FIRTHSIDE LEASING LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC747800 · ltd · incorporated 2022-10-19

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 steady · low confidence

Steady and stalled — no momentum either way. Needs an approach trigger.

What changed my view

Last 30 days

No material changes in the last 30 days.

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 Oct 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

75/100

Strong

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What this business does

Primary activity: Other specialised construction activities n.e.c.

Sector: Construction

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 77-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 70/100. Strong seller-intent signal (60/100, director aged 77). 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 (75/100)

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

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

7 filings

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

75/100Strong

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.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

—

Current Assets

—

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-10-31	2024-10-31
Average employees	200	100

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (7 events)Click to expand

2026-03-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-03-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-07-03
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-10-19
🏢
Company incorporated
As FIRTHSIDE LEASING LIMITED
2022-10-19
➕
MCPHERSON, Elspeth appointed
secretary
2022-10-19
➕
MCPHERSON, William Innes appointed
director
2022-10-19
📄
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

90/100

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 age: Director aged approximately 77 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

75/100

Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 77 years old. Natural succession window is now.
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 William Innes Mcpherson Individual · British · DOB 06/1949 · age 77	75–100%	75–100%	board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control	19/10/2022

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

Similar companies

Active · Construction · IV postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
COMPASS BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION SERVICES LTD→ SC355872 · est 2009	£8.17M £5.83M–£10.50M	—	—	128	17y	82	53y
G & A BARNIE GROUP LIMITED→ SC265415 · est 2004	£5.89M £4.21M–£7.58M	—	—	426	22y	84	68y
HIGHLAND METALS LIMITED→ SC061436 · est 1976	£3.87M £2.77M–£4.98M	—	—	35	49y	88	71y
HIGHLAND DEEPHAVEN LIMITED→ SC050016 · est 1972	£1.97M £1.41M–£2.54M	—	—	4	54y	83	71y
CRANLOCH LIMITED→ SC237023 · est 2002	—	—	£10.4k	—	23y	83	68y
DARROCH & ALLAN (JOINERS & BUILDERS) LIMITED→ SC227618 · est 2002	—	—	£2.04M	—	24y	83	65y
DUNELAND LIMITED→ SC174358 · est 1997	—	—	—	200	29y	83	74y
ERG (SCOTLAND) LIMITED→ SC195590 · est 1999	—	—	—	—	27y	83	59y
HIGHLAND HEATING MANAGEMENT LIMITED→ SC296985 · est 2006	—	—	—	20	20y	83	58y
LEWISTON ARMS LIMITED→ SC319673 · est 2007	—	—	£32.6k	—	19y	83	73y
ST BUILDING SERVICES (FORRES) LIMITED→ SC358458 · est 2009	—	—	—	1000	17y	83	64y
A. DINGWALL LTD.→ SC250022 · est 2003	—	—	£21.0k	—	23y	82	66y

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.

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

Incorporated2022-10-19

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC43999 — Other specialised construction activities n.e.c.

Registered office

9 Stuart Place

Hopeman

Elgin

IV30 5AE

Scotland

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-07-31

Last made up to: 2025-10-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-11-01

Last: 2025-10-18

Officers (2 active · 0 resigned)

MCPHERSON, Elspeth→

secretary · appointed 2022-10-19

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MCPHERSON, William Innes→

director · ~77y · appointed 2022-10-19

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

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

Recent filings (7 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2026-03-16

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-11-03

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2025-03-27

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-10-22

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2024-07-03

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2023-11-07

incorporation-company

incorporation · NEWINC

2022-10-19