CADHERENT LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC185859 · ltd · incorporated 1998-05-15
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 May 2025
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
74/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Engineering design activities for industrial process and production
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and acceptable with review structure.

Opportunity 74/100 (strong), bankability 67/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 54). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Consolidate lender relationships. 4 distinct lenders creates friction — refinance into single-lender structure for cleaner diligence. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

4 live charges · 4 lenders · oldest 11.8y

15/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 11.8 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · 4 lenders named — inter-creditor friction likely.
  • · 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
4 charges (4/4 with lender, 4/4 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 2 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
3 connected companies via shared directors
54
Filing history
112 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
74/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
60
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
77
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£0May 2024May 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-05-312024-05-31
Average employees141300

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

4 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 (36 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-02-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-08-27
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  4. 2024-08-27
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
  5. 2024-06-17
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  6. 2024-05-30
    🔒
    Charge registered #4
    Lender: David Alistair Thomson
  7. 2024-04-17
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  8. 2024-04-17
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  9. 2024-04-17
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  10. 2024-04-17
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  11. 2024-04-17
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  12. 2024-04-17
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  13. 2024-04-17
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  14. 2024-04-17
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  15. 2024-04-17
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  16. 2024-04-17
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  17. 2024-04-17
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  18. 2024-04-17
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  19. 2024-04-17
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  20. 2024-04-17
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  21. 2024-04-05
    📄
    capital-cancellation-shares
    capital · SH06
  22. 2024-04-05
    📄
    capital-cancellation-shares
    capital · SH06
  23. 2024-04-05
    📄
    capital-cancellation-shares
    capital · SH06
  24. 2023-06-13
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #3
  25. 2020-03-10
    REID, Christopher John resigned
    director
  26. 2018-08-15
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  27. 2018-07-10
    🔒
    Charge registered #3
    Lender: Shawbrook Bank Limited
  28. 2018-03-01
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #2
  29. 2017-11-16
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Just Cash Flow PLC
  30. 2014-07-25
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  31. 2007-02-28
    REID, Christopher John appointed
    director
  32. 1998-05-15
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As CADHERENT LIMITED
  33. 1998-05-15
    WARD, Lindsey Jane appointed
    secretary
  34. 1998-05-15
    THOMSON, David Alistair appointed
    director
  35. 1998-05-15
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  36. 1998-05-15
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary

Owner dependency

85/100
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.

Succession & seller-readiness

75/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • 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

1 med ·
Charge satisfaction-then-recreation pattern
medium

Multiple instances where a charge was satisfied and a new charge created within 6 months. Suggests active refinancing cycle.

Group structure

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

🏛️
Cadherent Group Limited
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares · board control
ultimate parent
CADHERENT LIMITED
This company · SC185859

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
Cadherent Group Limited
Corporate entity
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control30/05/2024
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr David Alistair Thomsonceased 30/05/2024· 75-100% 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

7 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
Incorporated1998-05-15
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC71121 — Engineering design activities for industrial process and production

Registered office

Cadherent Riverside
North Esplanade West
Aberdeen
AB11 5RJ
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-13
Last: 2025-05-30

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

WARD, Lindsey Jane
secretary · appointed 1998-05-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
THOMSON, David Alistair
director · ~54y · appointed 1998-05-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1998-05-15 · resigned 1998-05-15
Resigned
REID, Christopher John
director · ~54y · appointed 2007-02-28 · resigned 2020-03-10
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

4
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:4 of 4 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
David Alistair Thomson
A registered charge30/05/2024
satisfied
Shawbrook
Shawbrook Bank Limited
A registered charge10/07/201813/06/2023
satisfied
Just Cash Flow
Just Cash Flow PLC
A registered charge16/11/201701/03/2018
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
A registered charge25/07/201415/08/2018
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (112 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-02-12
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-27
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2024-08-27
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
2024-08-27
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2024-06-17
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-29
capital-return-purchase-own-shares
capital · SH03
2024-04-17
capital-return-purchase-own-shares
capital · SH03
2024-04-17
capital-return-purchase-own-shares
capital · SH03
2024-04-17
capital-return-purchase-own-shares
capital · SH03
2024-04-17
capital-return-purchase-own-shares
capital · SH03
2024-04-17
capital-return-purchase-own-shares
capital · SH03
2024-04-17
capital-return-purchase-own-shares
capital · SH03
2024-04-17