CIPHER SURGICAL LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC378738 · ltd · incorporated 2010-05-18

Investment thesis

Looks cheap but ownership + security both unclear — probable value trap.

Why interesting: Headline metrics may be attractive.

Why risky: No PSC visibility combined with multiple live charges; transacting likely slow and expensive.

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Jul 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

83/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 26701

Sector: Manufacturing

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

32500SIC 32500
86900Other human health activities

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 84-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 83/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 84). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · oldest 2.6y

50/100

clean up first

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

· Newest facility, 2.6 years old — likely still in initial term.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· Legal-friction score 20/100 — clean.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (73/100)

Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.

Company profile

address, 3 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)

Directors & officers

15 officers (7 active, 15 linked, 14 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

No PSCs filed (unusual — worth investigating)

Director network

6 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

206 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

83/100Exceptional

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

100

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	2025-07-31	2024-07-31
Average employees	4	800

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

filings

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (48 events)Click to expand

2026-03-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-11-06
📄
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2025-10-30
🔒
Charge registered #2
Lender: Medical Solutions, Inc
2025-08-11
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2025-08-11
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-07-17
➕
JOHNSTON, Nicholas Simon Macpherson appointed
director
2025-05-22
📄
memorandum-articles
incorporation · MA
2025-05-22
📄
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2025-05-22
📄
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2025-05-21
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2025-05-13
➕
ALLEY, Mark appointed
director
2025-05-12
➖
JOHNSTON, Nicholas Simon Macpherson resigned
director
2025-05-12
📄
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2025-04-28
📄
second-filing-capital-allotment-shares
capital · RP04SH01
2025-04-23
📄
second-filing-of-confirmation-statement-with-made-up-date
confirmation-statement · RP04CS01
2025-04-22
📄
second-filing-of-confirmation-statement-with-made-up-date
confirmation-statement · RP04CS01
2025-04-17
📄
second-filing-capital-allotment-shares
capital · RP04SH01
2025-02-12
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-03
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-08-01
📄
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2023-12-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-10-30
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2023-10-02
➖
BUCH, Justin Wavel Rosenfelder resigned
director
2023-09-27
📄
memorandum-articles
incorporation · MA
2023-09-27
📄
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2023-09-27
📄
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2023-09-21
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Medical Solutions, Inc
2023-02-14
📄
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2021-11-23
➖
HERBERT, Michael Clive resigned
director
2021-05-20
➕
HERBERT, Michael Clive appointed
director
2018-12-03
➖
KING, Anthony Graham resigned
director
2018-01-25
➕
WU, Yuanyuan appointed
director
2015-03-25
➕
WALLACE, Gerard Sibbald appointed
director
2014-02-26
➕
BUCH, Justin Wavel Rosenfelder appointed
director
2013-02-20
➕
JOHNSTON, Nicholas Simon Macpherson appointed
director
2013-02-20
➖
MARKGRAF, Paul resigned
director
2013-01-04
➖
HARVIE, Fraser resigned
director
2011-01-28
➕
MARKGRAF, Paul appointed
director
2010-12-06
➕
KING, Anthony Graham appointed
director
2010-08-17
➕
MCMAHON, Michael John, Professor appointed
director
2010-06-15
➕
NEWELL, Andrew appointed
director
2010-06-15
➕
HARVIE, Fraser appointed
director
2010-06-15
➖
RATCLIFFE, Simon Timothy James resigned
director
2010-06-15
➖
WALMSLEY, Neil Roderick resigned
director
2010-05-18
🏢
Company incorporated
As CIPHER SURGICAL LIMITED
2010-05-18
➕
BURY COMPANY SERVICES LIMITED appointed
corporate-secretary
2010-05-18
➕
RATCLIFFE, Simon Timothy James appointed
director
2010-05-18
➕
WALMSLEY, Neil Roderick appointed
director

Owner dependency

65/100

High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS

-6 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 16 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 84 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

73/100

Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 84 years old. Natural succession window is now.
secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 16 years.
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.)

🔒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 · Manufacturing · EH postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
HALSPAN LIMITED→ SC194458 · est 1999	£6.37M £4.95M–£7.78M	—	—	—	27y	83	77y
HAD-FAB LIMITED→ SC142257 · est 1993	£1.76M £1.37M–£2.15M	—	—	14400	33y	85	60y
SPRING ENGINEERING SERVICES LIMITED→ SC220378 · est 2001	£1.49M £1.16M–£1.83M	—	—	3800	24y	87	74y
WINDOW SUPPLY COMPANY LTD→ SC615256 · est 2018	£699.9k £544.4k–£855.4k	—	—	182	7y	84	72y
EUROSTAMPA UK LTD→ SC024552 · est 1946	£218.8k £170.2k–£267.5k	—	—	200	79y	85	83y
ARRAYJET LIMITED→ SC209936 · est 2000 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	25y	83	73y
BAWBAGS LIMITED→ SC321771 · est 2007	—	—	—	6	19y	83	65y
CANMORE PIPE BAGS LIMITED→ SC362533 · est 2009	—	—	£53.5k	—	16y	83	58y
CASTLE MASONRY PRODUCTS LIMITED→ SC225802 · est 2001	—	—	—	1800	24y	83	62y
CLOCKHOUSE FURNITURE LIMITED→ SC281686 · est 2005	—	—	£778.1k	—	21y	83	75y
HALSTON ENGINEERING LTD→ SC066605 · est 1978	—	—	—	600	47y	83	61y
KILBRIDE RESOURCES LIMITED→ SC316663 · est 2007	—	—	—	400	19y	83	74y

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

Incorporated2010-05-18

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC26701 — SIC 26701

Registered office

Floor 3 1 - 4 Atholl Crescent

Edinburgh

EH3 8HA

Scotland

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-04-30

Last made up to: 2025-07-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-06-01

Last: 2025-05-18