THE PLANNING LOFT LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC205508 · ltd · incorporated 2000-03-27
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 Apr 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Management consultancy activities other than financial management
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 70-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 70). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

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
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
7 officers (3 active, 7 linked, 4 with DOB)
81
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
68 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
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
90
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£0Apr 2024Apr 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-04-302024-04-30
Average employees2200

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
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 officers
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 officers
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (27 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-02
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  2. 2026-01-23
    ➖
    MILLAR, Pat resigned
    director
  3. 2025-10-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2025-03-21
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  5. 2024-09-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-09-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-11-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-12-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-02-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-11-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-10-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-10-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2017-01-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-04-18
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-12-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2015-04-23
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2011-10-01
    ➖
    YOUNG, Lawrence Arthur resigned
    director
  18. 2007-05-31
    ➕
    FOLEY, Ronan appointed
    director
  19. 2007-05-31
    ➕
    MILLAR, Pat appointed
    director
  20. 2000-03-27
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As THE PLANNING LOFT LIMITED
  21. 2000-03-27
    ➕
    HUGHES, Robert appointed
    secretary
  22. 2000-03-27
    ➕
    HUGHES, Robert appointed
    director
  23. 2000-03-27
    ➕
    BRIAN REID LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  24. 2000-03-27
    ➖
    BRIAN REID LTD. resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  25. 2000-03-27
    ➕
    YOUNG, Lawrence Arthur appointed
    director
  26. 2000-03-27
    ➕
    STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  27. 2000-03-27
    ➖
    STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

83/100
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 70 — succession pressure is live.

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 70 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.)

Group structure

Clarion Consulting Holdings Limited holds majority control (50-75%). Likely parent but not wholly-owned.

🏛️
Clarion Consulting Holdings Limited
Corporate parent · holds 50-75% shares
majority
⬇
THE PLANNING LOFT LIMITED
This company · SC205508

Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Clarion Consulting Holdings Limited
Corporate entity
50–75%
50–75%50-75% shares · 50-75% voting06/04/2016
Mr Robert Hughes
Individual · British · DOB 03/1956 · age 70
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016

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 →

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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
Incorporated2000-03-27
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC70229 — Management consultancy activities other than financial management

Registered office

10 Abbey Park Place
Dunfermline
Fife
KY12 7NZ

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-10
Last: 2026-03-27

Officers (3 active · 4 resigned)

HUGHES, Robert→
secretary · appointed 2000-03-27
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FOLEY, Ronan→
director · ~55y · appointed 2007-05-31
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HUGHES, Robert→
director · ~70y · appointed 2000-03-27
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BRIAN REID LTD.→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2000-03-27 · resigned 2000-03-27
Resigned
MILLAR, Pat→
director · ~62y · appointed 2007-05-31 · resigned 2026-01-23
Resigned
YOUNG, Lawrence Arthur→
director · ~76y · appointed 2000-03-27 · resigned 2011-10-01
Resigned
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD.→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2000-03-27 · resigned 2000-03-27
Resigned

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

Recent filings (68 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-27
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2026-03-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-10-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-31
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-03-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-09-11
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-09-12
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-11-16
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-12-08
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-02-03
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-03-30