S.J. CRUICKSHANK LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC237392 · ltd · incorporated 2002-09-26
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 Feb 2025
Net worth
£1.13M
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Hotels and similar accommodation
Sector: Accommodation & food service
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 68-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (93/100, director aged 68). 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

4 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 23.6y

30/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 23.6 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
  • · 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
4 charges (4/4 with lender, 4/4 with type)
90
Directors & officers
3 officers (1 active, 3 linked, 1 with DOB)
77
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
59 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
79/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
77
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 £1,127,184
Net assets shrinking
Down £1,376 YoY
Cash YoY
+64%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£168k
↑ 64% YoY
Net Worth
£1.1m
~ YoY
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£226k£451k£677k£903k£1.1mFeb 2024Feb 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-02-282024-02-29
Cash£168.4k£102.5k
Net assets£1.13M£1.13M

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (28 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-08-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-08-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-08-15
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  4. 2024-07-31
    ➖
    ALASTAIR HART & CO resigned
    corporate-secretary
  5. 2023-07-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-09-29
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  7. 2022-09-29
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  8. 2022-09-29
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  9. 2022-09-29
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #4
  10. 2022-09-29
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #3
  11. 2022-09-29
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #2
  12. 2022-08-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2021-09-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2020-11-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2019-07-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2018-08-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  17. 2017-11-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  18. 2016-07-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  19. 2015-10-19
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  20. 2008-06-17
    🔒
    Charge registered #4
    Lender: Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  21. 2004-05-26
    🔒
    Charge registered #3
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  22. 2003-03-12
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  23. 2002-10-10
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  24. 2002-09-26
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As S.J. CRUICKSHANK LIMITED
  25. 2002-09-26
    ➕
    CRUICKSHANK, Simon James appointed
    director
  26. 2002-09-26
    ➕
    ALASTAIR HART & CO appointed
    corporate-secretary
  27. 2002-09-26
    ➕
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  28. 2002-09-26
    ➖
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary

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.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "CRUICKSHANK" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 68 — 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 68. 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

1 med ·
Charge satisfaction-then-recreation pattern
medium

Multiple instances where a charge was satisfied and a new charge created within 6 months. Suggests active refinancing cycle.

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Simon James Cruickshank
Individual · British · DOB 03/1958 · age 68
75–100%
—75-100% shares06/04/2016

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

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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
Incorporated2002-09-26
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC55100 — Hotels and similar accommodation

Registered office

Brackmuirhill
Dunnottar
Stonehaven
AB39 2TT

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-11-30
Last made up to: 2025-02-28
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-11
Last: 2025-09-27

Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)

CRUICKSHANK, Simon James→
director · ~68y · appointed 2002-09-26
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ALASTAIR HART & CO→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2002-09-26 · resigned 2024-07-31
Resigned
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2002-09-26 · resigned 2002-09-26
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

4
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:4 of 4 shown
TypeProperties
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
Standard security1 property17/06/200829/09/2022
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
Standard security1 property26/05/200429/09/2022
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
Standard security1 property12/03/200329/09/2022
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
Bond & floating charge1 property10/10/2002—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (59 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-08-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-08-28
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2024-08-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-07-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-01
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2022-09-29
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2022-09-29
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2022-09-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-08-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-11-17