SANTA MONICA AIRLINES LTD.

💤Zombieactive

SC180830 · ltd · incorporated 1997-11-20

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 Mar 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

74/100

Strong

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch

What this business does

Primary activity: Other information technology service activities

Sector: Information & communication

Investor take

Pursue

Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 74/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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: strategic trade sale (65/100).

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

10 officers (2 active, 10 linked, 4 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared

Director network

3 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

90 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

74/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Some acquirability indicators.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

—

Current Assets

—

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-03-20	2024-03-20
Average employees	100	100

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

filings

• 1 officers
• 1 persons-with-significant-control

Last 90 days

filings

• 1 officers
• 1 persons-with-significant-control

Last 180 days

filings

• 2 officers
• 1 persons-with-significant-control
• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (38 events)Click to expand

2026-04-29
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2026-04-29
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-12-08
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-04
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-12-05
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-11-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-10-16
📄
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2023-10-16
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-10-16
📄
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2023-10-16
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-10-16
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-05-09
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-05-05
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-12-01
➖
MCDONELL, Ewan Neill Rutherford resigned
director
2022-12-01
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-12-01
📄
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2022-12-01
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2022-11-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-11-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-03-03
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-12-11
➕
MCDONELL, Ewan Neill Rutherford appointed
director
2012-01-26
➕
MCDONELL, Finlay appointed
secretary
2012-01-26
➕
MCDONELL, Finlay James appointed
director
2012-01-26
➖
MCDONELL, Ewan Neill Rutherford resigned
secretary
2012-01-26
➖
MCDONELL, Ewan Neill Rutherford resigned
director
2009-03-10
➖
MCDONELL, Finlay James resigned
director
2008-02-07
➕
MCDONELL, Ewan Neill Rutherford appointed
secretary
2008-02-07
➖
SANTA MONICA AIRLINES, INC resigned
corporate-secretary
2008-02-07
➕
MCDONELL, Finlay James appointed
director
2003-11-01
➖
MCDONELL, Finlay James resigned
secretary
2003-11-01
➕
SANTA MONICA AIRLINES, INC appointed
corporate-secretary
1999-11-17
➕
MCDONELL, Finlay James appointed
secretary
1999-11-17
➖
SUNSTROKE LTD resigned
corporate-secretary
1998-07-24
➕
SUNSTROKE LTD appointed
corporate-secretary
1998-07-24
➖
THE KODIAN - GROUP LIMITED resigned
corporate-secretary
1997-11-20
🏢
Company incorporated
As SANTA MONICA AIRLINES LTD.
1997-11-20
➕
THE KODIAN - GROUP LIMITED appointed
corporate-secretary
1997-11-20
➕
MCDONELL, Ewan Neill Rutherford appointed
director

Owner dependency

75/100

High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS

+Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on 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 14 years.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 28 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 Finlay James Mcdonell Individual · British · DOB 10/1974 · age 52	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	06/04/2016

1 historic (ceased) PSC

Mr Ewan Neill Rutherford Mcdonellceased 01/12/2022· 25-50% shares

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 · Technology · FK postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
COMPUTER DIVISION LIMITED→ SC205214 · est 2000	—	—	—	—	26y	83	58y
OBJECTIVE ASSOCIATES LIMITED→ SC233985 · est 2002	—	—	—	500	23y	83	65y
PIXEL IMAGE LIMITED→ SC204703 · est 2000	—	—	—	1200	26y	82	58y
QUALITY TRAINING (SCOTLAND) LIMITED→ SC192934 · est 1999	—	—	£17.0k	—	27y	82	62y
RODERICK GUNKEL & ASSOCIATES LTD.→ SC242711 · est 2003	—	—	—	400	23y	82	78y
STRAAN CAPITAL LIMITED→ SC269899 · est 2004	—	—	£331.9k	—	21y	82	68y
2E-VOLVE (UK) LTD→ SC261922 · est 2004	—	—	£194.2k	—	22y	81	66y
CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU (GRANGEMOUTH & BO'NESS) LIMITED→ SC126238 · est 1990 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	35y	81	85y
EXPERT IT SOLUTIONS LTD→ SC239210 · est 2002	—	—	£141.5k	—	23y	81	61y
GRAYLINK LIMITED→ SC090783 · est 1984	—	—	—	—	41y	81	83y
I4DATA LTD→ SC311820 · est 2006	—	—	£95.4k	—	19y	81	59y
INCYTE CONSULTING LTD.→ SC329486 · est 2007	—	—	—	100	18y	81	78y

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

🔒Tailored diligence questions

7 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

Incorporated1997-11-20

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC62090 — Other information technology service activities

Registered office

Unit 4b Gateway Business Park

Beancross Road

Grangemouth

FK3 8WX

United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-12-20

Last made up to: 2025-03-20

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-12-04

Last: 2025-11-20

Officers (2 active · 8 resigned)

MCDONELL, Finlay→

secretary · appointed 2012-01-26

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MCDONELL, Finlay James→

director · ~52y · appointed 2012-01-26

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MCDONELL, Ewan Neill Rutherford→

secretary · appointed 2008-02-07 · resigned 2012-01-26

Resigned

MCDONELL, Finlay James→

secretary · appointed 1999-11-17 · resigned 2003-11-01

Resigned

SANTA MONICA AIRLINES, INC→

corporate-secretary · appointed 2003-11-01 · resigned 2008-02-07

Resigned

SUNSTROKE LTD→

corporate-secretary · appointed 1998-07-24 · resigned 1999-11-17

Resigned

THE KODIAN - GROUP LIMITED→

corporate-secretary · appointed 1997-11-20 · resigned 1998-07-24

Resigned

MCDONELL, Ewan Neill Rutherford→

director · ~56y · appointed 2019-12-11 · resigned 2022-12-01

Resigned

MCDONELL, Ewan Neill Rutherford→

director · ~56y · appointed 1997-11-20 · resigned 2012-01-26

Resigned

MCDONELL, Finlay James→

director · ~52y · appointed 2008-02-07 · resigned 2009-03-10

Resigned

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

Recent filings (90 total)

change-person-director-company-with-change-date

officers · CH01

2026-04-29

change-to-a-person-with-significant-control

persons-with-significant-control · PSC04

2026-04-29

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2025-12-08

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-12-04

change-person-director-company-with-change-date

officers · CH01

2025-12-04

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2024-12-05

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-11-20

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2023-11-20

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2023-11-17

change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date

officers · CH03

2023-10-16

change-person-director-company-with-change-date

officers · CH01

2023-10-16

change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date

officers · CH03

2023-10-16

change-to-a-person-with-significant-control

persons-with-significant-control · PSC04

2023-10-16

change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address

address · AD01

2023-10-16

change-person-director-company-with-change-date

officers · CH01

2023-05-09