J. A. WILSON CONTRACTORS LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC410204 · ltd · incorporated 2011-10-28
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 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Construction of roads and motorways
Sector: Construction
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 78/100 (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 (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
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
5 officers (1 active, 5 linked, 5 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
47 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
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£0Jul 2024Jul 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-07-312024-07-31
Average employees100100

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-04-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-03-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-01-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-04-22
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  6. 2022-04-21
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control-without-name-date
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  7. 2022-04-21
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  8. 2021-12-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-11-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2020-03-03
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  11. 2020-02-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-11-20
    ➖
    MACDONALD, Margaret Christine resigned
    director
  13. 2019-11-20
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  14. 2019-04-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2018-03-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2017-11-03
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  17. 2017-04-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  18. 2016-10-03
    ➕
    MACDONALD, Margaret Christine appointed
    director
  19. 2016-08-10
    ➖
    MACDONALD, Margaret Christine resigned
    director
  20. 2016-02-16
    ➕
    WILSON, James Alexander appointed
    director
  21. 2014-02-13
    ➖
    WILSON, James Alexander resigned
    director
  22. 2013-04-01
    ➕
    WILSON, James Alexander appointed
    director
  23. 2011-10-28
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As J. A. WILSON CONTRACTORS LTD
  24. 2011-10-28
    ➕
    MABBOTT, Stephen George appointed
    director
  25. 2011-10-28
    ➖
    MABBOTT, Stephen George resigned
    director
  26. 2011-10-28
    ➕
    MACDONALD, Margaret Christine appointed
    director

Owner dependency

98/100
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 "WILSON" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

70/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 64. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • 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 James Alexander Wilson
Individual · British · DOB 03/1962 · age 64
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control01/07/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr James Alexander Wilsonceased 02/07/2016· 75-100% shares

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.

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
Incorporated2011-10-28
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC42110 — Construction of roads and motorways

Registered office

Laundry Cottage Mertoun Estate
St Boswells
Melrose
Roxburghshire
TD6 0EA
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-04-30
Last made up to: 2025-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-11
Last: 2025-10-28

Officers (1 active · 4 resigned)

WILSON, James Alexander→
director · ~64y · appointed 2016-02-16
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MABBOTT, Stephen George→
director · ~76y · appointed 2011-10-28 · resigned 2011-10-28
Resigned
MACDONALD, Margaret Christine→
director · ~65y · appointed 2016-10-03 · resigned 2019-11-20
Resigned
MACDONALD, Margaret Christine→
director · ~65y · appointed 2011-10-28 · resigned 2016-08-10
Resigned
WILSON, James Alexander→
director · ~64y · appointed 2013-04-01 · resigned 2014-02-13
Resigned

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

Recent filings (47 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2026-01-24
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-04-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-03-26
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-01-06
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-28
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-04-22
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control-without-name-date
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-04-21
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2022-04-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-10-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-11-27
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-10-30