WARDHOUSE EQUESTRIAN CENTRE LTD.

💤Zombieactive
SC199570 · ltd · incorporated 1999-09-06
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 Nov 2024
Net worth
£236.9k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
🔔
Follow this company (free)
Email alerts on filings, charges, director changes, gazette notices. No account needed.

Unsubscribe any time from any email. GDPR-respectful.

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch
What this business does
Primary activity: Other amusement and recreation activities n.e.c.
Sector: Arts, entertainment & recreation
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 66-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 66). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -41% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · oldest 26.3y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 26.3 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (76/100)

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
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
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
64 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102
Positive net assets
Net assets £236,871
Cash draining
Cash down 41% YoY
Cash YoY
-41%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£7k
↓ 41% YoY
Net Worth
£237k
↑ 2.4% YoY
Current Assets
£19k
↓ 35% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£47k£95k£142k£189k£237kNov 2023Nov 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-11-302023-11-30
Total assets£258.9k£287.2k
Current assets£18.8k£29.1k
Cash£7.3k£12.3k
Debtors£6.5k£12.8k
Net assets£236.9k£231.3k

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-06-23
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  3. 2025-06-23
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  4. 2024-08-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-08-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-03-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-06-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-09-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-06-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-07-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-04-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-05-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2015-09-08
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2015-04-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2014-09-08
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2014-07-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2000-03-27
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
  18. 2000-03-02
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
  19. 1999-09-06
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As WARDHOUSE EQUESTRIAN CENTRE LTD.
  20. 1999-09-06
    ➕
    COUTTIE, Susan appointed
    secretary
  21. 1999-09-06
    ➕
    COUTTIE, Iain David appointed
    director
  22. 1999-09-06
    ➕
    BRIAN REID LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 1999-09-06
    ➖
    BRIAN REID LTD. resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  24. 1999-09-06
    ➕
    STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  25. 1999-09-06
    ➖
    STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. resigned
    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 27 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 27 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 27 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%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Iain Couttie
Individual · Scottish · DOB 12/1960 · age 66
75–100%
—75-100% shares06/09/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

Similar companies

Active · Leisure & entertainment · PA postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
ARGYLL MAUSOLEUM LIMITED→
SC363151 · est 2009
——£41.5k—16y8378y
OBAN & LORN COMMUNITY ENTERPRISE LIMITED→
SC139465 · est 1992 · no financials extracted
————33y8367y
OBAN WAR AND PEACE MUSEUM→
SC251697 · est 2003
———122y8382y
PACE THEATRE COMPANY LIMITED→
SC138628 · est 1992 · no financials extracted
————33y8376y
STAGE HIRE SCOTLAND LTD.→
SC337290 · est 2008
——£2.00M—18y8360y
THE DALMALLY COMMUNITY COMPANY→
SC227930 · est 2002 · no financials extracted
————24y8384y
A & J ENTERPRISE SOLUTIONS LTD→
SC382429 · est 2010
———2615y8269y
HOLY LOCH MARINA (SANDBANK) LIMITED→
SC198973 · est 1999
———926y8277y
QUADMANIA LIMITED→
SC211922 · est 2000
——£244.9k—25y8261y
BLAIRMORE VILLAGE TRUST COMMUNITY INTEREST COMPANY→
SC326190 · est 2007 · no financials extracted
————18y8177y
BUTE HIGHLAND GAMES LIMITED→
SC288479 · est 2005
——£81.9k—20y8178y
COLONSAY AND ORONSAY HERITAGE TRUST→
SC144749 · est 1993 · no financials extracted
————33y8180y
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
Incorporated1999-09-06
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC93290 — Other amusement and recreation activities n.e.c.

Registered office

Forehouse Road
Kilbarchan
Johnstone
Renfrewshire
PA10 2PU

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-08-31
Last made up to: 2024-11-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-20
Last: 2025-09-06

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

COUTTIE, Susan→
secretary · appointed 1999-09-06
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
COUTTIE, Iain David→
director · ~66y · appointed 1999-09-06
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BRIAN REID LTD.→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1999-09-06 · resigned 1999-09-06
Resigned
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD.→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1999-09-06 · resigned 1999-09-06
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Virgin Money
Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
Standard security1 property27/03/2000—
satisfied
Virgin Money
Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
Floating charge1 property02/03/200023/06/2025
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (64 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-11-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-07
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2025-06-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-08-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-08-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-03-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-06-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-09-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-09-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-06-12