PICCOLO DUMFRIES LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC711145 · ltd · incorporated 2021-10-04
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 Oct 2024
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Unlicenced restaurants and cafes
Sector: Accommodation & food service
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 69-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 70/100. Strong seller-intent signal (60/100, director aged 69). 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: medium (70/100)

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
1 year of iXBRL accounts extracted (no YoY comparison) + narrative notes parsed
50
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 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
12 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
75/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
60
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.

Key financials

1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
Current Assets
Current Liabilities

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-10-31
Average employees600

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
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (10 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-07-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-08-27
    📄
    accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AAMD
  3. 2024-07-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-07-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-12-09
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  6. 2021-11-24
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  7. 2021-11-15
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  8. 2021-10-04
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As PICCOLO DUMFRIES LTD
  9. 2021-10-04
    WATSON, Samuel Mcwilliam appointed
    director
  10. 2021-10-04
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

90/100
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.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 69 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

65/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 69. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • 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
Mr Samuel Mcwilliam Watson
Individual · British · DOB 04/1957 · age 69
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control04/10/2021
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Yi Ping Liceased 15/11/2021· 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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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

9 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
Incorporated2021-10-04
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC56102 — Unlicenced restaurants and cafes

Registered office

Cafe Piccolo
21 Whitesands
Dumfries
Dumfries And Galloway
DG1 2RR
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-07-31
Last made up to: 2024-10-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-17
Last: 2025-10-03

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

WATSON, Samuel Mcwilliam
director · ~69y · appointed 2021-10-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (12 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-07-14
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-15
accounts-amended-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AAMD
2024-08-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-07-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-07-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-16
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-12-09
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2021-11-24
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2021-11-15
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC
2021-10-04