FIRE SCOTLAND LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC337996 · ltd · incorporated 2008-02-18
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
—
year to Oct 2024
Net worth
£425.6k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other professional, scientific and technical activities n.e.c.
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 61-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 61). 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 (76/100)

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
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 1 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
40 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 £425,565
Net assets shrinking
Down £177,539 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£426k
↓ 29% YoY
Current Assets
£615k
↓ 1.3% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£125k£249k£374k£498k£623kOct 2023Oct 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-10-312023-10-31
Total assets£610.2k£604.1k
Current assets£614.8k£622.7k
Net assets£425.6k£603.1k

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 address
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 address
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-09
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  2. 2025-03-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-03-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-07-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-06-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-07-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-07-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-12-27
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  9. 2019-06-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-07-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-06-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-06-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-02-22
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2015-07-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2015-03-03
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2008-02-18
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As FIRE SCOTLAND LTD
  17. 2008-02-18
    ➕
    MCPHEATORS, Paula Anne appointed
    secretary
  18. 2008-02-18
    ➕
    MCPHEATORS, Alexander appointed
    director

Owner dependency

98/100
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 18 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 61 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 18 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

78/100
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 61. Early succession window.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 18 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 18 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 Alexander Mcpheators
Individual · British · DOB 09/1965 · age 61
25–50%
—25-50% shares06/04/2016
Mrs Paula Anne Mcpheators
Individual · British · DOB 06/1969 · age 57
25–50%
—25-50% shares06/04/2016

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

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CHARLES RIVER LABORATORIES EDINBURGH LIMITED→
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£135.39M—13590041y8567y
ROBERTSON EDUCATION (ABERDEENSHIRE) HOLDINGS LIMITED→
SC209010 · est 2000
£5.47M
£4.03M–£6.91M
——025y8560y
DSF (2003) LIMITED→
SC144009 · est 1993
£4.70M
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——733y8761y
FCC (EAST AYRSHIRE) HOLDINGS LIMITED→
SC300470 · est 2006
£3.99M
£2.94M–£5.03M
——020y8760y
BLYTH & BLYTH CONSULTING ENGINEERS LIMITED→
SC241155 · est 2002
£2.78M
£2.05M–£3.52M
——9323y8785y
SIBCAS LIMITED→
SC052604 · est 1973
£1.88M
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——16553y8868y
HORIZON (GP) LIMITED→
SC493523 · est 2014
£45.2k
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——611y9566y
BURNDENE INVESTMENTS LIMITED→
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£14.3k
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3 ED HOLDINGS 2 LIMITED→
SC328040 · est 2007 · no financials extracted
————18y8365y
ABACUS FINANCIAL MARKETING LIMITED→
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——£3.4k—26y8359y
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————16y8358y
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———130020y8359y
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 →
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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
Incorporated2008-02-18
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC74909 — Other professional, scientific and technical activities n.e.c.

Registered office

7 Cadwell Crescent
Gorebridge
Midlothian
EH23 4NF
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-07-31
Last made up to: 2024-10-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-04
Last: 2026-02-18

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

MCPHEATORS, Paula Anne→
secretary · appointed 2008-02-18
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MCPHEATORS, Alexander→
director · ~61y · appointed 2008-02-18
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (40 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-09
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2026-03-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-03-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-03-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-07-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-06-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-07-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-07-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-02-24
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2019-12-27