CARRIAGES PRAMS LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC599125 · ltd · incorporated 2018-06-06
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.
Why now
Window steady · low confidence
Steady and stalled — no momentum either way. Needs an approach trigger.
What changed my view
Last 30 days

No material changes in the last 30 days.

Last 90 days

No snapshot from 90 days ago — start tracking from today.

Last 180 days

No snapshot from 180 days ago — start tracking from today.

🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Jun 2024
Net worth
£7.0k
book net assets
Opportunity
76/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Retail sale of furniture, lighting, and similar (not musical instruments or scores) in specialised stores
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 76/100 (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 (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: high (82/100)

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 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
10 connected companies via shared directors
75
Filing history
21 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 £7,042
Net assets shrinking
Down £16,499 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£23k
Net Worth
£7k
↓ 70% YoY
Current Assets
£136k
↑ 20% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£27k£55k£82k£109k£136kJun 2023Jun 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-06-302023-06-30
Total assets£224.2k£65.7k
Current assets£136.5k£113.5k
Cash£22.7k—
Debtors£38.8k—
Net assets£7.0k£23.5k

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
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-06-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-03-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-04-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-05-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-06-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-09-02
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  7. 2020-09-02
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  8. 2020-09-02
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  9. 2020-08-24
    ➖
    STRACHAN, Dawn resigned
    director
  10. 2020-08-24
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  11. 2020-08-24
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  12. 2020-03-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-11-12
    ✏️
    certificate-change-of-name-company
    change-of-name · CERTNM
  14. 2018-11-12
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  15. 2018-06-06
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As CARRIAGES PRAMS LTD
  16. 2018-06-06
    ➕
    BRUCE, Diane appointed
    director
  17. 2018-06-06
    ➕
    STRACHAN, Dawn appointed
    director
  18. 2018-06-06
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

83/100
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.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 59 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

55/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 59. Early succession window.
  • 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 · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mrs Diane Bruce
Individual · Scottish · DOB 09/1967 · age 59
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control06/06/2018
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Ms Dawn Strachanceased 24/08/2020· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting

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 →

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£2.60M
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——5612y8563y
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SC065757 · est 1978
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——35147y8349y
BRODIE COUNTRYFARE LIMITED→
SC146184 · est 1993
£909.2k
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——12132y8578y
GRAMPIAN POWERCLEAN EQUIPMENT LTD.→
SC240849 · est 2002
——£30.5k—23y8382y
INTERNATIONAL DOORS AND WINDOWS LIMITED→
SC304831 · est 2006
———1619y8365y
KEMNAY PHARMACY LIMITED→
SC245230 · est 2003
——£967.2k—23y8366y
SOUND TECHNOLOGY AUDIO-VISUAL LIMITED→
SC258755 · est 2003
———30022y8379y
THE MAINS OF DRUM GARDEN CENTRE LIMITED→
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——£465.3k—19y8371y
THE SANDWICH LARDER LIMITED→
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———3718y8362y
TURRIFF AGRI-PARTS LIMITED→
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——£527.9k—46y8378y
A & J WATT LTD.→
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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
Incorporated2018-06-06
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC47599 — Retail sale of furniture, lighting, and similar (not musical instruments or scores) in specialised stores

Registered office

Botany View School Road
St Fergus
Peterhead
Aberdeenshire
AB42 3EF
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-06-30
Last made up to: 2024-06-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-19
Last: 2025-06-05

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

BRUCE, Diane→
director · ~59y · appointed 2018-06-06
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
STRACHAN, Dawn→
director · ~56y · appointed 2018-06-06 · resigned 2020-08-24
Resigned

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

Recent filings (21 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-06-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-03-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-04-17
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-05-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-06-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-07
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2020-09-02
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2020-09-02
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2020-09-02
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2020-08-24
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-08-24