AIR COMPRESSOR SERVICES (SCOTLAND) LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC229044 · ltd · incorporated 2002-03-12
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: Other business support service activities n.e.c.
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 64-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 64). 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 11.9y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 11.9 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: high (82/100)

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

Company profile
address, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
3 years of iXBRL accounts extracted + narrative notes parsed
95
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
3 officers (2 active, 3 linked, 1 with DOB)
77
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
63 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

3 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0May 2023May 2024May 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-05-312024-05-312023-05-31
Average employees400—400

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 accounts
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-02-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-02-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-02-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-02-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-01-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-11-05
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  8. 2020-02-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-02-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-02-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2015-09-02
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2015-02-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2014-09-03
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2014-06-17
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  17. 2002-03-12
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As AIR COMPRESSOR SERVICES (SCOTLAND) LIMITED
  18. 2002-03-12
    ➕
    BATHGATE, Lorraine appointed
    secretary
  19. 2002-03-12
    ➕
    DUNN, Stuart appointed
    director
  20. 2002-03-12
    ➕
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  21. 2002-03-12
    ➖
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary

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 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.

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 64. 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 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

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Stuart Dunn
Individual · British · DOB 10/1962 · age 64
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control06/04/2016

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
Incorporated2002-03-12
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC82990 — Other business support service activities n.e.c.

Registered office

Unit 26, Dunfermline Business Centre
Izatt Avenue
Dunfermline
Fife
KY11 3BZ
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-14
Last: 2025-08-31

Officers (2 active · 1 resigned)

BATHGATE, Lorraine→
secretary · appointed 2002-03-12
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DUNN, Stuart→
director · ~64y · appointed 2002-03-12
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2002-03-12 · resigned 2002-03-12
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
A registered charge—17/06/2014—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (63 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-04-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-02-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-02-26
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-02-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-09-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-02-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-01-15
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2020-11-05
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-08-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-02-26
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-10-04