COLVINS S.P.S. LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC212368 · ltd · incorporated 2000-10-27

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 May 2025

Net worth

£13.7k

book net assets

Opportunity

82/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 45200

Sector: Wholesale & retail

Investor take

Pursue

Asset-holding vehicle with a 62-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 62). 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 25.4y

45/100

under pressure

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

· Oldest live charge is 25.4 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

4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

60 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 · FRS 102

Positive net assets

Net assets £13,714

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£22k

Net Worth

£14k

Current Assets

£40k

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102

Metric	2025-05-31	2024-05-31
Total assets	£13.7k	—
Current assets	£39.5k	—
Cash	£22.5k	—
Debtors	£1.9k	—
Net assets	£13.7k	—

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 (24 events)Click to expand

2026-02-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-02-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-12-01
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-10-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-02-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-02-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-02-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-06-18
📄
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2019-06-18
🔓
Charge satisfied #1
2019-01-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-11-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-11-03
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-01-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-10-28
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-12-05
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-10-27
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2004-07-12
➖
PATTISON, Georgina Mccallum Balmer Sharp resigned
director
2004-07-12
➖
PATTISON, James resigned
director
2001-01-29
➕
PATTISON, Georgina Mccallum Balmer Sharp appointed
director
2001-01-29
➕
PATTISON, James appointed
director
2000-11-29
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Lloyds Tsb Scotland PLC
2000-10-27
🏢
Company incorporated
As COLVINS S.P.S. LIMITED
2000-10-27
➕
COLVIN, Alison Claire appointed
secretary
2000-10-27
➕
COLVIN, John Dunlop appointed
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.
+Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "COLVIN" — strong identity link between founder and business.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 26 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 62 — 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 62. 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 26 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 26 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 John Dunlop Colvin Individual · British · DOB 05/1964 · age 62	75–100%	75–100%	75-100% shares · 75-100% voting	06/04/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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KERR AND SMITH (CUMNOCK) LIMITED→ SC106800 · est 1987	£859.6k £687.7k–£1.03M	—	—	3400	38y	84	62y
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JOHN M. PATERSON LTD.→ SC321496 · est 2007	—	—	—	16	19y	82	64y
KERR AND SMITH (AYR) LIMITED→ SC182558 · est 1998	—	—	—	13	28y	82	81y
MACLEAY MOTOR ENGINEERING LIMITED→ SC214626 · est 2001	—	—	£1.75M	—	25y	82	60y
MAYBANK MOTORS LIMITED→ SC164609 · est 1996 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	30y	82	67y
PARKER BROS. (KILMARNOCK) LIMITED→ SC040009 · est 1964	—	—	£109.0k	—	62y	82	59y
RIGHTCARS LIMITED→ SC245622 · est 2003	—	—	—	—	23y	82	61y
STUART MACDONALD CARS LTD.→ SC152462 · est 1994	—	—	£286.5k	—	31y	82	58y
BIKE AYR LTD.→ SC349414 · est 2008	—	—	—	—	17y	80	62y
BJ'S AUTOSHOP LIMITED→ SC260605 · est 2003	—	—	£102.4k	—	22y	80	67y
SMOKN LIMITED→ SC266659 · est 2004 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	21y	—	—

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

Incorporated2000-10-27

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC45200 — SIC 45200

Registered office

28 Gatehead Road

Crosshouse

Kilmarnock

Ayrshire

KA2 0HU

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-02-28

Last made up to: 2025-05-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-11-10

Last: 2025-10-27

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

COLVIN, Alison Claire→

secretary · appointed 2000-10-27

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

COLVIN, John Dunlop→

director · ~62y · appointed 2000-10-27

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

PATTISON, Georgina Mccallum Balmer Sharp→

director · ~95y · appointed 2001-01-29 · resigned 2004-07-12

Resigned

PATTISON, James→

director · ~96y · appointed 2001-01-29 · resigned 2004-07-12

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
	satisfied	Lloyds Banking Group Lloyds Tsb Scotland PLC	Bond & floating charge	1 property	29/11/2000	18/06/2019