A & B EDUCATION LIMITED
🌳Matureactive
SC159176 · ltd · incorporated 1995-07-13
Investment thesis
Established operating company — standard diligence applies, no dominant angle.
Why interesting: Live, filing, normal profile.
Why risky: No standout signals in either direction.
Opportunity decay
approaching window · 12-months
Approaching a transaction window — refinance or sale event plausible in the next 12 months.
- · Oldest live charge 23.7y old — refinance window within 12 months
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Dec 2024
Net worth
£74.5k
book net assets
Opportunity
83/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Pre-primary education
Sector: Education
Investor take
PursueAsset-holding vehicle with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 83/100 (exceptional), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (73/100, director aged 65). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).
🏦
Refinance opportunity
2 live charges · oldest 23.7y
85/100
ready
Refinance conversation should be productive — structure clean and timing right.
- · Oldest live charge is 23.7 years old — likely at or near maturity.
- · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
- · Legal-friction score 15/100 — clean.
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
2 charges (2/2 with lender, 2/2 with type)
90
Directors & officers
7 officers (5 active, 7 linked, 4 with DOB)
81
Ownership & PSC
4 active PSC(s) of 4 total, 4 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
102 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
83/100Exceptional
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
85
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 102Positive net assets
Net assets £74,535
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
£81k
Net Worth
£75k
Current Assets
£100k
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102| Metric | 2024-12-31 | 2023-12-31 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £74.8k | — |
| Current assets | £99.9k | — |
| Cash | £80.5k | — |
| Debtors | £19.4k | — |
| Net assets | £74.5k | — |
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
🔒Filing-note intelligence
3 signals 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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (34 events)Click to expand
- 2025-09-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2025-07-14📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2025-07-08📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2025-07-08📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2025-07-08📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2025-07-07📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2025-07-07📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2025-07-07📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2024-07-15📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2024-07-15📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2024-03-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-08-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2023-08-07📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2023-08-07📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2023-08-07📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2023-08-07📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2023-08-07📄change-person-secretary-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH03
- 2023-08-07📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2023-08-07📄change-person-director-company-with-change-dateofficers · CH01
- 2022-10-20📄accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-fullaccounts · AA
- 2018-05-15🔓Charge satisfied #2
- 2018-05-15🔓Charge satisfied #1
- 2002-09-19🔒Charge registered #2Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
- 2002-08-05🔒Charge registered #1Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
- 1995-09-21➕BUTCHER, Margaret Mcewan Waddell appointedsecretary
- 1995-09-21➕ARCHIBALD, Douglas appointeddirector
- 1995-09-21➕ARCHIBALD, Jacqueline appointeddirector
- 1995-09-21➕BUTCHER, John Robert appointeddirector
- 1995-09-21➕BUTCHER, Margaret Mcewan Waddell appointeddirector
- 1995-09-21➖HBJ SECRETARIAL LIMITED resignedcorporate-secretary
- 1995-09-21➖HENDERSON BOYD JACKSON LIMITED resignedcorporate-director
- 1995-07-13🏢Company incorporatedAs A & B EDUCATION LIMITED
- 1995-07-13➕HBJ SECRETARIAL LIMITED appointedcorporate-secretary
- 1995-07-13➕HENDERSON BOYD JACKSON LIMITED appointedcorporate-director
Owner dependency
73/100
High — earn-out structure requiredMaterial 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 31 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.
- +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.
Succession & seller-readiness
80/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 65. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
- primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 31 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 31 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
cleanNo red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)
Shareholders & ownership
4 active beneficial owners · fragmented| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr Douglas Archibald Individual · British · DOB 10/1961 · age 65 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 06/04/2016 |
Mr John Robert Butcher Individual · British · DOB 11/1962 · age 64 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 06/04/2016 |
Mrs Jacqueline Archibald Individual · British · DOB 06/1962 · age 64 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 06/04/2016 |
Mrs Margaret Mcewan Waddell Butcher Individual · British · DOB 06/1962 · age 64 | 25–50% | — | 25-50% shares | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
Similar companies
Active · Education & training · ML postcode area| Company | Est. value | Turnover | Net worth | Staff | Age | Opp | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMMAZING LIMITED→ SC793131 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| COUNSELLING AND THERAPY WITH ZARA LTD→ SC804888 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| EBS ICE HOCKEY LIMITED→ SC815856 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| ELEMENT EDUCATION LTD→ SC838103 · est 2025 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| FDE TRAINING LIMITED→ SC646222 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| FOUNDRY CREATIVE ALCHEMY LTD→ SC646858 · est 2019 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 6y | — | — |
| FSG FOOTBALL ACADEMY CIC→ SC765855 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| HAPPY PLACE WORKSHOP LTD→ SC780127 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| HEALTH RESEARCH FOR ETHNIC MINORITIES CIC→ SC827668 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| HOLESIDE TRAINING LTD→ SC705502 · est 2021 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 4y | — | — |
| HOSPITALITY.SCOT LIMITED→ SC755981 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| INTEGRITY-TK LTD→ SC750207 · est 2022 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
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
Incorporated1995-07-13
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC85100 — Pre-primary education
Registered office
30 Burnbank Road
Burnbank
Hamilton
Lanarkshire
ML3 9AA
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-07-15
Last: 2025-07-01
Officers (5 active · 2 resigned)
BUTCHER, Margaret Mcewan Waddell→
Activesecretary · appointed 1995-09-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
ARCHIBALD, Douglas→
Activedirector · ~65y · appointed 1995-09-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
ARCHIBALD, Jacqueline→
Activedirector · ~64y · appointed 1995-09-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
BUTCHER, John Robert→
Activedirector · ~64y · appointed 1995-09-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
BUTCHER, Margaret Mcewan Waddell→
Activedirector · ~64y · appointed 1995-09-21
View their other companies + combined net worth →
HBJ SECRETARIAL LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-secretary · appointed 1995-07-13 · resigned 1995-09-21
HENDERSON BOYD JACKSON LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-director · appointed 1995-07-13 · resigned 1995-09-21
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Mortgages & charges
2
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:2 of 2 shown
| Type | Properties | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| satisfied | Lloyds Banking Group The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC | Standard security | 1 property | 19/09/2002 | 15/05/2018 | |
| satisfied | Lloyds Banking Group The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC | Bond & floating charge | 1 property | 05/08/2002 | 15/05/2018 |
Recent filings (102 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-09-30
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-07-14
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-07-14
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-07-08
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-07-08
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-07-08
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-07-07
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC04
2025-07-07
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-07-07
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-07-15
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-07-15
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2024-07-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-03-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-08-26
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2023-08-07