BENTHEAD DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC123999 · ltd · incorporated 1990-03-27

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.

Why now

Window steady · low confidence

Steady and stalled — no momentum either way. Needs an approach trigger.

What changed my view

Last 30 days

No material changes in the last 30 days.

Last 90 days

No snapshot from 90 days ago — start tracking from today.

Last 180 days

No snapshot from 180 days ago — start tracking from today.

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Mar 2025

Net worth

£469.5k

book net assets

Opportunity

82/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Buying and selling of own real estate

Sector: Real estate

Investor take

Pursue

Property-backed borrower with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 65). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

3 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 20.9y

30/100

under pressure

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

· Oldest live charge is 20.9 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
· Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

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

Lenders & charges

3 charges (3/3 with lender, 3/3 with type)

Directors & officers

7 officers (2 active, 7 linked, 4 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

1 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

94 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

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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £469,499

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£469k

~ YoY

Current Assets

£318k

↑ 17% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-03-31	2024-03-31
Total assets	£592.1k	£465.4k
Current assets	£317.7k	£271.5k
Cash	—	£102.0k
Net assets	£469.5k	£465.4k

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (31 events)Click to expand

2026-02-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-12-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-12-04
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-03-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-08-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-12-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-08-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-01-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-03-21
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2016-02-04
📄
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2016-01-28
📄
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2016-01-27
🔒
Charge registered #3
Lender: Bank of Scotland PLC
2016-01-26
🔒
Charge registered #2
Lender: Bank of Scotland PLC
2015-12-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-03-20
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2005-07-19
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Executors of Thomas Geoffrey Swarbrick
1997-12-30
➕
SWARBRICK, Thomas Remington appointed
director
1997-11-09
➖
SWARBRICK, Thomas Geoffrey resigned
director
1991-06-01
➕
WOOD, Jeffrey Alan appointed
secretary
1991-06-01
➖
MESSRS BARRIE & SCOTT, C.A. resigned
corporate-secretary
1990-04-04
➖
MEIKLEJOHN, Iain Maury Campbell resigned
nominee-secretary
1990-04-04
➕
MESSRS BARRIE & SCOTT, C.A. appointed
corporate-secretary
1990-04-04
➖
MEIKLEJOHN, Iain Maury Campbell resigned
nominee-director
1990-04-04
➕
SWARBRICK, Thomas Geoffrey appointed
director
1990-04-04
➖
WILL, James Robert resigned
nominee-director
1990-03-27
🏢
Company incorporated
As BENTHEAD DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED
1990-03-27
➕
MEIKLEJOHN, Iain Maury Campbell appointed
nominee-secretary
1990-03-27
➕
MEIKLEJOHN, Iain Maury Campbell appointed
nominee-director
1990-03-27
➕
WILL, James Robert appointed
nominee-director

Owner dependency

100/100

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 29 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

95/100

Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 65. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 29 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 36 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

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Thomas Remington Swarbrick Individual · British · DOB 01/1961 · age 65	75–100%	—	board controlsig. influence75-100% shares · board control · significant influence · firm interest	28/09/2016

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 · Property · KY postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
PCM PROPERTIES LIMITED→ SC142138 · est 1993	£1.18M £1.01M–£1.36M	—	£1.18M	—	33y	82	68y
G.W. DOUGLAS PROPERTY & GARAGE COMPANY LIMITED→ SC031202 · est 1955	£1.10M £938.6k–£1.27M	—	£1.10M	—	70y	82	70y
MVPR LIMITED→ SC240584 · est 2002	£753.5k £640.4k–£866.5k	—	£753.5k	—	23y	82	69y
A J W PROPERTIES (SCOTLAND) LIMITED→ SC254914 · est 2003	£631.0k £536.4k–£725.7k	—	£631.0k	—	22y	82	73y
ABBEYFORT HOLIDAYS LIMITED→ SC301687 · est 2006	£408.0k £346.8k–£469.2k	—	£408.0k	—	20y	83	61y
TAYLOR BROTHERS (PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT) LIMITED→ SC058985 · est 1975	£392.5k £333.7k–£451.4k	—	£392.5k	—	50y	83	79y
STARK'S PARK PROPERTIES LTD→ SC226922 · est 2002	£337.6k £287.0k–£388.3k	—	£337.6k	—	24y	82	75y
BRAEFIELD LIMITED→ SC158886 · est 1995	£292.4k £248.5k–£336.2k	—	£292.4k	—	31y	82	74y
GOOD NEWS (DUNFERMLINE) LIMITED→ SC168501 · est 1996	£126.6k £107.6k–£145.6k	—	£126.6k	—	29y	82	67y
SUMMITS INVESTMENTS LIMITED→ SC169947 · est 1996	£123.7k £105.1k–£142.3k	—	£123.7k	—	29y	82	73y
REGENTS ESTATES AND MORTGAGES LIMITED→ SC252333 · est 2003	£107.7k £91.5k–£123.8k	—	£107.7k	—	22y	82	64y
RUMOURS (KIRKCALDY) LTD.→ SC240082 · est 2002	£53.8k £45.8k–£61.9k	—	£53.8k	—	23y	82	61y

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.

See pricing →

Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated1990-03-27

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC68100 — Buying and selling of own real estate

Registered office

Juniper

Fordell Gardens

Dunfermline

KY11 7EY

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-12-31

Last made up to: 2025-03-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-03-18

Last: 2026-03-04

Officers (2 active · 5 resigned)

WOOD, Jeffrey Alan→

secretary · appointed 1991-06-01

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

SWARBRICK, Thomas Remington→

director · ~65y · appointed 1997-12-30

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MEIKLEJOHN, Iain Maury Campbell→

nominee-secretary · appointed 1990-03-27 · resigned 1990-04-04

Resigned

MESSRS BARRIE & SCOTT, C.A.→

corporate-secretary · appointed 1990-04-04 · resigned 1991-06-01

Resigned

MEIKLEJOHN, Iain Maury Campbell→

nominee-director · ~72y · appointed 1990-03-27 · resigned 1990-04-04

Resigned

SWARBRICK, Thomas Geoffrey→

director · ~94y · appointed 1990-04-04 · resigned 1997-11-09

Resigned

WILL, James Robert→

nominee-director · ~71y · appointed 1990-03-27 · resigned 1990-04-04

Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:3 of 3 shown

		Type	Properties
outstanding	Lloyds Banking Group Bank of Scotland PLC	A registered charge	1 property	27/01/2016	—
outstanding	Lloyds Banking Group Bank of Scotland PLC	A registered charge	—	26/01/2016	—
outstanding	Executors of Thomas Geoffrey Swarbrick	Standard security	1 property	19/07/2005	—

Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.