COUNTRY REFRESHMENTS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC297328 · ltd · incorporated 2006-02-17

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 material changes in the last 90 days.

Last 180 days

No snapshot from 180 days ago — start tracking from today.

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Feb 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Event catering activities

Sector: Accommodation & food service

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 66-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 66). 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 (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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

3 officers (2 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

1 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

48 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.

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	2025-02-28	2024-02-29
Average employees	800	700

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand

2025-09-03
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-02-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-08-01
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-05-01
📄
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2024-04-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-04-30
📄
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2023-02-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-09-20
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2022-02-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-12-13
➖
THOMSON, Richard resigned
director
2021-02-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2019-11-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2018-12-06
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2018-12-01
➕
THOMSON, Richard appointed
director
2018-11-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2017-11-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2016-11-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2006-02-17
🏢
Company incorporated
As COUNTRY REFRESHMENTS LIMITED
2006-02-17
➕
MCCABE, Mary appointed
secretary
2006-02-17
➕
THOMSON, Gilbert appointed
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 20 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 66 — 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 66. 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 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

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 · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Gilbert Thomson Individual · British · DOB 08/1960 · age 66	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	06/04/2016

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 · ML postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
CAMBUSNETHAN SLUSH LIMITED→ SC315830 · est 2007	—	—	£1.6k	—	19y	83	62y
D'NISI COFFEE COMPANY (FRANCHISE) LIMITED→ SC300329 · est 2006	—	—	£92.0k	—	20y	83	61y
D'NISI SHAWLANDS LTD.→ SC336246 · est 2008	—	—	£1.1k	—	18y	83	61y
LIMACAZA LIMITED→ SC314102 · est 2007	—	—	£197.8k	—	19y	82	61y
ROLLO'S CAFE LIMITED→ SC340865 · est 2008	—	—	£12.6k	—	18y	82	60y
VILLAGE INN THANKERTON LIMITED→ SC257284 · est 2003	—	—	£61.5k	—	22y	82	67y
PREGO RESTAURANT LTD→ SC229083 · est 2002	—	—	—	0	24y	81	62y
VAMW TRAINING LIMITED→ SC115303 · est 1988 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	37y	81	76y
AUDREY'S COFFEES LIMITED→ SC277081 · est 2004	—	—	£1.6k	—	21y	80	65y
BL & T SNACKS LTD.→ SC316507 · est 2007	—	—	£445	—	19y	80	71y
BRANDON TAKEAWAY LIMITED→ SC258599 · est 2003	—	—	£38.1k	—	22y	80	68y
D'NISI (STRANRAER) LIMITED→ SC405655 · est 2011	—	—	£57.6k	—	14y	80	61y

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

Incorporated2006-02-17

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC56210 — Event catering activities

Registered office

Unit 1 South Faulds Road

Caldwellside Industrial Estate

Lanark

ML11 7SR

Scotland

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-11-30

Last made up to: 2025-02-28

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-03-02

Last: 2026-02-16

Officers (2 active · 1 resigned)

MCCABE, Mary→

secretary · appointed 2006-02-17

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

THOMSON, Gilbert→

director · ~66y · appointed 2006-02-17

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

THOMSON, Richard→

director · ~35y · appointed 2018-12-01 · resigned 2021-12-13

Resigned

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

Recent filings (48 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2026-03-02

accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged

accounts · AA

2025-09-03

accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged

accounts · AA

2025-02-28

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-02-17

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

address · AD01

2024-08-01

gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date

gazette · DISS40

2024-05-01

accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged

accounts · AA

2024-04-30

gazette-notice-compulsory

gazette · GAZ1

2024-04-30

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-02-16

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2023-03-21

accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged

accounts · AA

2023-02-17

termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date

officers · TM01

2022-09-20

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2022-03-22

accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged

accounts · AA

2022-02-28

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2021-04-21