THE LEGAL DEFENCE UNION LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC106696 · private-limited-guarant-nsc · incorporated 1987-09-16
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 Apr 2025
Net worth
£1.87M
book net assets
Opportunity
81/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Solicitors
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 83-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 81/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 83). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: high (82/100)

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

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
34 officers (5 active, 34 linked, 27 with DOB)
86
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
11 connected companies via shared directors
78
Filing history
157 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
81/100Exceptional
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
85
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 · FRS 105 (micro)
Positive net assets
Net assets £1,873,093

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
£1.9m
Current Assets
£2.0m
Current Liabilities
—
£0£392k£784k£1.2m£1.6m£2.0mApr 2024Apr 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 105 (micro)
Metric2025-04-302024-04-30
Total assets£1.93M—
Current assets£1.96M—
Net assets£1.87M—
Average employees—700

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
3
filings
  • • 2 officers
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 90 days
3
filings
  • • 2 officers
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
3
filings
  • • 2 officers
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (67 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-08
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  2. 2026-04-08
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  3. 2026-03-24
    ➕
    MACREATH, William Couperthwaite appointed
    director
  4. 2025-10-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2025-03-23
    ➖
    MACREATH, William Couperthwaite resigned
    director
  6. 2025-01-27
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  7. 2024-10-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2024-06-04
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  9. 2024-06-01
    ➕
    IRVINE, Nicola Alison appointed
    director
  10. 2024-02-07
    ➖
    FERGUSON, Ian Cameron resigned
    director
  11. 2024-02-07
    ➖
    MCCANN, James Aloysius resigned
    director
  12. 2024-02-07
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  13. 2024-02-07
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  14. 2023-10-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  15. 2022-10-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  16. 2022-01-19
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  17. 2021-04-20
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  18. 2020-01-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  19. 2019-01-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  20. 2018-01-12
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-small
    accounts · AA
  21. 2017-04-26
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  22. 2017-04-01
    ➕
    CLARK, Johnston Peter Campbell appointed
    director
  23. 2017-04-01
    ➖
    CLAPHAM, David Charles resigned
    director
  24. 2010-07-07
    ➕
    O'DONNELL, Fiona Beatrice appointed
    secretary
  25. 2010-07-07
    ➖
    O'DONNELL, David resigned
    secretary
  26. 2005-12-01
    ➖
    BURNS, Paul resigned
    director
  27. 2005-12-01
    ➖
    SHIELDS, Joseph Michael resigned
    director
  28. 2004-01-27
    ➖
    WILLIAMSON, David Stewart resigned
    director
  29. 2003-10-20
    ➖
    HECHT, Walter resigned
    secretary
  30. 2003-10-20
    ➕
    O'DONNELL, David appointed
    secretary
  31. 2003-06-09
    ➕
    FERGUSON, Ian Cameron appointed
    director
  32. 2002-12-09
    ➕
    SHIELDS, Joseph Michael appointed
    director
  33. 2002-05-13
    ➖
    FERGUSON, Ian Cameron resigned
    director
  34. 2001-03-31
    ➖
    SCANLAN, Margaret resigned
    director
  35. 2000-01-13
    ➖
    HARKESS, David resigned
    director
  36. 1998-12-07
    ➕
    BURNS, Paul appointed
    director
  37. 1998-12-07
    ➕
    HARKESS, David appointed
    director
  38. 1998-04-27
    ➕
    HECHT, Walter appointed
    secretary
  39. 1998-04-27
    ➖
    MCGHEE, Edward Douglas resigned
    secretary
  40. 1997-04-28
    ➖
    MULLANE, Angela resigned
    director
  41. 1997-03-17
    ➖
    GALBRAITH, Eric resigned
    director
  42. 1996-06-17
    ➕
    SCANLAN, Margaret appointed
    director
  43. 1995-10-24
    ➕
    FERGUSON, Ian Cameron appointed
    director
  44. 1995-06-26
    ➖
    STEWART, Alan Mclaren resigned
    director
  45. 1995-06-22
    ➖
    BROWN, Gerard Anthony resigned
    director
  46. 1994-06-13
    ➖
    MCDONALD, James Steveson resigned
    director
  47. 1994-03-14
    ➕
    CLAPHAM, David Charles appointed
    director
  48. 1993-02-08
    ➕
    BROWN, Gerard Anthony appointed
    director
  49. 1993-02-08
    ➖
    CLAPHAM, David Charles resigned
    director
  50. 1992-06-08
    ➖
    GORDON, James Cargill resigned
    director
Showing most recent 50 of 67 events

Owner dependency

65/100
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 37 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 83 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

80/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 83 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 37 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • 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
Prof David O'Donnell
Individual · British · DOB 03/1953 · age 73
——sig. influencesignificant influence23/03/2017

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.

See pricing →

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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
Typeprivate-limited-guarant-nsc
Incorporated1987-09-16
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC69102 — Solicitors

Registered office

Walkend
Aldbar
Brechin
Angus
DD9 6SW

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-04-07
Last: 2026-03-24

Officers (5 active · 29 resigned)

O'DONNELL, Fiona Beatrice→
secretary · appointed 2010-07-07
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BURNSIDE, David Melville→
director · ~83y · appointed 1989-10-16
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
CLARK, Johnston Peter Campbell→
director · ~64y · appointed 2017-04-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
IRVINE, Nicola Alison→
director · ~50y · appointed 2024-06-01
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MACREATH, William Couperthwaite→
director · ~74y · appointed 2026-03-24
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
DAVIDSON, George Fraser→
secretary · resigned 1990-05-01
Resigned
HECHT, Walter→
secretary · appointed 1998-04-27 · resigned 2003-10-20
Resigned
MCGHEE, Edward Douglas→
secretary · appointed 1990-05-01 · resigned 1998-04-27
Resigned
O'DONNELL, David→
secretary · appointed 2003-10-20 · resigned 2010-07-07
Resigned
BROWN, Gerard Anthony→
director · ~76y · appointed 1993-02-08 · resigned 1995-06-22
Resigned
BURNS, Paul→
director · ~79y · appointed 1998-12-07 · resigned 2005-12-01
Resigned
BURNS, Paul→
director · ~79y · resigned 1990-06-11
Resigned
CLAPHAM, David Charles→
director · ~68y · appointed 1994-03-14 · resigned 2017-04-01
Resigned
CLAPHAM, David Charles→
director · ~68y · resigned 1993-02-08
Resigned
FERGUSON, Ian Cameron→
director · ~70y · appointed 2003-06-09 · resigned 2024-02-07
Resigned
FERGUSON, Ian Cameron→
director · ~70y · appointed 1995-10-24 · resigned 2002-05-13
Resigned
FINNIESTON, Desmond John→
director · ~80y · appointed 1989-11-30 · resigned 1991-04-12
Resigned
GALBRAITH, Eric→
director · ~78y · resigned 1997-03-17
Resigned
GORDON, James Cargill→
director · ~102y · appointed 1991-06-15 · resigned 1992-06-08
Resigned
HARKESS, David→
director · ~80y · appointed 1998-12-07 · resigned 2000-01-13
Resigned

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

Recent filings (157 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-04-08
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2026-04-08
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2026-04-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-10-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-12
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-01-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-10-21
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2024-06-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-03-25
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2024-02-07
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2024-02-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-10-09
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-03-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-10-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-03-27