RUSSELL HAMILTON BUSINESS SYSTEMS LTD.

🌳Matureactive

SC240855 · ltd · incorporated 2002-12-09

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.

Why now

Window steady · low confidence

Steady and tidy — no seller pressure yet. Approach only if an angle opens.

Opportunity decay

hardening · 12-months

Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.

· Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage

What changed my view

Last 30 days

No material changes in the last 30 days.

Last 90 days

No snapshot from 90 days ago — start tracking from today.

Last 180 days

No snapshot from 180 days ago — start tracking from today.

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to May 2025

Net worth

£80.4k

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Other information technology service activities

Sector: Information & communication

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

77330Renting and leasing of office machinery and equipment (including computers)

Investor take

Pursue

Asset-holding vehicle with a 61-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 77/100. Strong seller-intent signal (80/100, director aged 61). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Consolidate lender relationships. 3 distinct lenders creates friction — refinance into single-lender structure for cleaner diligence. Most likely exit: strategic trade sale (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

3 live charges · 3 lenders · oldest 21.0y

35/100

too messy

Refinance path is blocked by complexity. Rethink structure or expect bespoke, expensive terms.

· Oldest live charge is 21.0 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· 3 lenders named — inter-creditor friction likely.
· Legal-friction score 25/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

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, 2 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

3 charges (3/3 with lender, 3/3 with type)

Directors & officers

8 officers (3 active, 8 linked, 4 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 4 total, 4 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

87 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

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

100

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)

Positive net assets

Net assets £80,360

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£80k

↑ 6.5% YoY

Current Assets

£213k

↑ 11% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)

Metric	2025-05-31	2024-05-31
Total assets	£80.4k	£102.4k
Current assets	£213.1k	£191.4k
Net assets	£80.4k	£75.5k

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

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (36 events)Click to expand

2026-02-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-02-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-02-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-01-04
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-02-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-05-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-02-22
📄
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC02
2021-02-22
📄
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2021-02-22
📄
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2021-01-30
📄
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2021-01-30
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2020-10-02
➖
IRVING, David Steward resigned
director
2020-02-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-12-20
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2019-02-05
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-11-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-01-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-06-04
🔓
Charge satisfied #3
2015-06-04
🔓
Charge satisfied #1
2010-07-01
➕
MULRAINEY, Paul appointed
director
2009-06-11
🔓
Charge satisfied #2
2008-06-17
🔒
Charge registered #3
Lender: Clydesdale Bank PLC
2005-07-27
🔒
Charge registered #2
Lender: Kevin O'donnell and Another
2005-07-27
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
2005-04-27
➕
MCATEE, Andrew Gerard appointed
secretary
2005-04-27
➕
MCATEE, Andrew Gerard appointed
director
2005-04-27
➖
BRENNAN, Anne resigned
secretary
2005-04-27
➖
HAMILTON, James resigned
director
2005-04-27
➕
IRVING, David Steward appointed
director
2002-12-09
🏢
Company incorporated
As RUSSELL HAMILTON BUSINESS SYSTEMS LTD.
2002-12-09
➕
BRENNAN, Anne appointed
secretary
2002-12-09
➕
BRIAN REID LTD. appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2002-12-09
➖
BRIAN REID LTD. resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2002-12-09
➕
HAMILTON, James appointed
director
2002-12-09
➕
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. appointed
corporate-nominee-director
2002-12-09
➖
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. resigned
corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

76/100

High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS

+Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 21 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 61 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

76/100

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 61. Early succession window.
secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 21 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

1 med ·

Charge satisfaction-then-recreation pattern

medium

Multiple instances where a charge was satisfied and a new charge created within 6 months. Suggests active refinancing cycle.

Group structure

Ip-Comms Ltd is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️

Ip-Comms Ltd

Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares · board control

ultimate parent

⬇

RUSSELL HAMILTON BUSINESS SYSTEMS LTD.

This company · SC240855

Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Ip-Comms Ltd Corporate entity	75–100%	75–100%	board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control	02/10/2020

3 historic (ceased) PSCs

Mr David Steward Irvingceased 02/10/2020· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control
Mr Andrew Gerard Mcateeceased 02/10/2020· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control
Mr Paul Mulraineyceased 02/10/2020· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control

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

6 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

Incorporated2002-12-09

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC62090 — Other information technology service activities

Registered office

9 Glasgow Road

Paisley

PA1 3QS

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-02-28

Last made up to: 2025-05-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-12-23

Last: 2025-12-09

Officers (3 active · 5 resigned)

MCATEE, Andrew Gerard→

secretary · appointed 2005-04-27

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MCATEE, Andrew Gerard→

director · ~61y · appointed 2005-04-27

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MULRAINEY, Paul→

director · ~54y · appointed 2010-07-01

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

BRENNAN, Anne→

secretary · appointed 2002-12-09 · resigned 2005-04-27

Resigned

BRIAN REID LTD.→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2002-12-09 · resigned 2002-12-09

Resigned

HAMILTON, James→

director · ~76y · appointed 2002-12-09 · resigned 2005-04-27

Resigned

IRVING, David Steward→

director · ~62y · appointed 2005-04-27 · resigned 2020-10-02

Resigned

STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD.→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2002-12-09 · resigned 2002-12-09

Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:3 of 3 shown

		Type	Properties
satisfied	Virgin Money Clydesdale Bank PLC	Floating charge	1 property	17/06/2008	04/06/2015
satisfied	Kevin O'donnell and Another	Bond & floating charge	1 property	27/07/2005	11/06/2009
satisfied	Virgin Money Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company	Floating charge	1 property	27/07/2005	04/06/2015