C D MERCER LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC546086 · ltd · incorporated 2016-09-22
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 2024
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
72/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Site preparation
Sector: Construction
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 72/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. 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 (58/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 7.1y

45/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 7.1 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (71/100)

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
1 year of iXBRL accounts extracted (no YoY comparison) + narrative notes parsed
50
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
2 officers (1 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
29 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
72/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
50
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
82
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
Current Assets
Current Liabilities

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-09-30
Average employees400

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
1
filing
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-10-14
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-current-extended
    accounts · AA01
  2. 2025-10-14
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  3. 2025-10-14
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  4. 2025-10-10
    MERCER, Emily resigned
    director
  5. 2025-10-06
    📍
    change-sail-address-company-with-old-address-new-address
    address · AD02
  6. 2025-09-24
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  7. 2025-08-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2024-06-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2024-05-01
    📍
    change-sail-address-company-with-old-address-new-address
    address · AD02
  10. 2023-06-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2022-09-28
    📍
    change-sail-address-company-with-old-address-new-address
    address · AD02
  12. 2022-04-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2021-01-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2020-10-06
    📍
    move-registers-to-sail-company-with-new-address
    address · AD03
  15. 2020-10-06
    📍
    change-sail-address-company-with-new-address
    address · AD02
  16. 2020-04-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  17. 2019-04-03
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  18. 2019-03-29
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Clydesdale Bank PLC (Trading as Both Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank) (Company Number SC001111)
  19. 2019-03-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  20. 2016-09-22
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As C D MERCER LIMITED
  21. 2016-09-22
    MERCER, Colin appointed
    director
  22. 2016-09-22
    MERCER, Emily appointed
    director

Owner dependency

90/100
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.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "MERCER" — strong identity link between founder and business.

Succession & seller-readiness

45/100
Moderate signal

Some succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

Red flags

1 low
Multiple registered office changes
low

Multiple address changes in a short period can indicate operational instability or admin disorder.

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Colin Mercer
Individual · British · DOB 01/1972 · age 54
75100%
75-100% shares22/09/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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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
Incorporated2016-09-22
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC43120 — Site preparation

Registered office

Ledaig
Luncarty
Perth
PH1 3HS
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2024-09-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-18
Last: 2025-11-04

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

MERCER, Colin
director · ~54y · appointed 2016-09-22
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MERCER, Emily
director · ~52y · appointed 2016-09-22 · resigned 2025-10-10
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Virgin Money
Clydesdale Bank PLC (Trading as Both Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank) (Company Number SC001111)
A registered charge29/03/2019
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (29 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-04
change-account-reference-date-company-current-extended
accounts · AA01
2025-10-14
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-10-14
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-10-14
change-sail-address-company-with-old-address-new-address
address · AD02
2025-10-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-06
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-09-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-08-16
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-06-29
change-sail-address-company-with-old-address-new-address
address · AD02
2024-05-01
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-06-29
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-30
change-sail-address-company-with-old-address-new-address
address · AD02
2022-09-28