DARROCH LEARG HOTELS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC121902 · ltd · incorporated 1989-12-13
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 34.7y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Jan 2025
Net worth
£1.66M
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Hotels and similar accommodation
Sector: Accommodation & food service
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 74-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 74). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 2 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

2 live charges · oldest 34.7y

65/100
clean up first

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 34.7 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
75
Lenders & charges
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
6 officers (3 active, 6 linked, 5 with DOB)
87
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
99 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
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
80
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 · FRS 102
Positive net assets
Net assets £1,663,568
Cash YoY
-2%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£152k
↓ 2.2% YoY
Net Worth
£1.7m
↑ 5.5% YoY
Current Assets
£206k
↑ 4.0% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£333k£665k£998k£1.3m£1.7mJan 2024Jan 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-01-312024-01-31
Total assets£1.67M£1.59M
Current assets£206.2k£198.2k
Cash£151.9k£155.4k
Debtors£33.3k£20.3k
Net assets£1.66M£1.58M

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-11-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-01-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-12-28
    📄
    gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
    gazette · DISS40
  6. 2022-12-27
    📄
    gazette-notice-compulsory
    gazette · GAZ1
  7. 2022-02-21
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  9. 2019-12-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2018-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2017-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2016-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2015-12-20
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  14. 2015-10-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  15. 2015-01-24
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  16. 2013-11-27
    ➖
    GLEN, Christopher Richard resigned
    director
  17. 2013-11-27
    ➖
    GLEN, Janet Elizabeth resigned
    director
  18. 2008-03-15
    ➖
    FRANKS, Helen Simpson resigned
    director
  19. 2002-06-11
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
  20. 1991-08-18
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
  21. 1990-01-25
    ➕
    BRYSON-FRANKS, Fiona Gillian appointed
    director
  22. 1990-01-25
    ➕
    FRANKS, Helen Simpson appointed
    director
  23. 1990-01-25
    ➕
    GLEN, Christopher Richard appointed
    director
  24. 1990-01-25
    ➕
    GLEN, Janet Elizabeth appointed
    director
  25. 1989-12-13
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As DARROCH LEARG HOTELS LIMITED

Owner dependency

83/100
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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 36 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 74 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

96/100
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 74 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 36 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 36 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

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Nigel Douglas Franks
Individual · British · DOB 03/1952 · age 74
75–100%
—75-100% shares12/12/2016

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

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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 →
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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
Incorporated1989-12-13
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC55100 — Hotels and similar accommodation

Registered office

56 Braemar Road
Ballater
Aberdeenshire
AB35 5UX

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-10-31
Last made up to: 2025-01-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-27
Last: 2025-12-13

Officers (3 active · 3 resigned)

FRANKS, Nigel Douglas→
secretary
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BRYSON-FRANKS, Fiona Gillian→
director · ~71y · appointed 1990-01-25
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FRANKS, Nigel Douglas→
director · ~74y
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
FRANKS, Helen Simpson→
director · ~105y · appointed 1990-01-25 · resigned 2008-03-15
Resigned
GLEN, Christopher Richard→
director · ~78y · appointed 1990-01-25 · resigned 2013-11-27
Resigned
GLEN, Janet Elizabeth→
director · ~77y · appointed 1990-01-25 · resigned 2013-11-27
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

2
Total charges
2
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
Standard security1 property11/06/2002—
outstanding
Lloyds Banking Group
The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
Bond & floating charge1 property18/08/1991—
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (99 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-12-17
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-10-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-10-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-11-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-01-31
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2022-12-28
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2022-12-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-02-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-12-18
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-10-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-12-16