JOHN O'DONNELL ENGINEERING SERVICES LIMITED
🌿Early-stageactive
SC788488 · ltd · incorporated 2023-11-07
Investment thesis
Growth-phase business — story-led; valuation sensitive to momentum.
Why interesting: Trading is scaling; acquirers paying for trajectory get disproportionate leverage.
Why risky: Price often leads fundamentals; dependency on founder often high.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Nov 2024
Net worth
£29.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Other engineering activities
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
PursueAsset-holding vehicle with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 70/100. Strong seller-intent signal (60/100, director aged 65). 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 (69/100)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
1 year of iXBRL accounts extracted (no YoY comparison) + narrative notes parsed
50
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
8 filings
60
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
75/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
60
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.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £29,455
Key financials
1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
£29k
Current Assets
£39k
Current Liabilities
—
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2024-11-30 |
|---|---|
| Total assets | £29.5k |
| Current assets | £38.5k |
| Net assets | £29.5k |
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
Recent activity
Last 30 days
2
filings
- • 2 persons-with-significant-control
Last 90 days
2
filings
- • 2 persons-with-significant-control
Last 180 days
3
filings
- • 2 persons-with-significant-control
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (8 events)Click to expand
- 2026-04-16📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2026-04-16📄cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC07
- 2025-07-15📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-11-07📄notification-of-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC01
- 2024-07-09📄capital-allotment-sharescapital · SH01
- 2023-11-07🏢Company incorporatedAs JOHN O'DONNELL ENGINEERING SERVICES LIMITED
- 2023-11-07➕O'DONNELL, John Francis appointeddirector
- 2023-11-07📄incorporation-companyincorporation · NEWINC
Owner dependency
100/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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 "O'DONNELL" — strong identity link between founder and business.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.
- +Young company: Only 2.5 years old — management layer unlikely to be developed.
Succession & seller-readiness
65/100
Strong succession signalMultiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 65. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
Red flags
cleanNo red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)
Shareholders & ownership
2 active beneficial owners · dominant holder ≥75%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
John Francis O'Donnell Individual · British · DOB 10/1961 · age 65 | 75–100% | 75–100% | board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control | 07/11/2023 |
Mrs Anne O'Donnell Individual · British · DOB 03/1963 · age 63 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 16/04/2026 |
1 historic (ceased) PSC
- Mrs Anne O'Donnellceased 16/04/2026· 25-50% shares
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
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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See pricing →Company details
Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2023-11-07
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC71129 — Other engineering activities
Registered office
16 Cloch Road
Gourock
PA19 1AD
Scotland
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-08-31
Last made up to: 2024-11-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-20
Last: 2025-11-06
Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)
O'DONNELL, John Francis→
Activedirector · ~65y · appointed 2023-11-07
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (8 total)
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2026-04-16
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2026-04-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-07-15
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-11-07
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2024-11-07
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2024-07-09
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC
2023-11-07