IAN BONTHRONE BUILDING & GROUNDWORKS LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC599772 · ltd · incorporated 2018-06-12
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 Nov 2024
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
76/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Development of building projects
Sector: Construction
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 66-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 76/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (60/100, director aged 66). 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
17 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.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
Current Assets
Current Liabilities
£0£0£0£0£0£0Nov 2023Nov 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-11-302023-11-30
Average employees5400

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 (12 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-08-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-08-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-08-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-07-11
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  5. 2022-11-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-08-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2020-03-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2019-06-18
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-current-extended
    accounts · AA01
  9. 2018-06-19
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  10. 2018-06-12
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As IAN BONTHRONE BUILDING & GROUNDWORKS LTD
  11. 2018-06-12
    BONTHRONE, Ian appointed
    director
  12. 2018-06-12
    📄
    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 "BONTHRONE" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 66 — succession pressure is live.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 8 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

65/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 66. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • 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

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Ian Bonthrone
Individual · Scottish · DOB 06/1960 · age 66
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control12/06/2018

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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2018-06-12
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC41100 — Development of building projects

Registered office

Smithyhouse Nicoll Drive
Bankfoot
Perth
PH1 4BL
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-08-31
Last made up to: 2024-11-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-25
Last: 2025-06-11

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

BONTHRONE, Ian
director · ~66y · appointed 2018-06-12
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (17 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-08-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-08-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-08-20
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2023-07-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-11-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-07-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-08-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-07-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-03-12
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-06-18
change-account-reference-date-company-current-extended
accounts · AA01
2019-06-18