THE ACADEMY OF HAIRDRESSING EXCELLENCE LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC199553 · ltd · incorporated 1999-09-07

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 Aug 2025

Net worth

—

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: Technical and vocational secondary education

Sector: Education

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

96020Hairdressing and other beauty treatment

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 66-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 66). 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 25.5y

45/100

under pressure

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

· Oldest live charge is 25.5 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: high (87/100)

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

Company profile

address, 2 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

3 years of iXBRL accounts extracted + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

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

Directors & officers

6 officers (1 active, 6 linked, 3 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

9 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

75 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.

Key financials

3 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 · FRS 102

Metric	2025-08-31	2024-08-31	2023-08-31
Total assets	—	£19.1k	£22.0k
Current assets	—	£81.0k	£70.3k
Cash	—	£3.0k	£519
Debtors	—	£75.6k	£67.4k
Net assets	—	£102	£105

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

1 signal 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

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (29 events)Click to expand

2026-05-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-05-07
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-05-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-05-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-05-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-08-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-09-19
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2019-08-28
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2019-08-28
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2019-05-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-09-06
📄
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2018-09-06
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2018-09-06
📄
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2018-08-31
➖
MCGRORY, Lindsey Sheila resigned
secretary
2018-08-31
➖
MCGRORY, Lindsey Sheila resigned
director
2018-05-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-05-31
📄
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2001-01-16
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
2000-10-11
➖
COOPER, Scott resigned
director
1999-09-07
🏢
Company incorporated
As THE ACADEMY OF HAIRDRESSING EXCELLENCE LIMITED
1999-09-07
➕
MCGOVERN, Thomas appointed
director
1999-09-07
➕
MCGRORY, Lindsey Sheila appointed
secretary
1999-09-07
➕
FIRST SCOTTISH SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
1999-09-07
➖
FIRST SCOTTISH SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
1999-09-07
➕
COOPER, Scott appointed
director
1999-09-07
➕
MCGRORY, Lindsey Sheila appointed
director
1999-09-07
➕
FIRST SCOTTISH INTERNATIONAL SERVICES LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-director
1999-09-07
➖
FIRST SCOTTISH INTERNATIONAL SERVICES 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 66 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

95/100

Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 66. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
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

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Thomas Mcgovern Individual · British · DOB 03/1960 · age 66	50–75%	50–75%	50-75% shares · 50-75% voting	06/04/2016

1 historic (ceased) PSC

Mrs Lindsey Sheila Mcgroryceased 31/08/2018· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting

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 · Education & training · G postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
SOMERSET NURSERY SERVICES LTD.→ SC200542 · est 1999	£849.5k £647.2k–£1.05M	£925.0k	—	2900	26y	84	78y
GENIUS PEOPLE LIMITED→ SC359992 · est 2009	£342.9k £261.3k–£424.5k	—	—	13	17y	81	60y
BELMONT HOUSE LIMITED→ SC026135 · est 1948 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	78y	83	69y
BRIDGETON COMMUNITY LEARNING CAMPUS LTD.→ SC255075 · est 2003	—	—	£513.1k	—	22y	83	66y
CLYDESIDE INITIATIVE FOR ARTS LIMITED→ SC286669 · est 2005 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	21y	83	66y
COSMIC COPPERS CHILDCARE LIMITED→ SC337815 · est 2008	—	—	—	—	18y	83	61y
FARE SCOTLAND LTD.→ SC339537 · est 2008 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	18y	83	75y
HEART FOR THE CITY→ SC256661 · est 2003	—	—	—	—	22y	83	60y
HYDE-N-SEEK (BELLSHILL) LTD.→ SC355163 · est 2009	—	—	£211.9k	—	17y	83	59y
KIRRIEMUIR NURSERY SCHOOL LIMITED→ SC249016 · est 2003	—	—	£12.1k	—	23y	83	66y
ROSEMOUNT LIFELONG LEARNING→ SC190521 · est 1998 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	27y	83	66y
THE NATIONAL PIPING CENTRE→ SC139271 · est 1992 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	33y	83	77y

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

Incorporated1999-09-07

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC85320 — Technical and vocational secondary education

Registered office

12 Carron Place

East Kilbride

Glasgow

G75 0YL

Scotland

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-05-31

Last made up to: 2025-08-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-09-21

Last: 2025-09-07

Officers (1 active · 5 resigned)

MCGOVERN, Thomas→

director · ~66y · appointed 1999-09-07

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MCGRORY, Lindsey Sheila→

secretary · appointed 1999-09-07 · resigned 2018-08-31

Resigned

FIRST SCOTTISH SECRETARIES LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1999-09-07 · resigned 1999-09-07

Resigned

COOPER, Scott→

director · ~58y · appointed 1999-09-07 · resigned 2000-10-11

Resigned

MCGRORY, Lindsey Sheila→

director · ~55y · appointed 1999-09-07 · resigned 2018-08-31

Resigned

FIRST SCOTTISH INTERNATIONAL SERVICES LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1999-09-07 · resigned 1999-09-07

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	Virgin Money Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company	Floating charge	1 property	16/01/2001	—

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