COLIN WHITELAW LTD
🏛️Establishedactive
SC571480 · ltd · incorporated 2017-07-18
Investment thesis
Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.
Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.
Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Jul 2025
Net worth
£2.0k
book net assets
Opportunity
76/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Other business support service activities n.e.c.
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
PursueAsset-holding vehicle with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 76/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (60/100, director aged 65). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. 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
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 2 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
19 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
76/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)Positive net assets
Net assets £2,029
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
£2k
↑ 76% YoY
Current Assets
£14k
↑ 21% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)| Metric | 2025-07-31 | 2024-07-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £2.0k | £1.2k |
| Current assets | £13.5k | £11.2k |
| Net assets | £2.0k | £1.2k |
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 (14 events)Click to expand
- 2025-08-11📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-08-07📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-08-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-08-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2021-08-19📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-08-14📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-08-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-08-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-01-15📄capital-allotment-sharescapital · SH01
- 2017-08-18📄appoint-person-director-company-with-name-dateofficers · AP01
- 2017-07-18🏢Company incorporatedAs COLIN WHITELAW LTD
- 2017-07-18➕WHITELAW, Colin Irvine appointeddirector
- 2017-07-18➕WHITELAW, Valerie appointeddirector
- 2017-07-18📄incorporation-companyincorporation · NEWINC
Owner dependency
100/100
Critical — business is the founderThe business appears inseparable from the founder. Acquisition without a serious earn-out or meaningful transition period would likely destroy value.
FACTORS
- +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
- +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "WHITELAW" — strong identity link between founder and business.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
- +No director turnover: Company is 9 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.
Succession & seller-readiness
56/100
Strong succession signalMultiple 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.
- secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
Red flags
cleanNo 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%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Colin Irvine Whitelaw Individual · Scottish · DOB 08/1961 · age 65 | 75–100% | 75–100% | board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control | 18/07/2017 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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| EDINBURGH CONTRACTS LTD→ SC733017 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| EDINBURGH GARDENERS LIMITED→ SC505295 · est 2015 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 10y | — | — |
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| EDINBURGH K9 FERTILITY CLINIC LTD→ SC770661 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| EDINBURGH PROPERTY SERVICES LTD→ SC634636 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| EDINBURGH SQUEAKY CLEAN LTD→ SC864477 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| EDINBURGH YOUNG CARERS→ SC212971 · est 2000 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 25y | — | — |
| EDINBURGHLUXSTAYS LTD→ SC858478 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| EDINVALE LIMITED→ SC150651 · est 1994 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 31y | — | — |
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
Incorporated2017-07-18
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC82990 — Other business support service activities n.e.c.
Registered office
87 Parkgrove Road
Edinburgh
Midlothian
EH4 7RN
Scotland
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-04-30
Last made up to: 2025-07-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-31
Last: 2025-07-17
Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)
WHITELAW, Colin Irvine→
Activedirector · ~65y · appointed 2017-07-18
View their other companies + combined net worth →
WHITELAW, Valerie→
Activedirector · ~63y · appointed 2017-07-18
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (19 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-08-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-08-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-08-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-08-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-08-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-08-14
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-08-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-08-05
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-07-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-08-09