HUTCHESON ASSOCIATES LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC571228 · ltd · incorporated 2017-07-14
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
72/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Public relations and communications activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 72/100 (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 (58/100).

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
2 officers (1 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
23 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
72/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
55
Some acquirability indicators.
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 · IFRS
Metric2025-07-312024-07-31
Average employees100200

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
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-08-11
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  3. 2025-08-01
    ➖
    FIEGNA, Caterina, Dr resigned
    director
  4. 2024-10-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2024-01-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-07-17
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  7. 2023-01-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2022-07-25
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  9. 2022-07-25
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  10. 2021-12-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2021-05-12
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  12. 2020-08-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2020-08-19
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  14. 2019-08-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2018-09-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2017-07-14
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As HUTCHESON ASSOCIATES LTD
  17. 2017-07-14
    ➕
    STUART, Niall, Mr. appointed
    director
  18. 2017-07-14
    ➕
    FIEGNA, Caterina, Dr appointed
    director
  19. 2017-07-14
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

75/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

45/100
Moderate signal

Some succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Dr Caterina Fiegna
Individual · British · DOB 10/1976 · age 50
—25–50%25-50% voting10/07/2023
Mr. Niall Stuart
Individual · British · DOB 05/1973 · age 53
25–50%
25–50%board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control · trust interest14/07/2017

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

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BLYTH & BLYTH CONSULTING ENGINEERS LIMITED→
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£2.78M
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——9323y8785y
SIBCAS LIMITED→
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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
Incorporated2017-07-14
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC70210 — Public relations and communications activities

Registered office

3 Queen Street
Edinburgh
EH2 1JE
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-04-30
Last made up to: 2025-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-27
Last: 2025-07-13

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

STUART, Niall, Mr.→
director · ~53y · appointed 2017-07-14
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FIEGNA, Caterina, Dr→
director · ~50y · appointed 2017-07-14 · resigned 2025-08-01
Resigned

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

Recent filings (23 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-05
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-08-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-10-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-01-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-17
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2023-07-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-01-05
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-07-25
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-07-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-14
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2021-05-12