DOUGLAS STRACHAN LTD

🌳Matureactive
SC484864 · ltd · incorporated 2014-08-21
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.
Opportunity decay
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
  • · Oldest live charge 10.1y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to May 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
🔔
Follow this company (free)
Email alerts on filings, charges, director changes, gazette notices. No account needed.

Unsubscribe any time from any email. GDPR-respectful.

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch
What this business does
Primary activity: Architectural activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 85/100. 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 (58/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 10.1y

85/100
ready

Refinance conversation should be productive — structure clean and timing right.

  • · Oldest live charge is 10.1 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.

Data confidence

Overall: high (82/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
6 connected companies via shared directors
63
Filing history
34 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
75/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
55
Some acquirability indicators.
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£16£32£48£64£80May 2024May 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-05-312024-05-31
Total assets—£80
Debtors—£10.6k
Net assets—£80
Average employees0—

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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-02-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-03-05
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  3. 2024-10-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-06-17
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  5. 2023-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-12-13
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  7. 2023-02-22
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  8. 2022-10-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2022-07-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2022-05-27
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-current-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  11. 2021-09-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2020-09-22
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-current-extended
    accounts · AA01
  13. 2020-06-04
    ➕
    YUILL, Gavin Walter appointed
    director
  14. 2020-06-04
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
  15. 2020-06-04
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  16. 2019-10-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  17. 2019-05-21
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  18. 2018-09-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  19. 2018-03-19
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  20. 2016-03-21
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Edinburgh Alternative Finance Limited (Trading as Lending Crowd)
  21. 2014-08-21
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As DOUGLAS STRACHAN LTD
  22. 2014-08-21
    ➕
    STRACHAN, Douglas John appointed
    director

Owner dependency

78/100
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.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "STRACHAN" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 12 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

41/100
Moderate signal

Some succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.

SIGNALS
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • 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

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

🏛️
Camerons Limited
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares
ultimate parent
⬇
DOUGLAS STRACHAN LTD
This company · SC484864

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%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Camerons Limited
Corporate entity
75–100%
—75-100% shares04/06/2020
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Douglas John Strachanceased 05/06/2023· 75-100% shares

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 →

Similar companies

Active · Professional services · EH postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
EDEN SCOTT LTD→
SC243605 · est 2003 · no financials extracted
————23y——
EDIN CAR RENTAL LTD→
SC818248 · est 2024 · no financials extracted
————1y——
EDINBURGH BUSINESS CONSULTANCY LTD→
SC720440 · est 2022 · no financials extracted
————4y——
EDINBURGH FEE CORP LIMITED→
SC841381 · est 2025 · no financials extracted
————1y——
EDINBURGH FESTIVAL OF CYCLING LTD.→
SC442447 · est 2013 · no financials extracted
————13y——
EDINBURGH MEASURED SURVEY LTD→
SC776178 · est 2023 · no financials extracted
————2y——
EDINBURGH PROVISIONS IP LTD→
SC608480 · est 2018 · no financials extracted
————7y——
EDINBURGH SUPERCAR HIRE LIMITED→
SC672787 · est 2020 · no financials extracted
————5y——
EDIXOMED LIMITED→
SC363191 · est 2009 · no financials extracted
————16y——
EDMOND FINANCIAL SERVICES LIMITED→
SC449778 · est 2013 · no financials extracted
————12y——
EDYN CREATIVE LTD→
SC549493 · est 2016 · no financials extracted
————9y——
EILDON MANAGEMENT LIMITED→
SC374222 · est 2010 · no financials extracted
————16y——
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
Incorporated2014-08-21
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC71111 — Architectural activities

Registered office

102 High Street
Dalkeith
EH22 1HZ
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-18
Last: 2025-06-04

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

STRACHAN, Douglas John→
director · ~44y · appointed 2014-08-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
YUILL, Gavin Walter→
director · ~44y · appointed 2020-06-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
satisfied
Edinburgh Alternative Finance (Trading as Lending Crowd)
Edinburgh Alternative Finance Limited (Trading as Lending Crowd)
A registered charge—21/03/201619/03/2018

Recent filings (34 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-02-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-23
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-03-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-10-11
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-17
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-06-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-21
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2023-12-13
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-09
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-02-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-10-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-07-11
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-06
change-account-reference-date-company-current-shortened
accounts · AA01
2022-05-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-09