CRANSTON ENGINEERING LTD

🌳Matureactive
SC303865 · ltd · incorporated 2006-06-12
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 Apr 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other professional, scientific and technical activities n.e.c.
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 67-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 67). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (76/100)

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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
5 officers (3 active, 5 linked, 3 with DOB)
82
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
54 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
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
90
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£0Apr 2024Apr 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-04-052024-04-05
Average employees3200

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-10-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-12-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-03-02
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  5. 2023-03-01
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  6. 2022-11-23
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  7. 2022-11-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2022-07-01
    ➕
    CRANSTON, Gwen appointed
    director
  9. 2021-12-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2020-12-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2019-10-31
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  12. 2019-09-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-11-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-10-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-07-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2016-06-29
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2015-10-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  18. 2007-10-23
    ➕
    CRANSTON, Gwen appointed
    secretary
  19. 2007-10-23
    ➖
    FREELANCE EURO CONTRACTING LIMITED resigned
    corporate-secretary
  20. 2006-08-21
    ➕
    CRANSTON, Peter Findlay appointed
    director
  21. 2006-08-21
    ➖
    ROBERTSON, Alexander George resigned
    director
  22. 2006-06-12
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As CRANSTON ENGINEERING LTD
  23. 2006-06-12
    ➕
    FREELANCE EURO CONTRACTING LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  24. 2006-06-12
    ➕
    ROBERTSON, Alexander George 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
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "CRANSTON" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 20 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 67 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

79/100
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 67. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 20 years.
  • 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Peter Findlay Cranston
Individual · British · DOB 05/1959 · age 67
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
Mrs Gwen Cranston
Individual · British · DOB 03/1959 · age 67
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016

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

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
Incorporated2006-06-12
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC74909 — Other professional, scientific and technical activities n.e.c.

Registered office

Glencroft House
Dalginross
Comrie
Perthshire
PH6 2HB
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-05
Last made up to: 2025-04-05
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-26
Last: 2025-06-12

Officers (3 active · 2 resigned)

CRANSTON, Gwen→
secretary · appointed 2007-10-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CRANSTON, Gwen→
director · ~67y · appointed 2022-07-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CRANSTON, Peter Findlay→
director · ~67y · appointed 2006-08-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FREELANCE EURO CONTRACTING LIMITED→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2006-06-12 · resigned 2007-10-23
Resigned
ROBERTSON, Alexander George→
director · ~74y · appointed 2006-06-12 · resigned 2006-08-21
Resigned

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

Recent filings (54 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-10-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-16
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2023-03-02
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-03-01
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2022-11-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-11-16
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-14
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-12-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-06-15