M. FERRAR & SONS (GLASGOW) LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC036274 · ltd · incorporated 1961-03-30
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
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
  • · Oldest live charge 42.9y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
not disclosed
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 99999
Sector: Extraterritorial bodies
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 86-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 86). 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

1 live charge · oldest 42.9y

65/100
clean up first

Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.

  • · Oldest live charge is 42.9 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Legal-friction score 25/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (60/100)

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
No iXBRL financials extracted
0
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
9 officers (3 active, 9 linked, 5 with DOB)
81
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
17 connected companies via shared directors
90
Filing history
96 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.

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 (28 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-08-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-09-11
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-08-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-08-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-07-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-12-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-09-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  8. 2018-10-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  9. 2017-09-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  10. 2016-10-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  11. 2015-08-28
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  12. 2015-08-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  13. 2014-09-02
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2014-07-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  15. 2013-09-20
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2011-04-04
    ➕
    SWALWELL, Stephen George appointed
    secretary
  17. 2011-04-04
    ➕
    SWALWELL, Stephen George appointed
    director
  18. 2011-04-04
    ➖
    MEIN, David Michael resigned
    secretary
  19. 2011-04-04
    ➖
    MEIN, David Michael resigned
    director
  20. 1994-05-18
    ➖
    GARNETT, John Stewart resigned
    secretary
  21. 1994-05-18
    ➕
    MEIN, David Michael appointed
    secretary
  22. 1994-05-18
    ➖
    GARNETT, John Stewart resigned
    director
  23. 1994-05-18
    ➕
    MEIN, David Michael appointed
    director
  24. 1991-08-26
    ➖
    KING, Anthony Nigel resigned
    director
  25. 1990-02-23
    ➕
    COTTON, John Dawson appointed
    director
  26. 1990-02-23
    ➖
    LEATHER, Michael Andrew resigned
    director
  27. 1983-06-14
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
  28. 1961-03-30
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As M. FERRAR & SONS (GLASGOW) LIMITED

Owner dependency

83/100
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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 36 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 86 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

96/100
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 86 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 36 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 65 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.)

Group structure

Grandrover Limited is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️
Grandrover Limited
Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares
ultimate parent
⬇
M. FERRAR & SONS (GLASGOW) LIMITED
This company · SC036274

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

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Grandrover Limited
Corporate entity
75–100%
—75-100% shares26/08/2016

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 →

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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
Incorporated1961-03-30
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC99999 — SIC 99999

Registered office

13 Queens Road
Aberdeen
AB15 4YL

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-11-26
Last made up to: 2025-03-02
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-09
Last: 2025-08-26

Officers (3 active · 6 resigned)

SWALWELL, Stephen George→
secretary · appointed 2011-04-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
COTTON, John Dawson→
director · ~86y · appointed 1990-02-23
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
SWALWELL, Stephen George→
director · ~66y · appointed 2011-04-04
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
GARNETT, John Stewart→
secretary · resigned 1994-05-18
Resigned
MEIN, David Michael→
secretary · appointed 1994-05-18 · resigned 2011-04-04
Resigned
GARNETT, John Stewart→
director · ~81y · resigned 1994-05-18
Resigned
KING, Anthony Nigel→
director · resigned 1991-08-26
Resigned
LEATHER, Michael Andrew→
director · ~83y · resigned 1990-02-23
Resigned
MEIN, David Michael→
director · ~76y · appointed 1994-05-18 · resigned 2011-04-04
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
Lloyds Banking Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
Bond & floating charge1 property14/06/1983—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (96 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-08-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-08-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-09-11
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-08-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-08-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-08-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2021-07-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2020-12-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-08-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2019-09-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-08-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2018-10-22