HQ GROUNDWORKS & PLANT LTD

💤Zombieactive
NI684171 · ltd · incorporated 2021-12-01
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
62/100
Worth a look
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other specialised construction activities n.e.c.
Sector: Construction
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 62/100 (worth a look), bankability 60/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Resolve: Confirmation statement overdue. Annual confirmation statement not filed on time. Required statutory filing — overdue is a strong discipline signal. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).

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 (1 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
16 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
62/100Worth a look
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Mixed signal. Worth opening the full target workup before deciding to pursue.

Business quality
50
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
55
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
67
Some moderate concerns — review 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£0Dec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Average employees200800

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (15 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-04-23
    CONNOLLY, Kevin resigned
    director
  3. 2025-04-23
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  4. 2025-04-23
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  5. 2025-04-23
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  6. 2024-11-30
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  7. 2024-11-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2024-11-26
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  9. 2023-07-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-12-09
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  11. 2021-12-09
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  12. 2021-12-01
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As HQ GROUNDWORKS & PLANT LTD
  13. 2021-12-01
    MC GUINNESS, Conor Gerard appointed
    director
  14. 2021-12-01
    CONNOLLY, Kevin appointed
    director
  15. 2021-12-01
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

75/100
High — earn-out structure required

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

FACTORS
  • +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

45/100
Moderate signal

Some succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

Red flags

1 high ·
Confirmation statement overdue
high

Annual confirmation statement not filed on time. Required statutory filing — overdue is a strong discipline signal.

Evidence: Next due: 2026-05-07

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Conor Gerard Mc Guinness
Individual · Irish · DOB 07/1996 · age 30
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control01/12/2021
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Kevin Connollyceased 23/04/2025· 50-75% shares

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

9 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
Incorporated2021-12-01
Jurisdictionnorthern-ireland
Primary SIC43999 — Other specialised construction activities n.e.c.

Registered office

Old Fire Station
Cecil Street
Newry
Co. Down
BT35 6AU
Northern Ireland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-05-07OVERDUE
Last: 2025-04-23

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

MC GUINNESS, Conor Gerard
director · ~30y · appointed 2021-12-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CONNOLLY, Kevin
director · ~43y · appointed 2021-12-01 · resigned 2025-04-23
Resigned

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

Recent filings (16 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-09-26
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-23
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2025-04-23
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-04-23
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-04-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-09
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2024-11-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-11-27
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2024-11-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-07-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-12
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-09
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-12-09
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2021-12-09