CAMBUS O'MAY CHEESE COMPANY LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC342988 · ltd · incorporated 2008-05-16

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 May 2024

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 10512

Sector: Manufacturing

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

56102Unlicenced restaurants and cafes

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 65). 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: high (80/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

Company profile

address, 2 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

1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared

Director network

2 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

45 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	2024-05-31	2023-05-31
Average employees	700	1100

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filings

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand

2025-02-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-02-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-04-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-05-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-05-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-02-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-03-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-06-20
📄
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2018-06-20
📄
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2018-06-20
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2018-06-19
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2018-06-19
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2018-06-19
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2018-02-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-12-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-06-30
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2008-05-16
🏢
Company incorporated
As CAMBUS O'MAY CHEESE COMPANY LIMITED
2008-05-16
➕
REID, Alexander John Burness 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 18 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.
+No director turnover: Company is 18 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

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 65. 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 18 years.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 18 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 Alexander John Burness Reid Individual · British · DOB 05/1961 · age 65	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	10/04/2018

1 historic (ceased) PSC

Mr Alexander John Burness Reidceased 10/04/2018· 75-100% shares

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 · Food & drink · AB postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
KEPAK GROUP LIMITED→ SC440783 · est 2013	£32.76M £24.14M–£41.39M	£648.38M	—	147800	13y	89	75y
EAST COAST VINERS GRAIN (DRUMLITHIE) LIMITED→ SC465482 · est 2013	£10.04M £7.40M–£12.68M	£55.24M	—	6600	12y	95	79y
MACKIE'S LIMITED→ SC030096 · est 1954	£8.51M £6.27M–£10.75M	—	—	115	71y	84	62y
COLIN FRASER LIMITED→ SC236839 · est 2002	—	—	£690.5k	—	23y	82	65y
GRANITE CITY FISH LIMITED→ SC130588 · est 1991	—	—	£327.0k	—	35y	82	66y
GT SEAFOODS LIMITED→ SC241817 · est 2003	—	—	£2.21M	—	23y	82	62y
HOME BAKERY (BUCKIE) LIMITED→ SC104797 · est 1987	—	—	—	2600	38y	82	75y
J H MILNE (PETERHEAD) LIMITED→ SC181790 · est 1997	—	—	£723.9k	—	28y	82	75y
J.G. ROSS (BAKERS) LIMITED→ SC062889 · est 1977	—	—	£3.22M	—	48y	82	64y
M GEDDES LTD.→ SC277504 · est 2004	—	—	£176.6k	—	21y	82	63y
SINCLAIR'S OF RHYNIE LIMITED→ SC314515 · est 2007	—	—	£1.17M	—	19y	82	62y
SUMMER ISLES FOODS (1993) LIMITED→ SC142422 · est 1993 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	33y	82	65y

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

Incorporated2008-05-16

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC10512 — SIC 10512

Registered office

The Creamery

Cambus O'May

Ballater

Aberdeenshire

AB35 5SD

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-05-31

Last made up to: 2024-05-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-05-30

Last: 2025-05-16

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

REID, Alexander John Burness→

director · ~65y · appointed 2008-05-16

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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

Recent filings (45 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-05-21

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2025-02-20

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-05-29

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2024-02-28

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2023-06-19

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2023-04-26

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2022-05-30

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2022-05-16

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2021-05-31

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2021-05-20

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2020-05-20

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2020-02-27

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2019-05-28

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2019-03-28

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2018-06-20