JOHN GILLESPIE & SONS. LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
SC015983 · ltd · incorporated 1930-05-24
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.
Opportunity decay
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
- · Oldest live charge 32.4y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Dec 2024
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Manufacture of bread; manufacture of fresh pastry goods and cakes
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
PursueActive trading company with a 87-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 87). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
2 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 32.4y
50/100
clean up first
Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.
- · Oldest live charge is 32.4 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
- · Legal-friction score 25/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.
Data confidence
Overall: medium (79/100)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
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
3 officers (3 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
2 connected companies via shared directors
51
Filing history
86 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
79/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2024-12-31 | 2023-12-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Average employees | 1900 | 1900 |
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
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand
- 2025-09-20📄mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-datemortgage · MR01
- 2025-09-13🔒Charge registered #2Lender: The Scottish Ministers
- 2025-09-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2024-09-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-09-05📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-09-06📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-09-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2020-09-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-05-03📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-09-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-09-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2016-09-29📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-11-10📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-09-11📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2014-11-17📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2014-04-16📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 1993-12-11🔒Charge registered #1Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
- 1930-05-24🏢Company incorporatedAs JOHN GILLESPIE & SONS. LIMITED
Owner dependency
96/100
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
- +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 "GILLESPIE" — strong identity link between founder and business.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 87 — 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 candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 87 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 96 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
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| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Iain Alexander William Gillespie Individual · British · DOB 09/1939 · age 87 | 50–75% | 50–75% | board control50-75% shares · 50-75% voting · board control | 06/04/2016 |
Mrs Evelyn Gillespie Individual · British · DOB 05/1941 · age 85 | 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 · Food & drink · DG postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BARONY COUNTRY FOODS LTD.→ SC181901 · est 1998 | — | — | £72.4k | — | 28y | 82 | 67y |
| BROWNS MANUFACTURING LIMITED→ SC105710 · est 1987 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 38y | 80 | 62y |
| IRVINGS HOMESTYLE BAKERY LIMITED→ SC261301 · est 2003 | — | — | £804.3k | — | 22y | 80 | 88y |
| LACTALIS MCLELLAND LIMITED→ SC014583 · est 1927 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 98y | 80 | 64y |
| CALEDONIAN PETFOODS LIMITED→ SC363194 · est 2009 | — | — | — | 2700 | 16y | 79 | 66y |
| DARK SKY SPIRITS LTD→ SC576266 · est 2017 | — | — | — | 800 | 8y | 79 | 67y |
| ANNANDALE DISTILLERY COMPANY LIMITED→ SC316346 · est 2007 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 19y | 78 | 72y |
| FINLAY'S FARM LTD→ SC558749 · est 2017 | — | — | — | 800 | 9y | 78 | 71y |
| JOHN ROBERTSON & SONS HAMCURERS LIMITED→ SC022598 · est 1943 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 82y | 78 | 62y |
| LAIRDS FOODS LIMITED→ SC177975 · est 1997 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 28y | 78 | 62y |
| GALLOWAY PASTA LTD→ SC717556 · est 2021 | — | — | £4.2k | — | 4y | 76 | 63y |
| CHOCSCAPES LTD→ SC864503 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | 75 | 79y |
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.
See pricing →Company details
Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated1930-05-24
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC10710 — Manufacture of bread; manufacture of fresh pastry goods and cakes
Registered office
14 Castle Street
Stranraer
DG9 7RT
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-28
Last: 2025-10-14
Officers (3 active · 0 resigned)
Active
Active
Active
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
2
Total charges
2
Outstanding
2
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | The Scottish Ministers | A registered charge | 1 property | 13/09/2025 | — | |
| outstanding | Lloyds Banking Group The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC | Floating charge | 1 property | 11/12/1993 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (86 total)
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-02-19
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2025-09-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-09-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-12-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-10-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-05-03