ESK VALLEY KNITWEAR CO.LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC059934 · ltd · incorporated 1976-04-30

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 Apr 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

82/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 14390

Sector: Manufacturing

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

41100Development of building projects

Investor take

Pursue

Strong opportunity: active trading company with exceptional profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 58). 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 16.9y

45/100

under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

· Oldest live charge is 16.9 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: high (80/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

Company profile

address, 2 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)

Directors & officers

7 officers (2 active, 7 linked, 5 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

2 active PSC(s) of 4 total, 4 with control declared

Director network

3 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

105 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

82/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

100

Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

—

Current Assets

—

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102

Metric	2025-04-30	2024-04-30
Average employees	25	2300

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (27 events)Click to expand

2026-01-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-01-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-17
📄
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2024-09-17
📄
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2024-03-28
➖
GEDDES, Andrew resigned
director
2024-03-28
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2024-01-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-01-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-01-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-04-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-01-15
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2019-10-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-09-24
📄
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2019-09-24
🔓
Charge satisfied #1
2018-11-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-11-10
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-01-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-07-17
➕
GEDDES, Andrew appointed
director
2014-06-30
➖
KING, Eric William resigned
director
2009-06-16
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Bank of Scotland PLC
1997-04-01
➕
KING, Eric William appointed
director
1996-01-23
➕
MORRIS, Kim appointed
secretary
1996-01-23
➕
MAXWELL, Stuart Ashcroft appointed
director
1996-01-23
➖
MAXWELL, Daisy resigned
secretary
1996-01-23
➖
MAXWELL, Daisy resigned
director
1996-01-23
➖
MAXWELL, Ian resigned
director
1976-04-30
🏢
Company incorporated
As ESK VALLEY KNITWEAR CO.LIMITED

Owner dependency

93/100

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.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 30 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 58 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

85/100

Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS

secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 58. Early succession window.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 30 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 50 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.)

Group structure

Frizington Properties Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️

Frizington Properties Limited

Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares · board control

ultimate parent

⬇

ESK VALLEY KNITWEAR CO.LIMITED

This company · SC059934

Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Frizington Properties Limited Corporate entity	75–100%	75–100%	board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control	06/04/2016
Mr Stuart Ashcroft Maxwell Individual · British · DOB 07/1968 · age 58	—	—	sig. influencesignificant influence	06/04/2016

2 historic (ceased) PSCs

Mrs Daisy Maxwellceased 26/08/2023· significant influence
Mr Ian Maxwellceased 26/08/2023· significant influence

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 →

Similar companies

Active · Manufacturing · DG postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
EWART ENGINEERING LIMITED→ SC049122 · est 1971	£1.94M £1.51M–£2.37M	£8.54M	—	7900	54y	87	62y
COCHRAN SERVICES LTD→ SC379462 · est 2010 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	15y	83	70y
H & I ENGINEERING LIMITED→ SC053292 · est 1973	—	—	—	2900	52y	83	81y
HODDAM CONTRACTING COMPANY LIMITED→ SC033012 · est 1958	—	—	—	48	68y	83	60y
JAMES GORDON LIMITED→ SC293893 · est 2005	—	—	£7.20M	—	20y	83	76y
A & G KING TIMBER LIMITED→ SC198132 · est 1999	—	—	£7.80M	—	26y	82	84y
CASTLE TECHNOLOGIES (STRANRAER) LIMITED→ SC377099 · est 2010	—	—	—	12	16y	82	58y
DAVID REID LIMITED→ SC292994 · est 2005	—	—	£11.1k	—	20y	82	67y
EUROPEAN FOREST MACHINERY LIMITED→ SC206862 · est 2000	—	—	—	0	25y	82	68y
JAMES SMITH FENCING LIMITED→ SC486484 · est 2014 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	11y	—	—
RINGFORD MOTOR SERVICES LIMITED→ SC273731 · est 2004 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	21y	—	—
SABLEY LTD→ SC486343 · est 2014 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	11y	—	—

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

Incorporated1976-04-30

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC14390 — SIC 14390

Registered office

26 High Street

Annan

DG12 6AJ

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-01-31

Last made up to: 2025-04-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-09-08

Last: 2025-08-25

Officers (2 active · 5 resigned)

MORRIS, Kim→

secretary · appointed 1996-01-23

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MAXWELL, Stuart Ashcroft→

director · ~58y · appointed 1996-01-23

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MAXWELL, Daisy→

secretary · resigned 1996-01-23

Resigned

GEDDES, Andrew→

director · ~68y · appointed 2015-07-17 · resigned 2024-03-28

Resigned

KING, Eric William→

director · ~70y · appointed 1997-04-01 · resigned 2014-06-30

Resigned

MAXWELL, Daisy→

director · ~85y · resigned 1996-01-23

Resigned

MAXWELL, Ian→

director · ~83y · resigned 1996-01-23

Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown

			Type	Properties
	satisfied	Lloyds Banking Group Bank of Scotland PLC	Bond & floating charge	1 property	16/06/2009	24/09/2019

Recent filings (105 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2026-01-28

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-09-17

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2025-01-27

cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control

persons-with-significant-control · PSC07

2024-09-17

cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control

persons-with-significant-control · PSC07

2024-09-17

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-09-03

termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date

officers · TM01

2024-03-28

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2024-01-31

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2023-09-26

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2023-01-24

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2022-09-05

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2022-01-27

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2021-08-25

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2021-04-23

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2020-09-07