MACDONALD'S ENGINEERS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

04508951 · ltd · incorporated 2002-08-12

Investment thesis

Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.

Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.

Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.

Opportunity decay

hardening · 12-months

Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.

· Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Feb 2026

Net worth

£21.7k

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 01629

Sector: Agriculture, forestry & fishing

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

24330SIC 24330
25210SIC 25210

Investor take

Pursue

Asset-holding vehicle with a 78-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 78). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -32% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (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, 3 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

6 officers (4 active, 6 linked, 4 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared

Director network

1 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

59 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £21,651

Net assets shrinking

Down £18,983 YoY

Cash YoY

-32%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£34k

↓ 32% YoY

Net Worth

£22k

↓ 47% YoY

Current Assets

£61k

↓ 22% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2026-02-28	2025-02-28
Total assets	£22.2k	£41.3k
Current assets	£60.6k	£77.5k
Cash	£33.8k	£49.4k
Debtors	£11.1k	£16.4k
Net assets	£21.7k	£40.6k

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

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (24 events)Click to expand

2026-05-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-05-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-05-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-06-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-04-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-04-12
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-05-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-06-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-05-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-05-10
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-06-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-08-28
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-05-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-09-01
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-07-03
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2007-02-09
➖
MACDONALD, Kevin resigned
director
2003-02-07
➕
MACDONALD, Sharon appointed
secretary
2003-02-07
➕
MACDONALD, Paul appointed
director
2003-02-07
➕
MACDONALD, Sharon appointed
director
2003-02-07
➖
CLARK, Stephen John resigned
secretary
2003-02-07
➕
MACDONALD, Kevin appointed
director
2002-08-12
🏢
Company incorporated
As MACDONALD'S ENGINEERS LIMITED
2002-08-12
➕
MACDONALD, David Glyn appointed
director
2002-08-12
➕
CLARK, Stephen John appointed
secretary

Owner dependency

98/100

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

+Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "MACDONALD" — strong identity link between founder and business.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 78 — succession pressure is live.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

90/100

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 78 years old. Natural succession window is now.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 24 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 24 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.

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

2 active beneficial owners

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr David Glyn Macdonald Individual · British · DOB 06/1948 · age 78	25–50%	25–50%	25-50% shares · 25-50% voting	06/04/2016
Mr Paul Macdonald Individual · British · DOB 02/1971 · age 55	25–50%	25–50%	25-50% shares · 25-50% voting	06/04/2016

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 →

Similar companies

Active · Agriculture · LN postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
A B GRANT (LANGRICK) LIMITED→ 09798753 · est 2015 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	10y	—	—
A H BELL & SON LIMITED→ 06822813 · est 2009 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	17y	—	—
A L COX & SONS LIMITED→ 05761439 · est 2006 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	20y	—	—
A. MOOR & SONS LIMITED→ 06532891 · est 2008 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	18y	—	—
A. PARSONSON LIMITED→ 05159885 · est 2004 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	21y	—	—
A. POUCHER AND SONS (BARDNEY DAIRIES) LIMITED→ 01370484 · est 1978 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	47y	—	—
A.A. READ (FARMS) LIMITED→ 05159146 · est 2004 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	21y	—	—
A.C.GILBERT & SON,LIMITED→ 00128636 · est 1913 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	112y	—	—
A.I.WALGATE & SON→ 00532342 · est 1954 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	71y	—	—
ABBEY FARMING LIMITED→ 03745468 · est 1999 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	27y	—	—
ACORN EGGS LIMITED→ 12774062 · est 2020 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	5y	—	—
ADT WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AND PEST CONTROL LIMITED→ 15428460 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	2y	—	—

Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →

🔒Tailored diligence questions

7 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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated2002-08-12

Jurisdictionengland-wales

Primary SIC01629 — SIC 01629

Registered office

11-13 Linden Walk

Louth

Lincolnshire

LN11 9HT

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-11-30

Last made up to: 2026-02-28

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-08-26

Last: 2025-08-12

Officers (4 active · 2 resigned)

MACDONALD, Sharon→

secretary · appointed 2003-02-07

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MACDONALD, David Glyn→

director · ~78y · appointed 2002-08-12

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MACDONALD, Paul→

director · ~55y · appointed 2003-02-07

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MACDONALD, Sharon→

director · ~76y · appointed 2003-02-07

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

CLARK, Stephen John→

secretary · appointed 2002-08-12 · resigned 2003-02-07

Resigned

MACDONALD, Kevin→

director · ~49y · appointed 2003-02-07 · resigned 2007-02-09

Resigned

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