HJM TRADING LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC668550 · ltd · incorporated 2020-07-23
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.
Why now
Window opening · high confidence
More negotiable than before — 4 signals weakening over the last 30 days.
  • · Hygiene score: 90 → 50
  • · Bankability: 75 → 55
  • · Deal-killer verdict: workable → complicated
  • · Opportunity score: 71 → 61
Opportunity decay
softening · 6-months
Softening — cumulative signals suggest this becomes more negotiable over the next 3–6 months.
  • · 4 recent signals weakening vs 0 strengthening
What changed my view
Last 30 days

Picture worsened over the last 30 days — 4 negative signals vs 0 positive.

  • Deal-killer verdict: workablecomplicated
  • Opportunity score: 7161
  • Hygiene score: 9050
  • Bankability: 7555
  • ·Distress / opportunity: avoidspeculative
Last 90 days

No snapshot from 90 days ago — start tracking from today.

Last 180 days

No snapshot from 180 days ago — start tracking from today.

🔒Estimated value
Upgrade to see
Turnover
year to Aug 2024
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
61/100
Worth a look
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What this business does
Primary activity: Retail sale in non-specialised stores with food, beverages or tobacco predominating
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 61/100 (worth a look), bankability 55/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: File overdue accounts. Clears statutory overdue flag — immediate bankability uplift for refinance conversations. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (38/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (79/100)

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
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
12 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
61/100Worth a look
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Mixed signal. Worth opening the full target workup before deciding to pursue.

Business quality
50
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
50
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
67
Some moderate concerns — review 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£0Aug 2023Aug 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-08-312023-08-31
Average employees300300

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

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 (9 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-05-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-03-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-04-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-01-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-01-24
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
    accounts · AA01
  6. 2020-10-06
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  7. 2020-07-23
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As HJM TRADING LTD
  8. 2020-07-23
    MCLELLAND, Kevin Paul appointed
    director
  9. 2020-07-23
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

80/100
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.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 6 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

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 high ·
Accounts overdue
high

Statutory accounts have not been filed by their due date. Can indicate admin breakdown, cash preservation, or deliberate delay.

Evidence: Next due: 2026-05-31

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Kevin Paul Mclelland
Individual · British · DOB 04/1990 · age 36
75100%
75-100% shares23/07/2020

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.

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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

9 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.

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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
Incorporated2020-07-23
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC47110 — Retail sale in non-specialised stores with food, beverages or tobacco predominating

Registered office

Unit 6 - 8 Innerlithen Drive
Wishaw
Lanarkshire
ML2 8SA
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-05-31OVERDUE
Last made up to: 2024-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-08-05
Last: 2025-07-22

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

MCLELLAND, Kevin Paul
director · ~36y · appointed 2020-07-23
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)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-05-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-03-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-08-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-04-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-01-24
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
accounts · AA01
2022-01-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-16
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2020-10-06
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC
2020-07-23