BLACK THISTLE DISTILLERIES LTD
💤Zombieactive
SC558406 · ltd · incorporated 2017-02-22
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 Feb 2025
Net worth
£-1.25M
book net assets
Opportunity
72/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 46342
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.
Opportunity 72/100 (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: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -51% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: distressed disposal / insolvency (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
6 officers (2 active, 6 linked, 4 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
3 connected companies via shared directors
54
Filing history
40 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
55
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £1,250,988
Cash draining
Cash down 51% YoY
Cash YoY
-51%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£8k
↓ 51% YoY
Net Worth
-£1.3m
↓ 12% YoY
Current Assets
£60k
↓ 34% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2025-02-28 | 2024-02-28 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £-1.25M | £-1.12M |
| Current assets | £59.8k | £90.4k |
| Cash | £8.2k | £16.6k |
| Debtors | £8.2k | £16.9k |
| Net assets | £-1.25M | £-1.12M |
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
🔒Filing-note intelligence
2 signals 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
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
- • 1 confirmation-statement
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (31 events)Click to expand
- 2025-11-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-03-26📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2025-03-26📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC05
- 2025-03-25➖SHAND, David Alexander resigneddirector
- 2025-02-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-12-10📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2024-12-06➕SHAND, Andrew Christopher appointeddirector
- 2024-05-27📄appoint-corporate-secretary-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP04
- 2024-05-27📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2024-05-24➕STRONACHS SECRETARIES LIMITED appointedcorporate-secretary
- 2024-05-24📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC02
- 2024-05-23📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2024-05-23📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2024-05-23📄termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM02
- 2024-05-23📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2024-05-17➖STAMPER, Christine resignedsecretary
- 2024-05-17➕SHAND, David Alexander appointeddirector
- 2024-05-17➖STAMPER, Christine resigneddirector
- 2023-12-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-06-01📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-08-17📄termination-director-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM01
- 2022-08-10➖SCOTT, Ainslie resigneddirector
- 2022-03-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-02-03📄gazette-filings-brought-up-to-dategazette · DISS40
- 2022-01-25📄gazette-notice-compulsorygazette · GAZ1
- 2021-07-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-07-01📄gazette-filings-brought-up-to-dategazette · DISS40
- 2018-06-20➕STAMPER, Christine appointeddirector
- 2017-02-22🏢Company incorporatedAs BLACK THISTLE DISTILLERIES LTD
- 2017-02-22➕STAMPER, Christine appointedsecretary
- 2017-02-22➕SCOTT, Ainslie appointeddirector
Owner dependency
75/100
High — earn-out structure requiredMaterial founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.
FACTORS
- +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
Succession & seller-readiness
45/100
Moderate signalSome 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
cleanNo red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)
Group structure
Black Thistle Holdings Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.
🏛️ultimate parent
Black Thistle Holdings Limited
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares · board control
⬇
BLACK THISTLE DISTILLERIES LTD
This company · SC558406
Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).
Shareholders & ownership
1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Black Thistle Holdings Limited Corporate entity | 75–100% | 75–100% | board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control | 17/05/2024 |
1 historic (ceased) PSC
- Mrs Christine Stamperceased 17/05/2024· 50-75% shares · 50-75% voting · board control
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 · Wholesale & distribution · AB postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80:20 PROCUREMENT SERVICES LIMITED→ SC113061 · est 1988 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 37y | — | — |
| ABD GUL LTD→ SC855540 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ABK AGGREGATES LTD→ SC556671 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| AGILITY NDE LTD→ SC555173 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| AJ SUBSEA LTD→ SC858806 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| AOSS LIMITED→ SC555542 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| ASHGROVE GROUP LTD→ SC829097 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ASHWELL TOBACCO LTD→ SC868528 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ATELIER COZUM SIST VE YAPI MALZ SAN TIC LIMITED→ SC684228 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| AVERO SOLUTIONS LTD→ SC869111 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| BEER DELIVERY CO LIMITED→ SC592550 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| BENNACHIE EGGS LIMITED→ SC867726 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
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
Incorporated2017-02-22
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC46342 — SIC 46342
Registered office
28 Albyn Place
Aberdeen
AB10 1YL
United Kingdom
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-11-30
Last made up to: 2025-02-28
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-07
Last: 2026-02-21
Officers (2 active · 4 resigned)
STRONACHS SECRETARIES LIMITED→
Activecorporate-secretary · appointed 2024-05-24
View their other companies + combined net worth →
SHAND, Andrew Christopher→
Activedirector · ~40y · appointed 2024-12-06
View their other companies + combined net worth →
STAMPER, Christine→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 2017-02-22 · resigned 2024-05-17
SCOTT, Ainslie→
Resigneddirector · ~50y · appointed 2017-02-22 · resigned 2022-08-10
SHAND, David Alexander→
Resigneddirector · ~73y · appointed 2024-05-17 · resigned 2025-03-25
STAMPER, Christine→
Resigneddirector · ~77y · appointed 2018-06-20 · resigned 2024-05-17
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (40 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-11-21
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-03-26
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
2025-03-26
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-02-25
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2024-12-10
appoint-corporate-secretary-company-with-name-date
officers · AP04
2024-05-27
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-05-27
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
2024-05-24
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2024-05-23
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2024-05-23
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2024-05-23
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2024-05-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-25