NURSERIES DIRECT LTD.

🌳Matureactive
SC170132 · ltd · incorporated 1996-11-25
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.
Why now
Window steady · low confidence
Stable recent picture — watch for any upcoming trigger event.
Opportunity decay
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
  • · Oldest live charge 21.9y old — refinance window within 12 months
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
78/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Pre-primary education
Sector: Education
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 2 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · oldest 21.9y

65/100
clean up first

Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.

  • · Oldest live charge is 21.9 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Legal-friction score 25/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

Data confidence

Overall: high (81/100)

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
7 officers (2 active, 7 linked, 3 with DOB)
79
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
10 connected companies via shared directors
75
Filing history
83 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
65
Some acquirability indicators.
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 employees293100

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

3 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 (30 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-11-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-07-16
    📄
    appoint-corporate-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP02
  3. 2025-07-15
    ➕
    CALEDONIAN CARE LTD appointed
    corporate-director
  4. 2024-12-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-12-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-12-11
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  9. 2020-12-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-11-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-12-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-12-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2015-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2015-12-22
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2015-08-12
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  17. 2011-06-30
    ➖
    COBB, Christopher resigned
    secretary
  18. 2004-07-16
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
  19. 2004-06-26
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
  20. 2004-03-12
    ➖
    COBB, Christopher resigned
    director
  21. 2000-03-23
    ➕
    COBB, Christopher appointed
    secretary
  22. 2000-03-22
    ➖
    MILLER, Gordon resigned
    secretary
  23. 1997-01-31
    ➕
    COBB, Ronald Peter appointed
    director
  24. 1997-01-31
    ➕
    MILLER, Gordon appointed
    secretary
  25. 1997-01-31
    ➕
    COBB, Christopher appointed
    director
  26. 1996-11-25
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As NURSERIES DIRECT LTD.
  27. 1996-11-25
    ➕
    REID, Brian appointed
    nominee-secretary
  28. 1996-11-25
    ➖
    REID, Brian resigned
    nominee-secretary
  29. 1996-11-25
    ➕
    MABBOTT, Stephen appointed
    nominee-director
  30. 1996-11-25
    ➖
    MABBOTT, Stephen resigned
    nominee-director

Owner dependency

68/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 29 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

56/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 29 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • 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%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Ronald Peter Cobb
Individual · British · DOB 07/1969 · age 57
75–100%
—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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ASSYNT LEISURE→
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SC191841 · est 1998 · no financials extracted
————27y8372y
ORKNEY SCIENCE FESTIVAL→
SC133038 · est 1991
——£13.4k—34y8384y
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———700020y8260y
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——£39.5k—25y8184y
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————15y8183y
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————20y8170y
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SC303911 · est 2006 · no financials extracted
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V.I.P. CHILDCARE - MORAY→
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————18y8165y
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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

6 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
Incorporated1996-11-25
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC85100 — Pre-primary education

Registered office

1 Cradlehall Court
Inverness
IV2 5WD

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-08
Last: 2025-11-24

Officers (2 active · 5 resigned)

COBB, Ronald Peter→
director · ~57y · appointed 1997-01-31
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CALEDONIAN CARE LTD→
corporate-director · appointed 2025-07-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
COBB, Christopher→
secretary · appointed 2000-03-23 · resigned 2011-06-30
Resigned
MILLER, Gordon→
secretary · appointed 1997-01-31 · resigned 2000-03-22
Resigned
REID, Brian→
nominee-secretary · appointed 1996-11-25 · resigned 1996-11-25
Resigned
COBB, Christopher→
director · ~59y · appointed 1997-01-31 · resigned 2004-03-12
Resigned
MABBOTT, Stephen→
nominee-director · ~76y · appointed 1996-11-25 · resigned 1996-11-25
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
2
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
Standard security1 property16/07/2004—
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
Floating charge1 property26/06/2004—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (83 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-11-05
appoint-corporate-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP02
2025-07-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-11-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-24
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2020-12-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-12-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-11-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-11-25