MACLEAN MAIR NICOLSON & CO. LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC066633 · ltd · incorporated 1978-12-14

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 46.1y old — refinance window within 12 months

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to Jan 2026

Net worth

£559.6k

book net assets

Opportunity

79/100

Strong

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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 with a 66-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 66). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 3 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

5 live charges · oldest 46.1y

65/100

clean up first

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

· Oldest live charge is 46.1 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 (78/100)

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

Lenders & charges

5 charges (5/5 with lender, 5/5 with type)

Directors & officers

8 officers (3 active, 8 linked, 6 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

2 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

115 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

79/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

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

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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £559,581

Cash YoY

-13%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£87k

↓ 13% YoY

Net Worth

£560k

↑ 3.4% YoY

Current Assets

£333k

↓ 19% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2026-01-31	2025-01-31
Total assets	£571.7k	£568.7k
Current assets	£333.4k	£412.5k
Cash	£87.2k	£100.3k
Debtors	£69.5k	£98.7k
Net assets	£559.6k	£540.9k

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

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 90 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (35 events)Click to expand

2026-05-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-08-19
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-05-31
➖
MURRAY, Philip resigned
director
2025-05-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-06-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-06-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-07-25
📄
change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
officers · CH03
2022-07-25
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-07-25
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-07-25
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-07-25
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-06-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-06-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-08-03
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-08-26
📄
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2019-07-31
📄
capital-cancellation-shares
capital · SH06
2019-07-26
📄
capital-return-purchase-own-shares
capital · SH03
2019-07-23
📄
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2019-07-03
➖
MACLEAN, Joan resigned
director
2019-07-03
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2003-10-29
➕
MACLEAN, Paul appointed
secretary
2003-10-29
➕
MACLEAN, Joan appointed
director
2003-10-11
➖
MACLEAN, Calum resigned
secretary
2003-10-11
➖
MACLEAN, Calum resigned
director
1998-03-31
➕
MACLEAN, Paul appointed
director
1998-03-31
➕
MAITLAND, William Andrew appointed
director
1994-07-08
➖
MACLEAN, George resigned
director
1988-07-04
🔓
Charge satisfied #4
1988-07-04
🔓
Charge satisfied #3
1985-10-07
🔒
Charge registered #5
Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
1980-12-04
🔒
Charge registered #4
Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
1980-09-03
🔒
Charge registered #3
Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
1980-06-11
🔒
Charge registered #2
Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
1980-05-14
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
1978-12-14
🏢
Company incorporated
As MACLEAN MAIR NICOLSON & CO. LIMITED

Owner dependency

98/100

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 "MACLEAN" — 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 66 — succession pressure is live.

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 66. 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 28 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 47 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

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

2 active beneficial owners

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Catherine Maclean Individual · British · DOB 11/1939 · age 87	25–50%	25–50%	25-50% shares · 25-50% voting	01/07/2019
Mr Paul Maclean Individual · British · DOB 03/1969 · age 57	25–50%	25–50%	board controlsig. influence25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control · significant influence · firm interest	06/04/2016

1 historic (ceased) PSC

Mrs Joan Macleanceased 03/07/2019· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting · board control · significant influence · firm interest

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

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Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
HEBRIDEAN JEWELLERY LIMITED→ SC239987 · est 2002	—	—	£614.3k	—	23y	83	79y
A D MUNRO (HARRIS) LTD→ SC344202 · est 2008	—	—	£32.5k	—	17y	82	58y
D MACGILLIVRAY & CO LTD.→ SC323837 · est 2007	—	—	£336.2k	—	18y	82	61y
LIGHTING ELECTRICAL LIMITED→ SC211960 · est 2000	—	—	£227.5k	—	25y	82	72y
LOVATS LIMITED→ SC297538 · est 2006	—	—	£38.9k	—	20y	82	78y
MACKENZIE HOLDINGS LIMITED→ SC110218 · est 1988	—	—	£104.2k	—	38y	82	76y
BAYHEAD SHOP LTD→ SC352329 · est 2008	—	—	£55.8k	—	17y	80	66y
CCW WORLD LIMITED→ SC235907 · est 2002	—	—	£431.2k	—	23y	80	77y
CHARLES MACLEOD LIMITED→ SC235886 · est 2002	—	—	£2.34M	—	23y	80	79y
COMSULTING LIMITED→ SC177759 · est 1997	—	—	£68.6k	—	28y	80	69y
CORRYAN TRADING LIMITED→ SC459781 · est 2013	—	—	£220.4k	—	12y	80	60y
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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.

See pricing →

Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated1978-12-14

Jurisdictionscotland

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

Registered office

35 Cromwell Street

Stornoway

Isle Of Lewis

HS1 2DD

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-10-31

Last made up to: 2026-01-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-08-22

Last: 2025-08-08

Officers (3 active · 5 resigned)

MACLEAN, Paul→

secretary · appointed 2003-10-29

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MACLEAN, Paul→

director · ~57y · appointed 1998-03-31

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MAITLAND, William Andrew→

director · ~66y · appointed 1998-03-31

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MACLEAN, Calum→

secretary · resigned 2003-10-11

Resigned

MACLEAN, Calum→

director · ~67y · resigned 2003-10-11

Resigned

MACLEAN, George→

director · ~94y · resigned 1994-07-08

Resigned

MACLEAN, Joan→

director · ~65y · appointed 2003-10-29 · resigned 2019-07-03

Resigned

MURRAY, Philip→

director · ~72y · resigned 2025-05-31

Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:5 of 5 shown

		Type	Properties
outstanding	Lloyds Banking Group The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC	Standard security	1 property	07/10/1985	—
satisfied	Lloyds Banking Group The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC	Re-recorded standard security	1 property	04/12/1980	04/07/1988
satisfied	Lloyds Banking Group The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC	Standard security	1 property	03/09/1980	04/07/1988
outstanding	Lloyds Banking Group The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC	Standard security	1 property	11/06/1980	—
outstanding	Lloyds Banking Group The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC	Bond & floating charge	1 property	14/05/1980	—

Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (115 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2026-05-26

confirmation-statement-with-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-08-26

termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date

officers · TM01

2025-08-19

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2025-05-15

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-08-12

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2024-06-24

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2023-08-10

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2023-06-06

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2022-08-08

change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date

officers · CH03

2022-07-25

change-person-director-company-with-change-date

officers · CH01

2022-07-25

change-person-director-company-with-change-date

officers · CH01

2022-07-25

change-person-director-company-with-change-date

officers · CH01

2022-07-25

change-to-a-person-with-significant-control

persons-with-significant-control · PSC04

2022-07-25

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2022-06-20