HAMILTON MOTOR ENGINEERING LTD
🌳Matureactive
SC464664 · ltd · incorporated 2013-11-27
Investment thesis
Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.
Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.
Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.
Opportunity decay
hardening · 12-months
Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.
- · Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Nov 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 45200
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
PursueActive trading company. Family succession underway — not a classic acquisition target.
Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Same-surname younger director in place — likely family handover, not open to sale. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
Data confidence
Overall: medium (78/100)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
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
36 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
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 accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-11-30 | 2024-11-30 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 1000 | 1100 |
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
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Last 90 days
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
2
filings
- • 1 accounts
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
- 2026-03-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-05-07📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-12-05📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2024-12-05📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2024-12-05📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2024-12-03📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2024-07-08📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-12-04📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2023-12-04📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2023-07-18📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2023-07-07📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2023-05-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-06-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-11-09📄capital-allotment-sharescapital · SH01
- 2021-11-09📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2021-10-21➕HAMILTON, Colin appointeddirector
- 2021-08-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-06-03📍change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-addressaddress · AD01
- 2020-06-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2013-11-27🏢Company incorporatedAs HAMILTON MOTOR ENGINEERING LTD
- 2013-11-27➕HAMILTON, Mary Helen appointeddirector
Owner dependency
100/100
Critical — business is the founderThe business appears inseparable from the founder. Acquisition without a serious earn-out or meaningful transition period would likely destroy value.
FACTORS
- +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
- +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "HAMILTON" — strong identity link between founder and business.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 74 — succession pressure is live.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
- +No director turnover: Company is 12 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.
Succession & seller-readiness
39/100
Weak signalLimited succession signal. Not a near-term off-market candidate.
SIGNALS
- primaryFamily succession underway: Not a takeover target — HAMILTON, Colin (same surname) appointed 2021-10-21. Pattern consistent with intra-family handover.
- 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 12 years.
- supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.
Red flags
cleanNo red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)
Shareholders & ownership
2 active beneficial owners| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Colin Hamilton Individual · British · DOB 06/1981 · age 45 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 27/11/2023 |
Mrs Mary Helen Hamilton Individual · British · DOB 02/1952 · age 74 | 25–50% | 25–50% | 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting | 01/07/2016 |
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
Incorporated2013-11-27
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC45200 — SIC 45200
Registered office
Unit 4a Fountain Way
Blackparks Industrial Estate
Stranraer
DG9 7UD
United Kingdom
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-08-31
Last made up to: 2025-11-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-13
Last: 2025-10-30
Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)
HAMILTON, Colin→
Activedirector · ~45y · appointed 2021-10-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
HAMILTON, Mary Helen→
Activedirector · ~74y · appointed 2013-11-27
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (36 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-03-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-05-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-05
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-12-05
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-12-05
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2024-12-05
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-12-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-07-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-04
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2023-12-04
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-12-04
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-07-18
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-07-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-05-17