THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC259670 · ltd · incorporated 2003-11-24

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 Mar 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

81/100

Exceptional

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch

What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 99999

Sector: Extraterritorial bodies

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company. Family succession underway — not a classic acquisition target.

Opportunity 81/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Same-surname younger director in place — likely family handover, not open to sale. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

8 officers (4 active, 8 linked, 5 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared

Director network

5 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

62 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

81/100Exceptional

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

Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

—

Current Assets

—

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102

Metric	2025-03-31	2024-03-31
Average employees	0	0

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 accounts
• 1 address

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (31 events)Click to expand

2025-12-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-12-18
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-12-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-12-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-12-18
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2023-12-18
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2023-12-01
➕
MILNE, Chloe May Suzanne appointed
director
2023-12-01
➕
MILNE, Jade Elisabeth appointed
director
2022-12-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-12-07
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-06-16
📄
change-account-reference-date-company-current-extended
accounts · AA01
2021-06-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-12-18
📄
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2020-12-17
📄
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
2020-10-29
➕
MILNE, Ben appointed
director
2020-10-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-10-29
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2020-09-15
📄
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2020-09-15
📄
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2020-09-15
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2020-08-07
➖
MILNE, Alexander Roger resigned
secretary
2020-08-07
➖
MILNE, Alexander Roger resigned
director
2019-08-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2003-11-24
🏢
Company incorporated
As THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY LIMITED
2003-11-24
➕
MILNE, Eric appointed
director
2003-11-24
➕
MILNE, Alexander Roger appointed
secretary
2003-11-24
➕
FIRSTSCOTTISH SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
corporate-secretary
2003-11-24
➖
FIRSTSCOTTISH SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
corporate-secretary
2003-11-24
➕
MILNE, Alexander Roger appointed
director
2003-11-24
➕
FIRST SCOTTISH INTERNATIONAL SERVICES LIMITED appointed
corporate-director
2003-11-24
➖
FIRST SCOTTISH INTERNATIONAL SERVICES LIMITED resigned
corporate-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

-4 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 69 — succession pressure is live.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

30/100

Weak signal

Limited succession signal. Not a near-term off-market candidate.

SIGNALS

primaryFamily succession underway: Not a takeover target — MILNE, Chloe May Suzanne (same surname) appointed 2023-12-01. Pattern consistent with intra-family handover.
primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 69. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 23 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
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

Fisher & Donaldson (Cupar) Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️

Fisher & Donaldson (Cupar) Limited

Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares · board control

ultimate parent

⬇

THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY LIMITED

This company · SC259670

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

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Fisher & Donaldson (Cupar) Limited Corporate entity	75–100%	75–100%	board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control	29/10/2020

2 historic (ceased) PSCs

Mr Eric Milneceased 29/10/2020· 25-50% shares
Mr Alexander Roger Milneceased 07/08/2020· 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 →

Similar companies

Active · Other · KY postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
BOYDSLAW 103 LIMITED→ SC302937 · est 2006 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	20y	83	59y
PARKER KISLINGBURY LIMITED→ SC209915 · est 2000 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	25y	83	60y
BIRNIE LANDFILL LIMITED→ SC181761 · est 1997	—	—	—	—	28y	82	65y
BRIGGS (OVERSEAS) LIMITED→ SC217945 · est 2001	—	—	—	0	25y	82	87y
C R SMITH CONSERVATORIES LIMITED→ SC090652 · est 1984 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	41y	82	74y
THE VINE CHURCH LIMITED→ SC329580 · est 2007 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	18y	82	61y
FISHER & DONALDSON LIMITED→ SC032124 · est 1957	—	—	—	400	69y	81	69y
LIBERTY LIGHTHOUSE LIMITED→ SC302278 · est 2006 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	20y	81	71y
METHIL DOCK NO. 3 ASSETS LIMITED→ SC182054 · est 1998	—	—	—	300	28y	81	76y
RHET FIFE COUNTRYSIDE INITIATIVE LIMITED→ SC229792 · est 2002 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	24y	81	68y
SHARED CARE SCOTLAND→ SC161033 · est 1995 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	30y	81	70y
1ST 4 SECURITY LTD.→ SC222736 · est 2001 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	24y	80	60y

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

Incorporated2003-11-24

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC99999 — SIC 99999

Registered office

Fisher & Donaldson

Ceres Road

Cupar

Fife

KY15 5JT

Scotland

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-12-31

Last made up to: 2025-03-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-12-07

Last: 2025-11-23

Officers (4 active · 4 resigned)

MILNE, Ben→

director · ~46y · appointed 2020-10-29

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MILNE, Chloe May Suzanne→

director · ~38y · appointed 2023-12-01

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MILNE, Eric→

director · ~69y · appointed 2003-11-24

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MILNE, Jade Elisabeth→

director · ~36y · appointed 2023-12-01

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MILNE, Alexander Roger→

secretary · appointed 2003-11-24 · resigned 2020-08-07

Resigned

FIRSTSCOTTISH SECRETARIES LIMITED→

corporate-secretary · appointed 2003-11-24 · resigned 2003-11-24

Resigned

MILNE, Alexander Roger→

director · ~70y · appointed 2003-11-24 · resigned 2020-08-07

Resigned

FIRST SCOTTISH INTERNATIONAL SERVICES LIMITED→

corporate-director · appointed 2003-11-24 · resigned 2003-11-24

Resigned

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

Recent filings (62 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant

accounts · AA

2025-12-23

change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address

address · AD01

2025-12-18

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-11-25

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant

accounts · AA

2024-12-23

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-11-28

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant

accounts · AA

2023-12-21

appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date

officers · AP01

2023-12-18

appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date

officers · AP01

2023-12-18

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2023-12-07

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant

accounts · AA

2022-12-15

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2022-12-09

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2021-12-07

change-person-director-company-with-change-date

officers · CH01

2021-12-07

change-account-reference-date-company-current-extended

accounts · AA01

2021-06-16

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant

accounts · AA

2021-06-14