RATHBURN CHEMICALS LIMITED

🌳Matureactive
SC180901 · ltd · incorporated 1997-11-24
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 Dec 2024
Net worth
£6.62M
book net assets
Opportunity
76/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 20140
Sector: Manufacturing
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: asset-holding vehicle with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 76/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Most likely exit: strategic trade sale (63/100).

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
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
8 officers (3 active, 8 linked, 5 with DOB)
83
Ownership & PSC
3 active PSC(s) of 3 total, 3 with control declared
90
Director network
3 connected companies via shared directors
54
Filing history
89 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
76/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
65
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declared
Positive net assets
Net assets £6,617,403
Cash YoY
-27%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£1.8m
↓ 27% YoY
Net Worth
£6.6m
↑ 1.7% YoY
Current Assets
£6.5m
↑ 1.4% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£1.3m£2.6m£4.0m£5.3m£6.6mDec 2023Dec 2024

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown
Metric2024-12-312023-12-31
Total assets£6.62M£6.51M
Current assets£6.49M£6.40M
Cash£1.75M£2.39M
Debtors£4.73M£4.01M
Net assets£6.62M£6.51M

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 (29 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-09-26
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  2. 2024-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  3. 2023-09-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2022-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2021-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2020-12-23
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  7. 2019-09-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  8. 2018-09-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  9. 2018-03-10
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  10. 2017-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  11. 2016-10-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  12. 2015-12-10
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  13. 2015-10-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2015-06-14
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  15. 2015-06-14
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  16. 2015-05-23
    ➖
    MACKAY, Angus Campbell, Dr resigned
    secretary
  17. 2015-05-23
    ➖
    MACKAY, Angus Campbell, Dr resigned
    director
  18. 2015-05-10
    ➕
    LIVINGSTONE, Bronwen Ann appointed
    director
  19. 2015-05-10
    ➕
    MACKENZIE, Alison Jill, Dr appointed
    director
  20. 2000-03-31
    ➖
    MACKAY, Colin Glaister resigned
    director
  21. 2000-03-20
    ➕
    MCMURRAY, Emily Marjory, Dr appointed
    director
  22. 1997-12-01
    ➕
    MACKAY, Angus Campbell, Dr appointed
    secretary
  23. 1997-12-01
    ➖
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  24. 1997-12-01
    ➕
    MACKAY, Angus Campbell, Dr appointed
    director
  25. 1997-12-01
    ➕
    MACKAY, Colin Glaister appointed
    director
  26. 1997-12-01
    ➖
    JORDANS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  27. 1997-11-24
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As RATHBURN CHEMICALS LIMITED
  28. 1997-11-24
    ➕
    OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  29. 1997-11-24
    ➕
    JORDANS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED appointed
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

60/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 26 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

60/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 26 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 28 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

3 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Dr Alison Jill Mackenzie
Individual · United Kingdom · DOB 01/1969 · age 57
——sig. influencesignificant influence06/04/2016
Mrs Bronwen Ann Livingstone
Individual · British · DOB 10/1971 · age 55
——sig. influencesignificant influence06/04/2016
Dr Emily Marjory Mcmurray
Individual · British · DOB 11/1978 · age 48
——sig. influencesignificant influence06/04/2016

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
Incorporated1997-11-24
Jurisdictionscotland
Primary SIC20140 — SIC 20140

Registered office

6 Caberston Road
Walkerburn
Peeblesshire
EH43 6AU

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-09-30
Last made up to: 2024-12-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-24
Last: 2025-10-10

Officers (3 active · 5 resigned)

LIVINGSTONE, Bronwen Ann→
director · ~55y · appointed 2015-05-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MACKENZIE, Alison Jill, Dr→
director · ~57y · appointed 2015-05-10
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MCMURRAY, Emily Marjory, Dr→
director · ~48y · appointed 2000-03-20
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
MACKAY, Angus Campbell, Dr→
secretary · appointed 1997-12-01 · resigned 2015-05-23
Resigned
OSWALDS OF EDINBURGH LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1997-11-24 · resigned 1997-12-01
Resigned
MACKAY, Angus Campbell, Dr→
director · ~85y · appointed 1997-12-01 · resigned 2015-05-23
Resigned
MACKAY, Colin Glaister→
director · ~77y · appointed 1997-12-01 · resigned 2000-03-31
Resigned
JORDANS (SCOTLAND) LIMITED→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1997-11-24 · resigned 1997-12-01
Resigned

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

Recent filings (89 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-10
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-09-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-11-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-09-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-11-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-11-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2021-09-30
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-12-23
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-12-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2019-11-28
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2019-09-30
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2018-11-27