D MCDONNELL ENGINEERING LIMITED

🌿Early-stageactive
SC800801 · ltd · incorporated 2024-02-27
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.
Why now
Window steady · low confidence
Stable recent picture — watch for any upcoming trigger event.
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 Feb 2025
Net worth
£4.3k
book net assets
Opportunity
70/100
Strong
🔔
Follow this company (free)
Email alerts on filings, charges, director changes, gazette notices. No account needed.

Unsubscribe any time from any email. GDPR-respectful.

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 (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
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
4 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)
Positive net assets
Net assets £4,348

Key financials

1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
£4k
Current Assets
£10k
Current Liabilities

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2025-02-28
Total assets£4.3k
Current assets£9.6k
Net assets£4.3k

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 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (4 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-06-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-02-27
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As D MCDONNELL ENGINEERING LIMITED
  3. 2024-02-27
    MCDONNELL, Daryn James appointed
    director
  4. 2024-02-27
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

95/100
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 "MCDONNELL" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Young company: Only 2.3 years old — management layer unlikely to be developed.

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 Daryn James Mcdonnell
Individual · British · DOB 09/1990 · age 36
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control27/02/2024

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

Similar companies

Active · Professional services · ZE postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
MICHAEL POTTINGER ENGINEERING LIMITED
SC395494 · est 2011
315y8262y
A B ASSOCIATES LIMITED
SC151350 · est 1994
£51.3k32y8182y
HAFM LIMITED
SC397698 · est 2011
£16.4k15y8070y
JOHNSTONS SALES & SERVICES LIMITED
SC309125 · est 2006
£450.6k19y8084y
L & M ENGINEERING (UK) LIMITED
SC428479 · est 2012 · no financials extracted
13y8078y
TREGONNING AND CO LIMITED
SC345791 · est 2008
017y8060y
BOLTS CAR HIRE LIMITED
SC154841 · est 1994 · no financials extracted
31y7975y
CIVIL AND STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING SHETLAND LIMITED
SC531924 · est 2016
£268.1k10y7972y
FRANK L. JOHNSTON (SHETLAND) LIMITED
SC066562 · est 1978
£1.22M47y7984y
HAMEPARK HOLDINGS LIMITED
SC451413 · est 2013
£1.96M13y7859y
JIM CLARK ACCOUNTANCY LTD.
SC402670 · est 2011
£142.3k14y7858y
JOHN LEASK CONSULTING LTD
SC481647 · est 2014
10011y7867y
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
Incorporated2024-02-27
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC71129 — Other engineering activities

Registered office

18 Hulsidale
Hamnavoe
Shetland
ZE2 9LF
Scotland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-11-30
Last made up to: 2025-02-28
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-03-12
Last: 2026-02-26

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

MCDONNELL, Daryn James
director · ~36y · appointed 2024-02-27
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (4 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-03-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-06-05
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-27
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC
2024-02-27