CRISPIE LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC159961 · ltd · incorporated 1995-08-23
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
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other holiday and other collective accommodation
Sector: Accommodation & food service
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company 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: 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

2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 1.4y

0/100
under pressure

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

  • · Newest facility, 1.4 years old — likely still in initial term.
  • · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
  • · 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, 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
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)
75
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
8 connected companies via shared directors
69
Filing history
86 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
-£1.1m-£873k-£648k-£423k-£197k£28kMar 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
Total assets£-1.10M
Current assets£27.9k
Cash£9.3k
Debtors£18.6k
Net assets£-1.10M
Average employees2

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 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-01-16
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  3. 2025-01-16
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  4. 2025-01-15
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Shancastle Investments Limited
  5. 2025-01-15
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Crispie Lodge Limited
  6. 2024-12-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2023-12-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2022-11-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-09-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-01-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2019-10-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2018-09-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2017-10-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-01-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-08-25
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  16. 2016-04-12
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  17. 2016-04-12
    📄
    capital-allotment-shares
    capital · SH01
  18. 1996-02-28
    STENHOUSE, Alison Mary Turner appointed
    secretary
  19. 1996-02-28
    STENHOUSE, Richard Guy Thomas appointed
    director
  20. 1996-02-28
    BURNESS SOLICITORS resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  21. 1996-02-28
    WJB (DIRECTORS) LIMITED resigned
    corporate-director
  22. 1995-08-23
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As CRISPIE LIMITED
  23. 1995-08-23
    BURNESS SOLICITORS appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  24. 1995-08-23
    WJB (DIRECTORS) LIMITED appointed
    corporate-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 30 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 30 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 31 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

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

🏛️
Shancastle Investments Limited
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares
ultimate parent
CRISPIE LIMITED
This company · SC159961

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%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Shancastle Investments Limited
Corporate entity
75100%
75-100% shares06/04/2016

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 →

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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
Incorporated1995-08-23
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC55209 — Other holiday and other collective accommodation

Registered office

37 Hill Street North Lane
Edinburgh
EH2 3LQ
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-23
Last: 2025-08-09

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

STENHOUSE, Alison Mary Turner
secretary · appointed 1996-02-28
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
STENHOUSE, Richard Guy Thomas
director · ~65y · appointed 1996-02-28
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BURNESS SOLICITORS
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1995-08-23 · resigned 1996-02-28
Resigned
WJB (DIRECTORS) LIMITED
corporate-director · appointed 1995-08-23 · resigned 1996-02-28
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
2
Outstanding
2
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Shancastle Investments
Shancastle Investments Limited
A registered charge1 property15/01/2025
outstanding
Crispie Lodge
Crispie Lodge Limited
A registered charge1 property15/01/2025
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (86 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-11
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2025-01-16
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2025-01-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-11-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-01-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-08-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-10-16