ACREWOOD NURSERY LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC231967 · ltd · incorporated 2002-05-24
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
82/100
Exceptional
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Child day-care activities
Sector: Human health & social work
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 69-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 69). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 23.5y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 23.5 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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
63 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.

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 · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-05-312024-05-31
Average employees15001300

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-02-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-11-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-12-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-11-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-09-14
    📄
    second-filing-of-confirmation-statement-with-made-up-date
    confirmation-statement · RP04CS01
  6. 2022-08-26
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  7. 2022-08-26
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  8. 2022-08-26
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  9. 2021-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-04-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-02-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-03-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-02-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  14. 2018-01-22
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  15. 2017-04-13
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  16. 2017-02-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2016-05-31
    ➖
    RITCHIE, David Innes resigned
    director
  18. 2002-10-22
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  19. 2002-08-01
    ➕
    JOHNSTON, Catherine Mcmartin appointed
    secretary
  20. 2002-08-01
    ➕
    JOHNSTON, Catherine Mcmartin appointed
    director
  21. 2002-08-01
    ➖
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 2002-08-01
    ➕
    RITCHIE, David Innes appointed
    director
  23. 2002-08-01
    ➖
    JORDANS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  24. 2002-05-24
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACREWOOD NURSERY LIMITED
  25. 2002-05-24
    ➕
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  26. 2002-05-24
    ➕
    JORDANS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED appointed
    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 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 69 — 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 69. 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 24 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 24 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mrs Catherine Mcmartin Johnston
Individual · British · DOB 06/1957 · age 69
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr David Innes Ritchieceased 31/05/2016· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting

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

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————50y8384y
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————28y8370y
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————31y8376y
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————26y8261y
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SC396870 · est 2011
——£2.25M—15y8270y
OCHIL EYES LIMITED→
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——£6.1k—16y8261y
CENTRAL ADVOCACY PARTNERS→
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————25y8179y
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——£750—24y8163y
FRAMEWORK CLINICS LTD→
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——£1.8k—17y8163y
GRANGEMOUTH CARERS LIMITED→
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————35y8175y
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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
Incorporated2002-05-24
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC88910 — Child day-care activities

Registered office

35 Colquhoun Street
Stirling
FK7 7PX

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-07
Last: 2025-05-24

Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)

JOHNSTON, Catherine Mcmartin→
secretary · appointed 2002-08-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
JOHNSTON, Catherine Mcmartin→
director · ~69y · appointed 2002-08-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2002-05-24 · resigned 2002-08-01
Resigned
RITCHIE, David Innes→
director · ~66y · appointed 2002-08-01 · resigned 2016-05-31
Resigned
JORDANS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2002-05-24 · resigned 2002-08-01
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
Bond & floating charge1 property22/10/2002—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (63 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-02-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-11-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-08
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-11-22
second-filing-of-confirmation-statement-with-made-up-date
confirmation-statement · RP04CS01
2022-09-14
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-08-26
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2022-08-26
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-08-26
confirmation-statement
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-04-09