SMCL ENGINEERING LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC699938 · ltd · incorporated 2021-05-26
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 May 2025
Net worth
£38.8k
book net assets
Opportunity
70/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other engineering activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and acceptable with review structure.

Opportunity 70/100 (strong), bankability 70/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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 (58/100).

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
2 officers (2 active, 2 linked, 1 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
12 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
60
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
55
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
82
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Positive net assets
Net assets £38,818

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
£39k
↑ 41% YoY
Current Assets
£45k
↓ 7.1% YoY
Current Liabilities
£0£10k£19k£29k£38k£48kMay 2024May 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2025-05-312024-05-31
Total assets£38.8k£27.5k
Current assets£44.6k£48.0k
Net assets£38.8k£27.5k

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
1
filing
  • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (11 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-09-10
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  3. 2025-07-01
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  4. 2024-07-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2024-03-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-08-02
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  7. 2023-04-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2021-05-26
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As SMCL ENGINEERING LIMITED
  9. 2021-05-26
    MCLAUGHLIN, Stuart appointed
    secretary
  10. 2021-05-26
    MCLAUGHLIN, Stuart appointed
    director
  11. 2021-05-26
    📄
    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 low
Multiple registered office changes
low

Multiple address changes in a short period can indicate operational instability or admin disorder.

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Stuart Mclaughlin
Individual · British · DOB 08/1989 · age 37
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control26/05/2021

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 →

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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.

See pricing →

Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2021-05-26
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC71129 — Other engineering activities

Registered office

Trident House 175 Renfrew Road
Room P.0.2b
Paisley
PA3 4EF
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-08
Last: 2025-05-25

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

MCLAUGHLIN, Stuart
secretary · appointed 2021-05-26
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MCLAUGHLIN, Stuart
director · ~37y · appointed 2021-05-26
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-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-12-17
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-09-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-01
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-07-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-07-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-03-05
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-08-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-07-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-04-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-29
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC
2021-05-26