BURNOBENNIE DISTILLERY LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC645313 · ltd · incorporated 2019-10-24
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 Jul 2024
Net worth
£557.9k
book net assets
Opportunity
70/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 46342
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 70/100 (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: 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).

Data confidence

Overall: high (81/100)

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
8 officers (1 active, 8 linked, 8 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
7 connected companies via shared directors
66
Filing history
40 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
70/100Strong
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
77
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £557,919
Net assets shrinking
Down £270,919 YoY
Cash YoY
+1156%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£124k
↑ 1156% YoY
Net Worth
£558k
↓ 33% YoY
Current Assets
£1.8m
↓ 19% YoY
Current Liabilities
£0£453k£907k£1.4m£1.8m£2.3mJul 2023Jul 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-07-312023-07-31
Total assets£1.61M£2.05M
Current assets£1.84M£2.27M
Cash£123.7k£9.8k
Debtors£979.8k£187.1k
Net assets£557.9k£828.8k

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
3
filings
  • 3 officers
Last 180 days
3
filings
  • 3 officers
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (36 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-11
    BAIN, Michael Alexander appointed
    director
  2. 2026-03-11
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  3. 2026-02-02
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  4. 2026-02-02
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  5. 2026-01-20
    RITCHIE, Samuel Smith resigned
    director
  6. 2025-10-03
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  7. 2025-10-02
    AITKEN, William John Scott resigned
    director
  8. 2025-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2025-01-06
    MCLEOD, Stuart David resigned
    director
  10. 2025-01-06
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  11. 2024-07-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2024-07-20
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  13. 2024-07-02
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  14. 2024-04-19
    📄
    second-filing-of-confirmation-statement-with-made-up-date
    confirmation-statement · RP04CS01
  15. 2024-03-20
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  16. 2024-02-29
    HYND, John Fraser resigned
    director
  17. 2023-08-09
    📄
    accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AAMD
  18. 2023-08-01
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  19. 2023-07-31
    AITKEN, William John Scott appointed
    director
  20. 2023-07-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  21. 2022-12-23
    DONALD, Joanne Caitlin resigned
    director
  22. 2022-12-23
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  23. 2022-12-13
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  24. 2022-12-08
    HYND, John Fraser appointed
    director
  25. 2022-12-08
    MCLEOD, Stuart David appointed
    director
  26. 2022-12-08
    RITCHIE, Samuel Smith appointed
    director
  27. 2022-12-08
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  28. 2022-12-08
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  29. 2022-12-08
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  30. 2022-12-07
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  31. 2022-12-05
    DONALD, Joanne Caitlin appointed
    director
  32. 2022-12-05
    PENNYCOOK, Liam John resigned
    director
  33. 2022-03-01
    BAIN, Michael Alexander resigned
    director
  34. 2021-07-16
    PENNYCOOK, Liam John appointed
    director
  35. 2019-10-24
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As BURNOBENNIE DISTILLERY LIMITED
  36. 2019-10-24
    BAIN, Michael Alexander appointed
    director

Owner dependency

75/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material 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 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 med ·
2 director resignations in last 12 months
medium

Multiple recent departures can indicate governance disagreement, succession event, or preparation for sale/stress.

Evidence: AITKEN, William John Scott resigned 2025-10-02; RITCHIE, Samuel Smith resigned 2026-01-20

Group structure

Ardent Spirit Holdings Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️
Ardent Spirit Holdings Limited
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares
ultimate parent
BURNOBENNIE DISTILLERY LIMITED
This company · SC645313

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%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Ardent Spirit Holdings Limited
Corporate entity
75100%
75-100% shares24/10/2019
2 historic (ceased) PSCs
  • Mr Michael Alexander Bainceased 15/07/2021· 75-100% shares
  • Ardent Spirit Holdings Limitedceased 24/10/2020· 75-100% shares · 75-100% 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 →

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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
Incorporated2019-10-24
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC46342 — SIC 46342

Registered office

Marywell Commercial Park
Portlethen
Aberdeen
AB12 4SB
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-04-30
Last made up to: 2024-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-05-03
Last: 2025-04-19

Officers (1 active · 7 resigned)

BAIN, Michael Alexander
director · ~53y · appointed 2026-03-11
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
AITKEN, William John Scott
director · ~53y · appointed 2023-07-31 · resigned 2025-10-02
Resigned
BAIN, Michael Alexander
director · ~53y · appointed 2019-10-24 · resigned 2022-03-01
Resigned
DONALD, Joanne Caitlin
director · ~31y · appointed 2022-12-05 · resigned 2022-12-23
Resigned
HYND, John Fraser
director · ~57y · appointed 2022-12-08 · resigned 2024-02-29
Resigned
MCLEOD, Stuart David
director · ~45y · appointed 2022-12-08 · resigned 2025-01-06
Resigned
PENNYCOOK, Liam John
director · ~33y · appointed 2021-07-16 · resigned 2022-12-05
Resigned
RITCHIE, Samuel Smith
director · ~39y · appointed 2022-12-08 · resigned 2026-01-20
Resigned

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

Recent filings (40 total)

appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2026-03-11
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2026-02-02
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2026-02-02
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-10-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-20
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-01-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-07-31
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2024-07-20
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2024-07-02
second-filing-of-confirmation-statement-with-made-up-date
confirmation-statement · RP04CS01
2024-04-19
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-19
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-17
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2024-03-20
accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AAMD
2023-08-09