ASPIRE UPHOLSTERY LTD
💤Zombieactive
SC387591 · ltd · incorporated 2010-10-25
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 Oct 2025
Net worth
£28.7k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Manufacture of other furniture
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
PursueAsset-holding vehicle with a 61-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 61). 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
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
31 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.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £28,746
Net assets shrinking
Down £5,228 YoY
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
£29k
↓ 15% YoY
Current Assets
£61k
↓ 46% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-10-31 | 2024-10-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £36.4k | £47.7k |
| Current assets | £61.5k | £113.6k |
| Net assets | £28.7k | £34.0k |
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
2
filings
- • 1 accounts
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand
- 2025-12-11📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-11-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-11-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-01-24📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-11-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-12-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-02-04📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-01-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-03-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2016-12-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-01-14📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-11-25📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-03-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2014-11-25📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2014-03-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2010-10-25🏢Company incorporatedAs ASPIRE UPHOLSTERY LTD
- 2010-10-25➕MCGHIE, William Edward appointeddirector
Owner dependency
98/100
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
- +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 15 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 61 — approaching natural succession window.
- +No director turnover: Company is 15 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.
Succession & seller-readiness
78/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 61. Early succession window.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 15 years.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr William Edward Mcghie Individual · British · DOB 12/1965 · age 61 | 75–100% | — | 75-100% shares | 25/10/2016 |
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 · Manufacturing · PA postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 POINT 8 LTD→ SC669890 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| A T MARSHALL JOINERY LIMITED→ SC288555 · est 2005 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 20y | — | — |
| ATLAS ENGINES LTD→ SC464934 · est 2013 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| AUTO GATES SCOT LTD→ SC666684 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| AUTOMATED INDUSTRIAL MACHINE ENGINEERING LTD→ SC584473 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| BARR ELECTRICAL SERVICES LTD→ SC844553 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| BEAUTY EXCHANGE LIMITED→ SC453377 · est 2013 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 12y | — | — |
| BELLTREES FORGE LIMITED→ SC187272 · est 1998 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 27y | — | — |
| BLAIRS WINDOWS LTD.→ SC393935 · est 2011 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 15y | — | — |
| BUCK AND HARE LIMITED→ SC480684 · est 2014 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 11y | — | — |
| CAD NINJAS LTD→ SC837837 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| CAIRNDOW MECHANICAL SERVICES LIMITED→ SC318358 · est 2007 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 19y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2010-10-25
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC31090 — Manufacture of other furniture
Registered office
Unit 16 Kingston Business Park
Ardgowan Street
Port Glasgow
Inverclyde
PA14 5DG
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-07-31
Last made up to: 2025-10-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-08
Last: 2025-10-25
Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)
MCGHIE, William Edward→
Activedirector · ~61y · appointed 2010-10-25
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (31 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-12-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-11-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-11-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-01-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-11-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-12-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-11-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-02-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-11-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-01-15