INVERNESS CAR COMPANY LTD.

💤Zombieactive
SC299313 · ltd · incorporated 2006-03-22
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Sale of new cars and light motor vehicles
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with exceptional profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 59). 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 (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, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
56 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£0Mar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Average employees2200

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-04-07
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  3. 2025-03-31
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  4. 2025-03-25
    📄
    capital-cancellation-shares
    capital · SH06
  5. 2025-01-13
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  6. 2025-01-13
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  7. 2025-01-10
    ➖
    HARDIE, Peter resigned
    secretary
  8. 2025-01-10
    ➖
    HARDIE, Peter resigned
    director
  9. 2024-07-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2023-05-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2023-05-22
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  12. 2022-10-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2022-03-28
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  14. 2021-09-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2020-08-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2019-08-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  17. 2018-08-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  18. 2018-03-26
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  19. 2006-03-22
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As INVERNESS CAR COMPANY LTD.
  20. 2006-03-22
    ➕
    HOSSACK, Donald Ian appointed
    director
  21. 2006-03-22
    ➕
    HARDIE, Peter appointed
    secretary
  22. 2006-03-22
    ➕
    BRIAN REID LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 2006-03-22
    ➖
    BRIAN REID LTD. resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  24. 2006-03-22
    ➕
    HARDIE, Peter appointed
    director
  25. 2006-03-22
    ➕
    STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  26. 2006-03-22
    ➖
    STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. resigned
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

93/100
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 20 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 59 — 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 59. 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 20 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 20 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Donald Ian Hossack
Individual · British · DOB 12/1967 · age 59
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Peter Hardieceased 10/01/2025· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting

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
Incorporated2006-03-22
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC45111 — Sale of new cars and light motor vehicles

Registered office

Unit 3 Highland House
20 Longman Road
Inverness
IV1 1RY
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-09
Last: 2026-03-26

Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)

HOSSACK, Donald Ian→
director · ~59y · appointed 2006-03-22
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HARDIE, Peter→
secretary · appointed 2006-03-22 · resigned 2025-01-10
Resigned
BRIAN REID LTD.→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2006-03-22 · resigned 2006-03-22
Resigned
HARDIE, Peter→
director · ~62y · appointed 2006-03-22 · resigned 2025-01-10
Resigned
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD.→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2006-03-22 · resigned 2006-03-22
Resigned

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

Recent filings (56 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-19
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-07
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2025-04-07
capital-return-purchase-own-shares
capital · SH03
2025-03-31
capital-cancellation-shares
capital · SH06
2025-03-25
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-01-13
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2025-01-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-07-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-05-31
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-05-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-10-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-28