THE RED SQUIRREL NURSERY LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC297602 · ltd · incorporated 2006-02-22
Investment thesis
Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.
Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.
Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.
Opportunity decay
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
  • · Oldest live charge 19.5y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Dec 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Pre-primary education
Sector: Education
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company. Family succession underway — not a classic acquisition target.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Same-surname younger director in place — likely family handover, not open to sale. 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 (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 19.5y

65/100
clean up first

Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.

  • · Oldest live charge is 19.5 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Legal-friction score 25/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (3 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
55 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Dec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Average employees37004600

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

🔒Filing-note intelligence

3 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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-11-13
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  2. 2025-11-12
    ➕
    SWAINE, Campbell Lyall Bruce appointed
    director
  3. 2025-08-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-12-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-09-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-03-14
    📄
    accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AAMD
  8. 2022-02-08
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  9. 2021-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2020-12-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2019-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  12. 2018-10-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  13. 2017-12-14
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  14. 2017-11-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2016-03-17
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2015-10-21
    ➖
    SWAINE, Stephen resigned
    director
  18. 2006-11-06
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
  19. 2006-02-22
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As THE RED SQUIRREL NURSERY LIMITED
  20. 2006-02-22
    ➕
    SWAINE, Stephen appointed
    secretary
  21. 2006-02-22
    ➕
    SWAINE, Susan appointed
    director
  22. 2006-02-22
    ➕
    SWAINE, Stephen appointed
    director

Owner dependency

84/100
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
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 20 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 63 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

36/100
Weak signal

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFamily succession underway: Not a takeover target — SWAINE, Campbell Lyall Bruce (same surname) appointed 2025-11-12. Pattern consistent with intra-family handover.
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 63. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 20 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.)

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mrs Susan Jayne Swaine
Individual · British · DOB 10/1963 · age 63
25–50%
—25-50% 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

6 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
Incorporated2006-02-22
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC85100 — Pre-primary education

Registered office

3 Middle Road
Liff
Dundee
DD2 5SP
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-22
Last: 2026-02-08

Officers (3 active · 1 resigned)

SWAINE, Stephen→
secretary · appointed 2006-02-22
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SWAINE, Campbell Lyall Bruce→
director · ~24y · appointed 2025-11-12
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SWAINE, Susan→
director · ~63y · appointed 2006-02-22
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SWAINE, Stephen→
director · ~64y · appointed 2006-02-22 · resigned 2015-10-21
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Virgin Money
Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
Floating charge1 property06/11/2006—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (55 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-23
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2025-11-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-08-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-30
accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AAMD
2022-03-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-22
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-02-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-12-22