AMBIENCE FIREPLACES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC254889 · ltd · incorporated 2003-08-27

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

£71.6k

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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

What this business does

Primary activity: Retail sale of furniture, lighting, and similar (not musical instruments or scores) in specialised stores

Sector: Wholesale & retail

Investor take

Pursue

Asset-holding vehicle with a 74-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 74). 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).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (75/100)

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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

55 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

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

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £71,573

Cash YoY

-12%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£48k

↓ 12% YoY

Net Worth

£72k

↑ 7.3% YoY

Current Assets

£87k

↓ 6.9% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2024-10-31	2023-10-31
Total assets	£78.7k	£66.7k
Current assets	£86.5k	£92.9k
Cash	£48.1k	£54.9k
Debtors	£16.4k	£12.8k
Net assets	£71.6k	£66.7k

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filings

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand

2025-06-03
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-01
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-04-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-03-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-03-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-07-01
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-07-01
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-07-04
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-06-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-06-08
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-09-08
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-06-03
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-09-08
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-07-03
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2013-09-03
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2003-08-27
🏢
Company incorporated
As AMBIENCE FIREPLACES LIMITED
2003-08-27
➕
CANNING, Carol appointed
secretary
2003-08-27
➕
CANNING, Thomas appointed
director
2003-08-27
➕
FIRST SCOTTISH SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2003-08-27
➖
FIRST SCOTTISH SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2003-08-27
➕
FIRST SCOTTISH INTERNATIONAL SERVICES LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-director
2003-08-27
➖
FIRST SCOTTISH INTERNATIONAL SERVICES LIMITED 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 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 74 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

100/100

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 74 years old. Natural succession window is now.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 23 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 23 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%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Thomas Canning Individual · British · DOB 05/1952 · age 74	75–100%	75–100%	75-100% shares · 75-100% voting	06/04/2016

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

Similar companies

Active · Retail · ML postcode area

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KAMCO RETAIL LTD→ SC355651 · est 2009	—	—	£141.0k	—	17y	83	87y
ABDUL MAJID & SON LIMITED→ SC351446 · est 2008	—	—	£7.3k	—	17y	82	65y
ADAPTOCARE LTD.→ SC197202 · est 1999	—	—	£2.00M	—	26y	82	87y
C & R SUPPLIES LIMITED→ SC223691 · est 2001	—	—	£86.7k	—	24y	82	63y
DAMN DELICIOUS LIMITED→ SC334088 · est 2007	—	—	—	1300	18y	82	60y
IMPERIAL BAR (AIRDRIE) LIMITED→ SC260090 · est 2003	—	—	£139.3k	—	22y	82	68y
KSL TRADING AND MARKETING LIMITED→ SC159770 · est 1995	—	—	£29.6k	—	30y	82	64y
MACMILLAN & SHAW GOLF SUPPLIES LIMITED→ SC233241 · est 2002	—	—	£17.7k	—	23y	82	66y
MLD ZAMBONINI LIMITED→ SC326339 · est 2007	—	—	—	—	18y	82	76y
SANDRO AND SONS LIMITED→ SC160375 · est 1995	—	—	£17.0k	—	30y	82	64y
TUITE LTD→ SC388864 · est 2010	—	—	£505	—	15y	82	62y
TYRRELLS OF BURNBANK LIMITED→ SC317554 · est 2007	—	—	£317.6k	—	19y	82	62y

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

Incorporated2003-08-27

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC47599 — Retail sale of furniture, lighting, and similar (not musical instruments or scores) in specialised stores

Registered office

8 Douglas Street

Hamilton

ML3 0BP

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-07-31

Last made up to: 2024-10-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-09-10

Last: 2025-08-27

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

CANNING, Carol→

secretary · appointed 2003-08-27

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

CANNING, Thomas→

director · ~74y · appointed 2003-08-27

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

FIRST SCOTTISH SECRETARIES LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2003-08-27 · resigned 2003-08-27

Resigned

FIRST SCOTTISH INTERNATIONAL SERVICES LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2003-08-27 · resigned 2003-08-27

Resigned

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