HEALTHCARE NEWS SCOTLAND LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC616128 · ltd · incorporated 2018-12-13

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

£-106.4k

book net assets

Opportunity

76/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: Public relations and communications activities

Sector: Professional, scientific & technical

Investor take

Pass (distressed without resilience)

Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 76/100 (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 -92% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. 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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 1 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

1 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

23 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

76/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

Business quality

Adequate — check latest filings for context.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Negative net assets

Liabilities exceed assets by £106,434

Cash draining

Cash down 92% YoY

Cash YoY

-92%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£253

↓ 92% YoY

Net Worth

-£106k

↓ 2.7% YoY

Current Assets

£5k

↑ 42% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-03-31	2024-03-31
Total assets	£-106.4k	£-103.6k
Current assets	£5.2k	£3.6k
Cash	£253	£3.2k
Debtors	£4.9k	£450
Net assets	£-106.4k	£-103.6k

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filings

• 2 officers
• 1 persons-with-significant-control
• 1 address

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (19 events)Click to expand

2026-02-10
📄
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2026-02-10
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2026-02-10
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2026-02-10
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-06-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-08-12
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-08-07
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-06-07
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-12-13
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2021-12-13
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2021-08-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2020-12-22
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2020-12-22
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2020-07-08
📄
change-account-reference-date-company-current-extended
accounts · AA01
2020-06-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2018-12-13
🏢
Company incorporated
As HEALTHCARE NEWS SCOTLAND LIMITED
2018-12-13
➕
MACGILL, Sarah appointed
secretary
2018-12-13
➕
MACGILL, John appointed
director
2018-12-13
📄
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

88/100

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.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 63 — approaching natural succession window.
+No director turnover: Company is 7 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 63. 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%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr John Macgill Individual · British · DOB 07/1963 · age 63	75–100%	75–100%	board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control	13/12/2018

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

🔒Co-director network graph

Radial SVG graph showing every company connected via shared directors, colour-coded by status.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

Similar companies

Active · Professional services · EH postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
CHARLES RIVER LABORATORIES EDINBURGH LIMITED→ SC091725 · est 1985	£131.60M £96.97M–£166.24M	£135.39M	—	135900	41y	85	67y
ROBERTSON EDUCATION (ABERDEENSHIRE) HOLDINGS LIMITED→ SC209010 · est 2000	£5.47M £4.03M–£6.91M	—	—	0	25y	85	60y
DSF (2003) LIMITED→ SC144009 · est 1993	£4.70M £3.46M–£5.93M	—	—	7	33y	87	61y
FCC (EAST AYRSHIRE) HOLDINGS LIMITED→ SC300470 · est 2006	£3.99M £2.94M–£5.03M	—	—	0	20y	87	60y
BLYTH & BLYTH CONSULTING ENGINEERS LIMITED→ SC241155 · est 2002	£2.78M £2.05M–£3.52M	—	—	93	23y	87	85y
SIBCAS LIMITED→ SC052604 · est 1973	£1.88M £1.39M–£2.38M	—	—	165	53y	88	68y
HORIZON (GP) LIMITED→ SC493523 · est 2014	£45.2k £33.3k–£57.1k	—	—	6	11y	95	66y
BURNDENE INVESTMENTS LIMITED→ SC015613 · est 1929	£14.3k £10.5k–£18.0k	—	—	0	96y	83	63y
3 ED HOLDINGS 2 LIMITED→ SC328040 · est 2007 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	18y	83	65y
ABACUS FINANCIAL MARKETING LIMITED→ SC197503 · est 1999	—	—	£3.4k	—	26y	83	59y
ACCOUNTING & TAXATION SERVICE LTD→ SC360357 · est 2009 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	16y	83	58y
BRINDLEY ASSOCIATES LIMITED→ SC290803 · est 2005	—	—	—	1300	20y	83	59y

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

Incorporated2018-12-13

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC70210 — Public relations and communications activities

Registered office

28 Rutland Square

Edinburgh

EH1 2BW

Scotland

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-12-31

Last made up to: 2025-03-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-12-26

Last: 2025-12-12

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

MACGILL, Sarah→

secretary · appointed 2018-12-13

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MACGILL, John→

director · ~63y · appointed 2018-12-13

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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

Recent filings (23 total)

change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date

officers · CH03

2026-02-10

change-person-director-company-with-change-date

officers · CH01

2026-02-10

change-to-a-person-with-significant-control

persons-with-significant-control · PSC04

2026-02-10

change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address

address · AD01

2026-02-10

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-12-16

accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged

accounts · AA

2025-06-16

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-12-12

accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged

accounts · AA

2024-08-12

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2023-12-12

accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged

accounts · AA

2023-08-07

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2022-12-12

accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged

accounts · AA

2022-06-07

change-to-a-person-with-significant-control

persons-with-significant-control · PSC04

2021-12-13

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2021-12-13

change-person-director-company-with-change-date

officers · CH01

2021-12-13