J. AITCHISON (DUNS) LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC036940 · ltd · incorporated 1961-11-02

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 Nov 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

80/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Sale of new cars and light motor vehicles

Sector: Wholesale & retail

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

45112SIC 45112
45200SIC 45200
47300Retail sale of automotive fuel in specialised stores

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company. Family succession underway — not a classic acquisition target.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 57/100. Same-surname younger director in place — likely family handover, not open to sale. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Consolidate lender relationships. 3 distinct lenders creates friction — refinance into single-lender structure for cleaner diligence. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

6 live charges · 3 lenders · oldest 41.0y

35/100

too messy

Refinance path is blocked by complexity. Rethink structure or expect bespoke, expensive terms.

· Oldest live charge is 41.0 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· 3 lenders named — inter-creditor friction likely.
· Legal-friction score 35/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (77/100)

Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.

Company profile

address, 4 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed

Lenders & charges

6 charges (6/6 with lender, 6/6 with type)

Directors & officers

7 officers (5 active, 7 linked, 5 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

111 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

80/100Exceptional

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

100

Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

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	2025-11-30	2024-11-30
Total assets	—	£750.9k
Current assets	—	£770.5k
Cash	—	£440.6k
Debtors	—	£48.6k
Net assets	—	£689.0k
Average employees	18	—

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

🔒Filing-note intelligence

2 signals 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

filings

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 accounts
• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (30 events)Click to expand

2026-03-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-03-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-03-12
📄
capital-variation-of-rights-attached-to-shares
capital · SH10
2025-02-27
📄
capital-name-of-class-of-shares
capital · SH08
2025-02-27
📄
memorandum-articles
incorporation · MA
2025-02-27
📄
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2024-04-10
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-03-14
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2024-03-13
📄
appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
officers · AP03
2024-03-13
📄
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2024-03-12
➕
WHITEHEAD, Tracy appointed
secretary
2024-03-12
➕
WHITEHEAD, Tracy appointed
director
2024-03-12
➖
J D CLARK & ALLAN WS resigned
corporate-secretary
2023-03-03
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-03-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-03-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-06-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-04-03
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-02-18
📍
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2017-10-26
🔒
Charge registered #5
Lender: Bank of Scotland PLC
2017-10-25
🔒
Charge registered #6
Lender: Bank of Scotland PLC
2007-10-19
🔓
Charge satisfied #4
2007-10-19
🔓
Charge satisfied #1
2007-04-02
➕
WHITEHEAD, Andrew Ian appointed
director
1993-01-25
🔒
Charge registered #4
Lender: Burmah Petroleum Fuels Limited
1993-01-25
🔒
Charge registered #3
Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
1992-11-09
➖
FORREST, Isabella Moffat resigned
director
1992-10-13
🔒
Charge registered #2
Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
1985-06-10
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
1961-11-02
🏢
Company incorporated
As J. AITCHISON (DUNS) LIMITED

Owner dependency

73/100

High — earn-out structure required

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

FACTORS

-4 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 19 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 81 — succession pressure is live.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

33/100

Weak signal

Limited succession signal. Not a near-term off-market candidate.

SIGNALS

primaryFamily succession underway: Not a takeover target — WHITEHEAD, Tracy (same surname) appointed 2024-03-12. Pattern consistent with intra-family handover.
primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 81 years old. Natural succession window is now.
secondary12+ year tenure: Director in role 19 years.
supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.

Red flags

1 med ·

Charge satisfaction-then-recreation pattern

medium

Multiple instances where a charge was satisfied and a new charge created within 6 months. Suggests active refinancing cycle.

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Andrew Ian Whitehead Individual · British · DOB 08/1971 · age 55	50–75%	—	50-75% shares	06/04/2016

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

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KEN HOPE (KELSO) LIMITED→ SC277224 · est 2004	—	—	£877.0k	—	21y	82	82y
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B.H.P. (NORHAM) LIMITED→ 04459674 · est 2002	—	—	£21.6k	—	23y	81	70y
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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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated1961-11-02

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC45111 — Sale of new cars and light motor vehicles

Registered office

Bridgend Service Station

Duns

Berwickshire

TD11 3ES

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-08-31

Last made up to: 2025-11-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-12-11

Last: 2025-11-27