CALEDONIA LANGUAGES ABROAD LTD.

💤Zombieactive

SC185787 · ltd · incorporated 1998-05-14

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 Dec 2024

Net worth

£81.5k

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Tour operator activities

Sector: Administrative & support services

Investor take

Pursue

Asset-holding vehicle with a 66-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 66). 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: medium (78/100)

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

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

4 officers (1 active, 4 linked, 2 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

2 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

68 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

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 · FRS 105 (micro)

Positive net assets

Net assets £81,496

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£81k

↑ 3.9% YoY

Current Assets

£117k

↓ 2.7% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)

Metric	2024-12-31	2023-12-31
Total assets	£111.1k	£78.4k
Current assets	£117.3k	£120.6k
Net assets	£81.5k	£78.4k

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

1 signal 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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filings

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand

2025-07-01
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-02-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-03-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-07-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-07-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-08-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-06-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-07-10
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2018-05-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-05-15
➖
BATEMAN, Marie resigned
secretary
2017-05-15
📄
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2017-05-04
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-05-16
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2016-04-08
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-05-21
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-03-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
1998-05-14
🏢
Company incorporated
As CALEDONIA LANGUAGES ABROAD LTD.
1998-05-14
➕
BATEMAN, Kathlyn Marie appointed
director
1998-05-14
➕
BATEMAN, Marie appointed
secretary
1998-05-14
➕
REID, Brian appointed
nominee-secretary
1998-05-14
➖
REID, Brian resigned
nominee-secretary
1998-05-14
➕
MABBOTT, Stephen appointed
nominee-director
1998-05-14
➖
MABBOTT, Stephen resigned
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 66 — 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 66. 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
Mrs Kathlyn Marie Bateman Individual · British · DOB 06/1960 · age 66	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	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 · Leisure & entertainment · EH postcode area

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CHAMELEON MEDIA LTD→ SC288632 · est 2005 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	20y	—	—
CINEMAATTIC PRODUCTIONS CIC→ SC464771 · est 2013 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	12y	—	—
CLAIRE ADAMS TOTAL HEALTH LTD→ SC589897 · est 2018 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	8y	—	—
CLYDE VALLEY FAMILY PARK LIMITED→ SC585966 · est 2018 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	8y	—	—
CMC ASSOCIATES LIMITED→ SC291114 · est 2005 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	20y	—	—
COLIN FAIRWEATHER GOLF LTD→ SC466575 · est 2014 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	12y	—	—
CONS-ED LTD→ SC803030 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
CORATA GROUP LTD→ SC795195 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—
CORRIES (MUSIC) LTD., THE→ SC056353 · est 1974 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	51y	—	—
CORSTORPHINE SNOOKER COMPANY LIMITED→ SC094559 · est 1985 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	40y	—	—
CORYLUS CIC→ SC599459 · est 2018 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
COSY CORNER GLAMPING LTD→ SC851238 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

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

Incorporated1998-05-14

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC79120 — Tour operator activities

Registered office

33 Sandport Street

Edinburgh

EH6 6EP

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-09-30

Last made up to: 2024-12-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-10-27

Last: 2025-10-13

Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)

BATEMAN, Kathlyn Marie→

director · ~66y · appointed 1998-05-14

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

BATEMAN, Marie→

secretary · appointed 1998-05-14 · resigned 2017-05-15

Resigned

REID, Brian→

nominee-secretary · appointed 1998-05-14 · resigned 1998-05-14

Resigned

MABBOTT, Stephen→

nominee-director · ~76y · appointed 1998-05-14 · resigned 1998-05-14

Resigned

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