HIGHLANDS BIDCO LIMITED
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Cash
£3.6m
+94.8% highest in 3 filed years
Net assets
-£46m
-25% lowest in 3 filed years
Employees
128
-6.6% lowest in 3 filed years
Profit before tax
-£9.5m
-22.2% lowest in 3 filed years
Watchouts
Facts from the Companies House register and the latest accounts — not a rating
-
Negative shareholders' funds
Net assets
3-year trend · vs Telecommunications median
Accounts
3-year trend · Δ = latest vs prior filed period · latest reflected 2025-12-31
| Metric | Trend | 2023-12-31 | 2024-12-31 | 2025-12-31 | Δ vs prior |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turnover | £36,291,351 | £36,911,203 | £36,944,202 | +0.1% | |
| Operating profit | -£1,033,257 | -£55,322 | -£1,367,927 | -2,372.7% | |
| Profit before tax | -£6,571,890 | -£7,736,353 | -£9,452,502 | -22.2% | |
| Net profit | -£7,434,658 | -£7,723,752 | -£9,296,523 | -20.4% | |
| Cash | £773,987 | £1,860,601 | £3,624,469 | +94.8% | |
| Total assets less current liabilities | £48,230,285 | £50,942,720 | £49,985,642 | -1.9% | |
| Net assets | -£28,189,762 | -£37,125,804 | -£46,422,327 | -25% | |
| Equity | -£28,189,762 | -£37,125,804 | -£46,422,327 | -25% | |
| Average employees | 139 | 137 | 128 | -6.6% | |
| Wages | £7,559,388 | £8,106,752 | £7,998,269 | -1.3% | |
| Directors' remuneration | £808,700 | £813,895 | £917,524 | +12.7% |
Values shown as filed in the company's annual accounts. — indicates the figure wasn't present under that line item in that period. The Δ column is the change from the prior filed period as a percentage of |prior|; lines a company doesn't report show —. About these numbers
Ratios
Computed from the line items above — sparklines read oldest → newest
| Ratio | Trend | 2023-12-31 | 2024-12-31 | 2025-12-31 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating margin | -2.8% | -0.1% | -3.7% | |
| Net margin | -20.5% | -20.9% | -25.2% | |
| Return on capital employed | -2.1% | -0.1% | -2.7% | |
| Gearing (liabilities / total assets) | 150.1% | 159.1% | 180.3% | |
| Current ratio | 1.47x | 1.48x | 2.22x | |
| Interest cover | -0.19x | -0.01x | -0.17x |
Margins divide P&L lines by turnover. Gearing is liabilities over total assets. Current ratio is current assets over creditors falling due within one year. Interest cover is operating profit over absolute finance costs. Sector-distribution context coming next.
Audit & accounting basis
- Accounting basis
- FRS 102
- Reporting scope
- Consolidated group
- Auditor
- RSM UK Audit LLP
- Audit opinion
- Unqualified (clean)
- Going concern
- Affirmed
“The directors have assessed that the funds available and the actions and strategies available to them to mitigate business threats under stress testing and under other scenarios reviewed, the forecasts demonstrated that the group could operate within its available funding. Therefore, as there is a reasonable expectation that the group has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future, the directors have concluded this does not represent a material uncertainty with regards to going concern.”
Group structure
- HIGHLANDS BIDCO LIMITED · parent
- Commsworld Holdings Limited 100%
- Commsworld Limited 100%
- Edinburgh Computer Services (Scotland) Limited 100%
- Fluency Communications Limited 100%
Significant events
- “The business is now established as a viable alternative to the larger service providers that have held a dominant position with corporate and public sector organisations and has again expanded its public sector customer base in 2025 as new contracts commenced.”
Auditor, going-concern and subsidiary information is drawn from the narrative of the latest annual accounts. About these numbers
People
7 active · 6 resigned
| Name | Role | Appointed | Born | Nationality |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GARNER, John | Director | 2022-01-28 | Aug 1973 | British |
| LANGMEAD, Stephen John | Director | 2019-12-18 | Aug 1968 | British |
| LEITCH, Andrew Jack | Director | 2022-04-11 | Jul 1967 | British |
| NICOL, Richard | Director | 2019-12-18 | Nov 1961 | Scottish |
| STRANG, Bruce Alan | Director | 2020-06-10 | Jul 1965 | British |
| TROWER, John Charles | Director | 2019-12-18 | Mar 1966 | British |
| VITTY, Martyn John | Director | 2021-08-05 | Oct 1975 | British |
Show 6 resigned officers
| Name | Role | Appointed | Resigned |
|---|---|---|---|
| BENNETT, Colin | Director | 2019-12-18 | 2020-02-28 |
| GARNER, John | Director | 2020-02-28 | 2021-08-05 |
| KERR, Mark Robert | Director | 2019-12-18 | 2022-01-28 |
| QUINN, Charles William | Director | 2020-06-10 | 2021-08-09 |
| ST JOHN, Graeme Sloan | Director | 2019-11-07 | 2022-04-19 |
| WHITE, John | Director | 2020-10-01 | 2023-03-31 |
Ownership
Persons with significant control
| Name | Kind | Nature of control | Notified | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ldc (Nominees) Limited | Corporate entity | Shares 25–50%, Voting 25–50% | 2019-12-18 | Active |
| Ldc Gp Llp | Corporate entity | Appoints directors | 2019-12-18 | Active |
| Mr Graeme Sloan St John | Individual | Shares 75–100%, Voting 75–100%, Appoints directors | 2019-11-07 | Ceased 2019-12-18 |
Filing timeline
Last 20 of 61 total filings
Material constitutional events — rename, articles re-file, resolution
- 2024-10-08 RESOLUTIONS Resolution
| Date | Type | Category | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-07-30 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type group | |
| 2026-04-13 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2025-07-22 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type group | |
| 2025-04-15 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2024-10-08 | RESOLUTIONS | resolution | Resolution | |
| 2024-08-12 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type group | |
| 2024-05-16 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2024-02-09 | RP04CS01 | confirmation-statement | Second filing of confirmation statement with made up date | |
| 2023-12-20 | MR04 | mortgage | Mortgage satisfy charge full | |
| 2023-10-12 | AA | accounts | Accounts with accounts type group | |
| 2023-10-01 | 466(Scot) | mortgage | Mortgage alter floating charge with number | |
| 2023-09-29 | 466(Scot) | mortgage | Mortgage alter floating charge with number | |
| 2023-09-27 | MR01 | mortgage | Mortgage create with deed with charge number charge creation date | |
| 2023-09-26 | MR01 | mortgage | Mortgage create with deed with charge number charge creation date | |
| 2023-09-22 | MR04 | mortgage | Mortgage satisfy charge full | |
| 2023-09-22 | MR04 | mortgage | Mortgage satisfy charge full | |
| 2023-05-16 | CS01 | confirmation-statement | Confirmation statement with no updates | |
| 2023-05-16 | TM01 | officers | Termination director company with name termination date | |
| 2023-01-31 | AD01 | address | Change registered office address company with date old address new address | |
| 2022-12-21 | AD01 | address | Change registered office address company with date old address new address |
Public-record activity
Raw counts from Companies House — last 12–24 months
- Filings
- 2
- Capital events
- 0
- Officers appointed
- 0
- Officers resigned
- 0
last 12 months
last 24 months
last 12 months
last 12 months
Direct counts from the register. No score, no rating — see the Filing timeline for the underlying events.