HARELAW LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC192833 · ltd · incorporated 1999-01-26
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 Jan 2025
Net worth
£236.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Management consultancy activities other than financial management
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 60-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 60). 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: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 10.7y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 10.7 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · 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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 2 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
6 connected companies via shared directors
63
Filing history
70 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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £236,488
Net assets shrinking
Down £688 YoY
Cash YoY
-1%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£327k
↓ 1.1% YoY
Net Worth
£236k
~ YoY
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£66k£132k£198k£264k£331kJan 2024Jan 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-01-312024-01-31
Cash£327.1k£330.6k
Net assets£236.5k£237.2k

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-10-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-10-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-09-22
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  5. 2023-01-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-04-14
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  7. 2022-04-12
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  8. 2021-10-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-11-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-10-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-11-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-11-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-11-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-02-16
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-11-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2015-08-19
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  17. 2010-11-07
    ➖
    WILSON, John Blair resigned
    director
  18. 1999-01-26
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As HARELAW LIMITED
  19. 1999-01-26
    ➕
    MACKENZIE, Andrew Ross appointed
    secretary
  20. 1999-01-26
    ➕
    MACKENZIE, Andrew Ross appointed
    director
  21. 1999-01-26
    ➕
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  22. 1999-01-26
    ➖
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 1999-01-26
    ➕
    WILSON, John Blair appointed
    director

Owner dependency

93/100
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 27 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 60 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

85/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 60. Early succession window.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 27 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 27 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 Andrew Ross Mackenzie
Individual · British · DOB 10/1966 · age 60
75–100%
—75-100% shares26/01/2017

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

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
Incorporated1999-01-26
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC70229 — Management consultancy activities other than financial management

Registered office

Culcreuch
Hilton Farm
Tain
IV19 1LZ
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-10-31
Last made up to: 2025-01-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-09
Last: 2026-01-26

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

MACKENZIE, Andrew Ross→
secretary · appointed 1999-01-26
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MACKENZIE, Andrew Ross→
director · ~60y · appointed 1999-01-26
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1999-01-26 · resigned 1999-01-26
Resigned
WILSON, John Blair→
director · ~75y · appointed 1999-01-26 · resigned 2010-11-07
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 Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
A registered charge—19/08/2015—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (70 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-10-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-10-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-10-30
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-09-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-01-10
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2022-04-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-13
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2022-04-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-10-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-11-02