J. & E. MACLEOD, LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC033652 · ltd · incorporated 1959-02-06

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 Feb 2025

Net worth

£173.8k

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Renting and leasing of other machinery, equipment and tangible goods n.e.c.

Sector: Administrative & support services

Investor take

Pursue

Asset-holding vehicle with a 83-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 83). 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 (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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

6 officers (2 active, 6 linked, 3 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

1 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

91 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £173,762

Cash YoY

+1%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£160k

↑ 1.3% YoY

Net Worth

£174k

~ YoY

Current Assets

£161k

↑ 1.6% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-02-28	2024-02-29
Total assets	£173.8k	£173.1k
Current assets	£161.3k	£158.6k
Cash	£159.5k	£157.5k
Debtors	£1.7k	£1.1k
Net assets	£173.8k	£173.1k

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filings

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand

2025-09-08
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-06-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-05-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-06-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-04-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-06-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-09-20
📄
appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
officers · AP03
2018-09-20
📄
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2018-03-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-03-20
➕
MACLEOD, Jean appointed
secretary
2018-03-20
➖
MACLEOD, John resigned
secretary
2017-03-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-04-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-09-30
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-06-01
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-09-17
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2003-09-25
➕
MACPHAIL, Elizabeth Alexandra Murray appointed
director
2003-09-25
➖
MACLEOD, Donald Macgregor resigned
director
1998-05-12
➖
MACLEOD, Donald Macgregor resigned
secretary
1998-05-12
➕
MACLEOD, John appointed
secretary
1998-05-12
➖
MACPHAIL, Elizabeth Murray resigned
director
1959-02-06
🏢
Company incorporated
As J. & E. MACLEOD, LIMITED

Owner dependency

100/100

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 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 83 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

100/100

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 83 years old. Natural succession window is now.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 23 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 67 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

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Miss Elizabeth Alexandra Murray Macphail Individual · British · DOB 04/1943 · age 83	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	15/09/2016

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 →

Similar companies

Active · Professional services · HS postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
MACDONALD MACIVER & COMPANY LIMITED→ SC351019 · est 2008	—	—	£86.7k	—	17y	82	75y
SBA ARCHITECTS LIMITED→ SC339154 · est 2008	—	—	£8.5k	—	18y	82	78y
BEINN A BHUNA LTD→ SC344167 · est 2008	—	—	£203.7k	—	17y	80	70y
CALUM MORRISON CONSULTANCY LIMITED→ SC322558 · est 2007	—	—	£12.0k	—	19y	80	65y
CAMPBELL CONSTRUCTION SERVICES LIMITED→ SC357167 · est 2009	—	—	£28.8k	—	17y	80	70y
CEIST CONSULTING LIMITED→ SC330074 · est 2007	—	—	£18.1k	—	18y	80	73y
CIB STORNOWAY LIMITED→ SC324916 · est 2007	—	—	£108.0k	—	18y	80	72y
DOUGLAS BINNS LIMITED→ SC242981 · est 2003	—	—	£14.8k	—	23y	80	60y
FIFTY EIGHT DEGREES NORTH LIMITED→ SC225957 · est 2001 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	24y	80	63y
LOCHS DIVING SERVICES LIMITED→ SC283604 · est 2005	—	—	£348.9k	—	21y	80	61y
M A MURRAY CONSULTING LIMITED→ SC330476 · est 2007	—	—	£27.6k	—	18y	80	72y
MACMILLAN ENGINEERING LTD→ SC308028 · est 2006	—	—	£386.2k	—	19y	80	65y

Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →

🔒Tailored diligence questions

8 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

Incorporated1959-02-06

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC77390 — Renting and leasing of other machinery, equipment and tangible goods n.e.c.

Registered office

22a Goathill Crescent

Stornoway

Isle Of Lewis

HS1 2TB

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-11-30

Last made up to: 2025-02-28

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-09-29

Last: 2025-09-15

Officers (2 active · 4 resigned)

MACLEOD, Jean→

secretary · appointed 2018-03-20

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MACPHAIL, Elizabeth Alexandra Murray→

director · ~83y · appointed 2003-09-25

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MACLEOD, Donald Macgregor→

secretary · resigned 1998-05-12

Resigned

MACLEOD, John→

secretary · appointed 1998-05-12 · resigned 2018-03-20

Resigned

MACLEOD, Donald Macgregor→

director · ~84y · resigned 2003-09-25

Resigned

MACPHAIL, Elizabeth Murray→

director · ~119y · resigned 1998-05-12

Resigned

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