CMS SCOT LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC666129 · ltd · incorporated 2020-07-02
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
£-654
book net assets
Opportunity
76/100
Strong
🔔
Follow this company (free)
Email alerts on filings, charges, director changes, gazette notices. No account needed.

Unsubscribe any time from any email. GDPR-respectful.

What this business does
Primary activity: Business and domestic software development
Sector: Information & communication
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 76/100 (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 -58% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 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
10 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
76/100Strong
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
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £654
Net assets shrinking
Down £5,844 YoY
Cash draining
Cash down 58% YoY
Cash YoY
-58%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£4k
↓ 58% YoY
Net Worth
-£654
↓ 113% YoY
Current Assets
£4k
↓ 58% YoY
Current Liabilities
-£654£1k£3k£5k£7k£8kJul 2023Jul 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-07-312023-07-31
Total assets£-654£5.2k
Current assets£3.5k£8.4k
Cash£3.5k£8.4k
Debtors£20
Net assets£-654£5.2k

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (7 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-04-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-05-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-04-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2020-07-02
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As CMS SCOT LTD
  6. 2020-07-02
    CASSEN, Matthew Richard appointed
    director
  7. 2020-07-02
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

88/100
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.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 6 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

65/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 64. 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

clean
No red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Matthew Richard Cassen
Individual · British · DOB 08/1962 · age 64
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control02/07/2020

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

Similar companies

Active · Technology · KY postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
DOCUMENTATION SOLUTIONS LTD
SC383224 · est 2010 · no financials extracted
15y
DP TESTING CONSULTANCY LTD.
SC452254 · est 2013 · no financials extracted
12y
DRAGONFLY PUBLISHING GROUP LTD
SC779822 · est 2023 · no financials extracted
2y
DRK PLATFORMS LTD
SC590490 · est 2018 · no financials extracted
8y
DUNPOL LIMITED
SC858202 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
EDGE RADIO LTD
SC711595 · est 2021 · no financials extracted
4y
EFR STUDIOS LTD
SC665259 · est 2020 · no financials extracted
5y
ELB SOFTWARE LTD
SC807085 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
2y
ELITEVIRTUALSOLUTIONSUK LTD
SC858821 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
EMBED SOFTWARE LIMITED
SC750400 · est 2022 · no financials extracted
3y
ENGINE ROOM TECHNOLOGY LTD
SC767296 · est 2023 · no financials extracted
2y
ESTOPIA ENGINEERING LTD
SC874827 · est 2026 · 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
Incorporated2020-07-02
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC62012 — Business and domestic software development

Registered office

Lauderdale The Feus
Freuchie
Cupar
KY15 7HR
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-04-30
Last made up to: 2024-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-15
Last: 2025-07-01

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

CASSEN, Matthew Richard
director · ~64y · appointed 2020-07-02
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (10 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-04-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-04-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-05-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-04-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-06
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC
2020-07-02