SMART SOLUTIONS SCOTLAND LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC262136 · ltd · incorporated 2004-01-19
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.
Why now
Window steady · low confidence
Steady and stalled — no momentum either way. Needs an approach trigger.
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
£834
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Technical and vocational secondary education
Sector: Education
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 62-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. 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).

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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 1 with DOB)
75
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
56 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 · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £834
Net assets shrinking
Down £8,480 YoY
Cash YoY
+537%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£2k
↑ 537% YoY
Net Worth
£834
↓ 91% YoY
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£2k£4k£6k£7k£9kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£834£9.3k
Current assets—£283
Cash£1.8k£283
Net assets£834£9.3k

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
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (22 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-09-22
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  3. 2024-12-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-12-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-01-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-01-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-12-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-12-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  10. 2017-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  11. 2016-12-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-02-09
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  13. 2015-12-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2015-02-01
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2014-12-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 2004-01-19
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As SMART SOLUTIONS SCOTLAND LIMITED
  17. 2004-01-19
    ➕
    GILLIES, Lindsey Heather appointed
    secretary
  18. 2004-01-19
    ➕
    GILLIES, Stephen Robson appointed
    director
  19. 2004-01-19
    ➕
    SMALL FIRMS SECRETARY SERVICES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-secretary
  20. 2004-01-19
    ➖
    SMALL FIRMS SECRETARY SERVICES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-secretary
  21. 2004-01-19
    ➕
    SMALL FIRMS DIRECT SERVICES LIMITED appointed
    corporate-director
  22. 2004-01-19
    ➖
    SMALL FIRMS DIRECT SERVICES LIMITED resigned
    corporate-director

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 22 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 22 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 22 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 Stephen Robson Gillies
Individual · British · DOB 07/1964 · age 62
25–50%
—25-50% shares19/01/2017
Mrs Lindsey Heather Gillies
Individual · British · DOB 07/1978 · age 48
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016

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

🔒Co-director network graph

Radial SVG graph showing every company connected via shared directors, colour-coded by status.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

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———3021y8278y
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————16y8162y
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——£152.1k—21y8168y
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——£89.8k—10y8075y
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————22y8078y
WELLINGTON SCHOOL (AYR) LIMITED→
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——£4.21M—77y8082y
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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
Incorporated2004-01-19
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC85320 — Technical and vocational secondary education

Registered office

20 Ballochmyle Walk
Annandale
Kilmarnock
Ayrshire
KA1 2SF

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-01
Last: 2026-01-18

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

GILLIES, Lindsey Heather→
secretary · appointed 2004-01-19
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
GILLIES, Stephen Robson→
director · ~62y · appointed 2004-01-19
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SMALL FIRMS SECRETARY SERVICES LIMITED→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2004-01-19 · resigned 2004-01-19
Resigned
SMALL FIRMS DIRECT SERVICES LIMITED→
corporate-director · appointed 2004-01-19 · resigned 2004-01-19
Resigned

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

Recent filings (56 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-12-30
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2025-09-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-01-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-12-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-12-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-01-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-01-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-01-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-12-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-02-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-01-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-01-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2019-12-31