ST ANDREWS DISTILLERS LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC431786 · ltd · incorporated 2012-09-04
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 Sept 2025
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Non-trading company
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: dormant / non-trading with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 78/100 (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 (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: high (81/100)

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
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
5 connected companies via shared directors
60
Filing history
32 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
Current Assets
Current Liabilities
£0£0£0£0£0£0Sept 2024Sept 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-09-302024-09-30

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
1
filing
  • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-11-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-12-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-01-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-10-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-10-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-10-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-10-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  8. 2018-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  9. 2017-11-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  10. 2016-10-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  11. 2016-09-12
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  12. 2016-06-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  13. 2015-09-21
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2014-10-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  15. 2014-09-04
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2012-09-04
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ST ANDREWS DISTILLERS LTD
  17. 2012-09-04
    DRYSDALE, Colin Jonathan appointed
    director

Owner dependency

88/100
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.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 60 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 14 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

68/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 60. 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 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 Colin Jonathan Drysdale
Individual · British · DOB 02/1966 · age 60
75100%
75–100%board controlsig. influence75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control · significant influence06/04/2016

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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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
Typeltd
Incorporated2012-09-04
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC74990 — Non-trading company

Registered office

Unit S And Warehouse 5 Telford Road
Eastfield Industrial Estate
Glenrothes
Fife
KY7 4NX
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-06-30
Last made up to: 2025-09-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-18
Last: 2025-09-04

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

DRYSDALE, Colin Jonathan
director · ~60y · appointed 2012-09-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (32 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-11-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-12-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-01-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-10-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-10-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-10-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2019-10-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-09-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2018-10-31