TEST CENTRE ABERDEEN LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC552485 · ltd · incorporated 2016-12-13
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
72/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 33190
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 72/100 (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: 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 (58/100).

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, 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
3 officers (1 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 4 total, 4 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
32 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
72/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
55
Some acquirability indicators.
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£0Dec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Average employees6600

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 signals 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 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-07-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-09-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-12-14
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  5. 2022-12-14
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
  6. 2022-12-14
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  7. 2022-07-14
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  8. 2022-07-14
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  9. 2022-07-13
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
  10. 2022-07-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2021-09-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2020-04-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2020-01-13
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  14. 2019-09-12
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  15. 2019-09-12
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  16. 2019-09-12
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  17. 2019-09-11
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  18. 2019-09-11
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  19. 2019-08-30
    ➕
    SOMERVILLE, Steven John appointed
    director
  20. 2019-08-30
    ➖
    RENNIE, Leanne Maria resigned
    secretary
  21. 2019-08-30
    ➖
    RENNIE, David Graham resigned
    director
  22. 2016-12-13
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As TEST CENTRE ABERDEEN LTD
  23. 2016-12-13
    ➕
    RENNIE, Leanne Maria appointed
    secretary
  24. 2016-12-13
    ➕
    RENNIE, David Graham appointed
    director

Owner dependency

75/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

45/100
Moderate signal

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

SIGNALS
  • 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

Black's Test Centre Holdings Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️
Black's Test Centre Holdings Limited
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares · board control
ultimate parent
⬇
TEST CENTRE ABERDEEN LTD
This company · SC552485

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
Black's Test Centre Holdings Limited
Corporate entity
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control30/08/2019
3 historic (ceased) PSCs
  • Mr Steven John Somervilleceased 30/08/2019· 75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control
  • Mrs Ann Frances Cairnsceased 30/08/2019· 50-75% shares
  • Mr David Graham Rennieceased 30/08/2019· 75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control · significant influence · trust interest · firm interest

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 · Manufacturing · AB postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
GRAY & ADAMS LIMITED→
SC047482 · est 1970
£75.13M
£58.44M–£91.83M
——50256y8771y
GRAY & ADAMS (DUNFERMLINE) LIMITED→
SC082971 · est 1983
£17.07M
£13.28M–£20.87M
——10642y8571y
GRAY & ADAMS (DONCASTER) LIMITED→
SC128013 · est 1990
£16.62M
£12.93M–£20.32M
——10135y8771y
INTERWELL LIMITED→
SC391140 · est 2011
£10.98M
£8.54M–£13.42M
£33.44M—780015y9160y
EBLAST LIMITED→
SC202165 · est 1999
£8.03M
£6.24M–£9.81M
£11.11M—740026y8857y
DALES ENGINEERING SERVICES LIMITED→
SC107948 · est 1987
£6.22M
£4.84M–£7.60M
£21.87M—1100038y9370y
SUPERIOR ENERGY SERVICES LIMITED→
SC259694 · est 2003
£6.15M
£4.78M–£7.51M
£1.45M—150022y9460y
IMENCO UK LIMITED→
SC372021 · est 2010
£5.97M
£4.64M–£7.29M
£17.33M—1150016y9571y
VINREG ACCESS LTD→
SC742888 · est 2022 · no financials extracted
————3y——
VYSUS (GB) LIMITED→
SC125513 · est 1990 · no financials extracted
————35y——
W J BROWN MECHANICAL SERVICES LIMITED→
SC133395 · est 1991 · no financials extracted
————34y——
WCS SCOTLAND LIMITED→
SC447768 · est 2013 · no financials extracted
————13y——
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
Incorporated2016-12-13
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC33190 — SIC 33190

Registered office

Unit 2 Harlaw Centre Howe Moss Crescent
Dyce
Aberdeen
AB21 0GN
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-26
Last: 2025-12-12

Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)

SOMERVILLE, Steven John→
director · ~44y · appointed 2019-08-30
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
RENNIE, Leanne Maria→
secretary · appointed 2016-12-13 · resigned 2019-08-30
Resigned
RENNIE, David Graham→
director · ~72y · appointed 2016-12-13 · resigned 2019-08-30
Resigned

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

Recent filings (32 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-09-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-07-16
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-21
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-12-14
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
2022-12-14
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-12-14
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-14
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2022-07-14
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2022-07-14
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
2022-07-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-07-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-23