JOHN M.F. GROAT & SONS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC065141 · ltd · incorporated 1978-06-20
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
—
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
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. Family succession underway — not a classic acquisition target.

Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Same-surname younger director in place — likely family handover, not open to sale. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

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, 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
8 officers (5 active, 8 linked, 6 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
92 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.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Mar 2024Mar 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-03-312024-03-31
Average employees151500

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-12-10
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-11-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-11-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-12-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-10-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2021-06-22
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  7. 2021-06-22
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  8. 2021-06-22
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  9. 2021-06-11
    ➕
    GROAT, Alaster Richard appointed
    director
  10. 2021-06-11
    ➕
    GROAT, Elspeth Inez appointed
    director
  11. 2021-06-11
    ➕
    GROAT, Ewan William appointed
    director
  12. 2021-01-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-09-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  14. 2018-08-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2017-12-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2016-12-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  17. 2016-06-24
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  18. 2015-11-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  19. 2015-06-22
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  20. 2013-03-31
    ➖
    GROAT, James Foster resigned
    director
  21. 2011-06-01
    ➕
    GROAT, Inez Petrie appointed
    secretary
  22. 2011-06-01
    ➖
    GROAT, James Foster resigned
    secretary
  23. 1998-09-07
    ➕
    GROAT, James Richard appointed
    director
  24. 1998-08-12
    ➖
    GROAT, John Malcolm Freswick resigned
    director
  25. 1978-06-20
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As JOHN M.F. GROAT & SONS LIMITED

Owner dependency

88/100
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
  • -4 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "GROAT" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 28 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 71 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

50/100
Moderate signal

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFamily succession underway: Not a takeover target — GROAT, Alaster Richard (same surname) appointed 2021-06-11. Pattern consistent with intra-family handover.
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 71 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 28 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 48 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
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr James Richard Groat
Individual · Scottish · DOB 01/1955 · age 71
50–75%
—50-75% shares06/04/2016

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

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
Incorporated1978-06-20
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC47110 — Retail sale in non-specialised stores with food, beverages or tobacco predominating

Registered office

Anchorfast Buildings
Longhope
Orkney
KW16 3PG

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-26
Last: 2025-06-12

Officers (5 active · 3 resigned)

GROAT, Inez Petrie→
secretary · appointed 2011-06-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
GROAT, Alaster Richard→
director · ~45y · appointed 2021-06-11
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
GROAT, Elspeth Inez→
director · ~38y · appointed 2021-06-11
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
GROAT, Ewan William→
director · ~40y · appointed 2021-06-11
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
GROAT, James Richard→
director · ~71y · appointed 1998-09-07
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
GROAT, James Foster→
secretary · resigned 2011-06-01
Resigned
GROAT, James Foster→
director · ~95y · resigned 2013-03-31
Resigned
GROAT, John Malcolm Freswick→
director · ~103y · resigned 1998-08-12
Resigned

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

Recent filings (92 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-10
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-11-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-11-21
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-12-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-10-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-25
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2021-06-22
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2021-06-22
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2021-06-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-01-19
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-06-25