J. & E. MACLEOD, LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC033652 · ltd · incorporated 1959-02-06

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.

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Feb 2025

Net worth

£173.8k

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Renting and leasing of other machinery, equipment and tangible goods n.e.c.

Sector: Administrative & support services

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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

6 officers (2 active, 6 linked, 3 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

1 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

91 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £173,762

Cash YoY

+1%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£160k

↑ 1.3% YoY

Net Worth

£174k

~ YoY

Current Assets

£161k

↑ 1.6% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-02-28	2024-02-29
Total assets	£173.8k	£173.1k
Current assets	£161.3k	£158.6k
Cash	£159.5k	£157.5k
Debtors	£1.7k	£1.1k
Net assets	£173.8k	£173.1k

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filings

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand

2025-09-08
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-06-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-05-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-06-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-04-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-06-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-09-20
📄
appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
officers · AP03
2018-09-20
📄
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2018-03-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-03-20
➕
MACLEOD, Jean appointed
secretary
2018-03-20
➖
MACLEOD, John resigned
secretary
2017-03-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-04-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-09-30
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-06-01
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-09-17
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2003-09-25
➕
MACPHAIL, Elizabeth Alexandra Murray appointed
director
2003-09-25
➖
MACLEOD, Donald Macgregor resigned
director
1998-05-12
➖
MACLEOD, Donald Macgregor resigned
secretary
1998-05-12
➕
MACLEOD, John appointed
secretary
1998-05-12
➖
MACPHAIL, Elizabeth Murray resigned
director
1959-02-06
🏢
Company incorporated
As J. & E. MACLEOD, 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 23 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 23 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 67 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

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Miss Elizabeth Alexandra Murray Macphail Individual · British · DOB 04/1943 · age 83	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	15/09/2016

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 →

Similar companies

Active · Professional services · HS postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
MACDONALD MACIVER & COMPANY LIMITED→ SC351019 · est 2008	—	—	£86.7k	—	17y	82	75y
SBA ARCHITECTS LIMITED→ SC339154 · est 2008	—	—	£8.5k	—	18y	82	78y
BEINN A BHUNA LTD→ SC344167 · est 2008	—	—	£203.7k	—	17y	80	70y
CALUM MORRISON CONSULTANCY LIMITED→ SC322558 · est 2007	—	—	£12.0k	—	18y	80	65y
CAMPBELL CONSTRUCTION SERVICES LIMITED→ SC357167 · est 2009	—	—	£28.8k	—	17y	80	70y
CEIST CONSULTING LIMITED→ SC330074 · est 2007	—	—	£18.1k	—	18y	80	73y
CIB STORNOWAY LIMITED→ SC324916 · est 2007	—	—	£108.0k	—	18y	80	72y
DOUGLAS BINNS LIMITED→ SC242981 · est 2003	—	—	£14.8k	—	23y	80	60y
MACIVER BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT SERVICES LIMITED→ SC495816 · est 2015 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	11y	—	—
MACMILLAN CONSULTING LIMITED→ SC838111 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
NORMAN MURRAY SERVICES LIMITED→ SC733234 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
SIVP LTD→ SC694954 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	5y	—	—

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

Incorporated1959-02-06

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC77390 — Renting and leasing of other machinery, equipment and tangible goods 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: 2026-09-29

Last: 2025-09-15

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 2003-09-25

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 2003-09-25

Resigned

MACPHAIL, Elizabeth Murray→

director · ~119y · resigned 1998-05-12

Resigned

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