M L S HOLDINGS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC157741 · ltd · incorporated 1995-04-28

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

£65.1k

book net assets

Opportunity

82/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Activities of head offices

Sector: Professional, scientific & technical

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 71-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 71). 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 30.9y

45/100

under pressure

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

· Oldest live charge is 30.9 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· 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

Lenders & charges

1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)

Directors & officers

5 officers (1 active, 5 linked, 2 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

86 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

82/100Exceptional

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

100

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £65,108

Net assets shrinking

Down £1,013 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£65k

↓ 1.5% YoY

Current Assets

£8

↓ 62% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2024-12-31	2023-12-31
Total assets	£65.1k	£66.1k
Current assets	£8	£21
Net assets	£65.1k	£66.1k

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filings

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (27 events)Click to expand

2025-09-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-09-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-09-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-09-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-09-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-12-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-09-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-09-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-09-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-01-04
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2016-09-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-05-26
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-09-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-05-26
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-09-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-05-26
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2012-05-14
➖
CLP SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
corporate-secretary
2009-12-31
➖
LANG, Michael John resigned
director
2000-09-01
➕
CLP SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
corporate-secretary
2000-09-01
➖
THE COMMERCIAL LAW PRACTICE resigned
corporate-secretary
1995-05-30
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
1995-04-28
🏢
Company incorporated
As M L S HOLDINGS LIMITED
1995-04-28
➕
SHEPHEARD, Michael William appointed
director
1995-04-28
➕
THE COMMERCIAL LAW PRACTICE appointed
corporate-secretary
1995-04-28
➕
LANG, Michael John appointed
director
1995-04-28
➕
MMA NOMINEES LIMITED appointed
corporate-director
1995-04-28
➖
MMA NOMINEES LIMITED resigned
corporate-director

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 71 — 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 71 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 31 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%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Michael William Shepheard Individual · British · DOB 04/1955 · age 71	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	01/07/2016

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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R M ABERDEEN LIMITED→ SC610163 · est 2018 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
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RURAL DESIGN LTD.→ SC280072 · est 2005 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	21y	—	—
SAFETY TRAINING SOLUTIONS LTD→ SC389966 · est 2010 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	15y	—	—
SBK SUILVEN LIMITED→ SC630176 · est 2019 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	6y	—	—
SCOTSAFE SERVICES LIMITED→ SC654000 · est 2020 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	6y	—	—
SCOTT VETTERS ENGINEERING LTD→ SC524264 · est 2016 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	10y	—	—
SCOTT WEALTH MANAGEMENT LIMITED→ SC844826 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
SCOTTCA LTD.→ SC394428 · est 2011 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	15y	—	—

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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated1995-04-28

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC70100 — Activities of head offices

Registered office

39 South Street

Elgin

IV30 1JZ

Scotland

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-09-30

Last made up to: 2024-12-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-05-12

Last: 2025-04-28

Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)

SHEPHEARD, Michael William→

director · ~71y · appointed 1995-04-28

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

CLP SECRETARIES LIMITED→

corporate-secretary · appointed 2000-09-01 · resigned 2012-05-14

Resigned

THE COMMERCIAL LAW PRACTICE→

corporate-secretary · appointed 1995-04-28 · resigned 2000-09-01

Resigned

LANG, Michael John→

director · ~78y · appointed 1995-04-28 · resigned 2009-12-31

Resigned

MMA NOMINEES LIMITED→

corporate-director · appointed 1995-04-28 · resigned 1995-04-28

Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown

			Type	Properties
	outstanding	Lloyds Banking Group The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC	Bond & floating charge	1 property	30/05/1995	—

Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.