JAMES HUTTON LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC121376 · ltd · incorporated 1989-11-16

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

—

not disclosed

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

83/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Other research and experimental development on natural sciences and engineering

Sector: Professional, scientific & technical

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 72-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 83/100 (exceptional), bankability 67/100. Strong seller-intent signal (73/100, director aged 72). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Consolidate lender relationships. 3 distinct lenders creates friction — refinance into single-lender structure for cleaner diligence. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

3 live charges · 3 lenders · oldest 29.1y

35/100

too messy

Refinance path is blocked by complexity. Rethink structure or expect bespoke, expensive terms.

· Oldest live charge is 29.1 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· 3 lenders named — inter-creditor friction likely.
· Legal-friction score 38/100 — workable, but lender will want more DD.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (57/100)

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

No iXBRL financials extracted

Lenders & charges

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

Directors & officers

51 officers (9 active, 51 linked, 40 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

1 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

182 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.

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 accounts
• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (113 events)Click to expand

2025-12-10
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2025-08-07
➕
CORBIN, Anne Elizabeth appointed
secretary
2025-08-07
➖
DARBY, Robert Hugh resigned
secretary
2025-08-07
📄
appoint-person-secretary-company-with-name-date
officers · AP03
2025-08-07
📄
termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM02
2025-06-16
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2025-06-03
➕
ARCHER, Ian Victor James, Dr appointed
director
2025-02-18
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2025-02-07
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2025-02-07
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2025-02-01
➕
KINDNESS, Andrew, Dr appointed
director
2025-02-01
➕
ROBERTS, Deborah Jane, Professor appointed
director
2025-02-01
➖
COX, Alasdair Robert Mackenzie resigned
director
2025-01-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2024-01-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2023-12-12
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2023-11-30
➖
MACCOLL TURPIN, Anne Josephine resigned
director
2023-11-13
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2023-11-08
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2023-11-08
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2023-11-01
➕
STANLEY, Caroline Anne appointed
director
2023-11-01
➕
TREVOR, Elizabeth appointed
director
2023-11-01
➖
KEITH, Deborah Jane, Dr resigned
director
2023-10-30
📄
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2023-10-30
🔓
Charge satisfied #2
2023-09-25
📄
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2023-09-19
🔒
Charge registered #3
Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC (As Security Agent)
2023-05-11
📄
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
2023-01-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2021-12-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-full
accounts · AA
2021-04-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-small
accounts · AA
2020-05-14
➕
COX, Alasdair Robert Mackenzie appointed
director
2019-11-27
➖
FERRIER, Robert Charles, Professor resigned
director
2019-10-14
➕
DARBY, Robert Hugh appointed
secretary
2019-10-04
➖
LESLIE, Derek Cameron resigned
secretary
2018-02-01
➕
WALKER, Robin Peter appointed
director
2018-01-31
➖
NEALE, Graham Timothy resigned
director
2017-12-01
➕
MACCOLL TURPIN, Anne Josephine appointed
director
2017-09-19
➖
CRAW, Jennifer Fraser resigned
director
2017-07-11
➖
BLACK, Fraser resigned
director
2017-04-01
➕
KEITH, Deborah Jane, Dr appointed
director
2017-03-31
➖
STEVENSON, Allan Malcolm resigned
director
2017-01-01
➖
CORCORAN, Elizabeth resigned
secretary
2017-01-01
➕
LESLIE, Derek Cameron appointed
secretary
2016-03-16
🔒
Charge registered #2
Lender: Clydesdale Bank PLC (Trading as Both Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank) (Company Number SC001111)
2015-09-26
➕
CAMPBELL, Colin Douglas, Professor appointed
director
2015-09-25
➖
GORDON, Iain, Professor resigned
director
2015-06-08
➕
BLACK, Fraser appointed
director
2015-04-06
➖
KERBY, Nigel Wells, Dr resigned
director
2015-03-31
➖
CLARK, Brian Drummond, Professor resigned
director

Showing most recent 50 of 113 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

-8 active directors: Broader management team in place — suggests transferable governance.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 23 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 72 — 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 72 years old. Natural succession window is now.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 23 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.)

Group structure

The James Hutton Institute is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️

The James Hutton Institute

Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares · board control

ultimate parent

⬇

JAMES HUTTON LIMITED

This company · SC121376

Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
The James Hutton Institute Corporate entity	75–100%	75–100%	board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control	09/11/2018

2 historic (ceased) PSCs

The James Hutton Instituteceased 18/11/2019· 75-100% shares
Mrs Elizabeth Miller Corcoranceased 31/12/2016· significant influence

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.

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🔒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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated1989-11-16

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC72190 — Other research and experimental development on natural sciences and engineering

Registered office

Mylnefield

Invergowrie

Dundee

DD2 5DA

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-12-31

Last made up to: 2025-03-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-11-19

Last: 2025-11-05