UCAN LEARN.WORK.LIVE LTD

🌳Matureactive
SC427199 · private-limited-guarant-nsc · incorporated 2012-06-28
Investment thesis
Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.
Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.
Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.
Opportunity decay
hardening · 12-months
Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.
  • · Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Jun 2024
Net worth
£233.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
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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 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 65). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

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
6 officers (3 active, 6 linked, 6 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
3 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
47 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
79/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
75
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 declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £233,492
Net assets shrinking
Down £26,705 YoY
Cash YoY
-22%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£213k
↓ 22% YoY
Net Worth
£233k
↓ 10% YoY
Current Assets
£287k
↓ 17% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£69k£138k£207k£276k£345kJun 2023Jun 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-06-302023-06-30
Total assets£312.0k£343.7k
Current assets£287.1k£344.7k
Cash£213.0k£273.5k
Debtors£74.1k£71.2k
Net assets£233.5k£260.2k

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-06-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-03-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-03-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-06-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-07-13
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  6. 2021-07-13
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  7. 2021-07-13
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  8. 2021-03-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-03-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-03-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-06-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2018-03-22
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  13. 2017-08-01
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  14. 2017-08-01
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  15. 2017-08-01
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  16. 2017-06-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2013-08-20
    ➖
    MCCABE, William resigned
    director
  18. 2013-08-20
    ➖
    MCCULLOCH, James resigned
    director
  19. 2013-08-20
    ➖
    MCLAUGHLIN, Paul resigned
    director
  20. 2013-04-01
    ➕
    CAMPBELL, David appointed
    director
  21. 2013-04-01
    ➕
    MCCULLOCH, James appointed
    director
  22. 2013-04-01
    ➕
    MCLAUGHLIN, Paul appointed
    director
  23. 2012-06-28
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As UCAN LEARN.WORK.LIVE LTD
  24. 2012-06-28
    ➕
    BUCKMAN, Matthew appointed
    director
  25. 2012-06-28
    ➕
    FAIRBAIRN, Joseph Bell appointed
    director
  26. 2012-06-28
    ➕
    MCCABE, William appointed
    director

Owner dependency

65/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

63/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 65. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • 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

3 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Joseph Bell Fairbairn
Individual · British · DOB 01/1961 · age 65
—25–50%25-50% voting06/04/2016
Mr Matthew Thomas Ashby Buckman
Individual · British · DOB 07/1968 · age 58
—25–50%25-50% voting06/04/2016
Mr David Campbell
Individual · British · DOB 01/1963 · age 63
—25–50%25-50% voting06/04/2016

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 →

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——£4.21M—77y8382y
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———3021y8278y
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————16y8162y
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——£152.1k—21y8168y
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——£834—22y8062y
UNIVERSAL EDUCATION & TRAINING LIMITED→
SC261812 · est 2004 · no financials extracted
————22y8078y
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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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeprivate-limited-guarant-nsc
Incorporated2012-06-28
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC85590 — Other education n.e.c.

Registered office

5 Willock Street
Kilmarnock
KA1 4HE

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-06-28
Last made up to: 2024-06-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-12
Last: 2025-06-28

Officers (3 active · 3 resigned)

BUCKMAN, Matthew→
director · ~58y · appointed 2012-06-28
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CAMPBELL, David→
director · ~63y · appointed 2013-04-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FAIRBAIRN, Joseph Bell→
director · ~65y · appointed 2012-06-28
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MCCABE, William→
director · ~55y · appointed 2012-06-28 · resigned 2013-08-20
Resigned
MCCULLOCH, James→
director · ~62y · appointed 2013-04-01 · resigned 2013-08-20
Resigned
MCLAUGHLIN, Paul→
director · ~50y · appointed 2013-04-01 · resigned 2013-08-20
Resigned

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

Recent filings (47 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-06-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-03-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-03-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-06-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-13
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-07-13
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-07-13
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-07-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-03-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-06-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-03-24