J BLACK SERVICES LTD

🌳Matureactive
SC169969 · ltd · incorporated 1996-11-19
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 Mar 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
78/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Management consultancy activities other than financial management
Sector: Professional, scientific & technical
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 82990Other business support service activities n.e.c.
  • 90030Artistic creation
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 63-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 78/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 63). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (71/100)

Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.

Company profile
address, 3 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
1 year of iXBRL accounts extracted (no YoY comparison) + narrative notes parsed
50
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
4 officers (3 active, 4 linked, 2 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
3 connected companies via shared directors
54
Filing history
71 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
78/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
77
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · IFRS
Metric2025-03-31
Average employees100

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
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (21 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-08-27
    ✏️
    certificate-change-of-name-company
    change-of-name · CERTNM
  2. 2025-08-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  3. 2025-08-08
    📄
    change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
    accounts · AA01
  4. 2024-11-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-11-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-11-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  7. 2021-11-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  8. 2020-12-07
    📄
    resolution
    resolution · RESOLUTIONS
  9. 2020-11-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  10. 2019-08-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  11. 2018-08-27
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
    accounts · AA
  12. 2017-08-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  13. 2016-08-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2015-12-14
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2015-08-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  16. 1996-11-19
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As J BLACK SERVICES LTD
  17. 1996-11-19
    ➕
    BLACK, Julia Catherine appointed
    secretary
  18. 1996-11-19
    ➕
    BLACK, James appointed
    director
  19. 1996-11-19
    ➕
    BLACK, Julia Catherine appointed
    director
  20. 1996-11-19
    ➕
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  21. 1996-11-19
    ➖
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary

Owner dependency

99/100
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.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "BLACK" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 29 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Senior director age: Director aged approximately 63 — approaching natural succession window.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

86/100
Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 63. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 29 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 29 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

1 med ·
Name changed recently
medium

Name changes can be benign (rebrand) but can also precede distress, phoenix activity, or buyer concealment.

Evidence: 2025-08-27: certificate-change-of-name-company

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr James Black
Individual · British · DOB 05/1963 · age 63
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
Julia Catherine Black
Individual · British · DOB 11/1968 · age 58
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016

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 →

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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

6 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
Incorporated1996-11-19
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC70229 — Management consultancy activities other than financial management

Registered office

4th Floor, Metropolitan House
31-33 High Street
Inverness
IV1 1HT

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-12-31
Last made up to: 2025-03-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-23
Last: 2025-10-09

Officers (3 active · 1 resigned)

BLACK, Julia Catherine→
secretary · appointed 1996-11-19
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BLACK, James→
director · ~63y · appointed 1996-11-19
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
BLACK, Julia Catherine→
director · ~58y · appointed 1996-11-19
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1996-11-19 · resigned 1996-11-19
Resigned

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

Recent filings (71 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-09
certificate-change-of-name-company
change-of-name · CERTNM
2025-08-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-08-26
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-extended
accounts · AA01
2025-08-08
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-02-04
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-11-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-05
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-11-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2022-11-17
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-12-09
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-11-23
resolution
resolution · RESOLUTIONS
2020-12-07
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-11-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-11-18