THE CRANNOG CONCEPT LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC202581 · ltd · incorporated 1999-12-22

Investment thesis

Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.

Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.

Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.

Opportunity decay

hardening · 12-months

Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.

· Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Dec 2024

Net worth

£21.1k

book net assets

Opportunity

82/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 50100

Sector: Transportation & storage

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

56101Licenced restaurants

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 72-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (93/100, director aged 72). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -61% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

3 live charges · oldest 26.2y

45/100

under pressure

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

· Oldest live charge is 26.2 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· Cashflow trend is negative — lender view likely cautious.

Data confidence

Overall: high (81/100)

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

Company profile

address, 2 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

3 charges (3/3 with lender, 3/3 with type)

Directors & officers

8 officers (3 active, 8 linked, 3 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared

Director network

11 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

70 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

82/100Exceptional

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

100

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £21,060

Cash draining

Cash down 61% YoY

Cash YoY

-61%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£9k

↓ 61% YoY

Net Worth

£21k

↑ 18% YoY

Current Assets

£187k

↑ 9.1% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2024-12-31	2023-12-31
Total assets	£43.6k	£70.4k
Current assets	£187.2k	£171.5k
Cash	£8.7k	£22.4k
Debtors	£178.5k	£149.1k
Net assets	£21.1k	£17.9k

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

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (34 events)Click to expand

2025-12-12
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-07-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-09-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-09-12
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-12-27
📄
appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
officers · AP03
2018-12-27
📄
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2018-12-19
➕
CARR, Andrew Ross appointed
secretary
2018-12-19
➖
CAMERON, Graham resigned
secretary
2018-09-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-01-11
📄
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2017-12-31
➖
REED, John resigned
secretary
2017-11-28
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2017-09-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-09-22
➖
WILLIAMS, Chris Martin resigned
director
2016-09-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2015-12-29
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-08-20
🔓
Charge satisfied #4
2014-08-20
🔓
Charge satisfied #3
2008-05-23
➕
FINLAYSON, Lorna Helen O'Neill appointed
director
2008-05-23
➕
WILLIAMS, Chris Martin appointed
director
2004-07-30
➕
REED, John appointed
secretary
2001-01-05
🔒
Charge registered #4
Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
2000-07-17
🔒
Charge registered #3
Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
2000-03-02
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
1999-12-22
🏢
Company incorporated
As THE CRANNOG CONCEPT LIMITED
1999-12-22
➕
FINLAYSON, Finlay Donald appointed
director
1999-12-22
➕
CAMERON, Graham appointed
secretary
1999-12-22
➕
FIRST SCOTTISH SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
1999-12-22
➖
FIRST SCOTTISH SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
1999-12-22
➕
FIRST SCOTTISH INTERNATIONAL SERVICES LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-director
1999-12-22
➖
FIRST SCOTTISH INTERNATIONAL SERVICES LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

91/100

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

+Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 26 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 72 — succession pressure is live.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

96/100

Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 72 years old. Natural succession window is now.
secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 26 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 26 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

2 active beneficial owners

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Finlay Donald Finlayson Individual · British · DOB 02/1955 · age 71	25–50%	25–50%	25-50% shares · 25-50% voting	06/04/2016
Mrs Lorna Helen O'Neill Finlayson Individual · British · DOB 12/1954 · age 72	25–50%	25–50%	25-50% shares · 25-50% 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 · Transport & logistics · PH postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
MCLAUGHLAN TRANSPORT (PERTH) LIMITED→ SC106138 · est 1987	£4.20M £3.15M–£5.25M	—	—	—	38y	82	73y
PERTH RADIO TAXIS LIMITED→ SC396523 · est 2011	—	—	—	1700	15y	83	59y
A N CAMERON LIMITED→ SC217279 · est 2001	—	—	£51.6k	—	25y	82	80y
CLYDEBOYD FORT WILLIAM LIMITED→ SC207392 · est 2000	—	—	—	4	26y	82	72y
FERGUSON FREIGHT HOLDINGS LIMITED→ SC317804 · est 2007 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	19y	82	65y
K.S. MANDERS INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT LTD.→ SC233359 · est 2002	—	—	—	1	23y	82	65y
TAYLOR TRANSPORT LIMITED→ SC170793 · est 1996	—	—	—	—	29y	82	62y
GREAT GLEN SHIPPING COMPANY LIMITED→ SC372528 · est 2010	—	—	—	6	16y	81	76y
HIGHLAND LOCOMOTIVE COMPANY LIMITED→ SC058041 · est 1975	—	—	£198.9k	—	50y	81	70y
MORRIS YOUNG (PERTH) LIMITED→ SC038564 · est 1963	—	—	—	0	63y	81	80y
SHIEL BUSES LIMITED→ SC201989 · est 1999 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	26y	81	84y
A J PRYDE (HAULAGE) LTD.→ SC339888 · est 2008	—	—	£38.5k	—	18y	80	62y

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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated1999-12-22

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC50100 — SIC 50100

Registered office

Marine Walk

Fort William

Inverness-Shire

PH33 6FF

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-09-30

Last made up to: 2024-12-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-01-04

Last: 2025-12-21

Officers (3 active · 5 resigned)

CARR, Andrew Ross→

secretary · appointed 2018-12-19

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

FINLAYSON, Finlay Donald→

director · ~71y · appointed 1999-12-22

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

FINLAYSON, Lorna Helen O'Neill→

director · ~72y · appointed 2008-05-23

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

CAMERON, Graham→

secretary · appointed 1999-12-22 · resigned 2018-12-19

Resigned

REED, John→

secretary · appointed 2004-07-30 · resigned 2017-12-31

Resigned

FIRST SCOTTISH SECRETARIES LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1999-12-22 · resigned 1999-12-22

Resigned

WILLIAMS, Chris Martin→

director · ~65y · appointed 2008-05-23 · resigned 2017-09-22

Resigned

FIRST SCOTTISH INTERNATIONAL SERVICES LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1999-12-22 · resigned 1999-12-22

Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:3 of 3 shown

		Type	Properties
satisfied	Lloyds Banking Group The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland	Standard security	1 property	05/01/2001	20/08/2014
satisfied	Lloyds Banking Group The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland	Ship mortgage	1 property	17/07/2000	20/08/2014
outstanding	Lloyds Banking Group The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland	Bond & floating charge	1 property	02/03/2000	—

Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.