MANHATTAN PEANUTS (UK) LTD

💤Zombieactive

SC444198 · ltd · incorporated 2013-03-05

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.

Why now

Window closing · high confidence

Getting harder to buy cheaply — 3 signals strengthening over the last 30 days.

· Hygiene score: 70 → 90
· Opportunity score: 69 → 78
· Bankability: 65 → 75
· Distress / opportunity: speculative → avoid

Opportunity decay

hardening · 6-months

Hardening — profile is tightening. If you want to act, do it before the window closes further.

· 3 recent signals strengthening vs 0 weakening

What changed my view

Last 30 days

Picture improved over the last 30 days — 3 positive signals vs 0 negative.

↑Opportunity score: 69 → 78
↑Hygiene score: 70 → 90
↑Bankability: 65 → 75
·Distress / opportunity: speculative → avoid

Last 90 days

No snapshot from 90 days ago — start tracking from today.

Last 180 days

No snapshot from 180 days ago — start tracking from today.

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Mar 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

78/100

Strong

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch

What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 10890

Sector: Manufacturing

Investor take

Pursue

Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

2 officers (1 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

29 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

78/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

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	2025-03-31	2024-03-31

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand

2025-12-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-12-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-12-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-12-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-11-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-02-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2019-11-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2018-12-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2017-12-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2016-12-08
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2016-03-23
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-12-07
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2015-03-10
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-11-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2014-03-25
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2013-04-17
➕
O'NEILL, Donal Paul appointed
director
2013-04-17
➖
KENNEDY, Bryan Ross resigned
director
2013-03-05
🏢
Company incorporated
As MANHATTAN PEANUTS (UK) LTD
2013-03-05
➕
KENNEDY, Bryan Ross appointed
director

Owner dependency

83/100

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.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 58 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

68/100

Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS

secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 58. 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 13 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.)

Group structure

Manhattan Peanuts Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️

Manhattan Peanuts Limited

Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares

ultimate parent

⬇

MANHATTAN PEANUTS (UK) LTD

This company · SC444198

Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Manhattan Peanuts Limited Corporate entity	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	06/04/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

Similar companies

Active · Food & drink · EH postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
BRODIE MELROSE DRYSDALE & CO. LIMITED→ SC201590 · est 1999	£1.45M £1.07M–£1.84M	£8.61M	—	3300	26y	84	63y
HAMLYNS OF SCOTLAND LIMITED→ SC176949 · est 1997	£99.9k £73.6k–£126.2k	£27.47M	—	5400	28y	86	80y
SALTIRE PATISSERIE LTD.→ SC295828 · est 2006	—	—	—	15	20y	83	63y
SCOT CHIP LIMITED→ SC258060 · est 2003	—	—	£1.38M	—	22y	83	61y
THE PREMIUM BAKERY LIMITED→ SC316253 · est 2007	—	—	£420.7k	—	19y	83	69y
CAWOODS (FISHCURERS) LIMITED→ SC034153 · est 1959 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	66y	82	60y
S LUCA OF MUSSELBURGH LIMITED→ SC296882 · est 2006	—	—	£1.65M	—	20y	82	69y
YESTER FARM DAIRIES LIMITED→ SC396162 · est 2011	—	—	—	1400	15y	82	73y
ARTISAN ROAST LIMITED→ SC327756 · est 2007	—	—	—	3600	18y	81	62y
GRAMPIAN OAT PRODUCTS LIMITED→ SC176950 · est 1997	—	—	—	0	28y	81	80y
MOROCCO GOLD LIMITED→ SC370625 · est 2009	—	—	£249.9k	—	16y	81	72y
TRAQUAIR HOUSE BREWERY LIMITED→ SC172147 · est 1997	—	—	—	300	29y	81	62y

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

Incorporated2013-03-05

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC10890 — SIC 10890

Registered office

26 George Square

Edinburgh

Midlothian

EH8 9LD

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-12-31

Last made up to: 2025-03-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-03-17

Last: 2026-03-03

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

O'NEILL, Donal Paul→

director · ~58y · appointed 2013-04-17

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

KENNEDY, Bryan Ross→

director · ~61y · appointed 2013-03-05 · resigned 2013-04-17

Resigned

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