IAN CRICHTON (ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS) LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC068648 · ltd · incorporated 1979-06-25
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 Jul 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
77/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other engineering activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and acceptable with review structure.

Opportunity 77/100 (strong), bankability 57/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Consolidate lender relationships. 3 distinct lenders creates friction — refinance into single-lender structure for cleaner diligence. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

4 live charges · 3 lenders · oldest 41.4y

15/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 41.4 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · 3 lenders named — inter-creditor friction likely.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

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
4 charges (4/4 with lender, 4/4 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (1 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
100 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
77/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
60
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
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£0Jul 2024Jul 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-07-312024-07-31

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-08-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-04-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2025-04-04
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  4. 2024-02-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-09-22
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  6. 2022-09-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-09-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-09-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-01-31
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  10. 2019-09-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2019-06-04
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  12. 2019-05-17
    🔒
    Charge registered #4
    Lender: Bank of Scotland PLC
  13. 2018-08-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2018-01-25
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  15. 2018-01-25
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  16. 2018-01-25
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  17. 2017-09-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  18. 2017-04-30
    ➖
    CRICHTON, Anne Kelly resigned
    secretary
  19. 2017-04-30
    ➖
    CRICHTON, Anne Kelly resigned
    director
  20. 2017-04-30
    ➖
    CRICHTON, Ian John Young resigned
    director
  21. 2010-10-06
    ➕
    CRICHTON, Ian James Jeffrey appointed
    director
  22. 1990-09-06
    🔒
    Charge registered #3
    Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
  23. 1985-10-11
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
  24. 1984-11-29
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Scottish Development Agency
  25. 1979-06-25
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As IAN CRICHTON (ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS) 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.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "CRICHTON" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 16 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

68/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 16 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 47 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 · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Ian James Jeffrey Crichton
Individual · British · DOB 06/1974 · age 52
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control30/04/2017
2 historic (ceased) PSCs
  • Anne Kelly Crichtonceased 30/04/2017· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting
  • Ian John Young Crichtonceased 30/04/2017· 50-75% shares · 50-75% voting

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

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
Incorporated1979-06-25
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC71129 — Other engineering activities

Registered office

8-10 Barrie Road
Hillington Park
Glasgow
G52 4PX
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-04-30
Last made up to: 2025-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-04
Last: 2026-01-21

Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)

CRICHTON, Ian James Jeffrey→
director · ~52y · appointed 2010-10-06
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CRICHTON, Anne Kelly→
secretary · resigned 2017-04-30
Resigned
CRICHTON, Anne Kelly→
director · ~80y · resigned 2017-04-30
Resigned
CRICHTON, Ian John Young→
director · ~84y · resigned 2017-04-30
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

4
Total charges
4
Outstanding
2
Active lenders
Status:Lender:4 of 4 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
Bank of Scotland PLC
A registered charge2 properties17/05/2019—
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
Standard security1 property06/09/1990—
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
Bond & floating charge1 property11/10/1985—
outstanding
Scottish Development Agency
Standard security1 property29/11/1984—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (100 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-08-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-04-10
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-04-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-02-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-23
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-09-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-09-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-09-02
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-02-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-09-17
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-02-03