A. MACAULAY LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC023996 · ltd · incorporated 1946-04-03
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 Feb 2025
Net worth
£40.6k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other service activities n.e.c.
Sector: Other service activities
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 83-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 83). 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 (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
6 officers (2 active, 6 linked, 3 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
92 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
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 · FRS 105 (micro)
Positive net assets
Net assets £40,628

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£41k
~ YoY
Current Assets
£34k
~ YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£8k£16k£24k£33k£41kFeb 2024Feb 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2025-02-282024-02-29
Total assets£40.6k£40.6k
Current assets£34.2k£34.2k
Net assets£40.6k£40.6k

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 (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-10-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-06-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-05-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-06-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-04-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-06-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2018-09-22
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  9. 2018-09-22
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  10. 2018-09-22
    📄
    appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP03
  11. 2018-09-22
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  12. 2018-03-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-03-20
    ➕
    MACLEOD, Jean appointed
    secretary
  14. 2018-03-20
    ➖
    MACLEOD, John resigned
    secretary
  15. 2017-03-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2016-04-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2015-09-30
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  18. 2003-10-27
    ➕
    MACPHAIL, Elizabeth Alexandra Murray appointed
    director
  19. 2003-10-27
    ➖
    MACLEOD, Donald Macgregor resigned
    director
  20. 1998-05-12
    ➖
    MACLEOD, Donald Macgregor resigned
    secretary
  21. 1998-05-12
    ➕
    MACLEOD, John appointed
    secretary
  22. 1998-05-12
    ➖
    MACPHAIL, Elizabeth Murray resigned
    director
  23. 1946-04-03
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As A. MACAULAY LIMITED

Owner dependency

100/100
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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 22 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 83 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

100/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 83 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 22 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 80 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
  • supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.

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
Miss Elizabeth Alexandra Murray Macphail
Individual · British · DOB 04/1943 · age 83
25–50%
—25-50% shares20/03/2018
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr John Anderson Macleodceased 20/03/2018· significant influence

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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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

8 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
Incorporated1946-04-03
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC96090 — Other service activities n.e.c.

Registered office

22a Goathill Crescent
Stornoway
Isle Of Lewis
HS1 2TB

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-11-30
Last made up to: 2025-02-28
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last: 2025-09-16

Officers (2 active · 4 resigned)

MACLEOD, Jean→
secretary · appointed 2018-03-20
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MACPHAIL, Elizabeth Alexandra Murray→
director · ~83y · appointed 2003-10-27
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MACLEOD, Donald Macgregor→
secretary · resigned 1998-05-12
Resigned
MACLEOD, John→
secretary · appointed 1998-05-12 · resigned 2018-03-20
Resigned
MACLEOD, Donald Macgregor→
director · ~84y · resigned 2003-10-27
Resigned
MACPHAIL, Elizabeth Murray→
director · ~119y · resigned 1998-05-12
Resigned

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

Recent filings (92 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-09-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-10-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-06-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-05-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-06-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-04-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-09-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-06-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2018-09-22