H A MURPHY LTD.

💤Zombieactive
SC399352 · ltd · incorporated 2011-05-11
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.
Why now
Window steady · low confidence
Steady and stalled — no momentum either way. Needs an approach trigger.
What changed my view
Last 30 days

No material changes in the last 30 days.

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 Dec 2024
Net worth
£178.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Bookkeeping activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 65). 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
3 officers (1 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)
83
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
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 £178,488

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£178k
↑ 10% YoY
Current Assets
£182k
↑ 11% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£36k£73k£109k£146k£182kDec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Total assets£178.5k£162.2k
Current assets£182.3k£164.1k
Net assets£178.5k£162.2k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-05-22
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  3. 2025-05-22
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  4. 2024-09-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-05-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-05-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2022-03-21
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  8. 2021-08-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-05-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-09-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2019-05-22
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  12. 2018-09-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2017-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-10-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-06-23
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2011-05-11
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As H A MURPHY LTD.
  17. 2011-05-11
    ➕
    MURPHY, Hazel Amanda appointed
    director
  18. 2011-05-11
    ➕
    BRIAN REID LTD. appointed
    corporate-secretary
  19. 2011-05-11
    ➖
    BRIAN REID LTD. resigned
    corporate-secretary
  20. 2011-05-11
    ➕
    MABBOTT, Stephen George appointed
    director
  21. 2011-05-11
    ➖
    MABBOTT, Stephen George resigned
    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 "MURPHY" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 15 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.

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 65. 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 15 years.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 15 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
Mrs Hazel Amanda Murphy
Individual · British · DOB 09/1961 · age 65
75–100%
—75-100% shares06/04/2016

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

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AYRSHIRE ALUMINIUM CO. LIMITED→
SC075647 · est 1981
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£1.75M–£3.00M
——044y8261y
ARPL ARCHITECTS LTD.→
SC116832 · est 1989
———70037y8367y
AUSTIN LAFFERTY LIMITED→
SC277684 · est 2004
——£745.0k—21y8362y
CYCLERATE LIMITED→
SC334375 · est 2007
————18y8358y
WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT HOLDINGS LIMITED→
SC201429 · est 1999 · no financials extracted
————26y8359y
WEST COAST CAPITAL (RETAIL PARKS) LIMITED→
SC219194 · est 2001
———025y8377y
WEST COAST CAPITAL HOLDINGS LIMITED→
SC190805 · est 1998
———227y8377y
WEST COAST CAPITAL PRESTVEN INVESTMENTS LIMITED→
SC298919 · est 2006
——£2—20y8377y
ADAM WILSON & SONS (HOLDINGS) LIMITED→
SC230058 · est 2002 · no financials extracted
————24y8286y
ADELPHI PLANT HIRE (SCOTLAND) LTD→
SC239828 · est 2002
———223y8265y
ALBA PLANNING CONSULTANTS LIMITED→
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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

8 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
Incorporated2011-05-11
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC69202 — Bookkeeping activities

Registered office

61 Mossbank
Prestwick
KA9 1DT
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-05-25
Last: 2026-05-11

Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)

MURPHY, Hazel Amanda→
director · ~65y · appointed 2011-05-11
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BRIAN REID LTD.→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2011-05-11 · resigned 2011-05-11
Resigned
MABBOTT, Stephen George→
director · ~76y · appointed 2011-05-11 · resigned 2011-05-11
Resigned

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

Recent filings (39 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-05-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-09-04
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-05-22
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-05-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-09-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-05-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-05-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-14
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-03-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-08-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-05-13