HIGHLAND STAFF SOLUTIONS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC398429 · ltd · incorporated 2011-04-27
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.
Why now
Window steady · medium confidence
Mixed signals — 2 changes over 30 days, no clear direction yet.
  • · Refinance opportunity: ready → clean_up_first
  • · Legal friction: low → moderate
Opportunity decay
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
  • · Oldest live charge 15.0y old — refinance window within 12 months
What changed my view
Last 30 days

Mixed signals in the last 30 days — 0 improved, 0 worsened.

  • ·Refinance opportunity: ready → clean_up_first
  • ·Legal friction: low → moderate
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
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Apr 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
🔔
Follow this company (free)
Email alerts on filings, charges, director changes, gazette notices. No account needed.

Unsubscribe any time from any email. GDPR-respectful.

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch
What this business does
Primary activity: Temporary employment agency activities
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company. Family succession underway — not a classic acquisition target.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Same-surname younger director in place — likely family handover, not open to sale. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 15.0y

65/100
clean up first

Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.

  • · Oldest live charge is 15.0 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Legal-friction score 25/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

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
75
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
39 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
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
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Apr 2024Apr 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-04-302024-04-30
Average employees1200010800

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 →

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-06-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-11-11
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  3. 2024-09-27
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  4. 2024-09-25
    ➕
    ASTLEY-JONES, Morag appointed
    director
  5. 2024-08-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-10-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-08-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-09-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-04-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-03-15
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  11. 2021-03-15
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  12. 2021-03-15
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  13. 2021-03-15
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  14. 2019-08-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2018-10-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2017-09-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  17. 2017-09-11
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  18. 2011-07-08
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Lloyds Tsb Commercial Finance Limited
  19. 2011-04-27
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As HIGHLAND STAFF SOLUTIONS LIMITED
  20. 2011-04-27
    ➕
    ASTLEY-JONES, Mark William appointed
    director

Owner dependency

89/100
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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 15 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 60 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 15 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

19/100
No succession signal

No meaningful acquirability indicators from public data.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFamily succession underway: Not a takeover target — ASTLEY-JONES, Morag (same surname) appointed 2024-09-25. Pattern consistent with intra-family handover.
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 60. Early succession window.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 15 years.
  • 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 Mark William Astley-Jones
Individual · British · DOB 10/1966 · age 60
75–100%
—75-100% shares10/07/2016

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

Similar companies

Active · Professional services · IV postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
CMM ACCOUNTANCY (INVERNESS) LIMITED→
SC279223 · est 2005
————21y8358y
COPERNICUS TECHNOLOGY LTD→
SC350102 · est 2008
——£373.8k—17y8362y
SELF STORAGE - 4 U LIMITED→
SC261522 · est 2004
———922y8382y
ACSMID (HOLDINGS) LIMITED→
SC177791 · est 1997
——£41.8k—28y8271y
ANSER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES LIMITED→
SC246199 · est 2003
——£56.4k—23y8262y
BAYHANARTS LIMITED→
SC097397 · est 1986
———040y8284y
CALEDONIAN ENERGY MANAGEMENT LIMITED→
SC193616 · est 1999
——£22.4k—27y8264y
COLIN ARMSTRONG ASSOCIATES LIMITED→
SC259880 · est 2003
——£1.64M—22y8267y
ECHOMASTER MARINE LIMITED→
SC286015 · est 2005
———1121y8280y
F.M.S. VEHICLE RENTAL LIMITED→
SC283861 · est 2005
———021y8264y
HIGHLAND AQUA TEAM LTD→
SC390606 · est 2010
———110015y8265y
JAMIESON MANAGEMENT (SCOTLAND) LTD.→
SC252738 · est 2003
——£1.62M—23y8272y
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.

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
Incorporated2011-04-27
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC78200 — Temporary employment agency activities

Registered office

1a Longman Drive
Inverness
IV1 1SU
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-02-06
Last: 2026-01-23

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

ASTLEY-JONES, Mark William→
director · ~60y · appointed 2011-04-27
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ASTLEY-JONES, Morag→
director · ~50y · appointed 2024-09-25
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyds Tsb Commercial Finance Limited
Bond & floating charge1 property08/07/2011—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (39 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-01-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-06-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-14
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-11-11
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2024-09-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-08-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-02-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-10-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-08-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-04-06
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-15
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-03-15