ACUMEN (SCOTLAND) LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC238211 · ltd · incorporated 2002-10-16
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 Nov 2025
Net worth
£35.7k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Public relations and communications activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 69-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 69). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 2 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

2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 19.4y

30/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 19.4 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (77/100)

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
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
6 officers (1 active, 6 linked, 3 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
66 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 £35,668

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£36k
↑ 84% YoY
Current Assets
£47k
↑ 46% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£9k£19k£28k£38k£47kNov 2024Nov 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-11-302024-11-30
Total assets£35.7k£19.3k
Current assets£47.1k£32.2k
Net assets£35.7k£19.3k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (29 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-01-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-01-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-01-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-10-25
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  6. 2021-12-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-01-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-01-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-01-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-01-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-11-08
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  13. 2016-01-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2015-11-04
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-11-04
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  16. 2015-10-12
    ➖
    MCLEAN, Andrew Alistair Gilchrist resigned
    secretary
  17. 2015-08-31
    ➖
    MCLEAN, Andrew Alistair Gilchrist resigned
    director
  18. 2008-04-24
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Bank of Scotland PLC
  19. 2006-11-10
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
  20. 2004-06-30
    ➖
    WHITE, Grant Frederick resigned
    director
  21. 2003-06-11
    ➖
    WHITE, Grant Frederick resigned
    secretary
  22. 2002-10-17
    ➕
    WHITE, Grant Frederick appointed
    director
  23. 2002-10-16
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACUMEN (SCOTLAND) LIMITED
  24. 2002-10-16
    ➕
    DORRIAN, Kevin James Muir appointed
    director
  25. 2002-10-16
    ➕
    MCLEAN, Andrew Alistair Gilchrist appointed
    secretary
  26. 2002-10-16
    ➕
    WHITE, Grant Frederick appointed
    secretary
  27. 2002-10-16
    ➕
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  28. 2002-10-16
    ➖
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  29. 2002-10-16
    ➕
    MCLEAN, Andrew Alistair Gilchrist appointed
    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 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 69 — 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 69. 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 24 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 24 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 Kevin Dorrian
Individual · British · DOB 03/1957 · age 69
75–100%
—75-100% shares16/10/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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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
Incorporated2002-10-16
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC70210 — Public relations and communications activities

Registered office

26 Hillview Terrace
Edinburgh
EH12 8RB
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-08-31
Last made up to: 2025-11-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-30
Last: 2025-10-16

Officers (1 active · 5 resigned)

DORRIAN, Kevin James Muir→
director · ~69y · appointed 2002-10-16
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MCLEAN, Andrew Alistair Gilchrist→
secretary · appointed 2002-10-16 · resigned 2015-10-12
Resigned
WHITE, Grant Frederick→
secretary · appointed 2002-10-16 · resigned 2003-06-11
Resigned
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2002-10-16 · resigned 2002-10-16
Resigned
MCLEAN, Andrew Alistair Gilchrist→
director · ~74y · appointed 2002-10-16 · resigned 2015-08-31
Resigned
WHITE, Grant Frederick→
director · ~66y · appointed 2002-10-17 · resigned 2004-06-30
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
2
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
Bank of Scotland PLC
Standard security1 property24/04/2008—
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
Standard security1 property10/11/2006—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (66 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-03-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-01-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-01-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-01-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-18
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-10-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-12-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-10-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-01-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-10-17