.1k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Cultural education
Sector: Education
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 68-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 68). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 23.3y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 23.3 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (78/100)

Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.

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
5 officers (1 active, 5 linked, 1 with DOB)
74
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
65 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £13,059

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£13k
↑ 74% YoY
Current Assets
£23k
↑ 29% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£5k£9k£14k£19k£23kOct 2023Oct 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-10-312023-10-31
Total assets£13.1k£7.5k
Current assets£23.4k£18.2k
Net assets£13.1k£7.5k

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

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 (26 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-07-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-07-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-07-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-07-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-07-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-02-09
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  7. 2020-12-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-12-24
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  9. 2019-12-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-11-09
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  11. 2019-10-01
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  12. 2018-07-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  13. 2017-11-09
    ✏️
    certificate-change-of-name-company
    change-of-name · CERTNM
  14. 2017-11-09
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  15. 2017-07-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2008-03-31
    ➖
    MACKAY, Catherine Stewart resigned
    secretary
  17. 2003-02-10
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  18. 2001-10-23
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As DALRY 183 LTD
  19. 2001-10-23
    ➕
    SHAW, Iain St. Clair appointed
    director
  20. 2001-10-23
    ➕
    MACKAY, Catherine Stewart appointed
    secretary
  21. 2001-10-23
    ➕
    PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 2001-10-23
    ➖
    PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD. resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 2001-10-23
    ➕
    PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  24. 2001-10-23
    ➖
    PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD. resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  25. 2001-10-23
    ➕
    PETER TRAINER COMPANY SERVICES LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  26. 2001-10-23
    ➖
    PETER TRAINER COMPANY SERVICES LTD. resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

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 25 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 68 — 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 63+: Senior director is approximately 68. 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 25 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 25 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.)

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Iain St. Clair Shaw
Individual · British · DOB 08/1958 · age 68
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control · firm interest09/12/2016

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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————19y8261y
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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
Incorporated2001-10-23
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC85520 — Cultural education

Registered office

183 Dalry Road
Edinburgh
EH11 2EB

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-07-31
Last made up to: 2024-10-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-11
Last: 2025-10-28

Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)

SHAW, Iain St. Clair→
director · ~68y · appointed 2001-10-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MACKAY, Catherine Stewart→
secretary · appointed 2001-10-23 · resigned 2008-03-31
Resigned
PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD.→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2001-10-23 · resigned 2001-10-23
Resigned
PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD.→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2001-10-23 · resigned 2001-10-23
Resigned
PETER TRAINER COMPANY SERVICES LTD.→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2001-10-23 · resigned 2001-10-23
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 Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
Bond & floating charge1 property10/02/2003—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (65 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-07-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-07-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-07-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-07-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-07-30
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-02-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-02-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-12-28
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2019-12-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-12-24