STC TWENTY ONE LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
04765746 · ltd · incorporated 2003-05-15
Investment thesis
Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.
Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.
Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.
Opportunity decay
hardening · 12-months
Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.
  • · Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to May 2025
Net worth
£623.8k
book net assets
Opportunity
81/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Technical testing and analysis
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 80-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 81/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 80). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -47% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (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
7 officers (5 active, 7 linked, 4 with DOB)
81
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
4 connected companies via shared directors
57
Filing history
58 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
81/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
85
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
Positive net assets
Net assets £623,818
Net assets shrinking
Down £35,585 YoY
Cash draining
Cash down 47% YoY
Cash YoY
-47%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£205k
↓ 47% YoY
Net Worth
£624k
↓ 5.4% YoY
Current Assets
£777k
↓ 16% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£185k£370k£554k£739k£924kMay 2024May 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-05-312024-05-31
Total assets£726.1k£790.5k
Current assets£776.8k£924.1k
Cash£205.2k£389.8k
Debtors£293.0k£457.2k
Net assets£623.8k£659.4k

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-02-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-02-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-02-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-05-04
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  6. 2022-05-03
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  7. 2022-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-09-01
    ➕
    GAUGHAN, Carol appointed
    director
  9. 2021-09-01
    ➕
    GAUGHAN, Simon Peter appointed
    director
  10. 2021-05-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-02-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-01-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-06-06
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2016-02-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2015-06-16
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  18. 2003-05-15
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As STC TWENTY ONE LIMITED
  19. 2003-05-15
    ➕
    GAUGHAN, Peter David Steven appointed
    secretary
  20. 2003-05-15
    ➕
    DENT, John appointed
    director
  21. 2003-05-15
    ➕
    GAUGHAN, Peter David Steven appointed
    director
  22. 2003-05-15
    ➕
    SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 2003-05-15
    ➖
    SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  24. 2003-05-15
    ➕
    INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  25. 2003-05-15
    ➖
    INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

73/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • -4 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 80 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

90/100
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 80 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 23 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 23 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
  • supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.

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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Peter Gaughan
Individual · British · DOB 10/1967 · age 59
50–75%
—50-75% shares06/04/2016
Mrs Carol Gaughan
Individual · British · DOB 09/1967 · age 59
25–50%
—25-50% shares06/04/2016

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
Incorporated2003-05-15
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC71200 — Technical testing and analysis

Registered office

6 Nottingham Road
Long Eaton
Nottingham
NG10 1HP

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-21
Last: 2025-08-07

Officers (5 active · 2 resigned)

GAUGHAN, Peter David Steven→
secretary · appointed 2003-05-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DENT, John→
director · ~80y · appointed 2003-05-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
GAUGHAN, Carol→
director · ~59y · appointed 2021-09-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
GAUGHAN, Peter David Steven→
director · ~59y · appointed 2003-05-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
GAUGHAN, Simon Peter→
director · ~40y · appointed 2021-09-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2003-05-15 · resigned 2003-05-15
Resigned
INSTANT COMPANIES LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2003-05-15 · resigned 2003-05-15
Resigned

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

Recent filings (58 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2026-02-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-02-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-02-29
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-02-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-22
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2022-05-04
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2022-05-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-02-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-05-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-08-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2020-02-27