DUNCAN MACKENZIE LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC241581 · ltd · incorporated 2002-12-23
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
77/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other retail sale of new goods in specialised stores (other than commercial art galleries and opticians)
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 77/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 2 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · oldest 22.5y

45/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 22.5 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

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
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
3 officers (2 active, 3 linked, 1 with DOB)
77
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
58 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
77/100Strong
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
100
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 · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31

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 (22 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-09-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-02-23
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  6. 2022-02-22
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  7. 2021-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-01-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-09-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2015-12-09
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2015-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2014-12-08
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2006-10-11
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
  17. 2003-10-14
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
  18. 2002-12-23
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As DUNCAN MACKENZIE LTD
  19. 2002-12-23
    ➕
    MACKENZIE, Michelle appointed
    secretary
  20. 2002-12-23
    ➕
    MACKENZIE, Duncan Mackay appointed
    director
  21. 2002-12-23
    ➕
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 2002-12-23
    ➖
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary

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 "MACKENZIE" — 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.

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 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 Duncan Mackay Mackenzie
Individual · British · DOB 10/1970 · age 56
75–100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting06/04/2016

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
Incorporated2002-12-23
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC47789 — Other retail sale of new goods in specialised stores (other than commercial art galleries and opticians)

Registered office

33 South Beach Street
Stornoway
Isle Of Lewis
HS1 2BN

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-16
Last: 2025-12-02

Officers (2 active · 1 resigned)

MACKENZIE, Michelle→
secretary · appointed 2002-12-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MACKENZIE, Duncan Mackay→
director · ~56y · appointed 2002-12-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2002-12-23 · resigned 2002-12-23
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
2
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
Standard security1 property11/10/2006—
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
Floating charge1 property14/10/2003—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (58 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-30
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2022-02-23
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2022-02-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-02-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-01-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-12-09