CORE ASSOCIATES LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC313124 · ltd · incorporated 2006-12-06
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
£14.8k
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
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 64-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 64). 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
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
5 officers (1 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
56 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £14,792
Net assets shrinking
Down £56,876 YoY
Cash YoY
+245%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£200
↑ 245% YoY
Net Worth
£15k
↓ 79% YoY
Current Assets
£101k
↓ 35% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£31k£62k£93k£124k£155kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£16.5k£84.3k
Current assets£101.4k£155.1k
Cash£200£58
Debtors£66.2k£120.1k
Net assets£14.8k£71.7k

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
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-12-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-12-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-12-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-11-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-12-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-12-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2018-12-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2017-08-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2017-03-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  11. 2016-12-21
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  12. 2015-12-07
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  13. 2015-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2014-12-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2014-12-08
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2010-10-06
    ➖
    BEATY-POWNALL, Karen resigned
    secretary
  17. 2010-10-06
    ➖
    BEATY-POWNALL, Karen resigned
    director
  18. 2006-12-06
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As CORE ASSOCIATES LTD
  19. 2006-12-06
    ➕
    MASON, David appointed
    director
  20. 2006-12-06
    ➕
    BEATY-POWNALL, Karen appointed
    secretary
  21. 2006-12-06
    ➕
    DUPORT SECRETARY LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 2006-12-06
    ➖
    DUPORT SECRETARY LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 2006-12-06
    ➕
    BEATY-POWNALL, Karen appointed
    director
  24. 2006-12-06
    ➕
    DUPORT DIRECTOR LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  25. 2006-12-06
    ➖
    DUPORT DIRECTOR LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

93/100
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 19 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

88/100
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 64. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 19 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 19 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%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr David Mason
Individual · British · DOB 07/1962 · age 64
75–100%
—75-100% shares06/04/2016

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 →

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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
Incorporated2006-12-06
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC71111 — Architectural activities

Registered office

25 Sandyford Place
Sauchiehall Street
Glasgow
G3 7NG

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-30
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-20
Last: 2025-12-06

Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)

MASON, David→
director · ~64y · appointed 2006-12-06
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BEATY-POWNALL, Karen→
secretary · appointed 2006-12-06 · resigned 2010-10-06
Resigned
DUPORT SECRETARY LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2006-12-06 · resigned 2006-12-06
Resigned
BEATY-POWNALL, Karen→
director · ~63y · appointed 2006-12-06 · resigned 2010-10-06
Resigned
DUPORT DIRECTOR LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2006-12-06 · resigned 2006-12-06
Resigned

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

Recent filings (56 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-11-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-12-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-12-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-12-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-12-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-12-27