THE QUALIFICATIONS COMPANY LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC215029 · ltd · incorporated 2001-01-23
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.
Why now
Window steady · low confidence
Steady and tidy — no seller pressure yet. Approach only if an angle opens.
Opportunity decay
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
  • · Oldest live charge 24.9y old — refinance window within 12 months
What changed my view
Last 30 days

No material changes in the last 30 days.

Last 90 days

No snapshot from 90 days ago — start tracking from today.

Last 180 days

No snapshot from 180 days ago — start tracking from today.

🔒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: Other education n.e.c.
Sector: Education
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 66-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 66). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 24.9y

85/100
ready

Refinance conversation should be productive — structure clean and timing right.

  • · Oldest live charge is 24.9 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.

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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
9 officers (2 active, 9 linked, 6 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
83 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
75
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
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£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 employees200200

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

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 (34 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-11-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-01-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-07-30
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  4. 2024-07-30
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  5. 2023-10-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-07-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-11-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-10-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-10-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-03-19
    📄
    capital-cancellation-shares
    capital · SH06
  11. 2019-03-12
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  12. 2019-01-30
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  13. 2019-01-24
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  14. 2019-01-23
    ➖
    CRICK, Hilary Ann resigned
    director
  15. 2018-12-16
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  16. 2018-12-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  17. 2017-12-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  18. 2016-06-23
    ➕
    OULTON, Ruth Victoria appointed
    director
  19. 2015-05-29
    ➖
    ASH, Stephanie Jane resigned
    director
  20. 2013-11-12
    ➕
    BAXTER, Maria appointed
    director
  21. 2010-05-01
    ➕
    ASH, Stephanie Jane appointed
    director
  22. 2010-05-01
    ➕
    CRICK, Hilary Ann appointed
    director
  23. 2010-04-30
    ➖
    MEIGHAN, Michael resigned
    secretary
  24. 2010-04-30
    ➖
    MEIGHAN, Gillian resigned
    director
  25. 2010-04-30
    ➖
    MEIGHAN, Michael resigned
    director
  26. 2001-09-01
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
  27. 2001-01-23
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As THE QUALIFICATIONS COMPANY LIMITED
  28. 2001-01-23
    ➕
    MEIGHAN, Michael appointed
    secretary
  29. 2001-01-23
    ➕
    BRIAN REID LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  30. 2001-01-23
    ➖
    BRIAN REID LTD. resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  31. 2001-01-23
    ➕
    MEIGHAN, Gillian appointed
    director
  32. 2001-01-23
    ➕
    MEIGHAN, Michael appointed
    director
  33. 2001-01-23
    ➕
    STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  34. 2001-01-23
    ➖
    STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

73/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 66 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

79/100
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.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 13 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 25 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Ms Maria Baxter
Individual · British · DOB 07/1960 · age 66
25–50%
—25-50% shares06/04/2016
Ms Ruth Oulton
Individual · British · DOB 11/1967 · age 59
25–50%
—25-50% shares06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Ms Hilary Ann Crickceased 23/01/2019· 25-50% 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
Incorporated2001-01-23
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC85590 — Other education n.e.c.

Registered office

20 Planefield Road
Inverness
IV3 5DL
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-01-30
Last: 2026-01-16

Officers (2 active · 7 resigned)

BAXTER, Maria→
director · ~66y · appointed 2013-11-12
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
OULTON, Ruth Victoria→
director · ~59y · appointed 2016-06-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MEIGHAN, Michael→
secretary · appointed 2001-01-23 · resigned 2010-04-30
Resigned
BRIAN REID LTD.→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2001-01-23 · resigned 2001-01-23
Resigned
ASH, Stephanie Jane→
director · ~70y · appointed 2010-05-01 · resigned 2015-05-29
Resigned
CRICK, Hilary Ann→
director · ~68y · appointed 2010-05-01 · resigned 2019-01-23
Resigned
MEIGHAN, Gillian→
director · ~72y · appointed 2001-01-23 · resigned 2010-04-30
Resigned
MEIGHAN, Michael→
director · ~76y · appointed 2001-01-23 · resigned 2010-04-30
Resigned
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD.→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2001-01-23 · resigned 2001-01-23
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
satisfied
Virgin Money
Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
Floating charge1 property01/09/200130/07/2024

Recent filings (83 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-11-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-01-28
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2024-07-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-10-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-07-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-11-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-01-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2020-10-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-01-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2019-10-29