ACADEMIC FAMILIES LTD
🌳Matureactive
SC431480 · ltd · incorporated 2012-08-30
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 Jul 2024
Net worth
£386.4k
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Educational support services
Sector: Education
Investor take
PursueAsset-holding vehicle with a 67-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 67). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
Data confidence
Overall: high (80/100)Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.
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
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
3 connected companies via shared directors
54
Filing history
30 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 · FRS 102Positive net assets
Net assets £386,390
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£1.4m
Net Worth
£386k
Current Assets
£2.1m
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2024-07-31 | 2023-07-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £399.6k | — |
| Current assets | £2.13M | — |
| Cash | £1.37M | — |
| Debtors | £761.7k | — |
| Net assets | £386.4k | — |
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 (18 events)Click to expand
- 2025-04-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-05-15📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2024-05-15📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2024-04-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-06-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2022-03-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-05-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-04-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2019-04-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-05-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-04-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-04-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-09-06📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-04-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2014-10-21📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2012-08-30🏢Company incorporatedAs ACADEMIC FAMILIES LTD
- 2012-08-30➕CLAYTON, Richard William Darwin appointeddirector
- 2012-08-30➕CLAYTON MBE, Lorna Shireen Paterson appointeddirector
Owner dependency
78/100
High — earn-out structure requiredMaterial founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.
FACTORS
- +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 67 — succession pressure is live.
- +No director turnover: Company is 14 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.
Succession & seller-readiness
69/100
Strong succession signalMultiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 67. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
- secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
- 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
cleanNo red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)
Shareholders & ownership
2 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mrs Lorna Shireen Paterson Clayton Individual · British · DOB 10/1963 · age 63 | 50–75% | 50–75% | board control50-75% shares · 50-75% voting · board control | 01/08/2016 |
Mr Richard William Darwin Clayton Individual · British · DOB 02/1959 · age 67 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 01/08/2016 |
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 · EH postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLYDE STRENGTH LTD→ SC873978 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| CME INVESTMENTS LIMITED→ SC234534 · est 2002 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 23y | — | — |
| DAKUSFRAN LIMITED→ SC739300 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| DAWN CALLING CIC→ SC791187 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| DIRECT PARTNERS LIMITED→ SC244443 · est 2003 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 23y | — | — |
| DISABILITY EQUALITY SCOTLAND→ SC243392 · est 2003 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 23y | — | — |
| DOUGLAS J. NOBLE LIMITED→ SC247234 · est 2003 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 23y | — | — |
| DRAGON BUSINESS SCHOOL LTD→ SC807303 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| DRG TRAINING CONSULTANCY AND DESIGN LIMITED→ SC683996 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| DRIVE SAFE TO PASS LTD→ SC868054 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| DRIVE WITH JANE LTD→ SC752730 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| DRIVE WITH JON LIMITED→ SC791891 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2012-08-30
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC85600 — Educational support services
Registered office
1 Wester Dalmeny Steading
Dalmeny
Edinburgh
EH30 9TT
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-04-30
Last made up to: 2024-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-05-10
Last: 2025-04-26
Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)
CLAYTON, Richard William Darwin→
Activedirector · ~67y · appointed 2012-08-30
View their other companies + combined net worth →
CLAYTON MBE, Lorna Shireen Paterson→
Activedirector · ~63y · appointed 2012-08-30
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (30 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-04-30
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-05-15
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-05-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-04-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-06-27
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-27
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-03-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-05-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2020-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-04-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-08-21