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.

🔒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 20.8y

30/100

under pressure

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

· Oldest live charge is 20.8 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

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 accounts

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 28 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 28 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
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	£314.3k £267.2k–£361.5k	—	£314.3k	—	50y	83	79y
BRAEFIELD LIMITED→ SC158886 · est 1995	£276.5k £235.1k–£318.0k	—	£276.5k	—	30y	82	74y
MERLIN HOUSE LIMITED→ SC216220 · est 2001	£40.5k £34.4k–£46.6k	—	£40.5k	—	25y	83	64y
ARDCRAIG DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED→ SC177712 · est 1997	£8.2k £7.0k–£9.5k	—	£8.2k	—	28y	82	78y
STIRLING DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED→ SC200452 · est 1999	—	—	—	7	26y	87	61y
BPR PROPERTIES LIMITED→ SC295430 · est 2006	—	—	—	0	20y	83	65y
KKR LIMITED→ SC059312 · est 1976	—	—	—	400	50y	83	89y
ALBION INVESTMENTS LIMITED→ SC182475 · est 1998	—	—	—	200	28y	82	69y
CALORIDE LIMITED→ SC392459 · est 2011	—	—	—	—	15y	82	63y
CLAIRMARK LIMITED→ SC237146 · est 2002	—	—	—	1	23y	82	64y

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.