CANNY SCOT LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
SC289856 · ltd · incorporated 2005-09-05
Investment thesis
Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.
Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.
Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.
Opportunity decay
hardening · 12-months
Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.
- · Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Sept 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 99999
Sector: Extraterritorial bodies
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 67-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 67). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).
Data confidence
Overall: medium (79/100)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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
4 officers (3 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
4 connected companies via shared directors
57
Filing history
47 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
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
90
Good data coverage for analysis.
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2024-09-30 | 2023-09-30 |
|---|
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 (21 events)Click to expand
- 2025-09-09📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2025-05-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2024-06-04📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2023-06-07📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2023-05-05📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2023-05-05📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2022-10-17📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2022-10-11📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2022-09-21➕HUMPHREY, Lucy Leah appointeddirector
- 2022-09-21➖HOUSTON, Alasdair George resigneddirector
- 2022-06-02📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2022-06-02📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2021-06-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2020-06-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2019-06-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2018-06-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2017-06-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-dormantaccounts · AA
- 2005-09-05🏢Company incorporatedAs CANNY SCOT LIMITED
- 2005-09-05➕CLARK, Susan Jennifer Mackie appointedsecretary
- 2005-09-05➕HOUSTON, Susan Jennifer Mackie appointeddirector
- 2005-09-05➕HOUSTON, Alasdair George appointeddirector
Owner dependency
83/100
Critical — business is the founderThe business appears inseparable from the founder. Acquisition without a serious earn-out or meaningful transition period would likely destroy value.
FACTORS
- +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 67 — succession pressure is live.
Succession & seller-readiness
86/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 67. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
- secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
- primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 21 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 21 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
cleanNo 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mrs Lucy Leah Houston Individual · British · DOB 02/1967 · age 59 | 75–100% | 75–100% | board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control | 21/06/2021 |
1 historic (ceased) PSC
- Mr Alasdair George Houstonceased 21/06/2021· 75-100% voting
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 →Similar companies
Active · Other · DG postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AIRMIX TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED→ SC373762 · est 2010 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 16y | — | — |
| ALADDINS CAVE OF GOLF LIMITED→ SC169912 · est 1996 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 29y | — | — |
| ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH OF OUR LADY AND SAINT NINIAN LTD→ SC859393 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ARDWELL COMMUNITY KIRK→ SC535735 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| BOUDICCA RECORDS LLP→ SO305145 · est 2014 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 11y | — | — |
| BPF BLACKBALL→ 16981977 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| BRAZENALL & ORR LLP→ SO307892 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| BROWNRIGGS (THORNHILL) LLP→ SO304122 · est 2012 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 13y | — | — |
| C.P. PORTEOUS & SONS - PENLAW FARMS→ SL000759 · est 1985 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 40y | — | — |
| CARA LTD→ SC216269 · est 2001 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 25y | — | — |
| CASTLEWIGG GWYNNE LIMITED→ SC466703 · est 2014 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| CHICAGO BIG BITE LIMITED→ SC499810 · est 2015 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 11y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2005-09-05
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC99999 — SIC 99999
Registered office
Headless Cross
Gretna Green
Dumfriesshire
DG16 5EA
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-06-30
Last made up to: 2024-09-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-19
Last: 2025-09-05
Officers (3 active · 1 resigned)
CLARK, Susan Jennifer Mackie→
Activesecretary · appointed 2005-09-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
HOUSTON, Susan Jennifer Mackie→
Activedirector · ~67y · appointed 2005-09-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
HUMPHREY, Lucy Leah→
Activedirector · ~59y · appointed 2022-09-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
HOUSTON, Alasdair George→
Resigneddirector · ~64y · appointed 2005-09-05 · resigned 2022-09-21
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (47 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-09
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-09-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-05-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-06-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-06-07
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2023-05-05
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2023-05-05
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2022-10-17
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2022-10-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-06-02
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-06-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-16