IAIN MACFADZEAN LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC276576 · ltd · incorporated 2004-11-26
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 Nov 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Architectural activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 61-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 61). 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
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
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
47 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£0Nov 2024Nov 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-11-302024-11-30
Average employees2200

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
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-02-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-07-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-11-28
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  4. 2024-08-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-08-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-06-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-09-06
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  8. 2021-06-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-09-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-03-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-03-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-05-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-03-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2015-11-27
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-05-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2004-11-26
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As IAIN MACFADZEAN LIMITED
  17. 2004-11-26
    ➕
    MACFADZEAN, Marian appointed
    secretary
  18. 2004-11-26
    ➕
    MACFADZEAN, Iain Bennett appointed
    director
  19. 2004-11-26
    ➕
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  20. 2004-11-26
    ➖
    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 "MACFADZEAN" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 61 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

85/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 61. Early succession window.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 21 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 21 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 Iain Bennett Macfadzean
Individual · British · DOB 02/1965 · age 61
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control01/07/2016

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

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
Incorporated2004-11-26
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC71111 — Architectural activities

Registered office

23 George Street
Dumfries
DG1 1EA
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-08-31
Last made up to: 2025-11-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-10
Last: 2025-11-26

Officers (2 active · 1 resigned)

MACFADZEAN, Marian→
secretary · appointed 2004-11-26
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MACFADZEAN, Iain Bennett→
director · ~61y · appointed 2004-11-26
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2004-11-26 · resigned 2004-11-26
Resigned

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

Recent filings (47 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-02-25
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-07-08
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-28
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-11-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-08-20
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-08-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-06-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-10
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-09-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-06-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-01-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-09-01