HIGHLAND ICE LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC305146 · ltd · incorporated 2006-07-07
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.
Why now
Window steady · low confidence
Steady and stalled — no momentum either way. Needs an approach trigger.
What changed my view
Last 30 days

No material changes in the last 30 days.

Last 90 days

No snapshot from 90 days ago — start tracking from today.

Last 180 days

No snapshot from 180 days ago — start tracking from today.

🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Nov 2025
Net worth
£30.9k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Non-specialised wholesale trade
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 63-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 63). 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 (79/100)

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
4 officers (1 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)
85
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
52 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £30,943
Net assets shrinking
Down £18,250 YoY
Cash YoY
-23%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£35k
↓ 23% YoY
Net Worth
£31k
↓ 37% YoY
Current Assets
£40k
↓ 33% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£12k£24k£36k£48k£60kNov 2024Nov 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-11-302024-11-30
Total assets£34.7k£53.7k
Current assets£39.7k£59.6k
Cash£34.6k£44.8k
Debtors£5.1k£14.7k
Net assets£30.9k£49.2k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-07-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-08-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-04-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-04-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-03-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-03-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-01-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-07-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-07-09
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  11. 2017-07-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-08-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2015-08-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2015-07-23
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-01-24
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  16. 2011-09-30
    ➖
    WATKINS, Laurence John resigned
    secretary
  17. 2011-09-30
    ➖
    HUGHSON, Alasdair George resigned
    director
  18. 2011-09-30
    ➖
    WATKINS, Laurence John resigned
    director
  19. 2006-07-07
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As HIGHLAND ICE LTD
  20. 2006-07-07
    ➕
    MCKIE, Gordon James appointed
    director
  21. 2006-07-07
    ➕
    WATKINS, Laurence John appointed
    secretary
  22. 2006-07-07
    ➕
    HUGHSON, Alasdair George appointed
    director
  23. 2006-07-07
    ➕
    WATKINS, Laurence John appointed
    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 63 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

88/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 63. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 20 years.
  • 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 · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Gordon James Mckie
Individual · British · DOB 01/1963 · age 63
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control15/07/2016

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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GLEANER LIMITED→
SC030017 · est 1954
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——19972y8862y
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SC032547 · est 1957
£767.4k
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——1230068y8462y
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SC549670 · est 2016
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——7009y8159y
FRANK NICOL FARM AND GARDEN MACHINERY LIMITED→
SC139585 · est 1992
——£326.0k—33y8287y
HIGHLAND CLEARANCE LIMITED→
SC088323 · est 1984
———30041y8276y
MACGREGOR INDUSTRIAL SUPPLIES LIMITED→
SC173566 · est 1997 · no financials extracted
————29y8297y
MCLAREN TRACTORS LIMITED→
SC257013 · est 2003
———100022y8258y
MUNRO FRUIT MERCHANTS LTD.→
SC169387 · est 1996
——£86.3k—29y8263y
SCRUBVAC CLEANING EQUIPMENT LTD.→
SC231200 · est 2002
——£113.8k—24y8263y
SHIELDAIG EXPORT LIMITED→
SC165922 · est 1996
——£141.4k—29y8273y
SUTHERLAND GAME AND SHELLFISH LIMITED→
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C S MACHINERY SALES LTD→
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——£521.5k—11y8066y
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
Incorporated2006-07-07
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC46900 — Non-specialised wholesale trade

Registered office

17 Millbank Road
Millbank Road
Dingwall
Ross-Shire
IV15 9UH

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-08-31
Last made up to: 2025-11-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-21
Last: 2025-07-07

Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)

MCKIE, Gordon James→
director · ~63y · appointed 2006-07-07
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
WATKINS, Laurence John→
secretary · appointed 2006-07-07 · resigned 2011-09-30
Resigned
HUGHSON, Alasdair George→
director · ~52y · appointed 2006-07-07 · resigned 2011-09-30
Resigned
WATKINS, Laurence John→
director · ~84y · appointed 2006-07-07 · resigned 2011-09-30
Resigned

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

Recent filings (52 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-04-08
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-07-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-08-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-18
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-04-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-04-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-03-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-07-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-03-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-07-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-01-26