HIGHLAND ICE LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC305146 · ltd · incorporated 2006-07-07
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
—
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Turnover
—
year to Nov 2025
Net worth
£30.9k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Non-specialised wholesale trade
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 63-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 63). 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 (79/100)

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 (1 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
52 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 £30,943
Net assets shrinking
Down £18,250 YoY
Cash YoY
-23%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£35k
↓ 23% YoY
Net Worth
£31k
↓ 37% YoY
Current Assets
£40k
↓ 33% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£12k£24k£36k£48k£60kNov 2024Nov 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-11-302024-11-30
Total assets£34.7k£53.7k
Current assets£39.7k£59.6k
Cash£34.6k£44.8k
Debtors£5.1k£14.7k
Net assets£30.9k£49.2k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-07-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-08-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-04-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-04-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-03-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-03-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-01-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-07-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-07-09
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  11. 2017-07-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-08-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2015-08-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2015-07-23
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-01-24
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  16. 2011-09-30
    ➖
    WATKINS, Laurence John resigned
    secretary
  17. 2011-09-30
    ➖
    HUGHSON, Alasdair George resigned
    director
  18. 2011-09-30
    ➖
    WATKINS, Laurence John resigned
    director
  19. 2006-07-07
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As HIGHLAND ICE LTD
  20. 2006-07-07
    ➕
    MCKIE, Gordon James appointed
    director
  21. 2006-07-07
    ➕
    WATKINS, Laurence John appointed
    secretary
  22. 2006-07-07
    ➕
    HUGHSON, Alasdair George appointed
    director
  23. 2006-07-07
    ➕
    WATKINS, Laurence John appointed
    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 20 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 63 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

88/100
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 63. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 20 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 20 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 Gordon James Mckie
Individual · British · DOB 01/1963 · age 63
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control15/07/2016

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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——19972y8862y
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——£326.0k—33y8287y
HIGHLAND CLEARANCE LIMITED→
SC088323 · est 1984
———30041y8276y
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————29y8297y
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———100022y8258y
MUNRO FRUIT MERCHANTS LTD.→
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——£86.3k—29y8263y
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——£141.4k—29y8273y
C S MACHINERY SALES LTD→
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——£521.5k—11y8066y
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——£2.42M—23y8067y
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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
Incorporated2006-07-07
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC46900 — Non-specialised wholesale trade

Registered office

17 Millbank Road
Millbank Road
Dingwall
Ross-Shire
IV15 9UH

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-08-31
Last made up to: 2025-11-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-21
Last: 2025-07-07

Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)

MCKIE, Gordon James→
director · ~63y · appointed 2006-07-07
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
WATKINS, Laurence John→
secretary · appointed 2006-07-07 · resigned 2011-09-30
Resigned
HUGHSON, Alasdair George→
director · ~52y · appointed 2006-07-07 · resigned 2011-09-30
Resigned
WATKINS, Laurence John→
director · ~84y · appointed 2006-07-07 · resigned 2011-09-30
Resigned

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

Recent filings (52 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-04-08
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-07-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-08-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-18
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-04-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-04-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-03-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-07-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-03-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-07-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-01-26