THE FREE COMPANY SCO LIMITED

🏛️Establishedactive
SC570422 · ltd · incorporated 2017-07-04
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 Jun 2025
Net worth
£-432
book net assets
Opportunity
72/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Specialised design activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
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. 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, 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
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 4 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 4 total, 4 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
27 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 105 (micro)
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £432

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
-£432
~ YoY
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
-£432-£432-£432-£432-£432-£432Jun 2024Jun 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2025-06-302024-06-30
Total assets£-432£-432
Net assets£-432£-432

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 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-03-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-03-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-10-04
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  5. 2023-09-19
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  6. 2023-03-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-03-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-12-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-07-06
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  10. 2020-07-06
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  11. 2020-04-09
    ➖
    FLETCHER, Jack Paul Gordon resigned
    director
  12. 2020-03-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-07-23
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  14. 2019-07-23
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  15. 2019-03-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2018-07-10
    ➕
    BUCHANAN-SMITH, Charles Daniel appointed
    director
  17. 2018-07-10
    ➖
    STEWART, Stella Isabella resigned
    director
  18. 2018-07-10
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  19. 2018-07-10
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  20. 2017-10-06
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  21. 2017-07-04
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As THE FREE COMPANY SCO LIMITED
  22. 2017-07-04
    ➕
    BUCHANAN-SMITH, Angus James appointed
    director
  23. 2017-07-04
    ➕
    FLETCHER, Jack Paul Gordon appointed
    director
  24. 2017-07-04
    ➕
    STEWART, Stella Isabella appointed
    director

Owner dependency

66/100
High — earn-out structure required

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

FACTORS
  • +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.

Succession & seller-readiness

36/100
Weak signal

Limited 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

clean
No 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Charles Daniel Drummond Buchanan-Smith
Individual · British · DOB 11/1994 · age 32
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting01/01/2018
Mr Angus James Buchanan-Smith
Individual · British · DOB 03/1992 · age 34
25–50%
—25-50% shares04/07/2017
2 historic (ceased) PSCs
  • Mr Jack Paul Gordon Fletcherceased 09/04/2020· 25-50% shares
  • Ms Stella Isabella Stewartceased 01/01/2018· 25-50% shares

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

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CHARLES RIVER LABORATORIES EDINBURGH LIMITED→
SC091725 · est 1985
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£135.39M—13590041y8567y
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£8.48M
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———19y8361y
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——025y8560y
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——020y8760y
BLYTH & BLYTH CONSULTING ENGINEERS LIMITED→
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——9323y8785y
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——16553y8868y
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£45.2k
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——096y8363y
3 ED HOLDINGS 2 LIMITED→
SC328040 · est 2007 · no financials extracted
————18y8365y
ABACUS FINANCIAL MARKETING LIMITED→
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————16y8358y
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
Incorporated2017-07-04
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC74100 — Specialised design activities

Registered office

Cockdurno Farmhouse
Cockdurno Farmhouse
Balerno
Edinburgh
EH14 7HZ
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-03-31
Last made up to: 2025-06-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-17
Last: 2025-07-03

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

BUCHANAN-SMITH, Angus James→
director · ~34y · appointed 2017-07-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BUCHANAN-SMITH, Charles Daniel→
director · ~32y · appointed 2018-07-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FLETCHER, Jack Paul Gordon→
director · ~33y · appointed 2017-07-04 · resigned 2020-04-09
Resigned
STEWART, Stella Isabella→
director · ~33y · appointed 2017-07-04 · resigned 2018-07-10
Resigned

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

Recent filings (27 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-03-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-03-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-03-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-05
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2023-10-04
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2023-09-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-03-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-03-17
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-12-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-07-06
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2020-07-06