CBF ASSOCIATES SCOTLAND LTD.

🌳Matureactive
SC490447 · ltd · incorporated 2014-11-04
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
—
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Turnover
—
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other professional, scientific and technical activities n.e.c.
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 66-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 66). 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
34 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£0Mar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Average employees3300

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 (20 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-11-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-07-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-11-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-12-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-07-12
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  6. 2022-07-12
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  7. 2022-07-12
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  8. 2022-07-12
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  9. 2021-10-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-03-24
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  11. 2021-03-24
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  12. 2021-03-24
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  13. 2021-03-24
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  14. 2021-03-24
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  15. 2020-12-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2019-12-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  17. 2018-10-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  18. 2015-08-06
    ➕
    CLAPPERTON, Morag, Mrs. appointed
    director
  19. 2014-11-04
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As CBF ASSOCIATES SCOTLAND LTD.
  20. 2014-11-04
    ➕
    CLAPPERTON, David James Ross, Mr. appointed
    director

Owner dependency

86/100
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
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 66 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 12 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

61/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 66. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr. David James Ross Clapperton
Individual · British · DOB 05/1962 · age 64
50–75%
50–75%50-75% shares · 50-75% voting06/04/2016
Mrs. Morag Clapperton
Individual · British · DOB 06/1960 · age 66
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 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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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
Incorporated2014-11-04
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC74909 — Other professional, scientific and technical activities n.e.c.

Registered office

57/59 High Street
Dunblane
Perthshire
FK15 0EE

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-18
Last: 2025-11-04

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

CLAPPERTON, David James Ross, Mr.→
director · ~64y · appointed 2014-11-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CLAPPERTON, Morag, Mrs.→
director · ~66y · appointed 2015-08-06
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (34 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-11-05
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-07-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-11-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-07
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-07-12
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-07-12
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-07-12
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-07-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-10-25
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-03-24