JACK GOWANS & MARC DICKSON SOLICITORS & NOTARIES LTD.

💤Zombieactive
SC344298 · ltd · incorporated 2008-06-12
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 Aug 2025
Net worth
£1.01M
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other business support service activities n.e.c.
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with exceptional profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 58). 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
4 officers (1 active, 4 linked, 2 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
60 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 £1,013,482
Cash YoY
+25%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£1.1m
↑ 25% YoY
Net Worth
£1.0m
↑ 24% YoY
Current Assets
£1.2m
↑ 20% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£238k£476k£714k£951k£1.2mAug 2024Aug 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-08-312024-08-31
Total assets£1.01M£818.5k
Current assets£1.19M£992.7k
Cash£1.09M£872.5k
Debtors£98.2k£120.2k
Net assets£1.01M£817.6k

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
4
filings
  • • 2 capital
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 officers
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  2. 2026-01-14
    📄
    capital-cancellation-shares
    capital · SH06
  3. 2026-01-13
    📄
    capital-return-purchase-own-shares
    capital · SH03
  4. 2025-11-17
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  5. 2025-11-01
    ➖
    SIMPSON, Joyce resigned
    director
  6. 2024-12-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  7. 2024-01-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  8. 2023-06-16
    📍
    move-registers-to-registered-office-company-with-new-address
    address · AD04
  9. 2022-12-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  10. 2022-01-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-12-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  12. 2020-03-13
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  13. 2020-03-12
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  14. 2020-03-12
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  15. 2019-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  16. 2019-01-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  17. 2018-06-19
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  18. 2018-06-19
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  19. 2008-08-12
    ➕
    DICKSON, Marc appointed
    director
  20. 2008-08-12
    ➕
    SIMPSON, Joyce appointed
    director
  21. 2008-06-12
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As JACK GOWANS & MARC DICKSON SOLICITORS & NOTARIES LTD.
  22. 2008-06-12
    ➕
    BRIAN REID LTD. appointed
    corporate-secretary
  23. 2008-06-12
    ➖
    BRIAN REID LTD. resigned
    corporate-secretary
  24. 2008-06-12
    ➕
    STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. appointed
    corporate-director
  25. 2008-06-12
    ➖
    STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD. resigned
    corporate-director

Owner dependency

100/100
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.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "DICKSON" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 18 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 58 — approaching natural succession window.

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 58. 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
Ms Joyce Simpson
Individual · British · DOB 11/1962 · age 64
25–50%
25–50%board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control06/04/2018
Mr Marc Dickson
Individual · British · DOB 03/1968 · age 58
25–50%
25–50%board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control06/04/2016

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

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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
Incorporated2008-06-12
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC82990 — Other business support service activities n.e.c.

Registered office

46 Church Street
Inverness
IV1 1EH

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-05-31
Last made up to: 2025-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-26
Last: 2025-06-12

Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)

DICKSON, Marc→
director · ~58y · appointed 2008-08-12
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BRIAN REID LTD.→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2008-06-12 · resigned 2008-06-12
Resigned
SIMPSON, Joyce→
director · ~64y · appointed 2008-08-12 · resigned 2025-11-01
Resigned
STEPHEN MABBOTT LTD.→
corporate-director · appointed 2008-06-12 · resigned 2008-06-12
Resigned

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

Recent filings (60 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2026-03-11
capital-cancellation-shares
capital · SH06
2026-01-14
capital-return-purchase-own-shares
capital · SH03
2026-01-13
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-11-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-12-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-01-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-16
move-registers-to-registered-office-company-with-new-address
address · AD04
2023-06-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-12-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-01-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2020-12-11