4CAPACITIES LTD.

🌳Matureactive

SC466156 · ltd · incorporated 2013-12-19

Investment thesis

Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.

Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.

Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.

Why now

Window steady · low confidence

Steady and tidy — no seller pressure yet. Approach only if an angle opens.

Opportunity decay

hardening · 12-months

Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.

· Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage

What changed my view

Last 30 days

No material changes in the last 30 days.

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 Dec 2024

Net worth

£2.9k

book net assets

Opportunity

79/100

Strong

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

What this business does

Primary activity: Educational support services

Sector: Education

Investor take

Pursue

Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. 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 (2 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

27 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

79/100Strong

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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £2,904

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£3k

↑ 1862% YoY

Current Assets

£8k

↑ 100% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2024-12-31	2023-12-31
Total assets	£2.9k	£148
Current assets	£8.0k	£4.0k
Net assets	£2.9k	£148

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand

2025-09-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-09-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-09-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-09-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-09-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-06-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-09-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-09-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-05-11
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2017-09-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-09-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-08-22
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2016-01-04
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-09-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-08-10
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2013-12-19
🏢
Company incorporated
As 4CAPACITIES LTD.
2013-12-19
➕
FOLAN, Douglas William appointed
director
2013-12-19
➕
FOLAN, Judith Nicola appointed
director

Owner dependency

79/100

High — earn-out structure required

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

FACTORS

+Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 60 — approaching natural succession window.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
+No director turnover: Company is 12 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

59/100

Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS

secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 60. Early succession window.
secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 12 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.)

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Douglas William Folan Individual · Scottish · DOB 08/1966 · age 60	75–100%	75–100%	75-100% shares · 75-100% voting	06/04/2016

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

Similar companies

Active · Education & training · TD postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
MIND SCREEN LIMITED→ SC160843 · est 1995	—	—	£19.5k	—	30y	82	79y
BORDER LINKS LIMITED→ 05687667 · est 2006	—	—	£186.0k	—	20y	81	70y
BORDERS ORGANIC GARDENERS→ SC279474 · est 2005 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	21y	81	93y
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY OF CHILD LANGUAGE→ SC330604 · est 2007 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	18y	81	61y
THE TWEED FOUNDATION→ SC366380 · est 2009 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	16y	81	76y
EDINBURGH TUTORS LIMITED→ SC339201 · est 2008	—	—	£52.5k	—	18y	80	71y
KSA TRAINING LIMITED→ 04422466 · est 2002	—	—	—	0	24y	80	78y
NEWCASTLETON & DISTRICT COMMUNITY TRUST→ SC515720 · est 2015 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	10y	79	78y
CHALLENGING LEARNING LTD→ 05204659 · est 2004	—	—	—	—	21y	78	55y
ESCAPE YOUTH SERVICES→ SC431246 · est 2012 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	13y	78	72y
JUST CYCLE LTD→ SC511792 · est 2015	—	—	£102.9k	—	10y	78	79y
BERWICK ACADEMY→ 07807248 · est 2011 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	14y	77	79y

Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →

🔒Tailored diligence questions

6 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

Incorporated2013-12-19

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC85600 — Educational support services

Registered office

Wellrig Mains

St Boswells

Melrose

TD6 9ET

Scotland

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-09-30

Last made up to: 2024-12-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-01-02

Last: 2025-12-19

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

FOLAN, Douglas William→

director · ~60y · appointed 2013-12-19

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

FOLAN, Judith Nicola→

director · ~59y · appointed 2013-12-19

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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