COLIN ARMSTRONG ARCHITECTS LTD
🌳Matureactive
SC530753 · ltd · incorporated 2016-03-29
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
£498.2k
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Architectural activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
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 (63/100, director aged 67). 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
4 officers (4 active, 4 linked, 4 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
38 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 declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £498,205
Net assets shrinking
Down £70,781 YoY
Cash YoY
-12%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£516k
↓ 12% YoY
Net Worth
£498k
↓ 12% YoY
Current Assets
£805k
↓ 14% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-03-31 | 2024-03-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £499.8k | £571.1k |
| Current assets | £804.7k | £935.3k |
| Cash | £516.3k | £584.1k |
| Debtors | £288.4k | £351.2k |
| Net assets | £498.2k | £569.0k |
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
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 90 days
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
3
filings
- • 1 confirmation-statement
- • 1 incorporation
- • 1 resolution
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
- 2025-12-03📄memorandum-articlesincorporation · MA
- 2025-12-02📄resolutionresolution · RESOLUTIONS
- 2025-09-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2024-10-24📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2024-10-24📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2024-10-10📄capital-name-of-class-of-sharescapital · SH08
- 2024-10-03📄memorandum-articlesincorporation · MA
- 2024-10-03📄resolutionresolution · RESOLUTIONS
- 2024-09-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2023-09-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2023-07-06📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2022-08-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2021-12-07📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2021-11-03📄capital-name-of-class-of-sharescapital · SH08
- 2021-11-01📄memorandum-articlesincorporation · MA
- 2021-11-01📄resolutionresolution · RESOLUTIONS
- 2020-12-02📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2020-11-01➕LILLEY, Andrew John appointeddirector
- 2020-10-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2016-07-04➕CAMERON, David John appointeddirector
- 2016-07-04➕LAWSON, Michael Robert appointeddirector
- 2016-03-29🏢Company incorporatedAs COLIN ARMSTRONG ARCHITECTS LTD
- 2016-03-29➕ARMSTRONG, Colin James appointeddirector
Owner dependency
70/100
High — earn-out structure requiredMaterial founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.
FACTORS
- -4 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
- +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "ARMSTRONG" — strong identity link between founder and business.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 67 — succession pressure is live.
Succession & seller-readiness
55/100
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.
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Michael Robert Lawson Individual · British · DOB 02/1969 · age 57 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 30/09/2024 |
Mr Colin James Armstrong Individual · British · DOB 12/1959 · age 67 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 06/04/2016 |
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 →Similar companies
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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
Incorporated2016-03-29
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC71111 — Architectural activities
Registered office
Lyle House, Pavilion 1
Fairways Business Park
Inverness
IV2 6AA
United Kingdom
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-11
Last: 2026-03-28
Officers (4 active · 0 resigned)
ARMSTRONG, Colin James→
Activedirector · ~67y · appointed 2016-03-29
View their other companies + combined net worth →
CAMERON, David John→
Activedirector · ~50y · appointed 2016-07-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
LAWSON, Michael Robert→
Activedirector · ~57y · appointed 2016-07-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
LILLEY, Andrew John→
Activedirector · ~43y · appointed 2020-11-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (38 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-07
memorandum-articles
incorporation · MA
2025-12-03
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2025-12-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-09-01
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-17
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2024-10-24
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-10-24
capital-name-of-class-of-shares
capital · SH08
2024-10-10
memorandum-articles
incorporation · MA
2024-10-03
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2024-10-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-09-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-09-19
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-07-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-04