DEVON ALES LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC162887 · ltd · incorporated 1996-01-25

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 Apr 2025

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

81/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Manufacture of beer

Sector: Manufacturing

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 80-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 81/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (63/100, director aged 80). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

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

Lenders & charges

Confirmed no charges registered

Directors & officers

8 officers (5 active, 8 linked, 6 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

82 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

81/100Exceptional

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

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 · accounting standard unknown

Metric	2025-04-30	2024-04-30
Average employees	0	0

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 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (27 events)Click to expand

2026-01-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-05-22
📄
notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC01
2025-05-22
📄
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2025-05-22
📄
cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC07
2025-05-07
➕
GRAHAM, Oliver John appointed
director
2024-12-18
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-08-11
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-10-20
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-02-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-03-22
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-04-08
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-01-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2017-11-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2016-12-23
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-03-16
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2016-01-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2003-11-01
➕
GRAHAM, Derrick John appointed
director
2003-11-01
➖
GIBSON, Martin resigned
director
1996-01-25
🏢
Company incorporated
As DEVON ALES LIMITED
1996-01-25
➕
GRAHAM, Lorna appointed
secretary
1996-01-25
➕
GIBSON, Catherine appointed
director
1996-01-25
➕
GIBSON, John appointed
director
1996-01-25
➕
REID, Brian appointed
nominee-secretary
1996-01-25
➖
REID, Brian resigned
nominee-secretary
1996-01-25
➕
GIBSON, Martin appointed
director
1996-01-25
➕
MABBOTT, Stephen appointed
nominee-director
1996-01-25
➖
MABBOTT, Stephen resigned
nominee-director

Owner dependency

73/100

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 30 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 80 — 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 candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 80 years old. Natural succession window is now.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 30 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

1 active beneficial owner

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mrs Lorna Graham Individual · British · DOB 10/1972 · age 54	—	—	sig. influencesignificant influence · firm interest	19/05/2025

1 historic (ceased) PSC

Mr John Gibsonceased 31/10/2024· significant influence

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

Similar companies

Active · Food & drink · FK postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
BIOMAR LIMITED→ SC119586 · est 1989	—	—	—	8700	36y	83	60y
GRAHAMS THE FAMILY DAIRY (PROCESSING) LIMITED→ SC311872 · est 2006 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	19y	82	86y
GRAHAMS THE FAMILY DAIRY LIMITED→ SC312966 · est 2006 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	19y	82	86y
HARVIESTOUN BREWERY (HOLDINGS) LIMITED→ SC334493 · est 2007	—	—	—	2	18y	82	87y
ARGO FOODS LIMITED→ SC245558 · est 2003	—	—	—	13	23y	80	62y
ASHERS ICE CREAM LIMITED→ SC351857 · est 2008	—	—	£755.7k	—	17y	80	61y
D CAMPBELL & SON LTD→ SC376494 · est 2010	—	—	—	6	16y	80	74y
GRAHAMS THE FAMILY DAIRY (MILK PRODUCTS) LIMITED→ SC520864 · est 2015 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	10y	80	86y
HARVIESTOUN BREWERY LIMITED→ SC084914 · est 1983	—	—	—	20	42y	80	87y
INTOXICATING BRANDS LIMITED→ SC276644 · est 2004	—	—	£4.5k	—	21y	80	68y
UIN FOODS LIMITED→ SC333121 · est 2007 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	18y	80	65y
D & D DAIRIES LIMITED→ SC573243 · est 2017 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	8y	79	63y

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

Incorporated1996-01-25

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC11050 — Manufacture of beer

Registered office

Mansfield Arms Main Street

Sauchie

Alloa

Clackmannanshire

FK10 3JR

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-01-31

Last made up to: 2025-04-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-10-30

Last: 2025-10-16

Officers (5 active · 3 resigned)

GRAHAM, Lorna→

secretary · appointed 1996-01-25

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

GIBSON, Catherine→

director · ~78y · appointed 1996-01-25

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

GIBSON, John→

director · ~80y · appointed 1996-01-25

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

GRAHAM, Derrick John→

director · ~56y · appointed 2003-11-01

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

GRAHAM, Oliver John→

director · ~30y · appointed 2025-05-07

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

REID, Brian→

nominee-secretary · appointed 1996-01-25 · resigned 1996-01-25

Resigned

GIBSON, Martin→

director · ~60y · appointed 1996-01-25 · resigned 2003-11-01

Resigned

MABBOTT, Stephen→

nominee-director · ~76y · appointed 1996-01-25 · resigned 1996-01-25

Resigned

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

Recent filings (82 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2026-01-22

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-11-04

notification-of-a-person-with-significant-control

persons-with-significant-control · PSC01

2025-05-22

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

officers · AP01

2025-05-22

cessation-of-a-person-with-significant-control

persons-with-significant-control · PSC07

2025-05-22

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2024-12-18

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-10-16

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2023-10-17

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2023-08-11

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2022-10-20

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2022-10-17

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2022-02-17

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2021-10-18

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2021-03-22

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2020-10-28