SCIENTIFIC SERVICES (PAISLEY) LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC039073 · ltd · incorporated 1963-07-25
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 Aug 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 22290
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 77-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 77). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 30.7y

45/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 30.7 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (72/100)

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
1 year of iXBRL accounts extracted (no YoY comparison) + narrative notes parsed
50
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
10 officers (2 active, 10 linked, 5 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
3 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
4 connected companies via shared directors
57
Filing history
118 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
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
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-08-28
Average employees0

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 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (36 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-10-07
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  3. 2025-08-20
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  4. 2025-06-10
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  5. 2025-05-27
    ➖
    DONNELLY, Paul resigned
    director
  6. 2025-05-23
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  7. 2025-03-20
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  8. 2025-03-20
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  9. 2024-09-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2024-08-22
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  11. 2024-05-23
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  12. 2023-07-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2023-05-25
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  14. 2022-07-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2022-05-27
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  16. 2021-05-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  17. 2021-04-10
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  18. 2021-04-06
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  19. 2020-08-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  20. 2020-05-27
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  21. 2004-11-10
    ➕
    SMITH, Lauren appointed
    secretary
  22. 2004-11-10
    ➖
    SMITH, Richard resigned
    secretary
  23. 2004-08-17
    ➕
    SMITH, Richard appointed
    director
  24. 2004-08-17
    ➖
    ANDERSON, Richard Graeme resigned
    secretary
  25. 2004-08-17
    ➕
    SMITH, Richard appointed
    secretary
  26. 2004-08-17
    ➖
    ANDERSON, George resigned
    director
  27. 2004-08-17
    ➖
    ANDERSON, Richard Graeme resigned
    director
  28. 2004-08-17
    ➕
    DONNELLY, Paul appointed
    director
  29. 1997-03-29
    ➖
    BOYLE, George Caldwell resigned
    director
  30. 1996-01-01
    ➕
    BOYLE, George Caldwell appointed
    director
  31. 1995-09-01
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
  32. 1992-02-06
    ➖
    ANDERSON, Martha resigned
    secretary
  33. 1992-02-06
    ➕
    ANDERSON, Richard Graeme appointed
    secretary
  34. 1992-02-06
    ➖
    ANDERSON, Martha resigned
    director
  35. 1992-02-06
    ➕
    ANDERSON, Richard Graeme appointed
    director
  36. 1963-07-25
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As SCIENTIFIC SERVICES (PAISLEY) 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 22 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 77 — 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 77 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 22 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 63 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

3 active beneficial owners · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Richard Smith
Individual · British · DOB 04/1949 · age 77
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control · firm interest06/04/2016
Mrs Lauren Smith
Individual · British · DOB 01/1962 · age 64
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control · firm interest06/04/2016
Mr Roger Smith
Individual · British · DOB 01/1948 · age 78
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control · firm interest06/04/2016

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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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
Incorporated1963-07-25
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC22290 — SIC 22290

Registered office

Unit 12a Forties Commercial Campus
Rosyth
Dunfermline
KY11 2XB
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-05-21
Last made up to: 2024-08-28
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-01-05
Last: 2025-12-22

Officers (2 active · 8 resigned)

SMITH, Lauren→
secretary · appointed 2004-11-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SMITH, Richard→
director · ~77y · appointed 2004-08-17
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ANDERSON, Martha→
secretary · resigned 1992-02-06
Resigned
ANDERSON, Richard Graeme→
secretary · appointed 1992-02-06 · resigned 2004-08-17
Resigned
SMITH, Richard→
secretary · appointed 2004-08-17 · resigned 2004-11-10
Resigned
ANDERSON, George→
director · ~109y · resigned 2004-08-17
Resigned
ANDERSON, Martha→
director · resigned 1992-02-06
Resigned
ANDERSON, Richard Graeme→
director · ~71y · appointed 1992-02-06 · resigned 2004-08-17
Resigned
BOYLE, George Caldwell→
director · ~94y · appointed 1996-01-01 · resigned 1997-03-29
Resigned
DONNELLY, Paul→
director · ~62y · appointed 2004-08-17 · resigned 2025-05-27
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
Bond & floating charge1 property01/09/1995—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (118 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-01-09
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-10-07
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2025-08-20
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-06-10
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2025-05-23
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2025-03-20
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-03-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-06
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2024-08-22
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2024-05-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-07-28
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2023-05-25