INNOVATION IN ACTION LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC474377 · ltd · incorporated 2014-04-04
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 Apr 2024
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
69/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Management consultancy activities other than financial management
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 69/100 (strong), bankability 65/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 75). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Resolve: Confirmation statement overdue. Annual confirmation statement not filed on time. Required statutory filing — overdue is a strong discipline signal. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

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
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
22 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
69/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
60
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
67
Some moderate concerns — review 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£0Apr 2023Apr 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-04-302023-04-30
Average employees00

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (15 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-04-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-04-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-04-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-04-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-04-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-03-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-02-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2018-03-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2017-03-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  10. 2016-04-07
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  11. 2016-02-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  12. 2015-04-08
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  13. 2014-04-04
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As INNOVATION IN ACTION LTD
  14. 2014-04-04
    BUCHANAN, Nigel Alexander appointed
    director
  15. 2014-04-04
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

95/100
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 age: Director aged approximately 75 — succession pressure is live.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 12 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

83/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 75 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 12 years.

Red flags

1 high ·
Confirmation statement overdue
high

Annual confirmation statement not filed on time. Required statutory filing — overdue is a strong discipline signal.

Evidence: Next due: 2026-04-18

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Nigel Alexander Buchanan
Individual · United Kingdom · DOB 02/1951 · age 75
75100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting01/07/2016

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 →

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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

9 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
Incorporated2014-04-04
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC70229 — Management consultancy activities other than financial management

Registered office

8 Mitchell Street
Leven
Fife
KY8 4HJ

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-04-30
Last made up to: 2024-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-04-18OVERDUE
Last: 2025-04-04

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

BUCHANAN, Nigel Alexander
director · ~75y · appointed 2014-04-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (22 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-04-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-04-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-04-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-04-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-04-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-04-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2020-03-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-04-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-02-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2018-04-09