DEERNESS DISTILLERY LTD
🌳Matureactive
SC531754 · ltd · incorporated 2016-04-06
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.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Apr 2025
Net worth
£-84.3k
book net assets
Opportunity
74/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 11010
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.
Opportunity 74/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -88% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: distressed disposal / insolvency (65/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
2 live charges · oldest 0.5y
10/100
under pressure
Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.
- · Newest facility, 0.5 years old — likely still in initial term.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Cashflow trend is negative — lender view likely cautious.
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
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (4 active, 4 linked, 4 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
6 connected companies via shared directors
63
Filing history
37 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
74/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
50
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £84,326
Net assets shrinking
Down £109,264 YoY
Cash draining
Cash down 88% YoY
Cash YoY
-88%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£23k
↓ 88% YoY
Net Worth
-£84k
↓ 438% YoY
Current Assets
£120k
↓ 65% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2025-04-30 | 2024-04-30 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £794.8k | £699.9k |
| Current assets | £120.0k | £345.2k |
| Cash | £22.7k | £190.2k |
| Debtors | £13.2k | £82.7k |
| Net assets | £-84.3k | £24.9k |
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
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 90 days
2
filings
- • 1 confirmation-statement
- • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
4
filings
- • 2 mortgage
- • 1 confirmation-statement
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
- 2026-01-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2025-11-05📄mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-datemortgage · MR01
- 2025-11-05📄mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-datemortgage · MR01
- 2025-11-03🔒Charge registered #2Lender: Together Commercial Finance Limited
- 2025-10-30🔒Charge registered #1Lender: Together Commercial Finance Limited
- 2025-01-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2024-08-28📄capital-allotment-sharescapital · SH01
- 2023-12-12📄memorandum-articlesincorporation · MA
- 2023-12-06📄resolutionresolution · RESOLUTIONS
- 2023-11-28📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2023-11-28📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2023-11-28📄capital-allotment-sharescapital · SH01
- 2023-11-23➕MAY, Alison Rachel appointeddirector
- 2023-11-23➕MAY, Gavin John appointeddirector
- 2023-11-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2023-05-29📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2023-05-29📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2023-01-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-01-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-01-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridgedaccounts · AA
- 2019-01-01➕BROWN, Adelle Zena appointeddirector
- 2016-04-06🏢Company incorporatedAs DEERNESS DISTILLERY LTD
- 2016-04-06➕BROWN, Stuart William appointeddirector
Owner dependency
48/100
Moderate — manageable with handoverSome founder dependency, but not acute. A structured handover period should cover most risk.
FACTORS
- -4 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
Succession & seller-readiness
35/100
Weak signalLimited succession signal. Not a near-term off-market candidate.
SIGNALS
- supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.
Red flags
cleanNo red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)
Shareholders & ownership
2 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mrs Adelle Zena Brown Individual · British · DOB 10/1975 · age 51 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 30/12/2019 |
Mr Stuart William Brown Individual · British · DOB 03/1974 · age 52 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 06/04/2016 |
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 →Similar companies
Active · Food & drink · KW postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARGO'S BAKERY LIMITED→ SC082881 · est 1983 | — | — | £550.3k | — | 42y | 83 | 66y |
| DUNNET BAY DISTILLERS LTD.→ SC454474 · est 2013 | — | — | £2.85M | — | 12y | 75 | 45y |
| ANNIE'S BAKERY LIMITED→ SC439693 · est 2013 | — | — | £57.1k | — | 13y | 73 | 34y |
| CAPALDIS BRORA LTD→ SC555799 · est 2017 | — | — | £16.1k | — | 9y | 73 | 35y |
| DUNROBIN HIGHLAND DISTILLERY LIMITED→ SC520078 · est 2015 | — | — | — | 0 | 10y | 73 | 55y |
| 58 NØRTH LTD→ SC850938 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | 71 | 41y |
| BOREAL BREWING LTD→ SC870145 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | 71 | 45y |
| FORBESCROFT LTD→ SC686242 · est 2021 | — | — | £5.0k | — | 5y | 69 | 43y |
| B G A QUALITY BUTCHERS LTD→ SC470632 · est 2014 | — | — | £-3.5k | — | 12y | 63 | 70y |
| CRANTIT DAIRY→ SC141498 · est 1992 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 33y | — | — |
| DONALDSONS OF ORKNEY→ SC740005 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| GOLDEN SLIPPER BREWING COMPANY LIMITED→ SC824877 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2016-04-06
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC11010 — SIC 11010
Registered office
Newhall
Deerness
Orkney
KW17 2QJ
Scotland
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-21
Last: 2026-04-07
Officers (4 active · 0 resigned)
BROWN, Adelle Zena→
Activedirector · ~51y · appointed 2019-01-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
BROWN, Stuart William→
Activedirector · ~52y · appointed 2016-04-06
View their other companies + combined net worth →
MAY, Alison Rachel→
Activedirector · ~51y · appointed 2023-11-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
MAY, Gavin John→
Activedirector · ~53y · appointed 2023-11-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
2
Total charges
2
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Together Money Together Commercial Finance Limited | A registered charge | 1 property | 03/11/2025 | — | |
| outstanding | Together Money Together Commercial Finance Limited | A registered charge | — | 30/10/2025 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (37 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2026-01-31
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2025-11-05
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2025-11-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-01-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-28
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2024-08-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-11
memorandum-articles
incorporation · MA
2023-12-12
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2023-12-06
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2023-11-28
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2023-11-28
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2023-11-28