ACADIAN ENGINEERING LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC150669 · ltd · incorporated 1994-05-04

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 10.1y old — refinance window within 12 months

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

year to May 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

83/100

Exceptional

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch

What this business does

Primary activity: SIC 28930

Sector: Manufacturing

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 71-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 83/100 (exceptional), bankability 80/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 71). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

2 live charges · oldest 10.1y

85/100

ready

Refinance conversation should be productive — structure clean and timing right.

· Oldest live charge is 10.1 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
· Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (79/100)

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

Lenders & charges

2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)

Directors & officers

6 officers (5 active, 6 linked, 4 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared

Director network

1 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

77 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.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

—

Net Worth

—

Current Assets

—

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102

Metric	2025-05-31	2024-05-31
Total assets	—	£1.76M
Current assets	—	£1.26M
Cash	—	£667.9k
Debtors	—	£220.3k
Net assets	—	£1.70M
Average employees	12	—

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

• 1 capital
• 1 resolution

Last 90 days

filings

• 1 capital
• 1 resolution

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 capital
• 1 resolution
• 1 officers

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (26 events)Click to expand

2026-04-20
📄
capital-cancellation-shares
capital · SH06
2026-04-16
📄
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2025-12-04
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2025-10-15
➕
MARTIN, David appointed
director
2025-09-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-10-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-02-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-02-09
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-03-29
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-05-25
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-12-12
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-11-14
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-02-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-12-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-06-22
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2016-03-25
📄
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2016-03-23
🔒
Charge registered #2
Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
2016-03-17
📄
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2016-03-14
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
1996-05-03
➕
TAIT, Stuart Macfarlane appointed
director
1994-05-04
🏢
Company incorporated
As ACADIAN ENGINEERING LIMITED
1994-05-04
➕
BLAMFORD, John Morris appointed
secretary
1994-05-04
➕
BLAMFORD, John Morris appointed
director
1994-05-04
➕
NIVEN, John David appointed
director
1994-05-04
➕
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
1994-05-04
➖
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary

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 32 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 71 — 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 71 years old. Natural succession window is now.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 32 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

2 active beneficial owners

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr John David Niven Individual · British · DOB 09/1963 · age 63	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	01/06/2016
Mr John Morris Blamford Individual · British · DOB 07/1955 · age 71	25–50%	—	25-50% shares	01/06/2016

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 · FK postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
NEXUS TECHNOLOGY GROUP UK LIMITED→ SC040330 · est 1964	£2.59M £2.01M–£3.16M	—	—	6900	61y	83	79y
GC GROUP LIMITED→ SC146007 · est 1993	£955.3k £743.0k–£1.17M	£1.86M	—	1500	32y	96	64y
ABERDEEN BLIND COMPANY LIMITED→ SC130460 · est 1991	—	—	—	900	35y	83	64y
E & O LABORATORIES LIMITED→ SC125360 · est 1990	—	—	£21.13M	—	35y	83	69y
EMBLATION LIMITED→ SC346874 · est 2008 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	17y	83	75y
FALKIRK WHISKY DISTILLERY COMPANY LIMITED→ SC332343 · est 2007	—	—	—	500	18y	83	81y
LEGGE STEEL (FABRICATIONS) LIMITED→ SC088016 · est 1984	—	—	—	19	41y	83	62y
LITHIUM SYSTEMS LIMITED→ SC255743 · est 2003	—	—	—	1700	22y	83	63y
PALIMPSEST BOOK PRODUCTION COMPANY LIMITED→ SC153712 · est 1994	—	—	£432.2k	—	31y	83	62y
N47 GARAGE LIMITED→ SC836683 · est 2025 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
OCEAN OUTFIT LTD→ SC747990 · est 2022 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	3y	—	—
TOTAL REFRESHMENT SOLUTIONS LIMITED→ SC179175 · est 1997 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	28y	—	—

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

Incorporated1994-05-04

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC28930 — SIC 28930

Registered office

2 Melville Street

Falkirk

Central

FK1 1HZ

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-02-28

Last made up to: 2025-05-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-06-20

Last: 2025-06-06

Officers (5 active · 1 resigned)

BLAMFORD, John Morris→

secretary · appointed 1994-05-04

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

BLAMFORD, John Morris→

director · ~71y · appointed 1994-05-04

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MARTIN, David→

director · ~35y · appointed 2025-10-15

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

NIVEN, John David→

director · ~63y · appointed 1994-05-04

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

TAIT, Stuart Macfarlane→

director · ~71y · appointed 1996-05-03

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1994-05-04 · resigned 1994-05-04

Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown

			Type	Properties
	outstanding	Lloyds Banking Group The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC	A registered charge	1 property	23/03/2016	—
	outstanding	Lloyds Banking Group The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC	A registered charge	—	14/03/2016	—

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

Recent filings (77 total)

capital-cancellation-shares

capital · SH06

2026-04-20

resolution

resolution · RESOLUTIONS

2026-04-16

appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date

officers · AP01

2025-12-04