HOWCO SPECIAL PROCESSING LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC272142 · ltd · incorporated 2004-08-18

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

—

not disclosed

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

75/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 24200

Sector: Manufacturing

Investor take

Pursue

Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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 (58/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (56/100)

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

No iXBRL financials extracted

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

6 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

57 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

75/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Some acquirability indicators.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand

2025-12-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-10-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-10-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-12-05
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-12-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-12-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2019-06-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2018-05-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2017-06-08
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2016-04-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2016-04-01
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-05-07
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2015-03-31
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-04-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2014-04-09
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2013-03-31
➕
NESS, Kenneth Mackenzie appointed
secretary
2013-03-31
➖
MCINTYRE, Stewart Wallace resigned
secretary
2004-10-06
➕
NESS, Kenneth Mackenzie appointed
director
2004-10-06
➕
MCINTYRE, Stewart Wallace appointed
secretary
2004-10-06
➖
MACROBERTS - (FIRM) resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
2004-10-06
➖
MACROBERTS CORPORATE SERVICES LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-director
2004-08-18
🏢
Company incorporated
As HOWCO SPECIAL PROCESSING LIMITED
2004-08-18
➕
MACROBERTS - (FIRM) appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
2004-08-18
➕
MACROBERTS CORPORATE SERVICES LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

85/100

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.

Succession & seller-readiness

75/100

Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS

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.)

Group structure

Sumitomo Corporation is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️

Sumitomo Corporation

Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares

ultimate parent

⬇

HOWCO SPECIAL PROCESSING LIMITED

This company · SC272142

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
Sumitomo Corporation Corporate entity	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	06/04/2016

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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HOLMES FLEET ASSIST LTD→ SC850650 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
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HYND ENGINEERING SERVICES LTD→ SC292945 · est 2005 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	20y	—	—
IBISVISION LIMITED→ SC463676 · est 2013 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	12y	—	—
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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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated2004-08-18

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC24200 — SIC 24200

Registered office

Fountain House 2nd Floor

1-3 Woodside Crescent

Glasgow

G3 7UL

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-12-31

Last made up to: 2025-03-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-04-14

Last: 2026-03-31

Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)

NESS, Kenneth Mackenzie→

secretary · appointed 2013-03-31

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

NESS, Kenneth Mackenzie→

director · ~57y · appointed 2004-10-06

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MCINTYRE, Stewart Wallace→

secretary · appointed 2004-10-06 · resigned 2013-03-31

Resigned

MACROBERTS - (FIRM)→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2004-08-18 · resigned 2004-10-06

Resigned

MACROBERTS CORPORATE SERVICES LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2004-08-18 · resigned 2004-10-06

Resigned

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