CWS ROAD FREIGHT LTD

🌱Startupactive
SC871636 · ltd · incorporated 2025-12-02
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
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Turnover
not disclosed
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Freight transport by road
Sector: Transportation & storage
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 67-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 65/100. Strong seller-intent signal (60/100, director aged 67). 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: low (54/100)

Sparse data coverage. Treat AI-generated outputs as preliminary. Manual diligence essential.

Company profile
address, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
No iXBRL financials extracted
0
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
5 filings
60
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.

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
2
filings
  • 2 persons-with-significant-control
Last 180 days
5
filings
  • 2 persons-with-significant-control
  • 2 officers
  • 1 incorporation
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (9 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-01
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  2. 2026-03-19
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  3. 2026-01-31
    SMITH, Catriona Ann appointed
    director
  4. 2026-01-31
    SMITH, Colin William resigned
    director
  5. 2026-01-31
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  6. 2026-01-31
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  7. 2025-12-02
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As CWS ROAD FREIGHT LTD
  8. 2025-12-02
    SMITH, Colin William appointed
    director
  9. 2025-12-02
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

95/100
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 67 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Young company: Only 0.4 years old — management layer unlikely to be developed.

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 67. 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mrs Catriona Ann Smith
Individual · British · DOB 11/1959 · age 67
sig. influencesignificant influence31/01/2026
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Colin William Smithceased 16/03/2026· 75-100% shares · 75-100% 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 →
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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2025-12-02
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC49410 — Freight transport by road

Registered office

Unit 1 Newlands
Stirkoke
Wick
Caithness
KW1 5SG
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-09-02
Last made up to:
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-15
Last:

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

SMITH, Catriona Ann
director · ~67y · appointed 2026-01-31
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SMITH, Colin William
director · ~39y · appointed 2025-12-02 · resigned 2026-01-31
Resigned

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

Recent filings (5 total)

notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2026-04-01
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2026-03-19
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2026-01-31
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2026-01-31
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC
2025-12-02