RED POPPY RESTAURANT LTD.
💤Zombieactive
SC296994 · ltd · incorporated 2006-02-10
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
£190.4k
book net assets
Opportunity
77/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Licenced restaurants
Sector: Accommodation & food service
Investor take
PursueStrong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.
Opportunity 77/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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 (58/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 14.2y
30/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Oldest live charge is 14.2 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
- · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.
Data confidence
Overall: medium (78/100)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
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (1 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)
75
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
64 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
77/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
60
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £190,352
Cash YoY
+35%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£180k
↑ 35% YoY
Net Worth
£190k
↑ 6.5% YoY
Current Assets
£289k
↑ 5.4% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-02-28 | 2024-02-28 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £271.8k | £354.0k |
| Current assets | £289.2k | £274.5k |
| Cash | £180.4k | £133.7k |
| Debtors | £99.5k | £134.0k |
| Net assets | £190.4k | £178.8k |
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
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (28 events)Click to expand
- 2025-11-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-04-16📄second-filing-of-confirmation-statement-with-made-up-dateconfirmation-statement · RP04CS01
- 2025-04-15📄second-filing-of-confirmation-statement-with-made-up-dateconfirmation-statement · RP04CS01
- 2024-11-15📄capital-name-of-class-of-sharescapital · SH08
- 2024-08-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-08-16📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2024-08-16📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2024-04-08📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2024-03-21📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2024-03-21📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2023-12-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-02-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-02-28📄termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-dateofficers · TM02
- 2023-02-23➖ABURROW, Lorraine May resignedsecretary
- 2022-02-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-02-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-11-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-08-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-05-01📄capital-name-of-class-of-sharescapital · SH08
- 2013-08-08🔒Charge registered #2Lender: Bank of Scotland PLC
- 2012-02-13🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Lloyds Tsb Scotland PLC
- 2006-02-10🏢Company incorporatedAs RED POPPY RESTAURANT LTD.
- 2006-02-10➕ABURROW, Nicolas appointeddirector
- 2006-02-10➕ABURROW, Lorraine May appointedsecretary
- 2006-02-10➕BRIAN REID LTD. appointedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 2006-02-10➖BRIAN REID LTD. resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 2006-02-10➕STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. appointedcorporate-nominee-director
- 2006-02-10➖STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. resignedcorporate-nominee-director
Owner dependency
85/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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 20 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
Succession & seller-readiness
75/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 20 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 20 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
cleanNo 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 · dominant holder ≥75%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Nicolas Aburrow Individual · British · DOB 10/1971 · age 55 | 75–100% | 75–100% | 75-100% shares · 75-100% voting | 06/04/2016 |
1 historic (ceased) PSC
- Lorraine May Aburrowceased 23/02/2023· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting
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 · Hospitality · IV postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| REMORE STEADING LTD→ SC864488 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| RICHMOND HOUSE HOTEL LIMITED→ SC577556 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| RIVER NESS APARTMENTS LTD→ SC589943 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| RIVERBANK LODGES LTD→ SC844869 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| RIVERNESS LODGE LIMITED→ SC744010 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| RIVERVIEW COUNTRY PARK RESIDENTS COMMUNITY LTD→ SC861350 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| RMG MANAGEMENT LIMITED→ SC323767 · est 2007 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 18y | — | — |
| ROOMS ON THE HIGH STREET LTD→ SC715715 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| ROSS-SHIRE LETTINGS LIMITED→ SC585011 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| SACCARD LIMITED→ SC666969 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| SAFFRON INVERNESS LTD→ SC863330 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| SAMIRA INVERNESS LIMITED→ SC883022 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
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
Incorporated2006-02-10
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC56101 — Licenced restaurants
Registered office
4th Floor Metropolitan House
31-33 High Street
Inverness
IV1 1HT
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-11-30
Last made up to: 2025-02-28
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-04-29
Last: 2025-04-15
Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)
ABURROW, Nicolas→
Activedirector · ~55y · appointed 2006-02-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
ABURROW, Lorraine May→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 2006-02-10 · resigned 2023-02-23
BRIAN REID LTD.→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2006-02-10 · resigned 2006-02-10
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD.→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-director · appointed 2006-02-10 · resigned 2006-02-10
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
2
Total charges
2
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Lloyds Banking Group Bank of Scotland PLC | A registered charge | 1 property | 08/08/2013 | — | |
| outstanding | Lloyds Banking Group Lloyds Tsb Scotland PLC | Standard security | 1 property | 13/02/2012 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (64 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-11-26
second-filing-of-confirmation-statement-with-made-up-date
confirmation-statement · RP04CS01
2025-04-16
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-15
second-filing-of-confirmation-statement-with-made-up-date
confirmation-statement · RP04CS01
2025-04-15
capital-name-of-class-of-shares
capital · SH08
2024-11-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-08-21
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-08-16
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-08-16
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-17
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-04-08
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-03-21
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2024-03-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-02-28
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2023-02-28