JOHN CARMICHAEL & SON LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC481518 · ltd · incorporated 2014-07-04
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 Jun 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Painting
Sector: Construction
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 65). 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
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
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
26 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£0Jun 2024Jun 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-06-302024-06-30
Average employees2200

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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-03-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-11-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-09-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-06-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-06-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-03-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-11-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-10-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2017-09-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-07-01
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  12. 2017-06-13
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  13. 2016-05-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2015-08-13
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2014-07-23
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-current-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  16. 2014-07-04
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As JOHN CARMICHAEL & SON LTD
  17. 2014-07-04
    ➕
    CARMICHAEL, John Herriot 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 "CARMICHAEL" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — 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

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 65. 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 John Herriot Carmichael
Individual · Scottish · DOB 12/1961 · age 65
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control06/04/2016

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
Incorporated2014-07-04
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC43341 — Painting

Registered office

1 Craig Road
Ferryden
Montrose
Angus
DD10 9RH

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-03-31
Last made up to: 2025-06-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-18
Last: 2025-07-04

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

CARMICHAEL, John Herriot→
director · ~65y · appointed 2014-07-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (26 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-03-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-03-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-11-14
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-10
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-06-23
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-06-30
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-07-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-03-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-11-07
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-07-04