MARKETING SCOTLAND LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC194904 · ltd · incorporated 1999-04-01

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 Jan 2026

Net worth

£3.4k

book net assets

Opportunity

82/100

Exceptional

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

What this business does

Primary activity: Retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet

Sector: Wholesale & retail

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

74909Other professional, scientific and technical activities n.e.c.

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 70-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 70). 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 23.8y

45/100

under pressure

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

· Oldest live charge is 23.8 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: high (81/100)

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

Company profile

address, 2 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 (2 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

9 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

76 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 £3,436

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£3k

↑ 25% YoY

Current Assets

£3k

~ YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2026-01-31	2025-01-31
Total assets	£3.4k	£2.7k
Current assets	£3.4k	£3.4k
Net assets	£3.4k	£2.7k

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

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 accounts
• 1 officers

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand

2026-03-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-03-04
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2026-03-01
➖
KNAPEK, Tomas resigned
director
2025-10-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-11-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-10-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-10-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-10-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-10-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-10-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-10-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-10-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-11-03
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-04-27
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-10-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-05-06
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2002-09-02
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Hsbc Bank PLC
1999-04-30
➕
FRASER, Alexander Neill Macgregor appointed
secretary
1999-04-30
➕
FRASER, Alexander Neill Macgregor appointed
director
1999-04-30
➕
KNAPEK, Tomas appointed
director
1999-04-01
🏢
Company incorporated
As MARKETING SCOTLAND LIMITED
1999-04-01
➕
ASHCROFT CAMERON SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
1999-04-01
➖
ASHCROFT CAMERON SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
1999-04-01
➕
ASHCROFT CAMERON NOMINEES LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-director
1999-04-01
➖
ASHCROFT CAMERON NOMINEES LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-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 27 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 70 — 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 70 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 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

2 active beneficial owners

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Alexander Neill Macgregor Fraser Individual · British · DOB 10/1956 · age 70	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	06/04/2016
Mr Tomas Knapek Individual · Czech · DOB 04/1969 · age 57	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	06/04/2016

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 →

Similar companies

Active · Retail · KY postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
GUYANA LIMITED→ SC216279 · est 2001	—	—	—	1600	25y	83	64y
JOHN & J H SANDS LIMITED→ SC056427 · est 1974	—	—	—	800	51y	83	68y
LINKS LICENSED GROCERS LTD.→ SC327527 · est 2007	—	—	—	1200	18y	83	63y
MICROSCOPY SUPPLIES & CONSULTANTS LIMITED→ SC139542 · est 1992	—	—	—	300	33y	83	79y
ANDREW HUTT LIMITED→ SC056671 · est 1974	—	—	—	100	51y	82	93y
BOB MILLAR LIMITED→ SC168787 · est 1996	—	—	—	28	29y	82	59y
BRINNOR LIMITED→ SC353301 · est 2009	—	—	—	1100	17y	82	62y
CLASSIQUE FLOORING LIMITED→ SC144130 · est 1993	—	—	£611.3k	—	33y	82	71y
DEALS ON REELS LIMITED→ SC237443 · est 2002	—	—	£9.6k	—	23y	82	65y
DUNFERMLINE REPAIR CENTRE LTD.→ SC169402 · est 1996	—	—	£18.3k	—	29y	82	65y
GARDENS MOWERS AND TOOLS LIMITED→ SC348112 · est 2008	—	—	£374.1k	—	17y	82	69y
HMR STORES LTD.→ SC338232 · est 2008	—	—	£19.5k	—	18y	82	78y

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

Incorporated1999-04-01

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC47910 — Retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet

Registered office

Claremont Cottage

Magus Muir

St Andrews

Fife

KY16 8NZ

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-10-31

Last made up to: 2026-01-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-04-15

Last: 2026-04-01

Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)

FRASER, Alexander Neill Macgregor→

secretary · appointed 1999-04-30

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

FRASER, Alexander Neill Macgregor→

director · ~70y · appointed 1999-04-30

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

ASHCROFT CAMERON SECRETARIES LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1999-04-01 · resigned 1999-04-01

Resigned

KNAPEK, Tomas→

director · ~57y · appointed 1999-04-30 · resigned 2026-03-01

Resigned

ASHCROFT CAMERON NOMINEES LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1999-04-01 · resigned 1999-04-01

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	HSBC Hsbc Bank PLC	Floating charge	1 property	02/09/2002	—

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