SANDY ADAMS ENGINEERING LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC226071 · ltd · incorporated 2001-12-06
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
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Repair of machinery
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 62-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. 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

2 live charges · oldest 8.1y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 8.1 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (77/100)

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
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (1 active, 4 linked, 2 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
64 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
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
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0May 2024May 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-05-312024-05-31
Average employees5500

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-11-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-03-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-09-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-12-14
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  5. 2022-12-14
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  6. 2022-11-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-02-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-12-20
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  9. 2021-12-20
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  10. 2021-03-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-11-24
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  12. 2020-02-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-02-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2018-04-27
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  15. 2018-04-24
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: Clydesdale Bank PLC
  16. 2018-04-04
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  17. 2018-03-30
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Clydesdale Bank PLC
  18. 2018-02-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  19. 2008-03-27
    ➖
    ADAMS, Jacqueline resigned
    secretary
  20. 2008-03-27
    ➖
    ADAMS, Jacqueline resigned
    director
  21. 2001-12-06
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As SANDY ADAMS ENGINEERING LTD
  22. 2001-12-06
    ➕
    ADAMS, Alexander Edwin appointed
    director
  23. 2001-12-06
    ➕
    ADAMS, Jacqueline appointed
    secretary
  24. 2001-12-06
    ➕
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  25. 2001-12-06
    ➖
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED resigned
    corporate-secretary
  26. 2001-12-06
    ➕
    ADAMS, Jacqueline 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 "ADAMS" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 24 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 24 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 24 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Alexander Edwin Adams
Individual · British · DOB 02/1964 · age 62
50–75%
50–75%50-75% shares · 50-75% voting06/04/2016
Mr Jonathan Philip Donald
Individual · British · DOB 11/1987 · age 39
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting10/02/2022

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

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CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
RUSSWOOD LTD.→
SC092505 · est 1985
£3.34M
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——6741y8566y
EDWARDS ENGINEERING (PERTH) LIMITED→
SC046562 · est 1969
£2.34M
£1.82M–£2.86M
——410057y8358y
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SC078774 · est 1982
————43y8360y
A M FIRE & SECURITY SYSTEMS LTD→
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———120023y8258y
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——£269.1k—20y8260y
INVERNESS PRECAST LTD→
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————15y8260y
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SC224287 · est 2001
——£154.8k—24y8266y
MARGARET MORRISON LIMITED→
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———60020y8266y
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———20084y8284y
ONTOP TRACTORS LIMITED→
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——£29.8k—50y8265y
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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
Incorporated2001-12-06
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC33120 — Repair of machinery

Registered office

5 Whitefriars Crescent
Perth
Perthshire
PH2 0PA
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-20
Last: 2025-12-06

Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)

ADAMS, Alexander Edwin→
director · ~62y · appointed 2001-12-06
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ADAMS, Jacqueline→
secretary · appointed 2001-12-06 · resigned 2008-03-27
Resigned
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2001-12-06 · resigned 2001-12-06
Resigned
ADAMS, Jacqueline→
director · ~57y · appointed 2001-12-06 · resigned 2008-03-27
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
2
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Virgin Money
Clydesdale Bank PLC
A registered charge1 property24/04/2018—
outstanding
Virgin Money
Clydesdale Bank PLC
A registered charge1 property30/03/2018—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (64 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-11-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-03-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-25
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-12-14
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2022-12-14
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-11-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-02-25
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-20
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-12-20
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2021-12-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-03-11