DAVID MURRAY TRANSPORT LIMITED

🌳Matureactive

SC181084 · ltd · incorporated 1997-11-28

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

—

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Turnover

—

year to Nov 2024

Net worth

£262.9k

book net assets

Opportunity

82/100

Exceptional

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What this business does

Primary activity: Freight transport by road

Sector: Transportation & storage

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 60-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 67/100. Strong seller-intent signal (70/100, director aged 60). 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

3 live charges · 3 lenders · oldest 28.2y

15/100

under pressure

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

· Oldest live charge is 28.2 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

Lenders & charges

3 charges (3/3 with lender, 3/3 with type)

Directors & officers

8 officers (3 active, 8 linked, 4 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

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

Director network

Network not yet resolved

Filing history

89 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

82/100Exceptional

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

100

Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102

Positive net assets

Net assets £262,937

Cash draining

Cash down 88% YoY

Cash YoY

-88%

Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts

Cash

£2k

↓ 88% YoY

Net Worth

£263k

↑ 1.7% YoY

Current Assets

£402k

↓ 8.6% YoY

Current Liabilities

—

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102

Metric	2024-11-30	2023-11-30
Total assets	£267.7k	£296.8k
Current assets	£402.5k	£440.3k
Cash	£1.7k	£14.1k
Debtors	£360.4k	£385.9k
Net assets	£262.9k	£258.5k

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filings

Last 180 days

filing

• 1 confirmation-statement

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (33 events)Click to expand

2025-09-01
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-09-03
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-08-24
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-08-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-09-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-08-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2020-01-03
📄
mortgage-alter-floating-charge-with-number
mortgage · 466(Scot)
2019-12-19
📄
mortgage-alter-floating-charge-with-number
mortgage · 466(Scot)
2019-11-08
📄
mortgage-create-with-deed-with-charge-number-charge-creation-date
mortgage · MR01
2019-11-06
📄
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2019-11-06
🔓
Charge satisfied #2
2019-11-01
🔒
Charge registered #3
Lender: Rbs Invoice Finance LTD
2019-07-12
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2018-09-19
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-07-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-06-15
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
accounts · AA
2016-01-19
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2012-06-12
➖
MURRAY, Margaret resigned
director
2011-09-30
➖
MURRAY, David resigned
director
2010-03-22
🔒
Charge registered #2
Lender: Rbs Invoice Finance Limited
2008-01-11
➕
DEVLIN, Wendy Louise, Mts appointed
director
2004-08-20
➕
DEVLIN, Gary Owen appointed
director
1999-04-26
➕
DEVLIN, Wendy Louise, Mts appointed
secretary
1999-04-21
➖
MURRAY, Jean Agnes resigned
secretary
1998-02-06
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
1997-12-01
➖
HIGHSTONE SECRETARIES LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-secretary
1997-12-01
➖
HIGHSTONE DIRECTORS LIMITED resigned
corporate-nominee-director
1997-11-29
➕
MURRAY, Jean Agnes appointed
secretary
1997-11-29
➕
MURRAY, David appointed
director
1997-11-29
➕
MURRAY, Margaret appointed
director
1997-11-28
🏢
Company incorporated
As DAVID MURRAY TRANSPORT LIMITED
1997-11-28
➕
HIGHSTONE SECRETARIES LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-secretary
1997-11-28
➕
HIGHSTONE DIRECTORS LIMITED appointed
corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

84/100

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 22 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
+Senior director age: Director aged approximately 60 — approaching natural succession window.
+Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

76/100

Likely off-market candidate

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

SIGNALS

secondaryFounder aged 58+: Senior director is approximately 60. Early succession window.
secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 22 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

2 active beneficial owners

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Mr Gary Devlin Individual · Scottish · DOB 10/1966 · age 60	25–50%	25–50%	25-50% shares · 25-50% voting	24/11/2016
Mrs Wendy Louise Devlin Individual · Scottish · DOB 12/1968 · age 58	25–50%	25–50%	25-50% shares · 25-50% voting	24/11/2016

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

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ELLIOT STORAGE LIMITED→ SC340055 · est 2008	—	—	—	300	18y	82	64y
NORMAN JAMIESON LIMITED→ SC233048 · est 2002	—	—	—	24	23y	82	59y
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CLASS 1 MARITIME LTD→ SC341360 · est 2008	—	—	—	400	18y	81	64y
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TEECABS LTD→ SC825281 · est 2024 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	1y	—	—
TEES TAXIS LIMITED→ SC372235 · est 2010 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	16y	—	—
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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.

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Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated1997-11-28

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC49410 — Freight transport by road

Registered office

Unit 3 Panbride Works

Arbroath Road

Carnoustie

Angus

DD7 6JR

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2026-08-31

Last made up to: 2024-11-30

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2026-12-12

Last: 2025-11-28

Officers (3 active · 5 resigned)

DEVLIN, Wendy Louise, Mts→

secretary · appointed 1999-04-26

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

DEVLIN, Gary Owen→

director · ~60y · appointed 2004-08-20

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

DEVLIN, Wendy Louise, Mts→

director · ~58y · appointed 2008-01-11

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MURRAY, Jean Agnes→

secretary · appointed 1997-11-29 · resigned 1999-04-21

Resigned

HIGHSTONE SECRETARIES LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1997-11-28 · resigned 1997-12-01

Resigned

MURRAY, David→

director · ~81y · appointed 1997-11-29 · resigned 2011-09-30

Resigned

MURRAY, Margaret→

director · ~81y · appointed 1997-11-29 · resigned 2012-06-12

Resigned

HIGHSTONE DIRECTORS LIMITED→

corporate-nominee-director · appointed 1997-11-28 · resigned 1997-12-01

Resigned

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

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:3 of 3 shown

		Type	Properties
outstanding	NatWest Group Rbs Invoice Finance LTD	A registered charge	—	01/11/2019	—
satisfied	NatWest Group Rbs Invoice Finance Limited	Floating charge	1 property	22/03/2010	06/11/2019
outstanding	Lloyds Banking Group The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC	Bond & floating charge	1 property	06/02/1998	—

Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.