WILLIAM MURRAY HAULAGE LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC234213 · ltd · incorporated 2002-07-17
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 Aug 2024
Net worth
£1.83M
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
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 75/100 (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 (58/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (76/100)

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
5 officers (1 active, 5 linked, 3 with DOB)
82
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
65 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
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
60
Some acquirability indicators.
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 £1,832,833
Cash YoY
+68%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£674k
↑ 68% YoY
Net Worth
£1.8m
↑ 29% YoY
Current Assets
£1.1m
↑ 41% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£367k£733k£1.1m£1.5m£1.8mAug 2023Aug 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-08-312023-08-31
Total assets£1.83M£1.42M
Current assets£1.13M£804.9k
Cash£674.1k£402.1k
Debtors£459.8k£402.8k
Net assets£1.83M£1.42M

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 (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-05-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-03-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-05-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-05-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-05-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-04-13
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  7. 2020-04-03
    ➖
    MURRAY, William resigned
    director
  8. 2020-03-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-05-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-11-30
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  11. 2018-05-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-05-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-05-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2015-07-22
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-05-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2014-07-18
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2012-09-01
    ➖
    WOOD, Elaine resigned
    secretary
  18. 2003-08-28
    ➕
    WOOD, Elaine appointed
    secretary
  19. 2003-08-28
    ➖
    JM TAYLOR LIMITED resigned
    corporate-secretary
  20. 2002-07-31
    ➖
    SIMMERS, Jamie Jan resigned
    nominee-director
  21. 2002-07-17
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As WILLIAM MURRAY HAULAGE LIMITED
  22. 2002-07-17
    ➕
    MURRAY, David James appointed
    director
  23. 2002-07-17
    ➕
    JM TAYLOR LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  24. 2002-07-17
    ➕
    MURRAY, William appointed
    director
  25. 2002-07-17
    ➕
    SIMMERS, Jamie Jan appointed
    nominee-director

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.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "MURRAY" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

75/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 24 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 24 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 · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr David James Murray
Individual · British · DOB 01/1984 · age 42
75–100%
—75-100% shares25/07/2016

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

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
Incorporated2002-07-17
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC49410 — Freight transport by road

Registered office

7 Ythan Terrace
Ellon
Aberdeenshire
AB41 9LJ

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-05-31
Last made up to: 2024-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-31
Last: 2025-07-17

Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)

MURRAY, David James→
director · ~42y · appointed 2002-07-17
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
WOOD, Elaine→
secretary · appointed 2003-08-28 · resigned 2012-09-01
Resigned
JM TAYLOR LIMITED→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2002-07-17 · resigned 2003-08-28
Resigned
MURRAY, William→
director · ~68y · appointed 2002-07-17 · resigned 2020-04-03
Resigned
SIMMERS, Jamie Jan→
nominee-director · ~48y · appointed 2002-07-17 · resigned 2002-07-31
Resigned

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

Recent filings (65 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-05-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-03-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-05-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-05-23
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-05-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-07-22
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2020-04-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-03-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-07-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-05-27