DAVID FINLAYSON LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
SC088199 · ltd · incorporated 1984-05-30
Investment thesis
Property vehicle with a workable charge structure — clean refinance potential.
Why interesting: Asset-backed; value largely in underlying property; lender engagement likely possible.
Why risky: Dependent on title and valuation due diligence; standard property risks.
Opportunity decay
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
- · Oldest live charge 37.1y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Mar 2025
Net worth
£71.2k
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
What this business does
Primary activity: Other letting and operating of own or leased real estate
Sector: Real estate
Investor take
PursueProperty-backed borrower with a 78-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 78). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 1 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
1 live charge · oldest 37.1y
65/100
clean up first
Refinance viable after a tidy-up — address the highlighted items first.
- · Oldest live charge is 37.1 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 (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
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
3 officers (3 active, 3 linked, 2 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
91 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
🔒Estimated company valuation
Sector-multiple EBITDA, turnover, and NAV-proxy valuation range with confidence tier — derived from extracted iXBRL financials.
Available from the Pro tier upwards.
See pricing →Opportunity Score
79/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £71,150
Net assets shrinking
Down £1,372 YoY
Cash YoY
+27%
Year on year
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£19k
↑ 27% YoY
Net Worth
£71k
↓ 1.9% YoY
Current Assets
£19k
~ YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-03-31 | 2024-03-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £71.2k | £72.5k |
| Current assets | £19.2k | £19.1k |
| Cash | £19.2k | £15.1k |
| Debtors | — | £4.0k |
| Net assets | £71.2k | £72.5k |
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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (18 events)Click to expand
- 2025-12-09📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-07-22📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2024-10-07📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-10-12📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2022-11-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-09-28📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2021-03-23📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2019-12-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-12-18📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2017-12-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2016-12-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2016-05-23📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2015-12-21📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2015-06-17📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 2014-12-17📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-smallaccounts · AA
- 2014-07-15📄annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholdersannual-return · AR01
- 1989-03-08🔒Charge registered #1Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
- 1984-05-30🏢Company incorporatedAs DAVID FINLAYSON LIMITED
Owner dependency
96/100
Critical — business is the founderThe 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 "FINLAYSON" — strong identity link between founder and business.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 78 — succession pressure is live.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
Succession & seller-readiness
76/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 78 years old. Natural succession window is now.
- secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 42 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
Red flags
cleanNo 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| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr David Finlayson Individual · United Kingdom · DOB 02/1948 · age 78 | 50–75% | — | 50-75% shares | 01/04/2017 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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| EMMERSON HOMES LIMITED→ SC553330 · est 2016 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 9y | — | — |
| EMPEROR PROPERTIES LTD→ SC789558 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| ESL MACDONALD LTD→ SC799962 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| ESSESE PROPERTY LIMITED→ SC313961 · est 2006 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 19y | — | — |
| F&F CAMPBELTOWN LTD→ SC868782 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
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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
Incorporated1984-05-30
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC68209 — Other letting and operating of own or leased real estate
Registered office
2 Benvoullin Gardens
Oban
Argyll
PA34 5DL
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-06-06
Last: 2025-05-23
Officers (3 active · 0 resigned)
Active
Active
Active
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
1
Total charges
1
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outstanding | Lloyds Banking Group The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC | Bond & floating charge | 1 property | 08/03/1989 | — |
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.
Recent filings (91 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-12-09
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-07-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-03
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-10-07
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-10-12
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-11-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-05-25
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-05-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-03-23
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-06-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-12-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-06-03