PAYMENT PROTECTION SERVICES LTD.

💤Zombieactive

SC404848 · ltd · incorporated 2011-08-05

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 2024

Net worth

£349.9k

book net assets

Opportunity

72/100

Strong

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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 strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 72/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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 (58/100).

Data confidence

Overall: high (80/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

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

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

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

2 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

50 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

72/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Some acquirability indicators.

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 £349,918

Cash YoY

+2%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£37k

↑ 1.6% YoY

Net Worth

£350k

~ YoY

Current Assets

—

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2024-08-31	2023-08-31
Cash	£36.6k	£36.0k
Net assets	£349.9k	£349.9k

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

🔒Filing-note intelligence

3 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

filings

• 4 address

Last 90 days

filings

• 4 address

Last 180 days

filings

• 4 address
• 1 gazette
• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand

2026-04-24
📍
default-companies-house-service-address-applied-psc
address · RP10
2026-04-24
📍
default-companies-house-service-address-applied-psc
address · RP10
2026-04-24
📍
default-companies-house-service-address-applied-officer
address · RP09
2026-04-24
📍
default-companies-house-registered-office-address-applied
address · RP05
2025-12-20
📄
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2025-12-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-10-28
📄
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2024-08-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-08-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-05-30
📄
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2022-08-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-05-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-08-12
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2020-08-12
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2020-05-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-04-17
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2019-05-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-03-12
📄
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2011-08-05
🏢
Company incorporated
As PAYMENT PROTECTION SERVICES LTD.
2011-08-05
➕
MCCANN, Stephen Gerard appointed
director

Owner dependency

80/100

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.
+No director turnover: Company is 15 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

58/100

Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS

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

1 low

Multiple registered office changes

low

Multiple address changes in a short period can indicate operational instability or admin disorder.

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Stephen Gerard Mccann Individual · Scottish · DOB 05/1977 · age 49	25–50%	25–50%	sig. influence25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · significant influence	01/07/2016
Mrs Anne Marie Mccann Individual · British · DOB 06/1974 · age 52	25–50%	25–50%	board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control	01/07/2016

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

🔒Co-director network graph

Radial SVG graph showing every company connected via shared directors, colour-coded by status.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

Similar companies

Active · Trade services · EH postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
ELGIN INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED→ SC366432 · est 2009	£50.96M £38.22M–£63.70M	—	—	0	16y	94	64y
STIRLING GATEWAY LIMITED→ SC291034 · est 2005	£5.98M £4.49M–£7.48M	—	—	0	20y	88	70y
PPP SERVICES (NORTH AYRSHIRE) LIMITED→ SC294870 · est 2005	£5.04M £3.78M–£6.30M	—	—	0	20y	87	60y
DISCOVERY EDUCATION PLC→ SC313681 · est 2006	£4.97M £3.73M–£6.22M	—	—	0	19y	90	61y
PPP SERVICES (NORTH AYRSHIRE) HOLDINGS LIMITED→ SC294861 · est 2005	£4.61M £3.46M–£5.76M	—	—	0	20y	87	60y
DSF HOLDINGS LIMITED→ SC239681 · est 2002	£3.91M £2.93M–£4.89M	—	—	7	23y	87	61y
FCC (EAST AYRSHIRE) LIMITED→ SC300469 · est 2006	£3.70M £2.78M–£4.63M	—	—	0	20y	87	60y
SCOTS BEARINGS LIMITED→ SC299694 · est 2006	£3.65M £2.74M–£4.57M	£17.30M	—	5900	20y	88	71y
FORFAR HEALTHCARE LIMITED→ SC243126 · est 2003	£3.12M £2.34M–£3.90M	—	—	0	23y	85	60y
ROBERTSON HEALTH (NEW CRAIGS) HOLDINGS LIMITED→ SC190054 · est 1998	£1.48M £1.11M–£1.85M	—	—	0	27y	87	81y
APS GROUP (SCOTLAND) LIMITED→ SC369510 · est 2009	£227.4k £170.5k–£284.2k	—	—	127	16y	88	61y
JOHN MENZIES INTERNATIONAL LIMITED→ SC092454 · est 1985	—	—	—	0	41y	86	66y

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

Incorporated2011-08-05

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC82990 — Other business support service activities n.e.c.

Registered office

SC404848 - COMPANIES HOUSE DEFAULT ADDRESS

Edinburgh

EH7 9HR

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-05-30

Last made up to: 2024-08-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-08-19

Last: 2025-08-05

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

MCCANN, Stephen Gerard→

director · ~49y · appointed 2011-08-05

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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

Recent filings (50 total)

default-companies-house-service-address-applied-psc

address · RP10

2026-04-24

default-companies-house-service-address-applied-psc

address · RP10

2026-04-24

default-companies-house-service-address-applied-officer

address · RP09

2026-04-24

default-companies-house-registered-office-address-applied

address · RP05

2026-04-24

gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date

gazette · DISS40

2025-12-20

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2025-12-18

gazette-notice-compulsory

gazette · GAZ1

2025-10-28

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-08-19

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2024-08-30

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-08-28

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2023-08-30

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2023-08-25

change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened

accounts · AA01

2023-05-30

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2022-09-07

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2022-08-31