JAMES MCCOWAN CONTRACTING LTD

🏛️Establishedactive
SC661804 · ltd · incorporated 2020-05-21
Investment thesis
Unencumbered property vehicle — clean asset-backed target with refinance headroom.
Why interesting: Property-holding entity with no live charges; straightforward asset-backed case.
Why risky: Values depend on title and valuation; property-specific market exposure.
🔒Estimated value
—
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Turnover
—
year to May 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
76/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other letting and operating of own or leased real estate
Sector: Real estate
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 71129Other engineering activities
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

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. 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, 2 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
12 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£0May 2024May 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · IFRS
Metric2025-05-312024-05-31
Average employees200200

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 (10 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-11-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-10-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-09-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-11-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-09-14
    ➕
    MCCOWAN, Jacqueline Catherine appointed
    director
  6. 2022-09-14
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  7. 2021-12-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-05-21
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As JAMES MCCOWAN CONTRACTING LTD
  9. 2020-05-21
    ➕
    MCCOWAN, James Alistair appointed
    director
  10. 2020-05-21
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

94/100
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
  • +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 "MCCOWAN" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 64 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 6 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

56/100
Strong succession signal

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 64. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.

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
Mr James Alistair Mccowan
Individual · British · DOB 04/1964 · age 62
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control21/05/2020

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

6 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
Incorporated2020-05-21
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC68209 — Other letting and operating of own or leased real estate

Registered office

Mavisbank
Ancaster Road
Callander
FK17 8EL
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-04
Last: 2025-05-21

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

MCCOWAN, Jacqueline Catherine→
director · ~64y · appointed 2022-09-14
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MCCOWAN, James Alistair→
director · ~62y · appointed 2020-05-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (12 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-11-10
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-10-29
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-07
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-11-22
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2022-09-14
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-08
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-25
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC
2020-05-21