JOHN MCAULAY (FAIRLIE) LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC058005 · ltd · incorporated 1975-07-02
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 Jun 2025
Net worth
£105.2k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Plumbing, heat and air-conditioning installation
Sector: Construction
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 65). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (76/100)

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
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
9 officers (2 active, 9 linked, 6 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
109 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
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
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £105,154

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£105k
~ YoY
Current Assets
£82k
↑ 17% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£21k£42k£63k£84k£105kJun 2024Jun 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-06-302024-06-30
Total assets£128.5k£124.2k
Current assets£81.8k£70.0k
Net assets£105.2k£105.1k

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

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (29 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-03-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-03-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-03-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-03-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-02-08
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  6. 2023-01-31
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  7. 2022-06-30
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
    accounts · AA01
  8. 2022-03-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-06-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2020-03-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2019-03-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2018-06-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-03-28
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
    accounts · AA01
  14. 2018-02-07
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  15. 2018-02-07
    📄
    notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
  16. 2018-02-07
    📄
    cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
  17. 2016-03-18
    ➖
    MCAULAY, John resigned
    director
  18. 2013-04-01
    ➖
    MCBLANE, Ian resigned
    secretary
  19. 2006-04-08
    ➕
    MCBLANE, Ian appointed
    secretary
  20. 2006-04-05
    ➖
    MCAULAY, Stuart resigned
    secretary
  21. 2003-11-21
    ➖
    MCAULAY, Malcolm Cook resigned
    director
  22. 1999-02-17
    ➖
    MCAULAY, Margaret Mcgarvie resigned
    director
  23. 1991-02-01
    ➕
    MCAULAY, Malcolm appointed
    director
  24. 1991-02-01
    ➕
    MCAULAY, Scot appointed
    director
  25. 1991-02-01
    ➖
    CAMPBELL, Irene resigned
    secretary
  26. 1991-02-01
    ➕
    MCAULAY, Stuart appointed
    secretary
  27. 1991-02-01
    ➕
    MCAULAY, Stuart appointed
    director
  28. 1991-02-01
    ➖
    MCAULAY, Stuart resigned
    director
  29. 1975-07-02
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As JOHN MCAULAY (FAIRLIE) 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
  • +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 "MCAULAY" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 35 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

86/100
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.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 35 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 51 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

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Scot Mcaulay
Individual · British · DOB 07/1961 · age 65
25–50%
25–50%board control25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control06/04/2016
Mr Malcolm Mcaulay
Individual · British · DOB 10/1964 · age 62
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · firm interest06/04/2016
1 historic (ceased) PSC
  • Mr John Mcaulayceased 06/04/2016· 50-75% shares · 50-75% voting

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

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 →
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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.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated1975-07-02
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC43220 — Plumbing, heat and air-conditioning installation

Registered office

90 Main Road
Fairlie
Ayrshire
KA29 0AD

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-03-31
Last made up to: 2025-06-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-25
Last: 2025-11-11

Officers (2 active · 7 resigned)

MCAULAY, Malcolm→
director · ~62y · appointed 1991-02-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MCAULAY, Scot→
director · ~65y · appointed 1991-02-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CAMPBELL, Irene→
secretary · resigned 1991-02-01
Resigned
MCAULAY, Stuart→
secretary · appointed 1991-02-01 · resigned 2006-04-05
Resigned
MCBLANE, Ian→
secretary · appointed 2006-04-08 · resigned 2013-04-01
Resigned
MCAULAY, John→
director · ~88y · resigned 2016-03-18
Resigned
MCAULAY, Malcolm Cook→
director · ~115y · resigned 2003-11-21
Resigned
MCAULAY, Margaret Mcgarvie→
director · ~113y · resigned 1999-02-17
Resigned
MCAULAY, Stuart→
director · ~61y · appointed 1991-02-01 · resigned 1991-02-01
Resigned

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

Recent filings (109 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-03-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-13
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-03-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-03-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-01-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-03-31
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2023-02-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-02-07
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2023-01-31
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
accounts · AA01
2022-06-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-03-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-06-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-03-24