CRAWFORD ASSOCIATES (SCOTLAND) LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC271123 · ltd · incorporated 2004-07-26

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.

Why now

Window steady · low confidence

Steady and stalled — no momentum either way. Needs an approach trigger.

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 Jul 2025

Net worth

£-30.1k

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Architectural activities

Sector: Professional, scientific & technical

Investor take

Pass (distressed without resilience)

Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 65). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Broaden director team. Sole director creates succession risk and reduces buyer comfort. Appoint a second director or strong #2. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (75/100)

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

4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

53 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Negative net assets

Liabilities exceed assets by £30,146

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

-£30k

↓ 7.9% YoY

Current Assets

—

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-07-31	2024-07-31
Total assets	£-30.1k	£-27.9k
Net assets	£-30.1k	£-27.9k

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

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand

2026-04-08
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-04-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-03-04
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-04-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-04-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-04-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-04-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-04-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-04-07
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-04-05
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-08-21
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-04-10
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-08-17
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2004-07-26
🏢
Company incorporated
As CRAWFORD ASSOCIATES (SCOTLAND) LIMITED
2004-07-26
➕
CRAWFORD, Lorraine appointed
secretary
2004-07-26
➕
CRAWFORD, Paul appointed
director
2004-07-26
➕
BRIAN REID LTD. appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2004-07-26
➖
BRIAN REID LTD. resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2004-07-26
➕
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. appointed
corporate-nominee-director
2004-07-26
➖
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. resigned
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.
+Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "CRAWFORD" — strong identity link between founder and business.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 22 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — 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 65. 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 22 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 22 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

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mrs Lorraine Crawford Individual · British · DOB 09/1964 · age 62	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	25/07/2016

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

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'A' FLIGHT AVIATION LIMITED→ SC157855 · est 1995	—	—	£6.9k	—	31y	83	72y
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ASSISTING SUCCESS LIMITED→ SC294900 · est 2005	—	—	£29.2k	—	20y	83	62y
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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

Incorporated2004-07-26

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC71111 — Architectural activities

Registered office

29 Tulliallan Place

St Leonards

East Kilbride

G74 2EG

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-04-30

Last made up to: 2025-07-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-05-09

Last: 2026-04-25

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

CRAWFORD, Lorraine→

secretary · appointed 2004-07-26

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

CRAWFORD, Paul→

director · ~65y · appointed 2004-07-26

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

BRIAN REID LTD.→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2004-07-26 · resigned 2004-07-26

Resigned

STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD.→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2004-07-26 · resigned 2004-07-26

Resigned

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