COLIN HAPPER LTD

🌳Matureactive

SC366668 · ltd · incorporated 2009-10-12

Investment thesis

Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.

Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.

Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.

Opportunity decay

hardening · 12-months

Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.

· Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Oct 2025

Net worth

£10.7k

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 69-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 69). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (78/100)

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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

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

Ownership & PSC

2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

33 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £10,672

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

£11k

↑ 76% YoY

Current Assets

£12k

↑ 3.0% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-10-31	2024-10-31
Total assets	£10.7k	£6.1k
Current assets	£12.0k	£11.6k
Net assets	£10.7k	£6.1k

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand

2026-02-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-07-05
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accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-03-07
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-04-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-06-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-05-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-03-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-05-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-07-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-07-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-07-05
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2015-11-02
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-07-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-12-07
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-04-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2009-10-12
🏢
Company incorporated
As COLIN HAPPER LTD
2009-10-12
➕
HAPPER, Colin appointed
director
2009-10-12
➕
HAPPER, Julie appointed
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

+Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
+Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "HAPPER" — strong identity link between founder and business.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 17 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 69 — succession pressure is live.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
+No director turnover: Company is 17 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

79/100

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 69. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 17 years.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 17 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

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Colin Happer Individual · British · DOB 02/1957 · age 69	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	12/10/2016
Mrs Julie Happer Individual · British · DOB 04/1959 · age 67	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	12/10/2016

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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated2009-10-12

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC74909 — Other professional, scientific and technical activities n.e.c.

Registered office

7 Baird Terrace

Edinburgh

EH12 5RR

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-07-31

Last made up to: 2025-10-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-10-26

Last: 2025-10-12

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

HAPPER, Colin→

director · ~69y · appointed 2009-10-12

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

HAPPER, Julie→

director · ~67y · appointed 2009-10-12

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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