IAN CAIRNS ENGINEERING SERVICES LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC212644 · ltd · incorporated 2000-11-08
Investment thesis
Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.
Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.
Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.
Opportunity decay
hardening · 12-months
Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.
  • · Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Dec 2024
Net worth
£118.4k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other engineering activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 73-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 73). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (76/100)

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
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
5 officers (3 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
75 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
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
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Positive net assets
Net assets £118,447
Net assets shrinking
Down £7,352 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£118k
↓ 5.8% YoY
Current Assets
£120k
↑ 1.4% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£25k£50k£75k£101k£126kDec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Total assets£119.0k£126.3k
Current assets£120.1k£118.4k
Net assets£118.4k£125.8k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-07-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-06-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-11-13
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  4. 2023-11-13
    📄
    second-filing-of-confirmation-statement-with-made-up-date
    confirmation-statement · RP04CS01
  5. 2023-09-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-10-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-01-17
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  8. 2021-11-29
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  9. 2021-09-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2020-02-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2019-04-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2018-09-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2017-06-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-05-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2007-12-18
    ➕
    CAIRNS, Lorna appointed
    director
  16. 2000-11-08
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As IAN CAIRNS ENGINEERING SERVICES LIMITED
  17. 2000-11-08
    ➕
    CAIRNS, Lorna appointed
    secretary
  18. 2000-11-08
    ➕
    CAIRNS, Ian appointed
    director
  19. 2000-11-08
    ➕
    PF & S (SECRETARIES) LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  20. 2000-11-08
    ➖
    PF & S (SECRETARIES) LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  21. 2000-11-08
    ➕
    PF & S (DIRECTORS) LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  22. 2000-11-08
    ➖
    PF & S (DIRECTORS) 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
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "CAIRNS" — 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.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 73 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

96/100
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 73 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • 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%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mrs Lorna Cairns
Individual · Scottish · DOB 06/1956 · age 70
75–100%
—75-100% shares14/01/2022
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mrs Lorna Cairnsceased 10/11/2023· 75-100% shares · 75-100% voting

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

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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
Incorporated2000-11-08
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC71129 — Other engineering activities

Registered office

45 Avonmill View
Linlithgow Bridge
West Lothian
EH49 7SH

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-05-02
Last: 2026-04-18

Officers (3 active · 2 resigned)

CAIRNS, Lorna→
secretary · appointed 2000-11-08
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CAIRNS, Ian→
director · ~73y · appointed 2000-11-08
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CAIRNS, Lorna→
director · ~70y · appointed 2007-12-18
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
PF & S (SECRETARIES) LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2000-11-08 · resigned 2000-11-08
Resigned
PF & S (DIRECTORS) LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2000-11-08 · resigned 2000-11-08
Resigned

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

Recent filings (75 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-07-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-06-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-13
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2023-11-13
second-filing-of-confirmation-statement-with-made-up-date
confirmation-statement · RP04CS01
2023-11-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-09-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-10-14
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2022-01-17
confirmation-statement
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-29
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2021-11-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-13