CAIRNGORM SYSTEMS LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC484777 · ltd · incorporated 2014-08-20
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 Aug 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other specialised construction activities n.e.c.
Sector: Construction
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 82990Other business support service activities n.e.c.
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 74-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 74). 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, 2 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 1 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
26 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
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£0Aug 2024Aug 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-08-312024-08-31
Average employees100100

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (16 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-12-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-08-16
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  4. 2024-01-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-01-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-01-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-05-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-05-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-05-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-05-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-05-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-05-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2015-11-03
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2014-08-20
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As CAIRNGORM SYSTEMS LTD
  15. 2014-08-20
    ➕
    GILLIES, Maxine appointed
    secretary
  16. 2014-08-20
    ➕
    GILLIES, Alexander Campbell appointed
    director

Owner dependency

95/100
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.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 74 — succession pressure is live.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 12 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

80/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 74 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Alexander Campbell Gillies
Individual · British · DOB 01/1952 · age 74
——sig. influencesignificant influence15/07/2016

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 →

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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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2014-08-20
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC43999 — Other specialised construction activities n.e.c.

Registered office

15 Alder Tree Road
Banchory
AB31 4FW
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-05-31
Last made up to: 2025-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-15
Last: 2025-10-01

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

GILLIES, Maxine→
secretary · appointed 2014-08-20
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
GILLIES, Alexander Campbell→
director · ~74y · appointed 2014-08-20
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (26 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-01-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-28
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-08-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-01-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-01-06
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-01-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-05-17
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-05-08