CAIRNS ACCOUNTANCY SERVICES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC299198 · ltd · incorporated 2006-03-20

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 material changes in the last 90 days.

Last 180 days

No snapshot from 180 days ago — start tracking from today.

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Mar 2026

Net worth

£57.0k

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Accounting and auditing activities

Sector: Professional, scientific & technical

Investor take

Pursue

Asset-holding vehicle with a 64-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 64). 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: high (81/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

Company profile

address, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

3 years of iXBRL accounts extracted + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

4 officers (1 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

47 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 · FRS 105 (micro)

Positive net assets

Net assets £56,968

Net assets shrinking

Down £29,903 YoY

Key financials

3 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£57k

↓ 34% YoY

Current Assets

£88k

↑ 2.1% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)

Metric	2026-03-31	2025-03-31	2024-03-31
Total assets	£69.7k	£86.9k	£65.0k
Current assets	£88.2k	£86.4k	£20.1k
Net assets	£57.0k	£86.9k	£65.0k

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

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 accounts
• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand

2026-06-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-10-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-07-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-08-10
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-08-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-06-05
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-06-04
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-08-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-05-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-07-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-08-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-03-24
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-12-12
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-04-09
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-12-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2011-03-31
➖
COATES, Jane resigned
secretary
2006-03-20
🏢
Company incorporated
As CAIRNS ACCOUNTANCY SERVICES LIMITED
2006-03-20
➕
FORBES, Carolyn appointed
director
2006-03-20
➕
COATES, Jane appointed
secretary
2006-03-20
➕
SAME-DAY COMPANY SERVICES LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2006-03-20
➖
SAME-DAY COMPANY SERVICES LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2006-03-20
➕
WILDMAN & BATTELL LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-director
2006-03-20
➖
WILDMAN & BATTELL LIMITED 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 20 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.

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 64. 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 20 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 20 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
Mrs Carolyn Forbes Individual · British · DOB 05/1962 · age 64	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	01/03/2017

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

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ACCURA MEASUREMENT LIMITED→ SC322109 · est 2007	—	—	£5.47M	—	19y	83	60y
ALLEN ASSOCIATES (H.P.E.) LIMITED→ SC201596 · est 1999 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	26y	83	59y
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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

Incorporated2006-03-20

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC69201 — Accounting and auditing activities

Registered office

Upper Cairns

Memsie

Fraserburgh

AB43 7AW

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-12-31

Last made up to: 2026-03-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-04-03

Last: 2026-03-20

Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)

FORBES, Carolyn→

director · ~64y · appointed 2006-03-20

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

COATES, Jane→

secretary · appointed 2006-03-20 · resigned 2011-03-31

Resigned

SAME-DAY COMPANY SERVICES LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2006-03-20 · resigned 2006-03-20

Resigned

WILDMAN & BATTELL LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2006-03-20 · resigned 2006-03-20

Resigned

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