ALISTAIR MCPHAIL LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC421511 · ltd · incorporated 2012-04-10
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 closing · high confidence
Getting harder to buy cheaply — 3 signals strengthening over the last 30 days.
  • · Hygiene score: 70 → 90
  • · Opportunity score: 71 → 79
  • · Bankability: 75 → 85
  • · Distress / opportunity: attractive → avoid
Opportunity decay
hardening · 6-months
Hardening — profile is tightening. If you want to act, do it before the window closes further.
  • · 3 recent signals strengthening vs 0 weakening
What changed my view
Last 30 days

Picture improved over the last 30 days — 3 positive signals vs 0 negative.

  • ↑Opportunity score: 71 → 79
  • ↑Hygiene score: 70 → 90
  • ↑Bankability: 75 → 85
  • ·Distress / opportunity: attractive → avoid
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 May 2025
Net worth
£1.0k
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Dental practice activities
Sector: Human health & social work
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 85/100. 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).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 10.7y

45/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 10.7 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (79/100)

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, 1 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
34 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
79/100Strong
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
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £1,016
Net assets shrinking
Down £24,955 YoY

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£1k
↓ 96% YoY
Current Assets
£53k
↓ 50% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£21k£43k£64k£85k£106kMay 2024May 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-05-312024-05-31
Total assets£106.7k£176.3k
Current assets£53.4k£106.3k
Net assets£1.0k£26.0k

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-11-14
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  3. 2025-11-14
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  4. 2024-10-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-11-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-12-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-11-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-10-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2020-02-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-01-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-04-14
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2016-02-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2015-10-23
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  16. 2015-10-19
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Bank of Scotland PLC
  17. 2015-06-05
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  18. 2012-04-10
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ALISTAIR MCPHAIL LIMITED
  19. 2012-04-10
    ➕
    MCPHAIL, Audrey Helen appointed
    secretary
  20. 2012-04-10
    ➕
    MCPHAIL, Alistair John appointed
    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 "MCPHAIL" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 59 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 14 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

68/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 59. Early succession window.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 14 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 Alistair John Mcphail
Individual · British · DOB 07/1967 · age 59
75–100%
—75-100% shares06/04/2016

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 →

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————27y8383y
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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
Incorporated2012-04-10
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC86230 — Dental practice activities

Registered office

4 Cunningham Gardens
Houston
Johnstone
Renfrewshire
PA6 7GA

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-24
Last: 2026-04-10

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

MCPHAIL, Audrey Helen→
secretary · appointed 2012-04-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MCPHAIL, Alistair John→
director · ~59y · appointed 2012-04-10
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
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
Bank of Scotland PLC
A registered charge—19/10/201514/11/2025

Recent filings (34 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-07-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-01-07
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2025-11-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-10-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-11-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-12-15
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-11-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-10-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-04-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-02-26