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KEN HOPE (KELSO) LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC277224 · ltd · incorporated 2004-12-08
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 · high confidence
Thesis has shifted recently — watch for confirmation.
  • · Lifecycle stage: mature → zombie
  • · Investment thesis: well_run_hard_buy → zombie_hold
  • · Deal-killer verdict: clean → complicated
  • · Opportunity score: 82 → 70
Opportunity decay
drifting distress · 6-months
Drifting toward distress — expect more negotiability in 3–6 months, but also more friction.
  • · Lifecycle stage drifting downward
  • · Currently "zombie"
What changed my view
Last 30 days

Picture worsened over the last 30 days — 5 negative signals vs 2 positive.

  • ↓Lifecycle stage: mature → zombie
  • ·Investment thesis: well_run_hard_buy → zombie_hold
  • ↓Deal-killer verdict: clean → complicated
  • ↓Opportunity score: 82 → 70
  • ↓Bankability: 80 → 75
  • +4 more
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
—
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Turnover
—
year to Dec 2025
Net worth
£877.0k
book net assets
Opportunity
70/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Sale of new cars and light motor vehicles
Sector: Wholesale & retail
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 45112SIC 45112
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 70/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).

Data confidence

Overall: low (47/100)

Sparse data coverage. Treat AI-generated outputs as preliminary. Manual diligence essential.

Company profile
address, 2 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
No charge records returned
50
Directors & officers
No officers data
0
Ownership & PSC
No PSC data returned
40
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
No filing history
0
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
70/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
50
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
70
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £877,048
Cash YoY
-10%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£374k
↓ 10% YoY
Net Worth
£877k
↑ 11% YoY
Current Assets
£973k
↑ 5.9% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£195k£389k£584k£779k£973kDec 2024Dec 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-12-312024-12-31
Total assets£891.6k£805.2k
Current assets£973.2k£919.3k
Cash£373.5k£416.7k
Debtors£83.4k£98.6k
Net assets£877.0k£791.7k

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 signals 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 →
Corporate timeline (1 events)Click to expand
  1. 2004-12-08
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As KEN HOPE (KELSO) LIMITED

Owner dependency

55/100
Moderate — manageable with handover

Some founder dependency, but not acute. A structured handover period should cover most risk.

FACTORS
  • +No director turnover: Company is 22 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

30/100
Weak signal

Limited succession signal. Not a near-term off-market candidate.

Red flags

clean
No red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)

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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.

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🔒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
Incorporated2004-12-08
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC45111 — Sale of new cars and light motor vehicles

Registered office

Academy House
Shedden Park Road
Kelso
TD5 7AL

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-09-30
Last made up to: 2025-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-22
Last: 2025-12-08