EAST COAST SPRAY SHOP LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC365507 · ltd · incorporated 2009-09-14
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
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 45200
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 61-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 61). 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).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 16.3y

30/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 16.3 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

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
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
47 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£0Mar 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
Average employees200200

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 (26 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-07-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-06-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-08-22
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  4. 2023-07-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-11-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-11-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-10-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-05-05
    ➕
    DAKERS, Lesley appointed
    secretary
  9. 2020-05-05
    📄
    appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP03
  10. 2019-08-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2019-08-08
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  12. 2019-08-08
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  13. 2019-07-30
    ➖
    DAKERS, Lesley resigned
    director
  14. 2019-06-18
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  15. 2019-06-18
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  16. 2018-10-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  17. 2017-08-21
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  18. 2017-07-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  19. 2016-08-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  20. 2012-08-01
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Lloyds Tsb Commercial Finance Limited
  21. 2010-02-01
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Lloyds Tsb Scotland PLC
  22. 2009-09-14
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As EAST COAST SPRAY SHOP LTD
  23. 2009-09-14
    ➕
    DAKERS, Colin John appointed
    director
  24. 2009-09-14
    ➕
    DAKERS, Lesley appointed
    director
  25. 2009-09-14
    ➕
    HOGG, Raymond Stewart appointed
    director
  26. 2009-09-14
    ➖
    HOGG, Raymond Stewart resigned
    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 17 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 61 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

78/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 61. Early succession window.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 17 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 17 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
Mr Colin John Dakers
Individual · British · DOB 12/1965 · age 61
50–75%
—50-75% shares01/07/2016
Mrs Lesley Dakers
Individual · British · DOB 11/1967 · age 59
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mrs Lesley Dakersceased 21/08/2017· 25-50% shares

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
Incorporated2009-09-14
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC45200 — SIC 45200

Registered office

85 High Street
Arbroath
Angus
DD11 1AN
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-23
Last: 2025-08-09

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

DAKERS, Lesley→
secretary · appointed 2020-05-05
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DAKERS, Colin John→
director · ~61y · appointed 2009-09-14
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DAKERS, Lesley→
director · ~59y · appointed 2009-09-14 · resigned 2019-07-30
Resigned
HOGG, Raymond Stewart→
director · ~63y · appointed 2009-09-14 · resigned 2009-09-14
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyds Tsb Commercial Finance Limited
Bond & floating charge1 property01/08/2012—
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyds Tsb Scotland PLC
Bond & floating charge1 property01/02/201018/06/2019
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (47 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-07-01
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-06-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-22
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2023-08-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-07-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-11-07
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-11-17
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-10-06
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-08-25
appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
officers · AP03
2020-05-05
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-08-28