CLYDEFORTH ENGINEERS & CONTRACTORS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC130143 · ltd · incorporated 1991-02-21
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 material changes in the last 90 days.

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
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Manufacture of metal structures and parts of structures
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 70-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 70). 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

2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 34.5y

30/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 34.5 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
75
Lenders & charges
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
5 officers (1 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
97 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
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
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
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
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Mar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Average employees17001600

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (28 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-05-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-09-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-08-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-06-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-12-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-03-19
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  7. 2021-02-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-12-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-04-04
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  10. 2019-04-01
    ➖
    CHUDLEIGH, Ian Sinclair resigned
    director
  11. 2019-02-27
    ➖
    CHUDLEIGH, Ian Sinclair resigned
    secretary
  12. 2019-02-27
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  13. 2018-12-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-12-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-10-03
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  16. 2017-06-22
    📄
    capital-allotment-shares
    capital · SH01
  17. 2016-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  18. 2005-04-11
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
  19. 2003-09-13
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  20. 1993-02-28
    ➕
    CHUDLEIGH, Ian Sinclair appointed
    director
  21. 1992-01-28
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  22. 1991-03-22
    ➕
    GILCHRIST, Archibald Gardiner appointed
    director
  23. 1991-03-22
    ➕
    CHUDLEIGH, Ian Sinclair appointed
    secretary
  24. 1991-03-22
    ➖
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  25. 1991-03-22
    ➖
    JORDANS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  26. 1991-02-21
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As CLYDEFORTH ENGINEERS & CONTRACTORS LIMITED
  27. 1991-02-21
    ➕
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  28. 1991-02-21
    ➕
    JORDANS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED appointed
    corporate-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 35 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 70 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

100/100
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 70 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 35 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 35 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Archibald Gardiner Gilchrist
Individual · British · DOB 06/1956 · age 70
25–50%
—25-50% shares06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Ian Sinclair Chudleighceased 01/04/2019· 25-50% shares

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

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
Incorporated1991-02-21
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC25110 — Manufacture of metal structures and parts of structures

Registered office

Barclay Curle Complex Enterprise House, Unit 20
739 South Street
Glasgow
G14 0BX

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-07
Last: 2026-02-21

Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)

GILCHRIST, Archibald Gardiner→
director · ~70y · appointed 1991-03-22
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CHUDLEIGH, Ian Sinclair→
secretary · appointed 1991-03-22 · resigned 2019-02-27
Resigned
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1991-02-21 · resigned 1991-03-22
Resigned
CHUDLEIGH, Ian Sinclair→
director · ~67y · appointed 1993-02-28 · resigned 2019-04-01
Resigned
JORDANS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1991-02-21 · resigned 1991-03-22
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
Bond & floating charge1 property11/04/2005—
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
Bond & floating charge1 property28/01/199213/09/2003
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (97 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-05-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-09-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-08-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-06-21
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-12-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-19
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2021-03-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-02-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-04-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2019-12-28