JOHN STEWART (TURRIFF) LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
SC030143 · ltd · incorporated 1954-06-24
Investment thesis
Zombie company — trading but stalled; unlikely mover.
Why interesting: Quiet, steady; could be a succession or carve-out candidate with the right conversation.
Why risky: No growth signal; thin margin for error on price.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Jan 2025
Net worth
£621.9k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Retail sale in non-specialised stores with food, beverages or tobacco predominating
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 65). 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 (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 62.8y

45/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 62.8 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

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, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)
85
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
97 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £621,930
Net assets shrinking
Down £51,496 YoY
Cash YoY
-12%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£302k
↓ 12% YoY
Net Worth
£622k
↓ 7.6% YoY
Current Assets
£554k
↓ 7.0% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£135k£269k£404k£539k£673kJan 2024Jan 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-01-312024-01-31
Total assets£621.9k£673.4k
Current assets£554.1k£596.1k
Cash£301.6k£340.9k
Debtors£162.0k£165.9k
Net assets£621.9k£673.4k

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (20 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-11-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-10-03
    ➖
    HENDERSON, Margaret resigned
    director
  3. 2025-10-03
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  4. 2024-09-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-09-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-10-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-10-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-09-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-08-05
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  11. 2019-08-02
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  12. 2019-08-02
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  13. 2019-08-02
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  14. 2018-09-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-10-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2016-08-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2007-03-26
    ➖
    HENDERSON, Leslie resigned
    director
  18. 2000-06-20
    ➕
    HENDERSON, Leslie Colin appointed
    director
  19. 1963-07-24
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Howe O'the Mearns LTD
  20. 1954-06-24
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As JOHN STEWART (TURRIFF) LIMITED

Owner dependency

100/100
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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 26 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

95/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 65. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 26 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 72 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

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Leslie Colin Henderson
Individual · Scottish · DOB 08/1961 · age 65
75–100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control06/04/2016

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

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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
Incorporated1954-06-24
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC47110 — Retail sale in non-specialised stores with food, beverages or tobacco predominating

Registered office

59 High Street
Turriff
Aberdeenshire
AB53 4EL

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-10-31
Last made up to: 2025-01-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-28
Last: 2026-04-14

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

STEWART & WATSON→
corporate-secretary
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HENDERSON, Leslie Colin→
director · ~65y · appointed 2000-06-20
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
HENDERSON, Leslie→
director · ~88y · resigned 2007-03-26
Resigned
HENDERSON, Margaret→
director · ~90y · resigned 2025-10-03
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Howe O'the Mearns
Howe O'the Mearns LTD
Bond and disposition in security1 property24/07/1963—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (97 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-14
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-11-13
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-10-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-10-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-10-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-06-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-09-20