UNIVERSAL UTILITIES (SCOTLAND) LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC248257 · ltd · incorporated 2003-04-24
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 Apr 2025
Net worth
£2
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Non-trading company
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Dormant / non-trading with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 65). 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
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 1 with DOB)
74
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
55 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
🔒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
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 · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £2
Very low cash
Cash position: £2
Cash YoY
+0%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£2
~ YoY
Net Worth
£2
~ YoY
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£1£1£2£2Apr 2024Apr 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-04-302024-04-30
Total assets£2£2
Cash£2£2
Net assets£2£2

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
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-06-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-05-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-09-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-08-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-05-03
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  6. 2022-01-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-07-14
    📄
    change-corporate-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH04
  8. 2020-05-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-07-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-01-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-01-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-11-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-05-26
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2015-12-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  15. 2015-05-19
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2014-05-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  17. 2009-03-04
    ➖
    HARGREAVES, Charles Robert resigned
    secretary
  18. 2009-03-01
    ➕
    WYMET SECRETARIAL SERVICES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  19. 2003-04-24
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As UNIVERSAL UTILITIES (SCOTLAND) LIMITED
  20. 2003-04-24
    ➕
    FINNIE, Malcolm Gibson appointed
    director
  21. 2003-04-24
    ➕
    HARGREAVES, Charles Robert appointed
    secretary
  22. 2003-04-24
    ➕
    BRIAN REID LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  23. 2003-04-24
    ➖
    BRIAN REID LTD. resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  24. 2003-04-24
    ➕
    STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. appointed
    corporate-nominee-director
  25. 2003-04-24
    ➖
    STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. 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
  • +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.

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 65. 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 23 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 23 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 Malcolm Gibson Finnie
Individual · British · DOB 08/1961 · age 65
75–100%
—75-100% shares06/04/2016

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

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PURPLE VENTURE SECRETARIES LIMITED→
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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

8 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
Incorporated2003-04-24
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC74990 — Non-trading company

Registered office

Mccallum Associates Castleblair Works
Inglis Lane
Dunfermline
Fife
KY12 9DP
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-05-23
Last: 2025-05-09

Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)

WYMET SECRETARIAL SERVICES LIMITED→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2009-03-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FINNIE, Malcolm Gibson→
director · ~65y · appointed 2003-04-24
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HARGREAVES, Charles Robert→
secretary · appointed 2003-04-24 · resigned 2009-03-04
Resigned
BRIAN REID LTD.→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2003-04-24 · resigned 2003-04-24
Resigned
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD.→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2003-04-24 · resigned 2003-04-24
Resigned

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

Recent filings (55 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-06-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-05-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-09-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-08-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-18
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-05-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-01-19
change-corporate-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH04
2021-07-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-05-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-05-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2019-07-11