MCEACHERN ARCHITECTS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC404061 · ltd · incorporated 2011-07-25

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 Jul 2024

Net worth

£15.5k

book net assets

Opportunity

78/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: Architectural activities

Sector: Professional, scientific & technical

Investor take

Pursue

Asset-holding vehicle with a 67-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 67). 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 (77/100)

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

4 officers (1 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

34 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

78/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

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 £15,508

Cash YoY

+122%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£20k

↑ 122% YoY

Net Worth

£16k

~ YoY

Current Assets

£21k

↓ 39% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2024-07-31	2023-07-31
Total assets	£15.9k	£15.9k
Current assets	£21.4k	£35.1k
Cash	£20.5k	£9.2k
Debtors	£985	£25.9k
Net assets	£15.5k	£15.5k

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

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (23 events)Click to expand

2025-04-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-07-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-04-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-04-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-04-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-04-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-04-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-04-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-04-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-04-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-04-04
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-04-20
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date
annual-return · AR01
2015-01-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-04-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-04-03
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date
annual-return · AR01
2011-07-25
🏢
Company incorporated
As MCEACHERN ARCHITECTS LIMITED
2011-07-25
➕
MCEACHERN, Gordon John appointed
director
2011-07-25
➕
TRAINER, Peter appointed
secretary
2011-07-25
➖
TRAINER, Peter resigned
secretary
2011-07-25
➕
MCINTOSH, Susan appointed
nominee-director
2011-07-25
➖
MCINTOSH, Susan resigned
nominee-director
2011-07-25
➕
TRAINER, Peter appointed
director
2011-07-25
➖
TRAINER, Peter 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 "MCEACHERN" — strong identity link between founder and business.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 67 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

78/100

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 67. 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.
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 Gordon John Mceachern Individual · British · DOB 05/1959 · age 67	25–50%	25–50%	25-50% shares · 25-50% voting	06/04/2016
Mrs Julie Mceachern Individual · British · DOB 11/1959 · age 67	25–50%	25–50%	25-50% shares · 25-50% voting	06/04/2016

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

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 →

🔒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

Incorporated2011-07-25

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC71111 — Architectural activities

Registered office

Unit 5 Gateway Business Park

Beancross Road

Grangemouth

Stirlingshire

FK3 8WX

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-07-31

Last made up to: 2024-07-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-04-17

Last: 2026-04-03

Officers (1 active · 3 resigned)

MCEACHERN, Gordon John→

director · ~67y · appointed 2011-07-25

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

TRAINER, Peter→

secretary · appointed 2011-07-25 · resigned 2011-07-25

Resigned

MCINTOSH, Susan→

nominee-director · ~56y · appointed 2011-07-25 · resigned 2011-07-25

Resigned

TRAINER, Peter→

director · ~74y · appointed 2011-07-25 · resigned 2011-07-25

Resigned

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