COBRA BUILDING SUPPLIES LTD.

💤Zombieactive
SC291248 · ltd · incorporated 2005-10-04
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
£749.8k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 46730
Sector: Wholesale & retail
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 47520Retail sale of hardware, paints and glass in specialised stores
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with exceptional profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 58). 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 20.2y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 20.2 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, 2 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 (2 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
53 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 £749,766
Net assets shrinking
Down £18,090 YoY
Cash YoY
-6%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£312k
↓ 6.1% YoY
Net Worth
£750k
↓ 2.4% YoY
Current Assets
£1.0m
~ YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£203k£406k£609k£812k£1.0mMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£749.8k£767.9k
Current assets£1.01M£1.01M
Cash£311.5k£331.8k
Debtors£360.1k£336.4k
Net assets£749.8k£767.9k

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-07-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-06-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-06-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-06-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-08-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-05-17
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  7. 2021-05-17
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  8. 2021-05-17
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  9. 2020-09-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-07-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-07-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-06-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-07-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2015-10-05
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-06-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2011-05-20
    ➕
    FOSTER, Christian Matthew appointed
    secretary
  17. 2011-05-20
    ➖
    FOSTER, Gerald Shaw resigned
    secretary
  18. 2006-01-25
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  19. 2005-10-04
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As COBRA BUILDING SUPPLIES LTD.
  20. 2005-10-04
    ➕
    FOSTER, Christian Matthew appointed
    director
  21. 2005-10-04
    ➕
    FOSTER, Gerald Shaw appointed
    secretary
  22. 2005-10-04
    ➕
    BRIAN REID LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 2005-10-04
    ➖
    BRIAN REID LTD. resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  24. 2005-10-04
    ➕
    STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  25. 2005-10-04
    ➖
    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 58 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

85/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 58. Early succession window.
  • 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 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

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 Christian Matthew Foster
Individual · British · DOB 02/1968 · age 58
75–100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting06/04/2016

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
Incorporated2005-10-04
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC46730 — SIC 46730

Registered office

Unit 3
Prestonhall Trading Estate
Cupar
Fife
KY15 4RD

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-18
Last: 2025-10-04

Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)

FOSTER, Christian Matthew→
secretary · appointed 2011-05-20
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FOSTER, Christian Matthew→
director · ~58y · appointed 2005-10-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FOSTER, Gerald Shaw→
secretary · appointed 2005-10-04 · resigned 2011-05-20
Resigned
BRIAN REID LTD.→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2005-10-04 · resigned 2005-10-04
Resigned
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD.→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2005-10-04 · resigned 2005-10-04
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 property25/01/2006—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (53 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-07-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-06-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-06-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-06-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-08-03
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2021-05-17
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-05-17
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2021-05-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-10-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2020-09-03