W.H.B. SUTHERLAND LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC033752 · ltd · incorporated 1959-03-16
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
£1.54M
book net assets
Opportunity
76/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Dispensing chemist in specialised stores
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and acceptable with review structure.

Opportunity 76/100 (strong), bankability 70/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -76% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

5 live charges · oldest 55.7y

45/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 55.7 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Cashflow trend is negative — lender view likely cautious.

Data confidence

Overall: high (81/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

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
5 charges (5/5 with lender, 5/5 with type)
90
Directors & officers
8 officers (2 active, 8 linked, 7 with DOB)
88
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
5 connected companies via shared directors
60
Filing history
105 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
76/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
60
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
75
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
82
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 £1,535,280
Net assets shrinking
Down £40,789 YoY
Cash draining
Cash down 76% YoY
Cash YoY
-76%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£147k
↓ 76% YoY
Net Worth
£1.5m
↓ 2.6% YoY
Current Assets
£1.7m
↓ 13% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£390k£781k£1.2m£1.6m£2.0mMar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Total assets£1.64M£1.69M
Current assets£1.69M£1.95M
Cash£146.7k£611.6k
Debtors£1.01M£807.1k
Net assets£1.54M£1.58M

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (32 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-04-07
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  3. 2025-04-02
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  4. 2025-04-02
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  5. 2025-03-31
    ➖
    CLYDE JNR, Hugh resigned
    director
  6. 2025-03-28
    🔒
    Charge registered #6
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  7. 2024-12-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2024-07-02
    ➕
    STOUT, Ellen Anne appointed
    director
  9. 2024-07-02
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  10. 2023-11-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2022-11-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2021-12-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2020-12-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2019-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2018-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2017-12-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  17. 2016-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  18. 2016-11-15
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  19. 2016-09-09
    ➕
    CLYDE, Torquil appointed
    director
  20. 2016-09-09
    ➖
    CLYDE, Iris Noreen Colquhoun resigned
    secretary
  21. 2016-09-09
    ➖
    CLYDE, Ewen resigned
    director
  22. 2016-09-09
    ➖
    CLYDE, Iris Noreen Colquhoun resigned
    director
  23. 2014-07-03
    🔒
    Charge registered #5
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  24. 2010-08-19
    ➖
    CLYDE, Torquil resigned
    director
  25. 2005-02-11
    🔒
    Charge registered #4
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  26. 2005-02-11
    🔒
    Charge registered #3
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  27. 2004-01-19
    ➖
    CLYDE, Hugh resigned
    director
  28. 1993-04-07
    ➕
    CLYDE, Ewen appointed
    director
  29. 1993-04-07
    ➕
    CLYDE, Torquil appointed
    director
  30. 1993-04-07
    ➕
    CLYDE JNR, Hugh appointed
    director
  31. 1970-09-17
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  32. 1959-03-16
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As W.H.B. SUTHERLAND LIMITED

Owner dependency

66/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 60 — approaching natural succession window.

Succession & seller-readiness

46/100
Moderate signal

Some succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.

SIGNALS
  • secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 60. Early succession window.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.

Red flags

1 low
5 live charges
low

Heavily leveraged with multiple live security positions — understand the capital structure before proceeding.

Group structure

Apoteknik Ltd. holds majority control (50-75%). Likely parent but not wholly-owned.

🏛️
Apoteknik Ltd.
Corporate parent · holds 50-75% shares · board control
majority
⬇
W.H.B. SUTHERLAND LIMITED
This company · SC033752

Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Apoteknik Ltd.
Corporate entity
50–75%
50–75%board control50-75% shares · 50-75% voting · board control · firm interest13/09/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr Hugh Clydeceased 31/03/2025· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting

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 →

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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
Incorporated1959-03-16
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC47730 — Dispensing chemist in specialised stores

Registered office

43 Victoria Street
Kirkwall
Orkney
KW15 1DN

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-30
Last: 2025-12-16

Officers (2 active · 6 resigned)

CLYDE, Torquil→
director · ~60y · appointed 2016-09-09
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
STOUT, Ellen Anne→
director · ~30y · appointed 2024-07-02
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CLYDE, Iris Noreen Colquhoun→
secretary · resigned 2016-09-09
Resigned
CLYDE, Ewen→
director · ~56y · appointed 1993-04-07 · resigned 2016-09-09
Resigned
CLYDE, Hugh→
director · ~94y · resigned 2004-01-19
Resigned
CLYDE, Iris Noreen Colquhoun→
director · ~91y · resigned 2016-09-09
Resigned
CLYDE, Torquil→
director · ~60y · appointed 1993-04-07 · resigned 2010-08-19
Resigned
CLYDE JNR, Hugh→
director · ~58y · appointed 1993-04-07 · resigned 2025-03-31
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

5
Total charges
5
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:5 of 5 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
A registered charge—28/03/2025—
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
A registered charge1 property03/07/2014—
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
Assignation of goodwill1 property11/02/2005—
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
Assignation of goodwill1 property11/02/2005—
part-satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
Bond & floating charge1 property17/09/1970—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (105 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-16
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2025-04-07
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-04-02
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2025-04-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-12-04
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2024-07-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-11-03
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-11-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-12-21