HCA ENGINEERING PROPERTIES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC212491 · ltd · incorporated 2000-11-01

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.

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Dec 2024

Net worth

£751.7k

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Other letting and operating of own or leased real estate

Sector: Real estate

Investor take

Pursue

Asset-holding vehicle with a 60-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. 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).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (75/100)

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

4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

63 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

🔒Estimated company valuation

Sector-multiple EBITDA, turnover, and NAV-proxy valuation range with confidence tier — derived from extracted iXBRL financials.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

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

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)

Positive net assets

Net assets £751,726

Net assets shrinking

Down £3,056 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£752k

~ YoY

Current Assets

£16k

↓ 19% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)

Metric	2024-12-31	2023-12-31
Total assets	£751.7k	£754.8k
Current assets	£16.0k	£19.7k
Net assets	£751.7k	£754.8k

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

filings

Last 180 days

filings

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand

2025-03-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-08-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-09-12
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-09-08
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-09-10
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-08-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-09-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-04-16
📄
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2018-03-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-02-12
📄
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
accounts · AA01
2017-08-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-08-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-11-06
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-08-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-10-20
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2000-11-01
🏢
Company incorporated
As HCA ENGINEERING PROPERTIES LIMITED
2000-11-01
➕
ADAMSON, Catherine Margaret appointed
secretary
2000-11-01
➕
ADAMSON, Hamish William Fordyce appointed
director
2000-11-01
➕
BRIAN REID LTD. appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2000-11-01
➖
BRIAN REID LTD. resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2000-11-01
➕
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. appointed
corporate-nominee-director
2000-11-01
➖
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. resigned
corporate-nominee-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 25 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 25 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 25 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
Mrs Catherine Adamson Individual · British · DOB 05/1961 · age 65	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	06/04/2016
Mr Hamish William Fordyce Adamson Individual · British · DOB 02/1966 · age 60	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.

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JTS PROPERTIES LTD→ SC618819 · est 2019 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	7y	—	—
JU03 MAC LTD→ SC750555 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
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KCN KIDD LTD→ SC816682 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
KINTAIL MANAGEMENT LIMITED→ SC214155 · est 2000 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	25y	—	—
KL PROPERTYINVEST-RENTAL LIMITED→ SC827828 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
KN 14 LIMITED→ SC472949 · est 2014 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	12y	—	—
KNIGHT PROPERTY HOLDINGS LIMITED→ SC849897 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
KNOCKOTHIE DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED→ SC477721 · est 2014 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	11y	—	—
KODAN LIMITED→ SC711691 · est 2021 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	4y	—	—

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

Incorporated2000-11-01

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC68209 — Other letting and operating of own or leased real estate

Registered office

Upper Gateside

Mulben

Keith

Moray

AB55 6YX

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-09-30

Last made up to: 2024-12-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-10-31

Last: 2025-10-17

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

ADAMSON, Catherine Margaret→

secretary · appointed 2000-11-01

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

ADAMSON, Hamish William Fordyce→

director · ~60y · appointed 2000-11-01

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

BRIAN REID LTD.→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2000-11-01 · resigned 2000-11-01

Resigned

STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD.→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2000-11-01 · resigned 2000-11-01

Resigned

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