JIM MCARTHUR INDEPENDENT FINANCIAL SERVICES LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC240858 · ltd · incorporated 2002-12-09
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Financial intermediation not elsewhere classified
Sector: Financial & insurance
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 74-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 74). 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 (77/100)

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, 1 with DOB)
74
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
63 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.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Dec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Average employees100100

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 signals 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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-08-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-09-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-09-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-09-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-03-29
    ✏️
    certificate-change-of-name-company
    change-of-name · CERTNM
  6. 2021-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-10-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-07-03
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  9. 2019-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-07-23
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  11. 2019-07-23
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  12. 2019-07-23
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  13. 2018-10-11
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  14. 2018-06-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-10-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2012-02-27
    ➖
    MCARTHUR, John Jones resigned
    secretary
  17. 2002-12-09
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As JIM MCARTHUR INDEPENDENT FINANCIAL SERVICES LTD
  18. 2002-12-09
    ➕
    MCARTHUR, James appointed
    director
  19. 2002-12-09
    ➕
    MCARTHUR, John Jones appointed
    secretary
  20. 2002-12-09
    ➕
    PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  21. 2002-12-09
    ➖
    PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD. resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 2002-12-09
    ➕
    PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  23. 2002-12-09
    ➖
    PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD. resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  24. 2002-12-09
    ➕
    PETER TRAINER CORPORATE SERVICES LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  25. 2002-12-09
    ➖
    PETER TRAINER CORPORATE SERVICES LTD. resigned
    corporate-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 "MCARTHUR" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 74 — 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 74 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 23 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 James Jones Mcarthur
Individual · Scottish · DOB 02/1952 · age 74
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control06/04/2016

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 →

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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
Incorporated2002-12-09
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC64999 — Financial intermediation not elsewhere classified

Registered office

Torridon House Torridon Lane
Rosyth
Dunfermline
KY11 2EU
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-27
Last: 2026-02-13

Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)

MCARTHUR, James→
director · ~74y · appointed 2002-12-09
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MCARTHUR, John Jones→
secretary · appointed 2002-12-09 · resigned 2012-02-27
Resigned
PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD.→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2002-12-09 · resigned 2002-12-09
Resigned
PETER TRAINER COMPANY SECRETARIES LTD.→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2002-12-09 · resigned 2002-12-09
Resigned
PETER TRAINER CORPORATE SERVICES LTD.→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2002-12-09 · resigned 2002-12-09
Resigned

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

Recent filings (63 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-08-07
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-09-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-09-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-09-27
certificate-change-of-name-company
change-of-name · CERTNM
2022-03-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-09-29
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-10-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-10-05
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2020-07-03