ACCESS BUSINESS SERVICES (EDINBURGH) LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC457422 · ltd · incorporated 2013-08-22
Investment thesis
Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.
Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.
Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Aug 2024
Net worth
£54.3k
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Accounting and auditing activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 74-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 74). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (69/100)

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 (2 active, 4 linked, 4 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
No PSCs filed (unusual — worth investigating)
35
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
28 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
79/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
75
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 £54,347
Net assets shrinking
Down £368 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£54k
~ YoY
Current Assets
£79k
↓ 11% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£18k£35k£53k£71k£89kAug 2023Aug 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-08-312023-08-31
Total assets£56.2k£56.5k
Current assets£79.2k£88.6k
Net assets£54.3k£54.7k

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-05-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-05-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-05-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-05-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-03-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-03-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-05-08
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  8. 2019-05-06
    ➖
    MCDERMENT, James resigned
    director
  9. 2019-02-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-10-01
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  11. 2018-06-07
    ➖
    SYNCLAIR, Raymond resigned
    director
  12. 2018-05-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2017-05-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-05-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-04-28
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  16. 2015-08-27
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2013-08-22
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ACCESS BUSINESS SERVICES (EDINBURGH) LIMITED
  18. 2013-08-22
    ➕
    MCDERMENT, Chrystin appointed
    director
  19. 2013-08-22
    ➕
    SYNCLAIR, Margaret appointed
    director
  20. 2013-08-22
    ➕
    MCDERMENT, James appointed
    director
  21. 2013-08-22
    ➕
    SYNCLAIR, Raymond appointed
    director

Owner dependency

73/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 74 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

79/100
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.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 13 years.
  • 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.)

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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 →
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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2013-08-22
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC69201 — Accounting and auditing activities

Registered office

146 S4 Stable Block Holyrood Business Park
146 Duddingston Road West
Edinburgh
EH16 4AP
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-05-31
Last made up to: 2024-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-18
Last: 2025-09-04

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

MCDERMENT, Chrystin→
director · ~69y · appointed 2013-08-22
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SYNCLAIR, Margaret→
director · ~74y · appointed 2013-08-22
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MCDERMENT, James→
director · ~68y · appointed 2013-08-22 · resigned 2019-05-06
Resigned
SYNCLAIR, Raymond→
director · ~75y · appointed 2013-08-22 · resigned 2018-06-07
Resigned

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

Recent filings (28 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-05-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-05-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-05-26
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-05-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-03-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-09-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-08-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-03-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-08-26
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2019-05-08