CALEY CHANDLERY OBAN LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC762450 · ltd · incorporated 2023-03-15
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
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Turnover
year to Dec 2024
Net worth
£-51.6k
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other retail sale of new goods in specialised stores (other than commercial art galleries and opticians)
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 70/100. Strong seller-intent signal (60/100, director aged 72). 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).

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
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
4 connected companies via shared directors
57
Filing history
7 filings
60
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
75/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
60
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 · accounting standard not declared
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £51,608
Cash YoY
+9341%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£3k
↑ 9341% YoY
Net Worth
-£52k
↓ 37% YoY
Current Assets
£119k
↑ 26% YoY
Current Liabilities
-£52k-£18k£17k£51k£85k£119kDec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Total assets£-51.6k£-37.7k
Current assets£118.9k£94.5k
Cash£2.5k£27
Debtors£20.6k£14.3k
Net assets£-51.6k£-37.7k

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
1
filing
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (6 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-08-21
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-current-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  4. 2023-03-15
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As CALEY CHANDLERY OBAN LIMITED
  5. 2023-03-15
    MACALISTER, John appointed
    director
  6. 2023-03-15
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

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 age: Director aged approximately 72 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

75/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 72 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • 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 John Macalister
Individual · British · DOB 06/1954 · age 72
75100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting15/03/2023

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.

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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

9 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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2023-03-15
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC47789 — Other retail sale of new goods in specialised stores (other than commercial art galleries and opticians)

Registered office

6 South Pier
Gallanach Road
Oban
PA34 4LS
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-28
Last: 2026-03-14

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

MACALISTER, John
director · ~72y · appointed 2023-03-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (7 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-09-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-01
change-account-reference-date-company-current-shortened
accounts · AA01
2023-08-21
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC
2023-03-15