HUTTON STONE CO. LTD.

🌳Matureactive
SC151439 · ltd · incorporated 1994-06-15
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 Jan 2025
Net worth
£1.94M
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 23700
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 86-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 67/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 86). 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

5 live charges · 3 lenders · oldest 28.3y

15/100
under pressure

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

  • · Oldest live charge is 28.3 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · 3 lenders named — inter-creditor friction likely.
  • · Cashflow trend is negative — lender view likely cautious.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (77/100)

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
5 charges (5/5 with lender, 5/5 with type)
90
Directors & officers
5 officers (3 active, 5 linked, 3 with DOB)
82
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
79 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 · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £1,940,029
Net assets shrinking
Down £122,830 YoY
Cash YoY
-26%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£388k
↓ 26% YoY
Net Worth
£1.9m
↓ 6.0% YoY
Current Assets
£1.1m
↓ 40% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£413k£825k£1.2m£1.7m£2.1mJan 2024Jan 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2025-01-312024-01-31
Total assets£2.90M£2.80M
Current assets£1.05M£1.75M
Cash£388.0k£527.2k
Debtors£467.7k£993.8k
Net assets£1.94M£2.06M

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
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (30 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-07-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-07-02
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-05-21
    📄
    mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
    mortgage · MR01
  4. 2024-05-02
    🔒
    Charge registered #5
    Lender: Barclays Security Trustee Limited
  5. 2023-07-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-07-04
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-07-09
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-07-28
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  9. 2020-07-28
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  10. 2020-07-03
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-06-19
    📄
    capital-allotment-shares
    capital · SH01
  12. 2019-06-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  13. 2019-06-04
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
  14. 2019-06-04
    📄
    change-person-secretary-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH03
  15. 2018-06-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  16. 2017-12-18
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  17. 2017-06-15
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  18. 2017-01-09
    🔒
    Charge registered #4
    Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
  19. 2016-10-31
    🔒
    Charge registered #3
    Lender: Barclays Bank PLC
  20. 2014-08-04
    ➖
    PAINE, Pamela Joan resigned
    director
  21. 2014-05-30
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #2
  22. 2003-04-11
    🔒
    Charge registered #2
    Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
  23. 1998-02-26
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
  24. 1994-06-15
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As HUTTON STONE CO. LTD.
  25. 1994-06-15
    ➕
    PAINE, Stephen William appointed
    secretary
  26. 1994-06-15
    ➕
    PAINE, Marcus James appointed
    director
  27. 1994-06-15
    ➕
    PAINE, Stephen William appointed
    director
  28. 1994-06-15
    ➕
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  29. 1994-06-15
    ➖
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  30. 1994-06-15
    ➕
    PAINE, Pamela Joan appointed
    director

Owner dependency

91/100
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 32 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 86 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

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 86 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 32 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 32 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

2 active beneficial owners · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr. Marcus James Paine
Individual · British · DOB 09/1967 · age 59
75–100%
75–100%75-100% shares · 75-100% voting06/04/2016
Mr Stephen William Paine
Individual · British · DOB 04/1940 · age 86
——sig. influencesignificant influence06/04/2016

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

8 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
Incorporated1994-06-15
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC23700 — SIC 23700

Registered office

West Fishwick
Berwick Upon Tweed
Borders
TD15 1XQ

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-10-31
Last made up to: 2025-01-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-06-21
Last: 2026-06-07

Officers (3 active · 2 resigned)

PAINE, Stephen William→
secretary · appointed 1994-06-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
PAINE, Marcus James→
director · ~59y · appointed 1994-06-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
PAINE, Stephen William→
director · ~86y · appointed 1994-06-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1994-06-15 · resigned 1994-06-15
Resigned
PAINE, Pamela Joan→
director · ~86y · appointed 1994-06-15 · resigned 2014-08-04
Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

5
Total charges
3
Outstanding
1
Active lenders
Status:Lender:5 of 5 shown
TypeProperties
outstanding
Barclays
Barclays Security Trustee Limited
A registered charge1 property02/05/2024—
outstanding
Barclays
Barclays Bank PLC
A registered charge1 property09/01/2017—
outstanding
Barclays
Barclays Bank PLC
A registered charge—31/10/2016—
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
Legal charge1 property11/04/200330/05/2014
satisfied
Lloyds Banking Group
The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
Floating charge1 property26/02/199828/07/2020
Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (79 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-06-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-07-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-06-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-07-02
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-06-10
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2024-05-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-07-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-06-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-07-04
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-06-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-07-09
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-06-14
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2020-07-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-07-03
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2020-06-19