HIGHLAND CLEARANCE LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC088323 · ltd · incorporated 1984-06-06
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 46770
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 76-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 76). 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

2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 39.4y

30/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 39.4 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: high (80/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

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
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
98 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

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
Current Assets
Current Liabilities
£0£0£0£0£0£0Mar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Average employees300300

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 signals 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 accounts
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • 1 accounts
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-10-04
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  5. 2023-10-04
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #2
  6. 2022-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-01-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-11-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-12-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-12-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-01-31
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  13. 2017-01-31
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  14. 2017-01-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-02-17
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2015-11-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 1998-10-31
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
  18. 1997-12-31
    FOWLER, David Reid resigned
    director
  19. 1997-12-31
    FOWLER, Morag Louise resigned
    director
  20. 1995-04-01
    MACKENZIE, John Donald appointed
    director
  21. 1987-01-12
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
  22. 1984-06-06
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As HIGHLAND CLEARANCE 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 31 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 76 — 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 76 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 31 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 42 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
Mr John Donald Mackenzie
Individual · British · DOB 04/1950 · age 76
75100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting06/04/2016

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
Incorporated1984-06-06
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC46770 — SIC 46770

Registered office

Forbes House
36 Huntly Street
Inverness
IV3 5PR
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-01-14
Last: 2025-12-31

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

FOWLER, Morag Louise
secretary
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MACKENZIE, John Donald
director · ~76y · appointed 1995-04-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FOWLER, David Reid
director · ~74y · resigned 1997-12-31
Resigned
FOWLER, Morag Louise
director · ~74y · resigned 1997-12-31
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
Floating charge1 property31/10/199804/10/2023
outstanding
Virgin Money
Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
Standard security1 property12/01/1987
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (98 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-03-27
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-13
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-23
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-19
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2023-10-04
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-21
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-21
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-02-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-01-13
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-01-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-11-18