ARBOR VITAE ARBORICULTURE LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC413171 · ltd · incorporated 2011-12-14
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
£37.8k
book net assets
Opportunity
73/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Environmental consulting activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 73/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. 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: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).

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
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
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
31 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
73/100Strong
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
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £37,763
Net assets shrinking
Down £7,919 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£38k
↓ 17% YoY
Current Assets
£41k
↓ 22% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£10k£21k£31k£41k£52kDec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Total assets£38.3k£45.7k
Current assets£40.5k£51.7k
Net assets£37.8k£45.7k

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 address
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 address
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-12
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  2. 2025-04-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-10-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-08-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-08-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-08-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-09-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-10-22
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  9. 2019-09-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-08-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-11-03
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  12. 2017-09-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-08-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2015-12-21
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-04-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2011-12-14
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ARBOR VITAE ARBORICULTURE LTD
  17. 2011-12-14
    ➕
    CHARKOW, Michael James 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 14 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 14 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 Michael James Charkow
Individual · British · DOB 06/1976 · age 50
75–100%
—75-100% shares13/12/2016

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

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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 →
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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
Incorporated2011-12-14
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC74901 — Environmental consulting activities

Registered office

8 Harbour Place
Burntisland
KY3 9DP
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-28
Last: 2025-12-14

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

CHARKOW, Michael James→
director · ~50y · appointed 2011-12-14
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (31 total)

change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2026-03-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-04-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-10-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-08-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-08-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-08-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-02-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-09-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-12-16
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2019-10-22