SMCDENT LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC408808 · ltd · incorporated 2011-10-05
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 2024
Net worth
£89.2k
book net assets
Opportunity
74/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Dental practice activities
Sector: Human health & social work
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 74/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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: strategic trade sale (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · oldest 11.6y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 11.6 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, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
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
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
38 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
74/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
50
Some acquirability indicators.
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 £89,232
Net assets shrinking
Down £37,849 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£89k
↓ 30% YoY
Current Assets
£31k
↓ 61% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£25k£51k£76k£102k£127kOct 2023Oct 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-10-312023-10-31
Total assets£256.8k£325.2k
Current assets£31.5k£79.9k
Net assets£89.2k£127.1k

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 (19 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-10-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-07-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-07-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-10-19
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  6. 2022-10-19
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  7. 2021-10-29
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  8. 2021-10-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-10-19
    📄
    dissolved-compulsory-strike-off-suspended
    dissolution · DISS16(SOAS)
  10. 2021-10-18
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  11. 2021-09-28
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  12. 2020-10-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-08-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2018-07-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-07-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2014-11-21
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  17. 2014-10-23
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  18. 2011-10-05
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As SMCDENT LTD
  19. 2011-10-05
    ➕
    MCGROW, Stuart John appointed
    director

Owner dependency

80/100
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.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 15 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

58/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 15 years.
  • 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 Stuart John Mcgrow
Individual · British · DOB 11/1980 · age 46
75–100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting05/10/2016

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

Similar companies

Active · Healthcare & medical · G postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
OPTICAL EXPRESS LIMITED→
SC161469 · est 1995
£80.82M
£58.19M–£103.45M
——5490030y8558y
GP MATTERS LIMITED→
SC424457 · est 2012
£3.46M
£2.49M–£4.43M
——50014y8561y
GATE HEALTHCARE LIMITED→
SC106549 · est 1987
£2.91M
£2.09M–£3.72M
——17838y8260y
LORIMER CARE HOMES LIMITED→
SC412450 · est 2011
£2.26M
£1.63M–£2.89M
——014y8260y
GLENFAIRN LIMITED→
SC087540 · est 1984
£1.83M
£1.32M–£2.34M
——8442y8260y
ASPIRE HOUSING & PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT SERVICES LIMITED→
SC231773 · est 2002
——£354.7k—24y8377y
BCERTA LTD.→
SC355831 · est 2009
————17y8367y
COMMONWEALTH DENTAL PRACTICE LTD.→
SC381148 · est 2010 · no financials extracted
————15y8358y
DAVID LIVINGSTONE INTERNATIONAL LIMITED→
SC118899 · est 1989
——£150.4k—36y8390y
DOON CARE LTD.→
SC262088 · est 2004
——£1.46M—22y8387y
DUNDONALD HOUSE NURSING HOME LIMITED→
SC296431 · est 2006
————20y8364y
FORWARD STEPS NURSERY LTD.→
SC235287 · est 2002
——£107.9k—23y8359y
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 →
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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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2011-10-05
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC86230 — Dental practice activities

Registered office

18 Drumbowie View
Cumbernauld
Glasgow
G68 9AF
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-07-31
Last made up to: 2024-10-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-07
Last: 2025-10-24

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

MCGROW, Stuart John→
director · ~46y · appointed 2011-10-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
2
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
A registered charge1 property21/11/2014—
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
A registered charge—23/10/2014—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (38 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-10-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-07-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-07-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-10-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-19
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-10-19
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-10-19
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2021-10-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-10-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-28
dissolved-compulsory-strike-off-suspended
dissolution · DISS16(SOAS)
2021-10-19