BUILDING CRAFTSMEN LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC184995 · ltd · incorporated 1998-04-20

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 Aug 2025

Net worth

£486.7k

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Non-trading company

Sector: Professional, scientific & technical

Investor take

Pursue

Dormant / non-trading with a 68-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 68). 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).

Data confidence

Overall: high (86/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

Company profile

address, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

3 years of iXBRL accounts extracted + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

5 officers (1 active, 5 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

10 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

66 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

80/100Exceptional

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

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £486,654

Cash YoY

+11%

Year on year

Key financials

3 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£231k

↑ 11% YoY

Net Worth

£487k

↑ 846% YoY

Current Assets

—

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-08-31	2024-08-31	2023-08-31
Total assets	£486.7k	£51.5k	£20.1k
Cash	£230.8k	£208.7k	£172.5k
Net assets	£486.7k	£51.5k	£20.1k

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

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 90 days

filings

• 1 accounts
• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 accounts
• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand

2026-05-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-05-14
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accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-02
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accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-05-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-05-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-05-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-05-05
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-05-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-05-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-05-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-05-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-04-20
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-05-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2015-04-20
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-05-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2009-05-13
➖
HEWITSON, David resigned
secretary
1998-08-07
➕
HEWITSON, William James appointed
director
1998-08-07
➕
HEWITSON, David appointed
secretary
1998-08-07
➖
COMBINED SECRETARIAL SERVICES LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
1998-08-07
➖
COMBINED NOMINEES LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-director
1998-08-07
➖
COMBINED SECRETARIAL SERVICES LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-director
1998-04-20
🏢
Company incorporated
As BUILDING CRAFTSMEN LIMITED
1998-04-20
➕
COMBINED SECRETARIAL SERVICES LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
1998-04-20
➕
COMBINED NOMINEES LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-director
1998-04-20
➕
COMBINED SECRETARIAL SERVICES 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 28 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 68 — 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 68. 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 28 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 William James Hewitson Individual · Scottish · DOB 08/1958 · age 68	75–100%	75–100%	75-100% shares · 75-100% voting	06/04/2016

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 →

Similar companies

Active · Holding company · DG postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
J. KELLY & SONS (HAMILTON) LIMITED→ SC020771 · est 1939	£7.77M £6.60M–£8.93M	—	£7.77M	—	87y	82	63y
JACK FAMILY PARTNERS LIMITED→ SC509149 · est 2015	£3.54M £3.01M–£4.07M	—	£3.54M	—	10y	79	61y
ROGERSON MOTORS LIMITED→ SC055796 · est 1974	£205.8k £174.9k–£236.7k	—	£205.8k	—	51y	82	83y
MATHER PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT LIMITED→ SC317394 · est 2007	£1.0k £851–£1.2k	—	£1.0k	—	19y	82	69y
JARDINE AND COMPANY (IRONMONGERS) LIMITED→ SC041600 · est 1965	£354 £301–£407	—	£354	—	61y	80	88y
RIDDELL PROPERTIES LIMITED→ SC266988 · est 2004	£70 £60–£81	—	£70	—	22y	80	64y
CAULDHAME LIMITED→ SC266350 · est 2004	£57 £48–£66	—	£57	—	22y	80	63y
J KELLY & SONS (LARKHALL) LIMITED→ SC175597 · est 1997	£2 £2–£2	—	£2	—	29y	80	63y
LPS (SOUTH) LIMITED→ SC249999 · est 2003	£1 £1–£1	—	£1	—	23y	80	62y
CINNAMON 2007 LIMITED→ SC312763 · est 2006	—	—	—	0	19y	82	81y
CLAN CENTRE LIMITED→ SC113050 · est 1988 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	37y	81	62y
ELRIG ESTATE COMPANY LIMITED→ SC133061 · est 1991	—	—	—	100	34y	81	75y

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

Incorporated1998-04-20

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC74990 — Non-trading company

Registered office

The Hollies

Peatford

Lockerbie

DG11 1BJ

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-05-31

Last made up to: 2025-08-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-05-04

Last: 2026-04-20

Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)

HEWITSON, William James→

director · ~68y · appointed 1998-08-07

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

HEWITSON, David→

secretary · appointed 1998-08-07 · resigned 2009-05-13

Resigned

COMBINED SECRETARIAL SERVICES LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1998-04-20 · resigned 1998-08-07

Resigned

COMBINED NOMINEES LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1998-04-20 · resigned 1998-08-07

Resigned

COMBINED SECRETARIAL SERVICES LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1998-04-20 · resigned 1998-08-07

Resigned

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