J. & R. AITKEN LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC013536 · ltd · incorporated 1925-02-28
Investment thesis
Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.
Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.
Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.
🔒Estimated value
Upgrade to see
Turnover
not disclosed
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
66/100
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.

Investor take
Pass (distressed without resilience)
Distressed active trading company — structural issues outweigh the discount.

Opportunity 66/100 (strong), bankability 50/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: File overdue accounts. Clears statutory overdue flag — immediate bankability uplift for refinance conversations. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (45/100).

Data confidence

Overall: low (41/100)

Sparse data coverage. Treat AI-generated outputs as preliminary. Manual diligence essential.

Company profile
address, no SIC, incorporation date
80
Financials
No iXBRL financials extracted
0
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
3 officers (3 active, 3 linked, 1 with DOB)
77
Ownership & PSC
No PSCs filed (unusual — worth investigating)
35
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
1 filing — limited history
30
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
66/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
55
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
67
Some moderate concerns — review flags.
Signal strength
80
Good data coverage for analysis.

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (2 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-11-10
    📄
    court-order
    miscellaneous · OC-DV
  2. 1925-02-28
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As J. & R. AITKEN LIMITED

Owner dependency

96/100
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
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "AITKEN" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 102 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

76/100
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 102 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 101 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.

Red flags

1 high ·
Accounts overdue
high

Statutory accounts have not been filed by their due date. Can indicate admin breakdown, cash preservation, or deliberate delay.

Evidence: Next due: 1999-01-31

Similar companies

Active · same sector · ML postcode area
CompanyEst. valueTurnoverNet worthStaffAgeOppDirector
STARFISH 9 LTD
SC358097 · est 2009
£28.53M
£20.38M£36.68M
£26.35M550017y9568y
IMV TECHNOLOGIES UK HOLDINGS LIMITED
SC184117 · est 1998
£14.81M
£10.92M£18.71M
028y8461y
BSB STRUCTURAL LTD.
SC277667 · est 2004
£13.76M
£10.70M£16.82M
£20.18M730021y8565y
DAVIDSON BROTHERS (SHOTTS) LIMITED
SC025270 · est 1947
£13.67M
£10.07M£17.27M
6979y8479y
BSB STRUCTURAL TOPCO LIMITED
SC358057 · est 2009
£13.36M
£9.84M£16.87M
50017y8665y
PING NETWORK SOLUTIONS LIMITED
SC365069 · est 2009
£9.93M
£7.10M£12.77M
£25.49M1030016y8574y
TRIDENT MAINTENANCE SERVICES LTD
SC503188 · est 2015
£9.78M
£7.21M£12.36M
10111y8576y
BROWN MCFARLANE LIMITED
SC121113 · est 1989
£6.25M
£4.87M£7.64M
9236y8760y
RAINBOW BLINDS AND FABRICS LIMITED
SC191505 · est 1998
£1.52M
£1.18M£1.86M
£4.18M510027y8864y
BRYSON TRACTORS LIMITED
SC235088 · est 2002
£949.1k
£738.2k£1.16M
4123y8762y
PARKBURN PRECISION HANDLING SYSTEMS LIMITED
SC158127 · est 1995
£570.0k
£443.3k£696.7k
6831y8569y
HODGE HEAVY HAULAGE LIMITED
SC197139 · est 1999
£43.6k
£32.7k£54.5k
£125.7k10026y8564y
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.

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
Incorporated1925-02-28
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC

Registered office

18 Forsyth Street
Airdrie
ML6 6DG

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 1999-01-31OVERDUE
Last made up to:
Confirmation statement
Next due:
Last:

Officers (3 active · 0 resigned)

AITKEN, John
secretary
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
AITKEN, John
director
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
AITKEN, Robert
director · ~102y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (1 total)

court-order
miscellaneous · OC-DV
2025-11-10