CAIRN HOLDINGS (SCOTLAND) LTD
💤Zombieactive
SC589993 · ltd · incorporated 2018-02-27
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
£5.34M
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Tour operator activities
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
PursueAsset-holding vehicle with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (60/100, director aged 65). 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).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
1 live charge · oldest 7.9y
45/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 7.9 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.
Data confidence
Overall: medium (78/100)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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
24 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
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £5,336,004
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£129k
Net Worth
£5.3m
Current Assets
£5.3m
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2024-12-31 | 2023-12-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £5.38M | — |
| Current assets | £5.32M | — |
| Cash | £128.6k | — |
| Debtors | £961.4k | — |
| Net assets | £5.34M | — |
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 persons-with-significant-control
Last 90 days
2
filings
- • 1 persons-with-significant-control
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
- • 1 persons-with-significant-control
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand
- 2026-04-15📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2025-03-11📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2025-02-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-02-19📄capital-allotment-sharescapital · SH01
- 2024-02-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-01-23✏️certificate-change-of-name-companychange-of-name · CERTNM
- 2024-01-23📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2023-10-20📄mortgage-satisfy-charge-fullmortgage · MR04
- 2023-10-20🔓Charge satisfied #1
- 2023-06-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-06-07📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-05-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-04-10📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-04-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-03-26📄change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortenedaccounts · AA01
- 2018-05-23📄mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-datemortgage · MR01
- 2018-05-15🔒Charge registered #1Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
- 2018-02-27🏢Company incorporatedAs CAIRN HOLDINGS (SCOTLAND) LTD
- 2018-02-27➕BLACK, Iain appointeddirector
- 2018-02-27📄incorporation-companyincorporation · NEWINC
Owner dependency
95/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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 age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.
- +No director turnover: Company is 8 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.
Succession & seller-readiness
65/100
Strong succession signalMultiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 65. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
- 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.)
Shareholders & ownership
2 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mrs Annette Black Individual · British · DOB 04/1961 · age 65 | 25–50% | 25–50% | board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control | 19/02/2025 |
Iain Black Individual · British · DOB 02/1961 · age 65 | 25–50% | 25–50% | board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control | 27/02/2018 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JIM WILMER EQUESTRIAN LTD→ SC534333 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
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| KILBIRNIE AULD KIRK FUTURE GROUP LTD→ SC882353 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| KILWINNING COMMUNITY SPORTS CLUB→ SC282026 · est 2005 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 21y | — | — |
| LENDALFOOT COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION LIMITED→ SC289259 · est 2005 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 20y | — | — |
| LINKS UNSEEN LIMITED→ SC878133 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| LITTLE PLAY PLANET LTD→ SC643133 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| LITTLE PRINTS SCOTLAND LTD→ SC800085 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| LOCH VENACHAR LODGES LIMITED→ SC763346 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| LOCHRANZA AND CATACOL SEA SOCIETY C.I.C→ SC324636 · est 2007 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 18y | — | — |
| LOLLIPOP LAND LTD→ SC588240 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions
8 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
Incorporated2018-02-27
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC79120 — Tour operator activities
Registered office
36 Braemore Wood
Troon
KA10 7FN
Scotland
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-12
Last: 2026-02-26
Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)
Active
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
1
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| satisfied | Lloyds Banking Group The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC | A registered charge | — | 15/05/2018 | 20/10/2023 |
Recent filings (24 total)
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2026-04-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-09
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-11
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2025-03-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-02-20
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2025-02-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-02-26
certificate-change-of-name-company
change-of-name · CERTNM
2024-01-23
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-01-23
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2023-10-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-06-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-06-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-10