ARGO'S BAKERY LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC082881 · ltd · incorporated 1983-04-28

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

—

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Turnover

—

year to Mar 2025

Net worth

£550.3k

book net assets

Opportunity

83/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Manufacture of bread; manufacture of fresh pastry goods and cakes

Sector: Manufacturing

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

10822SIC 10822

Investor take

Pursue

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

Opportunity 83/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Same-surname younger director in place — likely family handover, not open to sale. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -59% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

3 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 20.6y

30/100

under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

· Oldest live charge is 20.6 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
· Cashflow trend is negative — lender view likely cautious.

Data confidence

Overall: high (80/100)

Strong data coverage across all sections. AI outputs should be trusted with minimal caveats.

Company profile

address, 2 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

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

Lenders & charges

3 charges (3/3 with lender, 3/3 with type)

Directors & officers

10 officers (5 active, 10 linked, 8 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

2 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

94 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

83/100Exceptional

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.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102

Positive net assets

Net assets £550,323

Net assets shrinking

Down £22,509 YoY

Cash draining

Cash down 59% YoY

Cash YoY

-59%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£18k

↓ 59% YoY

Net Worth

£550k

↓ 3.9% YoY

Current Assets

£360k

↓ 18% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102

Metric	2025-03-31	2024-03-31
Total assets	£783.6k	£859.8k
Current assets	£360.1k	£437.3k
Cash	£18.2k	£43.8k
Debtors	£144.4k	£236.0k
Net assets	£550.3k	£572.8k

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

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filings

• 2 officers
• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (33 events)Click to expand

2025-12-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-27
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-12-27
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-12-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-12-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-12-29
📄
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2023-12-29
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2022-12-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-08-23
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2022-02-07
➕
MCDILL, Jenna appointed
director
2021-12-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-08-19
📄
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2021-03-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2020-10-24
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2020-01-30
📄
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2019-12-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-12-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-12-30
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2016-11-10
➖
MCDILL, James William resigned
director
2010-04-01
➕
MCDILL, Ewan Edwin appointed
director
2010-04-01
➕
WOOD, Emma Elizabeth appointed
director
2010-04-01
➕
MCDILL, James William appointed
director
2010-03-31
➖
ARGO, Mabel Towers resigned
director
2009-06-09
🔒
Charge registered #3
Lender: Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
2009-06-01
🔒
Charge registered #2
Lender: Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
2005-09-13
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
2004-11-01
➖
ARGO, George Sidney resigned
director
1999-08-30
➕
MCDILL, Grace Elizabeth appointed
director
1996-08-31
➖
ARGO, Ian Wood, Jp resigned
director
1995-05-31
➕
MCDILL, Grace Elizabeth appointed
secretary
1995-05-31
➖
ARGO, Mabel Towers resigned
secretary
1988-12-05
➕
ARGO, George Sidney appointed
director
1983-04-28
🏢
Company incorporated
As ARGO'S BAKERY 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 27 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 66 — succession pressure is live.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

40/100

Moderate signal

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

SIGNALS

primaryFamily succession underway: Not a takeover target — MCDILL, Jenna (same surname) appointed 2022-02-07. Pattern consistent with intra-family handover.
primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 66. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 27 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 43 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

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mrs Grace Elizabeth Mcdill Individual · British · DOB 08/1960 · age 66	50–75%	50–75%	board control50-75% shares · 50-75% voting · board control	10/07/2017
Mr Ewan Edwin Mcdill Individual · British · DOB 11/1985 · age 41	25–50%	25–50%	25-50% shares · 25-50% voting	15/09/2021

1 historic (ceased) PSC

Mrs Mabel Towers Argoceased 21/05/2018· 25-50% shares · 25-50% voting

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.

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Similar companies

Active · Food & drink · KW postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
DUNNET BAY DISTILLERS LTD.→ SC454474 · est 2013	—	—	£2.85M	—	12y	75	45y
ANNIE'S BAKERY LIMITED→ SC439693 · est 2013	—	—	£57.1k	—	13y	73	34y
DUNROBIN HIGHLAND DISTILLERY LIMITED→ SC520078 · est 2015	—	—	—	0	10y	73	55y
58 NØRTH LTD→ SC850938 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	71	41y
BOREAL BREWING LTD→ SC870145 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	—	71	45y
FORBESCROFT LTD→ SC686242 · est 2021	—	—	£5.0k	—	5y	69	43y
B G A QUALITY BUTCHERS LTD→ SC470632 · est 2014	—	—	£-3.5k	—	12y	63	70y
DEERNESS DISTILLERY LTD→ SC531754 · est 2016	—	—	£-84.3k	—	10y	59	53y
CAPALDIS BRORA LTD→ SC555799 · est 2017 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	9y	—	—
CRANTIT DAIRY→ SC141498 · est 1992 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	33y	—	—
DONALDSONS OF ORKNEY→ SC740005 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
GOLDEN SLIPPER BREWING COMPANY LIMITED→ SC824877 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—

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.

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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.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated1983-04-28

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC10710 — Manufacture of bread; manufacture of fresh pastry goods and cakes

Registered office

Argo's Bakery

Cairston Road

Stromness

Orkney

KW16 3JS

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-12-31

Last made up to: 2025-03-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-08-17

Last: 2025-08-03