STEPPING STONES (CHILDRENSWEAR) LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC556560 · ltd · incorporated 2017-02-03
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 Jan 2025
Net worth
£-25.6k
book net assets
Opportunity
72/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Retail sale of clothing in specialised stores
Sector: Wholesale & retail
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 47721Retail sale of footwear in specialised stores
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

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: distressed disposal / insolvency (65/100).

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, 2 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 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
24 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £25,564

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£3k
Net Worth
-£26k
Current Assets
£46k
Current Liabilities
—
-£26k-£11k£3k£17k£31k£46kJan 2024Jan 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-01-312024-01-31
Total assets£-25.6k—
Current assets£45.7k—
Cash£3.0k—
Debtors£742—
Net assets£-25.6k—
Average employees—500

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-10-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-02-11
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  3. 2025-01-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-09-11
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  5. 2024-02-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2024-02-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2024-01-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-11-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-10-03
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  10. 2020-10-03
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  11. 2020-10-03
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  12. 2020-09-30
    ➖
    GUZIK, Lynn resigned
    director
  13. 2019-10-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2018-06-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-05-07
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-current-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  16. 2017-02-03
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As STEPPING STONES (CHILDRENSWEAR) LIMITED
  17. 2017-02-03
    ➕
    MITCHELL, Mhari Ann appointed
    director
  18. 2017-02-03
    ➕
    GUZIK, Lynn appointed
    director
  19. 2017-02-03
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

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.)

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mrs Mhari Ann Mitchell
Individual · British · DOB 05/1981 · age 45
25–50%
25–50%board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control03/02/2017
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mrs Lynn Guzikceased 30/09/2020· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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SC453454 · est 2013
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——35147y8349y
BRODIE COUNTRYFARE LIMITED→
SC146184 · est 1993
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——12132y8578y
BAYGLEN LIMITED→
SC271209 · est 2004
——£37.8k—21y8360y
GRAMPIAN POWERCLEAN EQUIPMENT LTD.→
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——£30.5k—23y8382y
INTERNATIONAL DOORS AND WINDOWS LIMITED→
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KEMNAY PHARMACY LIMITED→
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——£967.2k—23y8366y
PETERHEAD HEALTH CENTRE CONSORTIUM LIMITED→
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SOUND TECHNOLOGY AUDIO-VISUAL LIMITED→
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THE MAINS OF DRUM GARDEN CENTRE LIMITED→
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——£465.3k—19y8371y
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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
Incorporated2017-02-03
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC47710 — Retail sale of clothing in specialised stores

Registered office

19 Market Square
Stonehaven
AB39 2BE
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-10-31
Last made up to: 2025-01-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-16
Last: 2026-02-02

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

MITCHELL, Mhari Ann→
director · ~45y · appointed 2017-02-03
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
GUZIK, Lynn→
director · ~51y · appointed 2017-02-03 · resigned 2020-09-30
Resigned

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

Recent filings (24 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-10-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-14
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-02-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-01-31
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-09-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-02-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-02-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-01-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-16
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-04-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-11-23
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2020-10-03