ALEXANDER WATT (CONTRACTING) LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC536253 · ltd · incorporated 2016-05-24
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 steady · medium confidence
Mixed signals — 1 changes over 30 days, no clear direction yet.
  • · Filings: 23 → 24
What changed my view
Last 30 days

Picture improved over the last 30 days — 1 positive signal vs 0 negative.

  • Filings: 2324
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 Jan 2025
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
🔔
Follow this company (free)
Email alerts on filings, charges, director changes, gazette notices. No account needed.

Unsubscribe any time from any email. GDPR-respectful.

What this business does
Primary activity: Support activities for crop production
Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. 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 8.3y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 8.3 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
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
24 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.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
Current Assets
Current Liabilities
£0£0£0£0£0£0Jan 2024Jan 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-01-312024-01-31
Average employees1100

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
1
filing
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (17 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-05-27
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  3. 2024-10-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-10-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-11-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-10-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-01-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-10-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-10-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-03-24
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  11. 2018-03-20
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Clydesdale Bank PLC
  12. 2017-10-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2017-01-11
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-current-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  14. 2016-05-27
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  15. 2016-05-24
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ALEXANDER WATT (CONTRACTING) LTD
  16. 2016-05-24
    WATT, James appointed
    director
  17. 2016-05-24
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

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 "WATT" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 60 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 10 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

60/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 60. Early succession window.
  • 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 Watt
Individual · British · DOB 05/1966 · age 60
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control24/05/2016

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

Similar companies

Active · Agriculture · G postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
TRAIGH MHOR OYSTERS LIMITED
SC459505 · est 2013
£94.7k
£72.8k£116.5k
40012y8068y
ARDARDAN ESTATE LTD.
SC302812 · est 2006
£892.6k20y8373y
CASSILTOUN TRUST
SC205629 · est 2000 · no financials extracted
26y8386y
ALBAR LANDSCAPES LIMITED
SC111284 · est 1988
£1.54M38y8265y
BRORA FISHING COMPANY LIMITED
SC233209 · est 2002
£606.1k23y8274y
INSHORE FISHING LTD
SC263540 · est 2004
20022y8271y
J. ORR & COMPANY LIMITED
SC230625 · est 2002
£1.87M24y8282y
J.R. MACGREGOR (DYKE) LIMITED
SC135312 · est 1991
£780.9k34y8285y
MOSSNEUK FARM (FORESIDE) LIMITED
SC223005 · est 2001
£501.2k24y8272y
ALTA LIMITED
SC166236 · est 1996
4330y8062y
ANNANDALE TREE SURGERY LIMITED
SC258313 · est 2003
£62.5k22y8062y
BOOMHOUR BROOK FOREST LIMITED
SC335637 · est 2007
18y8081y
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
Incorporated2016-05-24
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC01610 — Support activities for crop production

Registered office

Benthall Farm
East Kilbride
Glasgow
G75 9DT
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-10-31
Last made up to: 2025-01-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-06-06
Last: 2026-05-23

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

WATT, James
director · ~60y · appointed 2016-05-24
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
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Virgin Money
Clydesdale Bank PLC
A registered charge1 property20/03/2018
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (24 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-06-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-10-31
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-09
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-05-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-10-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-10-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-11-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-10-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-01-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-06-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-10-28