W J BROWN MECHANICAL SERVICES LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC133395 · ltd · incorporated 1991-08-13

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

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 Dec 2024

Net worth

£16.4k

book net assets

Opportunity

82/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Repair of machinery

Sector: Manufacturing

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 81-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 81). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -64% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 29.5y

45/100

under pressure

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

· Oldest live charge is 29.5 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· Cashflow trend is negative — lender view likely cautious.

Data confidence

Overall: high (81/100)

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

Lenders & charges

1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)

Directors & officers

6 officers (4 active, 6 linked, 3 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

10 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

88 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

82/100Exceptional

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 · accounting standard not declared

Positive net assets

Net assets £16,375

Net assets shrinking

Down £14,813 YoY

Cash draining

Cash down 64% YoY

Cash YoY

-64%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£3k

↓ 64% YoY

Net Worth

£16k

↓ 47% YoY

Current Assets

£47k

↓ 16% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2024-12-31	2023-12-31
Total assets	£22.0k	£37.6k
Current assets	£47.1k	£56.3k
Cash	£3.2k	£8.9k
Debtors	£30.0k	£32.4k
Net assets	£16.4k	£31.2k

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

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand

2026-01-20
📄
replacement-filing-of-confirmation-statement-with-made-up-date
confirmation-statement · RP01CS01
2025-05-13
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-04-02
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accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-04-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-04-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-06-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-03-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-06-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-06-12
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-06-28
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-06-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-08-04
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2015-07-31
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2014-09-08
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2014-08-21
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
1996-11-28
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company
1991-11-29
➕
BROWN, Jacqueline appointed
director
1991-11-29
➕
BROWN, William James Douglas appointed
director
1991-10-29
➕
BURNETT & COMPANY appointed
corporate-secretary
1991-10-29
➕
CRAIG, James Alexander appointed
director
1991-10-29
➖
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
1991-10-29
➖
JORDANS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-director
1991-08-13
🏢
Company incorporated
As W J BROWN MECHANICAL SERVICES LIMITED
1991-08-13
➕
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
1991-08-13
➕
JORDANS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

98/100

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

+Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "BROWN" — strong identity link between founder and business.
+Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 35 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 81 — succession pressure is live.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

90/100

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 81 years old. Natural succession window is now.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 35 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 35 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

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mrs Jacqueline Brown Individual · British · DOB 04/1964 · age 62	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	31/07/2016

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 →

Similar companies

Active · Manufacturing · AB postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
GRAY & ADAMS LIMITED→ SC047482 · est 1970	£75.13M £58.44M–£91.83M	—	—	502	56y	87	71y
GRAY & ADAMS GROUP LIMITED→ SC230241 · est 2002	£53.82M £41.86M–£65.78M	—	—	0	24y	85	71y
GRAY & ADAMS (DUNFERMLINE) LIMITED→ SC082971 · est 1983	£17.07M £13.28M–£20.87M	—	—	106	43y	85	71y
GRAY & ADAMS (DONCASTER) LIMITED→ SC128013 · est 1990	£16.62M £12.93M–£20.32M	—	—	101	35y	87	71y
INTERWELL LIMITED→ SC391140 · est 2011	£10.98M £8.54M–£13.42M	£33.44M	—	7800	15y	91	60y
EBLAST LIMITED→ SC202165 · est 1999	£8.03M £6.24M–£9.81M	£11.11M	—	7400	26y	88	57y
ROTECH SUBSEA LIMITED→ SC451221 · est 2013	£6.41M £4.99M–£7.83M	£17.20M	—	4800	12y	84	58y
DALES ENGINEERING SERVICES LIMITED→ SC107948 · est 1987	£6.22M £4.84M–£7.60M	£21.87M	—	11000	38y	93	70y
SUPERIOR ENERGY SERVICES LIMITED→ SC259694 · est 2003	£6.15M £4.78M–£7.51M	£1.45M	—	1500	22y	94	60y
IMENCO UK LIMITED→ SC372021 · est 2010	£5.97M £4.64M–£7.29M	£17.33M	—	11500	16y	95	71y
VECTOR SUPPLIES LIMITED→ SC103810 · est 1987	£1.63M £1.27M–£1.99M	—	—	16	39y	85	71y
EXCEED TORRIDON LIMITED→ SC508840 · est 2015	—	—	—	54	10y	84	65y

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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated1991-08-13

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC33120 — Repair of machinery

Registered office

Rowdenbrae Terryvale

Dunecht Westhill

Aberdeenshire

AB32 7BS

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-09-30

Last made up to: 2024-12-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-08-14

Last: 2025-07-31

Officers (4 active · 2 resigned)

BURNETT & COMPANY→

corporate-secretary · appointed 1991-10-29

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

BROWN, Jacqueline→

director · ~62y · appointed 1991-11-29

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

BROWN, William James Douglas→

director · ~62y · appointed 1991-11-29

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

CRAIG, James Alexander→

director · ~81y · appointed 1991-10-29

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1991-08-13 · resigned 1991-10-29

Resigned

JORDANS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1991-08-13 · resigned 1991-10-29

Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown

			Type	Properties
	outstanding	Virgin Money Clydesdale Bank Public Limited Company	Floating charge	1 property	28/11/1996	—

Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (88 total)

replacement-filing-of-confirmation-statement-with-made-up-date

confirmation-statement · RP01CS01

2026-01-20

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-08-12