PRINCIPAL CDM & SAFETY LTD
🏛️Establishedactive
SC554025 · ltd · incorporated 2017-01-09
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 Jan 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
72/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Management consultancy activities other than financial management
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
PursueStrong 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. 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
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
26 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 accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-01-31 | 2024-01-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 500 | 400 |
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 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand
- 2025-09-22📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-06-11📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-09-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-04-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-04-27📄second-filing-of-confirmation-statement-with-made-up-dateconfirmation-statement · RP04CS01
- 2021-03-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-03-05📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2020-03-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-09-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-03-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-02-07📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2018-02-07📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2018-02-07📄withdrawal-of-a-person-with-significant-control-statementpersons-with-significant-control · PSC09
- 2018-01-09📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2017-02-14➕COWAN, John David appointeddirector
- 2017-02-14📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2017-01-09🏢Company incorporatedAs PRINCIPAL CDM & SAFETY LTD
- 2017-01-09➕COWAN, Lynsey appointeddirector
Owner dependency
71/100
High — earn-out structure requiredMaterial 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.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
- +No director turnover: Company is 9 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.
Succession & seller-readiness
36/100
Weak signalLimited 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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr John David Cowan Individual · British · DOB 10/1979 · age 47 | 50–75% | 50–75% | 50-75% shares · 50-75% voting | 01/03/2017 |
Mrs Lynsey Cowan Individual · British · DOB 03/1979 · age 47 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 01/02/2021 |
1 historic (ceased) PSC
- Mrs Lynsey Cowanceased 01/03/2017· 75-100% shares · 75-100% voting
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Professional services · KA postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SETUP LOCATIONS LTD→ SC669557 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| STEWART GILMOUR & CO. LIMITED→ SC600202 · est 2018 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 7y | — | — |
| SURE LEASING LTD→ SC733759 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| T S CARS (SCOT) LTD→ SC846884 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| TECHNIQUE ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN LTD→ SC635585 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| THE IRVINE DIET CENTRE LTD→ SC699944 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| THISTLE REALTY HOLDINGS LIMITED→ SC683684 · est 2020 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 5y | — | — |
| THOMSON VEHICLE HIRE LTD.→ SC871658 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| THORLEY STEPHENSON LIMITED→ SC541921 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| THORNBANK LIMITED→ SC577764 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
| TK TEMPLATES LIMITED→ SC842744 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| TOM MCGHEE TRADING LTD→ SC771213 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2017-01-09
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC70229 — Management consultancy activities other than financial management
Registered office
20 Broadwood Park
Ayr
KA7 4XE
Scotland
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-10-31
Last made up to: 2025-01-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-01-28
Last: 2026-01-14
Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)
COWAN, John David→
Activedirector · ~47y · appointed 2017-02-14
View their other companies + combined net worth →
COWAN, Lynsey→
Activedirector · ~47y · appointed 2017-01-09
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (26 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-09-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-06-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-09-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-04-27
second-filing-of-confirmation-statement-with-made-up-date
confirmation-statement · RP04CS01
2022-04-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-03-08
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2021-03-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-01-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-03-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-01-15