CARPE DIEM TRAINING LTD

💤Zombieactive

SC384081 · ltd · incorporated 2010-08-23

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 Aug 2024

Net worth

£78.2k

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Other education n.e.c.

Sector: Education

Investor take

Pursue

Asset-holding vehicle with a 72-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 72). 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 (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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

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

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

1 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

34 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 £78,223

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£78k

~ YoY

Current Assets

£28k

↓ 36% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2024-08-31	2023-08-31
Total assets	£159.4k	£158.9k
Current assets	£27.7k	£43.5k
Net assets	£78.2k	£77.7k

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filings

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand

2025-05-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-05-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-05-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-05-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-31
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-12-31
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2021-05-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-05-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-05-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-05-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-05-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-05-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-08-28
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2015-08-23
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-05-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2010-08-23
🏢
Company incorporated
As CARPE DIEM TRAINING LTD
2010-08-23
➕
SPENCE, Norman, Dr 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 16 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 72 — succession pressure is live.
+No director turnover: Company is 16 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

98/100

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 72 years old. Natural succession window is now.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 16 years.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 16 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
Dr Norman Spence Individual · British · DOB 11/1954 · age 72	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	23/08/2016

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 →

Similar companies

Active · Education & training · PA postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
CAIRNDOW COMMUNITY CHILDCARE LIMITED→ SC276132 · est 2004	—	—	£1.66M	—	21y	83	66y
ST COLUMBA'S DRIMNIN TRUST LIMITED→ SC289026 · est 2005	—	—	£22.9k	—	20y	83	80y
THE ACTUAL REALITY TRUST→ SC211025 · est 2000 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	25y	83	73y
THE DRIVER THEORY TRAINING CENTRE LIMITED→ SC272807 · est 2004	—	—	—	—	21y	83	64y
CARLI'S KINDERGARTEN LTD→ SC290076 · est 2005	—	—	£49.5k	—	20y	82	73y
PROFESSIONAL DIVING ACADEMY LIMITED→ SC264798 · est 2004	—	—	£309.0k	—	22y	82	71y
CO-ROINN GHAIDHLIG MHUILE AGUS IDHE (MULL & IONA GAELIC PARTNERSHIP)→ SC280109 · est 2005 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	21y	81	80y
ENGAGE RENFREWSHIRE→ SC120101 · est 1989 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	36y	81	68y
LEISURE EDUCATION→ SC087812 · est 1984	—	—	£0	—	42y	81	87y
PARKLEA ASSOCIATION BRANCHING OUT LTD.→ SC180646 · est 1997 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	28y	81	82y
RENFREWSHIRE ENVIRONMENTAL TRUST→ SC211348 · est 2000 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	25y	81	80y
RIG ARTS LTD→ SC396962 · est 2011 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	15y	81	81y

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

Incorporated2010-08-23

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC85590 — Other education n.e.c.

Registered office

7 John Street

Gourock

Renfrewshire

PA19 1PR

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-05-31

Last made up to: 2025-08-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-09-06

Last: 2025-08-23

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

SPENCE, Norman, Dr→

director · ~72y · appointed 2010-08-23

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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

Recent filings (34 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-09-30

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2025-05-23

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-09-15

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2024-05-28

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2023-09-07

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2023-05-25

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2022-09-21

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2022-05-16

change-person-director-company-with-change-date

officers · CH01

2021-12-31

change-to-a-person-with-significant-control

persons-with-significant-control · PSC04

2021-12-31

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2021-08-27

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2021-05-29

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2020-08-26

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2020-05-30

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2019-08-27