DOUGLAS STRACHAN LTD

🌳Matureactive
SC484864 · ltd · incorporated 2014-08-21
Investment thesis
Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.
Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.
Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.
Why now
Window steady · high confidence
Thesis has shifted recently — watch for confirmation.
  • · Investment thesis: well_run_hard_buy → unclassified
  • · Hygiene score: 90 → 70
  • · Opportunity score: 75 → 67
  • · Bankability: 85 → 75
Opportunity decay
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
  • · Oldest live charge 10.3y old — refinance window within 12 months
What changed my view
Last 30 days

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

  • ·Investment thesis: well_run_hard_buy → unclassified
  • ↓Opportunity score: 75 → 67
  • ↓Hygiene score: 90 → 70
  • ↓Bankability: 85 → 75
  • ·Distress / opportunity: avoid → speculative
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 May 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
67/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Architectural activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 67/100 (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: Resolve: Confirmation statement overdue. Annual confirmation statement not filed on time. Required statutory filing — overdue is a strong discipline signal. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 10.3y

85/100
ready

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 10.3 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
67/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
60
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
55
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
67
Some moderate concerns — review 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
0
filings
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

36/100
Weak signal

Limited succession signal. Not a near-term off-market candidate.

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

Red flags

1 high ·
Confirmation statement overdue
high

Annual confirmation statement not filed on time. Required statutory filing — overdue is a strong discipline signal.

Evidence: Next due: 2026-06-18

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 →

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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
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: 2026-06-18OVERDUE
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