MERLIN TREE SERVICES LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC590199 · ltd · incorporated 2018-03-02
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
£34.0k
book net assets
Opportunity
70/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 02400
Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 70/100 (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: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -53% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (58/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (76/100)

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
3 officers (1 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
20 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
70/100Strong
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
77
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102
Positive net assets
Net assets £34,043
Cash draining
Cash down 53% YoY
Cash YoY
-53%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£9k
↓ 53% YoY
Net Worth
£34k
↑ 5.7% YoY
Current Assets
£32k
↑ 4.1% YoY
Current Liabilities
£0£7k£14k£20k£27k£34kMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£46.2k£41.3k
Current assets£32.4k£31.1k
Cash£8.9k£19.0k
Debtors£23.5k£12.1k
Net assets£34.0k£32.2k

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 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 (18 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-03
    MCDOWALL, Kenneth resigned
    secretary
  2. 2025-09-03
    MCDOWALL, Kenneth resigned
    director
  3. 2025-09-03
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  4. 2025-09-03
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  5. 2025-06-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2024-05-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2023-07-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2022-06-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-05-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2021-03-25
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  11. 2021-03-24
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  12. 2020-08-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-11-14
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  14. 2018-03-02
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As MERLIN TREE SERVICES LIMITED
  15. 2018-03-02
    MCDOWALL, Alan appointed
    director
  16. 2018-03-02
    MCDOWALL, Kenneth appointed
    secretary
  17. 2018-03-02
    MCDOWALL, Kenneth appointed
    director
  18. 2018-03-02
    📄
    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

1 med ·
2 director resignations in last 12 months
medium

Multiple recent departures can indicate governance disagreement, succession event, or preparation for sale/stress.

Evidence: MCDOWALL, Kenneth resigned 2025-09-03; MCDOWALL, Kenneth resigned 2025-09-03

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mcdowall Alan
Individual · British · DOB 08/1982 · age 44
75100%
75-100% shares01/03/2021
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Kenneth Mcdowallceased 01/03/2021· 75-100% shares

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

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
Incorporated2018-03-02
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC02400 — SIC 02400

Registered office

8 Moorburn Avenue
Giffnock
Glasgow
G46 7AL
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-15
Last: 2026-03-01

Officers (1 active · 2 resigned)

MCDOWALL, Alan
director · ~44y · appointed 2018-03-02
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MCDOWALL, Kenneth
secretary · appointed 2018-03-02 · resigned 2025-09-03
Resigned
MCDOWALL, Kenneth
director · ~71y · appointed 2018-03-02 · resigned 2025-09-03
Resigned

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

Recent filings (20 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-23
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-09-03
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2025-09-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-06-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-03-02
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-07-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-06-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-05-24
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-25
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2021-03-25
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2021-03-24