MCLAREN PRODUCTS W/A LTD

💤Zombieactive
SC766904 · ltd · incorporated 2023-04-21
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 closing · high confidence
Getting harder to buy cheaply — 4 signals strengthening over the last 30 days.
  • · Hygiene score: 70 → 90
  • · Opportunity score: 61 → 70
  • · Bankability: 60 → 70
  • · Filings: 8 → 9
Opportunity decay
hardening · 6-months
Hardening — profile is tightening. If you want to act, do it before the window closes further.
  • · 4 recent signals strengthening vs 0 weakening
What changed my view
Last 30 days

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

  • Opportunity score: 6170
  • Hygiene score: 7090
  • Bankability: 6070
  • Filings: 89
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 Apr 2025
Net worth
£-2.3k
book net assets
Opportunity
70/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

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: distressed disposal / insolvency (65/100).

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
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
9 filings
60
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
50
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Negative net assets
Liabilities exceed assets by £2,257

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
-£2k
↓ 85% YoY
Current Assets
£3k
↑ 828% YoY
Current Liabilities
-£2k-£1k-£241£767£2k£3kApr 2024Apr 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2025-04-302024-04-30
Total assets£-2.3k£-1.2k
Current assets£2.8k£300
Net assets£-2.3k£-1.2k

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
1
filing
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (8 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-11-12
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  2. 2025-11-12
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  3. 2025-11-12
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  4. 2025-07-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2024-11-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-04-21
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As MCLAREN PRODUCTS W/A LTD
  7. 2023-04-21
    MCLAREN, Nicholas appointed
    director
  8. 2023-04-21
    📄
    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 name in company name: Company name contains director surname "MCLAREN" — strong identity link between founder and business.

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

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 Nicholas Mclaren
Individual · Scottish · DOB 08/1999 · age 27
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control21/04/2023

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
Incorporated2023-04-21
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC47910 — Retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet

Registered office

67 Younger Gardens
St. Andrews
Fife
KY16 8AB
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-05-04
Last: 2026-04-20

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

MCLAREN, Nicholas
director · ~27y · appointed 2023-04-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (9 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-05-26
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-11-12
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-11-12
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-11-12
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-07-22
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-11-27
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-22
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC
2023-04-21