NIVEN DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC543444 · ltd · incorporated 2016-08-23
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
£109.4k
book net assets
Opportunity
76/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other service activities n.e.c.
Sector: Other service activities
Investor take
Special-situation opportunity
Distressed trade-services with salvageable qualities — special-situations priority.

Opportunity 76/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (60/100, director aged 66). 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: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: high (80/100)

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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
2 officers (1 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
3 connected companies via shared directors
54
Filing history
25 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
76/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £109,406
Very low cash
Cash position: £41
Net assets shrinking
Down £111,526 YoY
Cash draining
Cash down 88% YoY
Cash YoY
-88%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£41
↓ 88% YoY
Net Worth
£109k
↓ 50% YoY
Current Assets
£121k
↓ 58% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£58k£116k£174k£232k£290kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£109.4k£220.9k
Current assets£121.4k£290.4k
Cash£41£356
Debtors£121.4k£290.0k
Net assets£109.4k£220.9k

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-07-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-09-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-01-10
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  4. 2024-01-09
    ➖
    NIVEN, John Thomson resigned
    director
  5. 2023-07-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-08-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-08-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-10-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-04-27
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
  10. 2020-04-26
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  11. 2020-04-26
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  12. 2020-03-23
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  13. 2019-12-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2018-12-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  15. 2018-05-18
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  16. 2018-01-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  17. 2016-08-23
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As NIVEN DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED
  18. 2016-08-23
    ➕
    NIVEN, James Candlish appointed
    director
  19. 2016-08-23
    ➕
    NIVEN, John Thomson appointed
    director
  20. 2016-08-23
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

100/100
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 name in company name: Company name contains director surname "NIVEN" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 66 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

65/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 66. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

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

T P Niven (Holdings) Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️
T P Niven (Holdings) Limited
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares
ultimate parent
⬇
NIVEN DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED
This company · SC543444

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
T P Niven (Holdings) Limited
Corporate entity
75–100%
—75-100% shares05/03/2020
2 historic (ceased) PSCs
  • Mr James Candlish Nivenceased 05/03/2020· 75-100% shares · board control
  • Mr John Thomson Nivenceased 05/03/2020· board control

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

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——224y8266y
D R W LTD.→
SC278769 · est 2005
——£91.7k—21y8371y
STRANRAER MILLENNIUM CENTRE COMMUNITY TRUST→
SC189780 · est 1998
———70027y8380y
BURNFOOT FARMS→
SC387583 · est 2010 · no financials extracted
————15y8274y
CHARLES PAISLEY & SONS LIMITED→
SC273942 · est 2004
——£422.9k—21y8263y
LESLEY GREENLEES LIMITED→
SC386519 · est 2010
——£244.9k—15y8283y
ROUCAN LOCH CREMATORIUM COMPANY LIMITED→
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———90022y8265y
ALARM SYSTEMS LIMITED→
SC168495 · est 1996
——£1.05M—29y8179y
THOMSON RODDICK CALLAN LIMITED→
SC736177 · est 2022 · no financials extracted
————3y——
THOMSON, RODDICK & LAURIE LIMITED→
SC028073 · est 1950 · no financials extracted
————75y——
THORBURN FUNERAL DIRECTORS LTD→
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————4y——
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————22y——
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.

See pricing →

Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2016-08-23
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC96090 — Other service activities n.e.c.

Registered office

The Garage
Palnackie
Castle Douglas
DG7 1PG
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-05
Last: 2025-08-22

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

NIVEN, James Candlish→
director · ~66y · appointed 2016-08-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
NIVEN, John Thomson→
director · ~64y · appointed 2016-08-23 · resigned 2024-01-09
Resigned

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

Recent filings (25 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2025-07-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2024-09-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-28
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2024-01-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2023-07-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-08-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-08-24
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-11-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-10-21
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
2020-04-27
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2020-04-26