COWAL BUILDING & PLUMBING SUPPLIES LIMITED

📉Decliningactive

SC080544 · ltd · incorporated 1982-10-25

Investment thesis

Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.

Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.

Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.

Opportunity decay

drifting distress · 6-months

Drifting toward distress — expect more negotiability in 3–6 months, but also more friction.

· Lifecycle stage drifting downward
· Currently "declining"

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Jun 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Other retail sale not in stores, stalls or markets

Sector: Wholesale & retail

Investor take

Pursue

Conservative operator with a 75-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 75). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: strategic trade sale (78/100).

Data confidence

Overall: high (82/100)

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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

7 officers (4 active, 7 linked, 6 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

11 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

103 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

🔒Estimated company valuation

Sector-multiple EBITDA, turnover, and NAV-proxy valuation range with confidence tier — derived from extracted iXBRL financials.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

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

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102

Profitable

Profit before tax £137,196

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	2025-06-30	2024-06-30
Profit before tax	£137.2k	£266.6k
Average employees	74	7300

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

• 1 accounts
• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 accounts
• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand

2026-03-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2025-03-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2024-03-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2023-03-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2022-03-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-03-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-03-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-03-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-12-11
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2018-11-30
➖
SHARP, Samantha Heather resigned
director
2018-03-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-03-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-03-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-03-08
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-03-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-03-02
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2007-07-01
➕
SHARP, Samantha Heather appointed
director
2006-06-19
➖
SHAW, Archibald Stewart resigned
director
2003-07-01
➖
SHAW, Samantha Heather resigned
director
1994-07-01
➕
SHAW, Steven Archibald appointed
director
1994-07-01
➕
SHAW, Stewart Gillies appointed
director
1994-07-01
➕
SHAW, Samantha Heather appointed
director
1982-10-25
🏢
Company incorporated
As COWAL BUILDING & PLUMBING SUPPLIES LIMITED

Owner dependency

83/100

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

+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 32 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 75 — 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 75 years old. Natural succession window is now.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 32 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 44 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

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

🏛️

Stewart Shaw Holdings Limited

Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares

ultimate parent

⬇

COWAL BUILDING & PLUMBING SUPPLIES LIMITED

This company · SC080544

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%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Stewart Shaw Holdings Limited Corporate entity	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	01/07/2016

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 →

Similar companies

Active · Retail · PA postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
CAMPBELLS OF ISLAY LTD→ SC630925 · est 2019	£21.5k £16.1k–£26.9k	—	—	800	6y	88	37y
GUITAR GUITAR LIMITED→ SC247523 · est 2003 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	23y	83	75y
ANGELLINE (SCOTLAND) LTD.→ SC385592 · est 2010	—	—	—	0	15y	82	61y
ARMYCHAP LIMITED→ SC274762 · est 2004	—	—	—	0	21y	82	61y
BLAIRMORE HERITAGE LIMITED→ SC263059 · est 2004	—	—	£35.6k	—	22y	82	72y
BOWMORE FILLING STATION LIMITED→ SC259944 · est 2003	—	—	£208.8k	—	22y	82	64y
CLYDE PHARMACY LIMITED→ SC273095 · est 2004	—	—	—	11	21y	82	61y
COMMERCIAL & INDUSTRIAL CLEANING SUPPLIES LIMITED→ SC292909 · est 2005 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	20y	82	62y
DALLAS CARPETS SCOTLAND LTD.→ SC239903 · est 2002	—	—	£467.7k	—	23y	82	60y
GRAMPIAN SPORTS LIMITED→ SC038433 · est 1963 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	63y	82	64y
HILLY AND BOO LIMITED→ SC332582 · est 2007	—	—	£11.0k	—	18y	82	76y
HOLMSCROFT H. C. LIMITED→ SC068595 · est 1979	—	—	£382.7k	—	46y	82	63y

Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →

🔒Tailored diligence questions

8 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

Incorporated1982-10-25

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC47990 — Other retail sale not in stores, stalls or markets

Registered office

10 Jane Street

Dunoon

Argyll

PA23 7HX

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-03-31

Last made up to: 2025-06-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-03-06

Last: 2026-02-20

Officers (4 active · 3 resigned)

SHAW, Catherine Heather→

secretary

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

SHAW, Catherine Heather→

director · ~75y

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

SHAW, Steven Archibald→

director · ~53y · appointed 1994-07-01

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

SHAW, Stewart Gillies→

director · ~57y · appointed 1994-07-01

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

SHARP, Samantha Heather→

director · ~50y · appointed 2007-07-01 · resigned 2018-11-30

Resigned

SHAW, Archibald Stewart→

director · ~77y · resigned 2006-06-19

Resigned

SHAW, Samantha Heather→

director · ~50y · appointed 1994-07-01 · resigned 2003-07-01

Resigned

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

Recent filings (103 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-full

accounts · AA

2026-03-31

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2026-02-20

accounts-with-accounts-type-full

accounts · AA

2025-03-31

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-02-27

accounts-with-accounts-type-full

accounts · AA

2024-03-28

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-02-29

accounts-with-accounts-type-small

accounts · AA

2023-03-31

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2023-02-28

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

accounts · AA

2022-03-31

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2022-03-11

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2021-04-01

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

accounts · AA

2021-03-19

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

accounts · AA

2020-03-27

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2020-03-09

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

accounts · AA

2019-03-28